Royal Affliction (The Anti-Princess Saga) (20 page)

Violet’s footsteps echoed in my ears.  She almost fell down twice in her haste to reach us with the others far behind.  She stopped next to me, trying to catch her breath before speaking.  “I hear that there is a window between Kyle and a Boru.”

“Is it possible to close it?”

“Possibly.”  She never did give herself enough credit.  I was far more confident in her abilities than she ever was.

I left her to it while I conversed with my men.  Quino seemed convinced that it was impossible to summon my father against his will.  He thought that the word
blood
was useless and unrelated, just a random word spat out by a dying man.  I wasn’t so sure.  I thought that the word
blood
was an important key in this ever-expanding puzzle that lay before me.  I just wasn’t sure how it fit.

“The window is closed,” Violet announced.

“There is no feasible way that they can see through Kyle anymore?”

“I will need to check it periodically to make sure they are not trying to break through my spell, but I believe it will hold.”  Violet seemed sure of her magic so I was extra sure.

“Ok,” I said, addressing everyone.  “It is getting late and we could all do with some food and rest.  Tomorrow we will continue our efforts.”

My apartment was a bit cramped with eight people in it, so we divided into two groups.  After eating dinner, Violet, Quino, Bruce and Kyle went down to Clifton’s apartment to get some rest, while Kafkus, Loach, Clifton and I stayed in mine.  I was exhausted.  As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out.

********************

I awoke in the very early morning hours and found Clifton sleeping next to me.  I was surprised, but not unhappy to find him there.  I had gone to bed alone, not wanting to make either of my men jealous or awkward.

I slid silently out of bed and stepped out onto the balcony, passing a still sleeping Loach and Kafkus as I walked.

It was a nice morning, a little chilly but still comfortable, a sign that it was going to be a pleasant day.  I stared out into the distance, but at nothing in particular.  My balcony looked out upon the park, instead of just the neighboring apartments.

I heard the door open behind me and turned to see Clifton standing in front of it.  “It’s a bit cold to be out here, isn’t it?”

“I think it’s nice.”

He came to stand beside me, his shoulder touching mine.  “What’s wrong?”

I sighed.  “I am just worried that sharing me with Kafkus will end up hurting you.  I never want to do that.”

“I told you that I was willing to share you, Tessa, though that does not mean that I love you any less.  If you chose to marry me someday it would make me the happiest man of any world, but for now I accept your decision.”

I pulled him into a warm, tight hug, thankful for his gracious and understanding words.  “I am lucky to have you, Clifton.”  I yawned.

“Still tired?”

“A little.”

The front door crashed open and I heard Quino calling “Violet” over and over.  I rushed inside, Clifton at my back.  Panic was in the air.  Quino was pacing back and forth looking very anxious.  I stepped in front of his path, stopping him.  “What’s happened?”

He looked at me.  I couldn’t tell exactly what was going through his mind, but it looked bad.  “Violet is gone, and so is Bruce.”

“
What?
”  I ran to my front window to survey the parking lot.  The Explorer was gone.  Kyle was sitting on the sofa and looking uneasy.  “Where are they?” I screamed at him.

“I don’t know.”

“Did you hear them leave?”

“No.”

Yelling at him wouldn’t solve anything, or bring Violet back.  I turned my efforts to Quino.  “Did
you
hear anything?”

“No, I heard nothing.”  He hung his head looking miserable.  “She was sleeping next to me, and when I awoke she was gone.”

“Where would they go?”  She had obviously gone by choice because she was far too powerful to be taken against her will.  Or at least, I thought she was.  Did Bruce coax her out?  “Kyle, take us to your house.”

“I doubt that they would go there, it would be too easy to track them.”  His shameful eyes were on the floor.

“We cannot just stay here and do nothing!” Quino barked.  “You will take us to your house.”  His face was livid.  His aura burned bright, breaking through Violet’s charm and coating him with an eerie red glow.  Kyle would have been a fool to refuse.  I had never seen Quino like this, and it scared me a little even though I knew that his anger wasn’t directed at me.

********************

We found ourselves parked outside of a cheap motel on the other side of town.  Loach, against my better judgment, had stayed back at the apartment.  My eyes spanned the entire parking lot but there was no sign of Bruce’s white Explorer anywhere.  Well, we were here, we weren’t leaving till I was positive Violet wasn’t inside.

My group followed Kyle up the path to room number 12.  The two was hanging upside down, as it was missing a nail, which told me not to expect much once the door was open.  Some things can be judged on outward appearances and this was definitely one of those times. 

The room was filthy.  There were clothes strewn across the floor and plates of rotting food scattered on the dresser and nightstands.  The smell was disgusting: mold and rotting food mixed with decay.  Maid service seemed non-existent here.

“Sorry about the mess,” Kyle said as he tried to tidy things up a bit.  “Do you think they were here?”

Quino hung his head.  “No, I can sense no trace of her.”

“Did your father ever meet with the Boru without you?” I asked Kyle.

“Yes, a couple of times.”  His face filled with doubt.  “You don’t think that he took your friend to them, do you?”

I didn’t answer him.  I’d never gotten a good vibe from Bruce.  A man who was dying would not be able to think with reason.  He would do whatever he needed to do to survive.  And if he believed that the Boru held the cure for his illness…I couldn’t finish the thought.  He wouldn’t betray his son though, would he?

“Let’s go home.  There is nothing we can do here.”  And then…I heard…something.  The sound was very faint and muffled but it was there: ticking.

Both Kafkus and Quino were both looking around the room with inquisitive interest like I was.   No real concern, just intrigue.

“What are you all looking at?”

