Forged in Fire (The Forged Chronicles Book 3) (4 page)

“Stop!” Ainsley screamed, pulling me off of Gregor seconds before I took his life.

J
ames almost killed him
. He almost killed Gregor right before my eyes. And the worst part was it appeared to be over Gregor telling me something I wasn’t supposed to know. My head spun. The haze was still there, and I was exhausted; however, the exhaustion and haze was nothing compared to my dismay.

“You almost killed him.” I stared at James in disbelief. My heart rate was out of control, and I struggled to pull in enough air.

“Ainsley.” He watched me with wide, fearful eyes.

Why was he fearful? He was the one who almost killed a man. I still couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

“What?” I watched him. “Are you going to kill me if I try to say something you don’t want to hear?” The words sounded false to my own ears. I couldn’t accept a reality where James could hurt me, but could I accept one where James tried to kill another?

“How can you say that?” James strode toward me. “How can you think I would ever lay a hand on you?”

I backed away and knelt down beside where Gregor lay on the ground. I touched the thick red rings around his neck. “Are you okay?”

He croaked out a few words. “Not thanks to your lover.”

My stomach turned. I was sleeping with a man capable of murder. And I’d been just about to have sex with him again. The worst part is I wanted him. Not my conscious mind, but my body. It still craved him even though the rest of me wanted to run.

“Ainsley. Step away from him.” James’ voice was firm. “Please step away.”

“No. I am not going anywhere or doing anything until you fill me in. I’d ask Gregor to tell me, but that would probably lead to his death. What was he going to tell me?” I knew it wasn’t going to be something I wanted to hear.

“I do not think you can handle it right now. You are too shaken up.”

“Too shaken up!” I jumped to my feet. “Are you kidding me? That’s your fault, you know that?”

“I was only protecting—”

“You had better not have been about to say you were protecting me.” I was careful to make myself seem more in control than I really was. I was dizzy and nauseated and feeling anything but strong.

“But I was. Everything I have done is to protect you.” James’ shoulders slumped.

“Everything you have done? What have you done?” I wrapped my arms over my chest.

“What he was born to do.” Gregor sat up.

I backed away from both of them. I didn’t trust James, but that didn’t mean I trusted Gregor either. “What does that even mean? What he was born to do?”

“We will have this conversation alone.” James reached out for me.

“Like hell we will.” I backed further away. “I am not going anywhere with you. I have already made myself clear.”

“Ainsley, calm down.” James eyes appeared glassy.

“Calm down?” Was he kidding with me? “You almost killed a man. Killed him. And you’ve been keeping more secrets.”

“We are going to our room.” James grabbed my hand.

I tried to pull it away. “Let go of me.”

“Tell her the truth, James. Tell her,” Gregor demanded.

“I care nothing of what you say.” James glared at Gregor. “Stay out of this.”

“She needs to know. I warned you about locking her away.”

“Yet this is what happens when I let her out!” James yelled.

“Let me out?” It took a moment for his words to sink in. “Are you kidding me?”

“Ainsley. There is more at play here than you could possibly imagine.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Try me. I’ve been told I have a fantastic imagination. It’s so great in fact I imagined you cared about me,” I spat out. “My mistake.”

“I do care for you. I love you. Nothing happening here changes anything.” James stepped toward me.

“It changes everything.” I turned to Gregor. “Tell me. If he won’t tell me, you need to.”

“Ainsley…” James spoke my name softly. “I will tell you once we are alone.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You should.” He tightened his hold on my hand and pulled me so I was in his arms. “You know you can trust me. You know you are mine.”

“Yours? Yeah… don’t bet on that.” I struggled to move out of his arms, but he held me too tight.

“You are my kindred.” His eyes bore into mine.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I have to be with you.”

“You are willing to turn your back on everything that exists between us because of him?” James pointed to Gregor.

“Not because of him. Because you almost killed him.” I would never get that image out of my mind.

“I was protecting you.”

“From what?” I shouted. “All he was doing was trying to tell me the truth.”

“The truth can be dangerous,” James calmly replied.

“Not any more dangerous than not knowing.”

“He is right.” Gregor returned to his feet. “As much as I do not want to agree with him. But that changes nothing. You need to know.”

“Someone tell me.” I closed my eyes in an attempt to regain my composure, but it wasn’t going to work. Too much had happened.

James cleared his throat. “I am not sure where I should begin.”

“Where to begin?” I struggled to respond. “This is that kind of story?”

“It is a hard story to tell.”

“Start telling it.” I was out of patience.

“I needed to save you. I was willing to do anything.” James hung his head.

