Ever After (34 page)

She plowed on. What did she have to lose? “I’m a hard worker, and I’ll stay later to make up for the hour I’m late in the morning.” The pleading note in her voice irritated her. She was only one step away from begging.

“It’s not that. You have great references, and I’m sure you’re a hard worker, but a lot of work gets done in that first hour. Calls have to be returned, emails answered.” He tossed the application onto his cluttered desk and rubbed his neck. “I’m sorry, Ryleigh. I understand you need the job.”

Ryleigh stood. This couldn’t be happening. With only a few months left until graduation, she didn’t want to be forced to drop out, but what else could she do? “Look, Mr. Jacobs, can’t you just—” Vertigo assailed her. The room rocked, and she grabbed the desk.

Mr. Jacobs grabbed the back of his chair. His eyes mirrored her panic. Books flew from the shelves. Glass shattered.

She had to get to Mia.

She turned to run. The building bucked, and she toppled, slamming her knee into the hard wood floor. Pain shot up her leg. She grabbed the chair to pull herself up, but the next wave threw her back down. She tried to regain her footing, but someone yanked her to the ground.

“Stay down.” Mr. Jacobs shoved her forward. He crawled beside her, half pushing, half dragging her toward the door.

Debris pelted her back, shoulders, and head. How could she have left Mia? Tears blurred her vision.

“If it’s an earthquake, it should stop any minute. Just keep crawling toward the door.”

Desperately wishing she could cover her ears to block the screaming, she clawed forward. Her knee dragged behind her, pain pulsing with each movement. Falling apart wouldn’t help matters. She had to get to Mia.

Ryleigh crawled through the doorway, into utter chaos. People trying to push through the mess, others huddled in corners shielding their heads. An injured woman cried as she rocked back and forth clutching her arm. A man crouched over her.

Fear and disorientation held Ryleigh immobile.

Mr. Jacobs pulled her.

Pressing her back to the wall, she sat with her knees pulled up to her chest and finally slapped her hands over her ears. It didn’t block the screams. A chair shattered the smoky glass window.

Mr. Jacobs tried to shield her from flying glass, broken ceiling tiles, and projectiles that had once been office supplies.

She threw her arms over her head and curled into a ball, making as small a target of herself as possible. Painful sobs wracked her body. Was this a terrorist attack like the one that killed her parents? An earthquake? They didn’t have earthquakes on Long Island. Smoke assailed her.

She tried to move.

Mr. Jacobs wouldn’t budge.

“I have to get downstairs,” she yelled.

He pressed her back against the wall every time she tried to free herself.

The building groaned against the violent tremors surging through it.

Everything stilled, but the nauseating sensation of movement remained. Sounds were muffled as if she were under water. She rubbed her ears. It didn’t help.

Mr. Jacobs moved away from her. “Are you hurt?”

She barely heard him over the ringing in her ears.

“Ms. Donnovan?” He shook her shoulder. “Ryleigh.”

She had to get to Mia, but she couldn’t even manage a response. She crawled a foot or two when the enormity of the situation slammed through her. She couldn’t draw any air into her lungs. Her legs shaky, she tried to stand. Reaching out blindly, she clutched a chair, but it rolled away from her, and she sprawled amid the debris.

“Ryleigh.” Mr. Jacobs helped her up then lowered her into a chair. “Just sit for a minute. Don’t try to move.” He walked away.

She concentrated on breathing, gradually controlling her racing heart. She could do this, had to calm down. Even if Mia wasn’t hurt, she had to be terrified. Ryleigh was terrified. She never should have left Mia alone. She touched her throbbing temple and pulled back a hand sticky with blood. No wonder she couldn’t think.

“Here.” Mr. Jacobs pressed a dry cloth against her head. “Are you all right?”

“I think so.”

“Hold this on your head.” He went to aid a wailing woman clutching her arm tightly to her body. Sobbing, mixed with soothing sounds of those trying to help, replaced the screaming.

Ryleigh wasn’t sure which way to go. She had to get her bearings. It felt as if days had passed since she’d rushed into the unfamiliar building, and she had no memory of the layout. Glass covered the floor where the smoky walls had once stood, so she limped that way.

