Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (33 page)

Jules put a hand softly on her
shoulder. “He may spare you. You are his wife…and an
Immortal.”

“
Yeah, thanks for the
reminder,” Sarah said.

“
King Victor has the power
to sway the Cardashian Court to forgive you, especially when he
takes over after King Taggert’s imminent death. That will put him
in the perfect position to save your life. Your husband is one of
the most powerful men in their group, feared by all. He may be your
best bet to surviving all of this.”

She
turned away with a shudder. “
If
he doesn’t kill me the second he sees
me.”

“
Can she even be killed?”
Frank asked.

She nudged him in the ribs, annoyed.
“You make me sound like I’m some kind of virus.”

“
I’m just saying…” Frank
said, effectively dodging another shove. “You might want to put
less force into those. I’m not keen on bruises. I have a reputation
to uphold too, you know, and getting beaten up by a girl won’t
help.”

“
I barely touched
you.”

He cocked a brow. “Your hours at the
gym are starting to pay off then.”

“
I only want to look out
for Sarah’s best interests,” Jules said. He turned to Frank.
“You’ll certainly lose her, but at least she’ll live.”

“
Live? Under the rule of a
tyrant in some kind of medieval world?” Frank asked. “What kind of
life would that be? No. Sarah deserves better, and I promised to
get her out of here.”

“
Like I said, she’ll live,
and so will you.”

“
After I stole his bride on
his wedding night?”

“
He might
not even know that you were involved in Sarah’s rescue,” Jules
said. “Victor’s her only chance. To get her out of this mess
you’ve
created, he’s a
risk worth taking.”

Frank shook his head vehemently. “No
way. I’m not going to stand by and let her throw herself at the
mercy of some psychopathic royal pain in the—”

“
Frank!” Sarah said,
getting tired of being talked about like she wasn’t even
there.

“
And that’s
final.”

She shot him a thankful look. Even
though it wasn’t really his business, she appreciated how adamant
he was about keeping her safe, as if he truly cared for her
wellbeing. “I don’t think the king wants me back. I might’ve called
him Vic one too many times,” she said. “He really hates that. I’m
not sure he’d be very forgiving or eager to experience marital
bliss with someone he’s already threatened to kill.”

Jules snorted. “Vic? You called him
that, yet you’re still breathing? You must have a brilliant
guardian angel.”

Sarah smirked. “More likely it’s
because my boobs were half falling out of that wedding gown. What’s
with those corsets anyway?”

Jules’s cheeks flushed, and he cleared
his throat, signaling that a change in subject was imminent. “You
could use your, um, queenly influence to strike a deal to see Frank
sent safely back home—to his own world.”

“
No deals. Frank and I can
get home on our own.”

“
You think the Immortals
from the council will give up so easily? You think they won’t
follow you back through the portal and hunt you down?” asked Jules.
“You’ve no idea how vicious and ruthless they can be, and they do
not take deceit and betrayal lightly…that or theft of their magic
artifacts.”

Frank’s eyebrows rose into arches of
disbelief. “Sure. Maybe if they had some kind of tracking device,
but I’m pretty sure that cheap trinket isn’t equipped with
GPS.”

Sarah noticed the serious look on
Jules’s face and the intensity of his words. “You don’t know that,
Frank. Maybe I’ve been tagged, like a wild animal,” Sarah
said.

“
Doesn’t matter,” Frank
said. “I have all kinds of tricks up my sleeve to outrun
them.”

“
Without their blessing,
you’ll never be safe again.” Jules stood and adjusted his cloak,
pulling up his hood as if he was getting ready to leave. “You can’t
do this by yourselves any longer.”

“
Yes we can,” Frank said.
“You’ve grown up being taught to fear them, but we haven’t. We’ll
fight to the very end.”