He seemed so upset I longed to comfort him, but I couldn’t. Not after what I’d seen him do to Gregor.

“I had no choice after Charlotte refused her help.”

“So that was true?” I needed to believe at least some of his words had been. “She refused to help you?” His hold had loosened, so I stepped back from him.

“She did not trust me. She had me locked up.”

“Locked up?” I startled.

“She refused to listen to reason even after I explained your need for me. After I explained you would die without me.”

“Why?” I fought through the haze to listen. I needed to understand.

“She thought she could do it herself, but she could not. She did not understand the power we are dealing with.”

“What kind of power?” I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know, but I needed to.

“The poison was made by my father.”

“I am well aware.” I hated his father even though I’d never met him.

“Charlotte is strong, but not that strong.” James sighed.

“So what happened? If you were locked up, how did you get to me?”

Gregor laughed.

I turned to him. “What are you laughing at?”

“This is going to be rather entertaining.”

“There is nothing entertaining about this situation.” I wasn’t sure who I was more annoyed with at that moment. They were both on my bad list. I closed my eyes and worked once again to regain a sense of calm. I opened them. “Ok, continue.”

James met my eyes. “I reached out for help, and someone else answered.”

My chest clenched, and I got chills as the realization of what he was implying set in. “You didn’t.”

James nodded. “I did.”

“Your father?” I started to shake. “You. No. I don’t believe it.”

James reached out for me, and I shook my head. “Stay away.”

“It is still me, Ainsley. There is no reason to be afraid.”

“Tell her the rest, James. Get it over with,” Gregor pressed.

“She cannot handle more yet.” James face was filled with panic.

“I want to hear it. Everything.” What had he promised his father in return? I glanced around me. Should I run? Where could I go? And who could help me get rid of the poison?

James’ eyes were wide with anguish. “He helped me. He gave me the power to get to you.”

“Wait. The power? Explain that.” I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart.

“I cannot explain it.”

“Yes you can. And you will. I need to know. Now.” I used every ounce of strength I had to keep myself standing.

“You do not truly want to know. It will not be easy to hear.”

“Easy or not I need to hear it.” I braced myself for what was coming, and I already knew it was going to change things completely. This sort of revelation was becoming all too common now. I had an idle thought of how nice it would be to wake up in my old life—but that couldn’t happen, and there was still a part of me that wouldn’t want to go back to my life before James.

“He is part of me now.” James’s eyes locked on mine.

“Uh, what?” I was hit by a wave of disgust and fear.

He reached out for me again. I stepped away.

“Ainsley. Please do not make this any harder than it already is.”

“Harder than it already is?” My body shook.

“I did it to save you. Surely that must mean something to you.” His eyes pleaded with me.

“It does mean something.” Maybe it shouldn’t have. Maybe I should have been the martyr who told him I’d have rather died, but I couldn’t. Not with the look on his face. But it didn’t mean it was okay. “Your motivations are beside the point. You have to get rid of him. I don’t know what you promised, but you can’t do it if it hurts others.”

“And it hurts others.” Gregor grinned.

His grin seemed far more frightening than the last one had been.

James nodded. “It is not as simple as you make it sound.”

“I never said it was simple,” I explained. All I said was you had to do it no matter what.” I tried to fight off the haze, but it was getting worse.

James smiled sadly. “If only it could work that way.”

“It has to work that way.”

“Are you even a little curious what he is supposed to do?” Gregor’s voice was full of excitement. He was as cold-hearted as I’d originally assumed.

“You said it would hurt people. That’s all I need to know.”

“Don’t you want to know what people?” Gregor’s entire face was animated.

“It doesn’t matter. Anyone getting hurt is bad.”

“But it is worse when it is people you may know.” Gregor grinned even bigger.

“Just say it, Gregor. Obviously you are bubbling over with excitement.” I tried to hide my fear at what was coming but my entire body was shaking.

“Ainsley, this will be too much. You need to take time to process what I have told you already.” James reached for me again.

“No, I want it all over with. I can’t wait.” I was barely standing up as is, and the anticipation of hearing things that were worse made it that much harder to stay in control.

“At least let me near you.”

“No.” I shook my head.

“I need you. You are what keeps the darkness at bay,” James pleaded. “I cannot fight it without you.”

His eyes were still his, warm and caring, and I found I believed him. I believed him about his reasons, and the role I could play.

“This doesn’t mean I am accepting what you did, or that I am changing my mind. You are not doing what your father asked of you.” I held out my hand tentatively.