“Miss.” A hand fell on her shoulder. “Are you all right? Do you need help?”

Ryleigh shook her head and kept walking, stepping carefully in the ridiculous pumps she’d chosen that morning. One shoe snagged on something and pulled free of her foot. She kicked off the other shoe and made her way into the corridor.

A crowd was moving one direction, so Ryleigh joined them. Some cried softly as they trudged through piles of debris. Others helped injured co-workers and friends, and some plowed through everyone in their haste to get out. A big man with a crew cut shoved her aside, and when she reached out to steady herself against the wall, she dropped the cloth she’d had pressed against her head.

Her head cleared a little. Okay. She could do this. Though the elevator stood open, the shaft was empty. Everyone bypassed it and entered a stairwell at the end of the corridor. Would Mia try to come up and find her? Goosebumps covered her. No. She would stay where she was or leave. She’d never try to come up. Would she? Adrenaline shot through Ryleigh, and she increased her pace, heedless of her bare feet. She’d only gone down two steps when the world rocked again. Clutching the railing tightly, she pressed her body against the wall as chaos erupted around her.

“Get out of the way…go, go, go…move…here, let me help you…no, wait, don’t move…stop pushing.” Rumbling. Tearing. Screaming. People pushed and shoved. The woman in front of her panicked and tried to run. She fell, and several people tumbled down the stairs in a domino effect. Fragments rained down on them. Holding onto the banister for dear life, Ryleigh crouched and tried to shield her head.

It didn’t last as long this time. At least it seemed shorter. The instant the shaking ceased, she jumped up and hobbled down the stairs. She reached the pile of people on the first landing and climbed over, around, and through them. When she turned the corner, the second stairway was empty. Fighting through the pain in her knee, Ryleigh ran.

Gripping the railing, she fled down the remaining two flights and burst through the last door into what had once been the lobby.

“Mia!” She choked on thick, black smoke then dropped to her hands and knees. Think, think, think. Which way had she turned to enter the elevator? Keeping her right side against the wall, she crawled in the direction she thought the elevators should be. The sprinkler system rained from the ceiling. Alarms blared. Moving forward blindly, Ryleigh held her breath and prayed fervently to find Mia unharmed. She felt along the base of the wall, hoping to find any landmark that would help her get her bearings.

Her hand fell into open space, throwing her off balance, and she flattened herself against the floor. Smoke poured from the empty elevator shaft on her right. She inched forward, half dragging, and half crawling in the direction she thought would bring her to the lobby.

The wall turned to the right. She reluctantly left her safety net and crossed the lobby. She pushed up to all fours and forced herself through obstacles blocking her way to Mia. Her eyes burned, and she struggled to see through narrow slits. Everything hurt. Her head pounded in time with the throbbing in her knee. Her feet hurt too bad to try to walk. She’d jammed her hand on something in her fight to escape the stairwell. Her fingers were probably broken.

Recklessly, she made her way across the floor until something solid stopped her short. She sat up and tried to look around, ran her hand over the obstacle, and realized she’d run into the wall on the opposite side of the lobby. But where was the seat she’d left Mia in? She should have already passed it.

The shaking started again, and she braced herself against the wall.

The tremors were not another earthquake, but her own body trembling. A fit of coughs wracked her. She had to get out of there. Maybe Mia had already gotten out. Surely, someone would have helped her escape.

She rubbed her eyes, but they burned too badly to keep them open, anyway. Keeping her left hand against the wall as a guide, she crept forward. If she just followed the wall around, she should come to the front door. It was getting harder to breathe, and when she tried to take a deep breath, she choked. The chaotic noise receded into static. Was she the only person left in the lobby? In the building?

Another obstruction impeded her escape. She felt around the edge of it. Was it a chair? If it was, it was upside down. Soft cries reached her, and her heart soared. “Mia?”

“Ry—” Mia sobbed. “—leigh?”

“Oh, Mia!” Ryleigh crawled under the chair and dragged her sister into her arms. “Why didn’t you get out?” She held Mia at arm’s length and struggled to assess any damage. No use, she couldn’t see anything. “Are you hurt?”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find me.” Mia held Ryleigh tight.