“
With that kind of
thinking, you’re going to get yourselves killed. Sarah doesn’t even
know how to use her powers. She’s like a newborn fighting against
experienced Immortals, hundreds of years old. How long do you think
you two can last out there stumbling around in the dark with no
knowledge whatsoever of the landscape or what you’re up
against?”

Sarah’s stomach fluttered. She knew
absolutely nothing, but she was sure she and Frank could figure it
out on their own. They were both investigators after all, though
she never would have liked to compare herself to him before they’d
arrived here. “I know we’re in over our heads here, but I think we
can manage.”

Jules’s gaze narrowed. “You’re
drowning, milady. You need help from another Immortal, someone who
can guide you through the process. Go back to your husband and fall
into his arms. Throw yourself at his mercy and beg for forgiveness.
He’s the only one who can help you now.”

“
She’s not going back to
King Victor, Jules, and I’ll hear no more of it!” Frank
yelled.

“
If I go back to him, all
of this we’ve suffered in an effort to escape will have been for
nothing,” Sarah reasoned.

“
So what?” Jules asked. “At
least you’ll continue to breathe. Did you ever think he might annul
the marriage and let you go once he finds out he married the wrong
person?”

She knew Victor would never let go of
her so easily. “That won’t happen. He feels connected to me
because—”

Frank met her gaze straight on. “Is
there something you’re not telling me?”

“
Did you bed down with
him?” Jules asked, wide-eyed. “I mean no disrespect, miss, but if
you did, you completed the bonding process, and it is
unbreakable.”

“
Sleep with him?” Her
cheeks suddenly burned. She’d definitely thought about it. “No! Of
course not! Who do you take me for?”

Frank grabbed Jules’s arm. “Sarah’s
not like that. She only kissed him on the lips during the ceremony,
and that was only to play the part of a happy wife.”

“
She’s seeing visions, and
he is behind the sending of them,” Jules said. “That would never
happen unless a bond was formed, and that would likely require more
than a tiny kiss on the lips.” He glanced over at Sarah. “Did you
give yourself to your husband before you ran?”

“
No, I most certainly did
not…and quit referring to Victor as my husband!” Sarah
retorted.

Frank shoved Jules against the wall,
his eyes throwing daggers as he hissed, “Listen, buddy, I’m really
beginning to dislike you. What kind of girl do you take Sarah for
anyway? She’d never touch him like that. Do you
understand?”

“
Perhaps not by her own
will, but she could’ve been forced,” Jules whispered, pushing him
back. “Victor is a very powerful, persuasive man, and we should
have never left her in that dungeon to face him. It was a fool’s
plan!”

Sarah nodded eagerly. “Frank is right,
Jules. Nothing like that happened! I swear. We just said the vows,
I kissed him, and I escaped the first chance I had. The entire
thing was a farce.” She didn’t think it was a good time to
elaborate on just how much, how deeply she’d kissed him or how much
she’d enjoyed it.

“
I will be back soon,”
Jules said, heading toward the exit.

“
Just
admit it, Jules,” Frank said, following after him. “You don’t
approve of what we did—or should I say—what
I
did. This entire thing was my idea,
and you’re just angry that the fool, as you called me, dragged
Sarah and Mia into this wedding gig.”

Jules glared at him. “You are correct,
sir. As I said, it was a fool’s plan, and it put my Mia and your
Sarah in more danger than was necessary.” He took a deep breath
before continuing. “This whole thing could have been avoided! My
friends and I risked our lives when we took you to the dungeon to
rescue Sarah, but did you come back with her?” He pushed Frank away
and pointed at Sarah. “No! You left her to her fate.
Unbelievable.”

Sarah realized in that moment that
Jules had, in fact, been the lookout, the one who had done the
whistling. “Guys, stop it!” She turned to look intensely at Jules.
“It’s not his fault,” Sarah said. “Frank gave me an out, and I
didn’t take it.”