James took my hand in his, surprising me by not taking advantage by pulling me even closer. Instead he looked directly into my eyes. “My father lost Energo. He was robbed of the chance to rule it.”

“Robbed of the chance?”

“Yes. Robbed. But he has plans to find another kingdom for us.”

“Wait.” I wasn’t ready for what I knew was coming. “First explain yourself. How was he robbed of anything?”

“The story we were told was all wrong. Even my father perpetuated a myth that had no basis in truth.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.” And my confusion wasn’t coming from the haze.

“I wish I could share these memories with you.”

“Memories?” I raised an eyebrow. “What are you remembering?”

“They are not my memories precisely.” He looked past me.

“Whose are they?” I asked even though I already knew and feared the answer.

“My father’s.”

“Maybe I’d rather know the plan than this memory.”

“The memory is not bad. Painful maybe.” James blinked a few times as if trying to clear his vision. “It has made me understand my father more than I thought possible.”

“Are you sure that’s not because he’s part of you or whatever it is you were telling me he was?”

“It is. That is how I can see his memories. It is almost like they are my own.” I wanted to drop his hand. I wanted to run as far away as possible. But what good would that do? He was in this mess because he wanted to save my life. I couldn’t just leave now and let him do whatever awful stuff his father had planned.

“Just tell me then. Before the memory. What does he want you to do?”

James let out a long, slow, breath. “Take over your world.”

I barely had a chance to process his words. My head swirled, and I felt faint. Then everything went black.

“
T
hat went well
.” Gregor laughed.

“Do not speak.” I cradled Ainsley against me. Thankfully I had been able to catch her before she hit the ground. “This is all your fault.”

“Would it have been better to hide the truth from her longer? She needed to know.”

“It could have waited.”

“For what?” He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “For you to lay with her a few more times before she hated you?”

“She needs me.” I ignored his jest about sex. “And now she is never going to even want to speak to me.” I looked down at her. She was breathing so gently I could almost forget the stress that led to her passing out. I wanted to erase everything negative. I wanted to give her the life she deserved. But not one without me. That was an impossibility now.

“But she held your hand. After admitting you have the Cipher she still held your hand.” There was something close to wonder in his voice.

“That was before she knew what the plan was.” Still, it had amazed me. She may not have been completely willing to forgive, but she cared enough about me on some level to allow me her touch.

“Still, she understands why you did it.” Gregor shrugged. “Although I wonder if your story is true.”

“It is no story. Of course it is true.”

“You turned to him out of your love for her?” Gregor rolled his eyes. “Likely.”

“I did not want to become my father. I have spent my entire adult life trying to fight the assumption that I am. I only accepted his help out of desperation. Letting Ainsley die was not an option. She is my everything. I could not lose her.”

“You will not lose her. She will come around.” Gregor sounded far more confident than I felt.

“I fear she will not be able to accept it.”

“The lost world is not truly her home.” Gregor looked out toward the woods. “Maybe it will help when you tell her that part.”

“Because she is my kindred?” I tried to understand his logic.

“Wait.” He grinned. “You do not know.”

“Know what?”

“Who Ainsley really is.” He clapped his hands. “This is brilliant. Our father told me more than he told you.”

“You know nothing of Ainsley that I do not know myself.”

“Are you sure about that?” He pressed.

“Yes.”

“Then who is her father?” His eyes danced with amusement once again.

I said nothing, waiting for him to reveal more before I admitted anything.

“You do not know.” He smiled. “But I am sure you could figure it out if you tried.”

“Tell me what you are implying.”

“I am not implying anything.” He looked down at his boots. “I know exactly who her father is. Or should I say was.”

“Was? Is he dead?” The time for hiding my cards were over. I needed to know.

And I had a gnawing in my chest that told me I already knew the answer. My father had thought she was the right match for a reason. And she was my kindred. She had a connection to Belgard, and there was one man from Belgard that had spent a great deal of time in the lost world. Including in the city where Ainsley was born. She had been asked to housesit at Charlotte’s house. My father had known exactly who she was. “She has Winthrop blood.”

Gregor laughed. “Yes. Of course she does. Which is why the Cipher’s plan is perfect.”

“Ainsley is Monty’s daughter.” I tried to let that truth set in. I had known Charlotte’s Uncle Monty well. I had grieved after his death as though he had been my own family.

I looked down at Ainsley’s peaceful face.

“You had no idea of her true identity.”

“Of course not.” I reached for the door to the tower.

“What a wonderful surprise for you too then.” He grinned.

“If Ainsley still wants to be mine after all this I can worry about things being wonderful.”