As she clutched her little sister, relief flooded through her. A new round of coughing interrupted the reunion, though, and Ryleigh set Mia back from her. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”

“Kay.” Mia had her own coughing fit.

Ryleigh held Mia’s hand as they crawled forward. “Stay right with me, and don’t let go.”

The smoke opened a clear pathway, but a dark form blocked it. No more than a silhouette, insubstantial, yet it wasn’t an apparition.

She struggled desperately to suppress a cough and pulled Mia back beneath the chair.

“Wh—”

Ryleigh covered Mia’s mouth. “Shh.” The tiniest hint of sound escaped her. She didn’t dare speak, not even a whisper. She barely even breathed as she sank back into the shadows, dragging her sister with her.

The figure grew as it solidified. Backlit by light spilling from the front of the building, it appeared to be all black. Smoke swirled around it. Him.

She gripped Mia tighter and tried to beat back the fear, tried to suppress the shudders rushing through her. It didn’t make any sense. He was probably there to help. Yet, when she tried to move forward, her instincts wouldn’t allow it.

Her gaze met his, just for an instant. His eyes were bottomless black pits that stopped her heart.

He vanished.

The inexplicable paralysis finally released her, and she dragged Mia with her as she bolted for the door.

* * * *

Jackson clutched the stone wall of his chamber and gasped for air. What had just happened? He had returned to Cymmera, of that he was certain, but how? He hadn’t accessed the gateway. At least he didn’t remember opening it. A vision of her assailed him, beat at him, reminded him that he’d failed.

Oh, man. He was in trouble. He pushed away from the wall.

Images of his target taunted him.

He shoved a chair aside and tore through the pictures scattered across the table in a desperate search for salvation. There. He pulled the shot from the mess but found only condemnation. The long blond hair flowing behind her in the snapshot had not been visible to him, but there was no mistaking the deep blue of her eyes.

The pounding of a fist against the heavy wood door released him from whatever spell she’d cast.

“Jackson.” Another loud thud punctuated his name.

He struggled to get his bearings, tried to slow the racing of his heart. “Yeah, one minute.”

“Now. Your father wants to see you, immediately.”

Kai, his father’s most trusted warrior. He was in more trouble than he’d originally thought. Was it possible the king would sentence him to death for ignoring a direct order? Surely not without offering him a fair trial, or at least granting him the opportunity to explain. But what could he say? What explanation could there be for failing to deliver the girl? None.

“I won’t knock again.” The warrior would soon break down the door and drag him before the throne.

He crumpled the offending photo, the evidence of his disgrace, into a ball. Instead of tossing it in the trash as he’d intended, he shoved it into the small leather satchel he wore at his waist. With a deep breath, he released the latch and pulled open the door.

“Come.” Kai turned his back on him and strode purposefully down the corridor, their footfalls echoing through the silence of accusation.

The thought of escape taunted him, but he would never make it out of the castle. He had only recently completed his warrior training under Kai’s watch and would be no match for the seasoned soldier. Besides, Kai was a stickler for the rules. If he tried to run, the warrior would surely take him down, protégé or not.

Two guards stood sentinel, one on either side of double doors. When Kai reached the entrance, they each grabbed a large iron ring and pulled the heavy wooden doors open before Jackson formulated an even halfway plausible excuse.

He nodded to each of them as he entered the throne room.

They stared straight ahead, stone-faced.

Uh…oh.

Kai stepped to the side and faced him, leaving Jackson alone to approach his father.

King Maynard rose to his full height, close to seven feet. An intimidating man by nature, made even more so by the deep scowl lining his face.

“Your Majesty, sir.” Jackson lowered to one knee, folded his hands over the other knee, and bowed his head in the traditional greeting for the king.

“Stand.”

Jackson stood. He would offer no explanation before one was demanded of him. He would show no weakness. A bead of sweat ran down his back. Well, there was nothing he could do about that. At least it wasn’t visible to the other two men. He would show no outward signs of distress.

“Explain,” the king bellowed.

Jackson jumped. So much for not showing weakness. “Sir.” Damn, damn, damn. Oh well, when in doubt go with honesty. “I have no excuse, sir.” He forced his head to remain high, his gaze to hold the king’s.