Kafkus shushed him as he approached one of the twin beds.  He flattened himself on the ground and peeked under the dust ruffle.

“Anything?” I asked.

“Something.”

Interested, I dropped to my knees and stuck my face under the bed.  My eyes shot as far open as they could go when my brain realized what I was looking at.  I’d never seen one except on TV but that’s all I needed to recognize it.  I got to my feet in a blur of motion, but no words seemed to come from my gaping mouth as I stood there like a statue, multiple eyes focused on me.

“What is it?” Kafkus asked, his head still buried beneath the bed.

“A bomb!”

“It doesn’t look like a bomb, all those wires and tape,” he replied with a slight laugh as if it were a harmless toy.

“Humans don’t have magic, Kafkus, but this looks big enough to level the building.”

“Then what are we still doing here?” Kyle shrieked and bolted for the door.  It did him no good, it was stuck.

It’s a trap
.  Without thinking, I rammed my shoulder into the door.  It didn’t budge and my whole arm pulsed with pain from the repercussion. 
Smart
.

“Well that was useful,” Clifton said and I glared at him before snapping “I’d love to see your idea.”

He obliged by picking up a chair from the small dining area and throwing it at the front window.  It shattered, creating an opening large enough for all of us to climb through, then he made a “you’re first” gesture at me with a smug look of satisfaction that made me feel stupid.  His method had obviously been the more practical one.

Kafkus still had his head buried beneath the bed.  “Kafkus, come on!”

“This thing is odd, there are numbers on it…descending numbers.”

“What number is it at?”

“Fifteen”

“That fifteen on the left or right?”

“Right, but now it’s ten”

“We need to get out of here
now!
  Quino, grab him!”

KABOOM!

The blast sent me flying, loosing track of where everyone else went.  I’d made it far enough away that my biggest injuries were scratches and forming bruises from flying debris.  Least I had some luck, though it still took me a few minutes to manage to sit up, shock and all.

The entire motel had collapsed into flaming wreckage.  My car—which had been parked out front—was somewhere under the broken wall that now occupied most of that side of the parking lot.  The damage to my car wasn’t really important but the sight of it sparked fear in me about what shape the others were in.

Kyle was lying on the grass not too far from where I’d landed.  He was conscious but not in too bad of shape considering he was human (thinner skin).  Clifton, however, looked bad.  He was unconscious and bleeding pretty bad from his head.  I had Kyle stay with him, told him to keep pressure on the wound while I went to look for Kafkus and Quino.

I found them together clear on the opposite side of the street.  Kafkus was lying motionless, Quino hovering above him.  They had both been closer to the blast than anyone else and I prayed that they were ok.

“He should be fine,” Quino said, blood trickling down the side of his mouth.

“And you?”

“We both took a lot of impact, but nothing we cannot recover from.”

I knelt down next to Kafkus and ran my fingers across his bloody cheek.  His eyes fluttered open and he gazed up at me like he was half asleep.  “Are you alright?” he asked.  I should have been surprised that the man who looked half-dead was more worried if I was alright but I wasn’t.

“I am more concerned about you at the moment.”

He grunted as he sat up.  “I will be fine.  The others?”

“Clifton doesn’t look so good, but Kyle is fine.  My car is totaled though.”  The instant I said it I felt guilty about comparing my car to the other’s health.

“Totaled?”

“Smashed, obliterated, not going anywhere.”

“Ah.”

Clifton and Kyle were approaching us when the sirens of the fire trucks started up in the distance.  I was glad to see him walking though he was limping and favoring his right side.

I didn’t want to stick around to deal with the police, having no explanation of why we were there in the first place.  We walked away from the demolition site and stopped in a local restaurant to clean ourselves up before calling a taxi.

My hair was frizzy but I did my best to smooth it out.  I was filthy, bleeding from various cuts and scrapes covering my face and arms, but the explosion could have done much worse.  Since I still wasn’t healing very fast I was relieved that it hadn’t.

I needed a car and, since there was no way to salvage mine, I had the taxi take us to a dealership so that I could buy a new one.  I had the guys wait in the lounge while I looked around the lot.

Car salesmen, along with telemarketers, were on the top of my shit list, but there was no way to avoid them.  As soon as one spotted me he’d raced over to ‘assist’ me in my purchase…
whatever
.  All he wanted was his commission and I damn well knew it.  He talked up a sports car that only seated two and was
only
$60,000.  I was a practical girl, and though I had money there was no way I’d spend that much on a car, especially when I didn’t want to use the money in the first place.

“We have quite a selection of vans and minivans if room is what you need,” said Clyde with his over-the-top smile that repelled me rather than enticed me.

“I don’t drive vans.”

“Well then let me show you—”

“Look, Clyde, why don’t you go inside and I will come to you when I’ve made my decision.”

A man of his type knew how to cover up his look of surprise.  “Well, if you just give me your information I can get started on financing,” he persisted with that fake smile I wanted to slap off his face.

I just glared at him.  “Financing will not be necessary, and if you promise to leave me alone, I will pay $1,000 above sticker.”

He couldn’t hide the look of surprise and greed behind his eyes.  “Of course, just ask for Clyde when you’ve made your decision.”  I just glared even harder as he walked away, he might as well have been skipping.

After I’d looked at a few SUVs another salesman tried to approach me, but I was in no mood to deal with him.  Once he saw the look on my face he hastily made a b-line for a couple a few cars over.

It just seemed like such a pointless purchase when I wasn’t sure how much use I was going to get out of it, what with the possible expiration date on my ankle.

There was a presence behind me and I shouted, “Leave me the hell alone!” without even bothering to turn around.