“
That is only because of
him!” Jules pointed an accusatory finger at Frank and shot him a
most distasteful glare. “He filled your head with talk about the
ring, the key to your home world. Had you left with us at that very
moment, you’d be free from all of these problems already, and my
Mia would be by my side instead of suffering or in
danger!”

“
And I’d be stuck in this
world forever!” she retorted.

“
We don’t need you anymore,
Jules,” Frank said.

“
I hope you know your
so-called ‘brilliant plan’ has ruined Sarah’s life,” Jules said. “I
think you’re the one who needs some sense.”

Frank took a menacing step forward,
his cheeks ablaze with anger. “Get out! We don’t need
you.”

Sarah grabbed his arm. “Everyone calm
down. Let’s take a breather.”

“
I’m going to look for my
friend,” Jules said, opening the door.

Wait…is
he crazy? But the knights saw his face in the pub. They know he’s
in on it with us.
Sarah grabbed his arm,
his gaze imploring. “It’s not safe out there.”

“
It’s not safe in here
either.” Jules shot Frank a glare over his shoulder before he
walked out, slamming the door behind him. Ironically, as loud and
ominous as the slam sounded, the ornate door was carved with a bevy
of angelic symbols and cherubs.

“
You idiot! How could you
chase away the only friend we have in this dreadful place?” She
turned to face Frank, challenging him to a fight that was long
overdue. She wasn’t keen on his Victor-marrying plan in the first
place, and he had talked her into it, just like Jules
said.

He hugged her tight, pressing her
against his broad chest. “I’m sorry, Sarah,” Frank whispered into
her ear, “but the thought of sending you back to that whack-job
infuriates me. We’ll find another way. I promise.”

She snuggled into him, inhaling the
manly scent of his skin, comfort washing over her, if only for a
second. She let out a sigh, eager to forget her own incredulity and
just trust him for a change. “I know, babe. Just try and keep your
cool. Your outbursts aren’t helping my nerves.”

“
So what exactly did you do
to strengthen this so-called bond with your so-called husband?”
Frank asked. “I’m sorry, but I gotta know.”

She looked up at Frank, ready to
confess it all. “I kissed him.”

His gaze narrowed. “Yeah. You
mentioned that.”

“
No, I
mean…I-I
really
kissed him…like, uh…a lot.” She felt the telltale heat rising
in her cheeks. Her breath caught in her throat, but not from shame.
Somehow, Victor’s kiss lingered in her mind, all too vivid, and it
wasn’t an unpleasant memory.

Frank narrowed his gaze. “What
happened to the alleged smooch?”

Is he
jealous?
She regarded him intently, taking
in the frown perched above his brows and the tight lines around his
mouth. “It was more than that—more like some serious making out,
but it didn’t go very far. I swear! Besides, it was only because he
seduced me with those bright blue eyes of his, and I
think—”

He pushed her away. “I just wanted the
truth. You think I want to hear the details? How could you let him
lock lips with you anyway?” He shuddered for dramatic
effect.

She
shrugged, anger rising up inside her.
How
dare he corner me like that and try to make me feel guilty?
“It just happened, Frank. It’s not like the priest
announced us man and wife and I jumped him. It was more like the
other way around. I guess when I didn’t resist, when I kissed him
back, I somehow triggered the darn ring. It was really just some
kind of accident.”

“
So he just attacked
you?”

“
He just seized the
moment.”

“
And you obliged him
because you liked it?” He groaned. “I don’t believe this. I know
we’re not dating, but still. You’re attracted to him big time,
aren’t you?”

“
What woman wouldn’t
be?”

“
Right, with ‘those blue
eyes of his’,” he mocked. “Gosh, Sarah, I can’t believe you’d kiss
that jerk. Do you want to be with him, to be his queen or
something?”

“
Frank, he’s not my type.
You know as well as I do that the last guy I’d want to be with
would be a guy who wants to control me.” She gripped Frank’s hands.
“Besides, I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

“
Right,” Frank said, not
sounding too sure.