“You act as though she has a choice.” Gregor kicked the dirt with his boot. “She really only has two.”

“Two?” I arched an eyebrow.

“She could of course choose me.”

Anger flooded me. “She will never be with you.”

“She is a beautiful girl but too difficult. I will not press her either way, but she has to be with one of us.” He looked down at her.

“My father never recognized you.” I finally admitted out loud what I had come to accept.

“
Our
father recognized me quietly.” Gregor gave me a sly smile. “You were too busy to listen.”

I still had not quite processed everything I had learned over the past few hours. I had a half-brother, and Ainsley was the daughter of a powerful man I had once counted as my ally. It could have been worse. At least Ainsley and I were unrelated. I would not have been able to handle such a revelation.

I reached again for the door, and this time Gregor made no move to stop me. I carried Ainsley up the spiral staircase to our room.

I carefully laid her down on the bed. If this had been the first time she had passed out I would have worried, but she had done it before and each time she had reawakened.

I watched her for a few moments before a thought entered my consciousness. Her memory seemed flawed so maybe she would not remember—even as I thought about it I knew it did not matter. I would have to tell her everything anyway.

I watched her again. I could stare at her for hours. Maybe it would seem creepy to an outsider, but there was nothing wrong with my attention. Watching her calmed me and reminded me that the real me was still inside. My heart was still pure; it would be as long as I had her.

I took her hand in mine. Her skin was so soft yet cold. I wanted her warmer. I lay down beside her and pulled her into my arms. I hoped she would not recoil from me when she woke up.

* * *

S
he stirred beside me
, mumbling something incomprehensible as she snuggled into my chest. I soaked up the feel of her body pressed against mine now that I knew she might no longer want to be there.

I gently ran my hand down her back. I wanted to avoid waking her up, but I also wanted to touch her as much as I could. I would never get enough of my Ainsley, and all I could do was hope that eventually she would forgive me.

“James.”

My eyes flew open, and I looked at her. She was smiling, and for a second I thought I was asleep.

“Hello, my love.”

“I had the craziest dream.”

“Did you?” My stomach turned. I had a pretty good idea of what that dream was.

“Yes. You were saying all these strange things.”

“Was I?” I tried to keep my voice even when I felt anything but.

“But it was just a dream?” She put her hand on my chest. “Right?”

I swallowed hard. I had to do the right thing. “Maybe not.”

“James.” She pushed her hand into my chest. “Please tell me it was a dream.”

“How about I tell you about one other thing first?”

“Okay.” She shut her eyes. “But for now I am going to assume it was a dream.”

“Can you open your eyes for this?”

She nodded and opened her beautiful blue eyes. “Yes.”

“There was a man who fell in love with a woman. She was everything and anything he ever wanted. He hadn’t realized how much he needed her until she came into his life.”

She rested her head on my chest. “Is this about you or your father?”

“Me.” It was the one part of me that was still separate. “And this man was willing to do anything for this woman including sell his soul to the one person he hated more than any other.” I let the words flow out despite how much it hurt to voice them out loud.

“She wasn’t worth it.” Ainsley spoke in a barely a whisper.

“She was. This woman was worth all the worlds to him. And he knew as long as she stayed with him, he could fight the darkness.”

“So you’re not going to go along with your father’s plan?” She picked her head up.

“Not in the way he thinks I will.”

“What does that mean?” She’d given up on thinking it was a dream. No reason to back down now.

“It means I will give him what he wants.”

She pushed away. “James!”

I grabbed onto her hand. “No one will get hurt. I have a plan.”

“Then tell me the plan.”

“I will. But only if I know you are with me.”

“I am with you whether I want to be or not.” She sighed.

“And I promise when this is all over I will give you a choice. I will break that connection and let you free if it is what you desire.”

“I have no clue what I’m going to want. Right now my concern is getting you back and protecting my world. Is that really part of your father’s plan? I mean taking over my world?”

“It is,” I admitted.

“Ok. Then I’m on board with your plan.”

“I cannot let you go.” I ran my hands through her hair.

“I’ll die without you. I get that.”

“No.” I struggled to come up with the right words. “I can’t let you go, but I have to. I need help.”

“What does getting help have to do with me?”

“The darkness inside me is growing. Right now I can keep it at bay when you are near, but I am not sure how long that will last.”

“I still don’t quite understand how I fit into all of this.”

“I need you to run away from me.”

“What?” Ainsley’s hand flew to her chest.

“And you have to do it fast.” I closed my eyes. Almost every part of me fought against speaking the words, but one part agreed. My heart. I needed to do this.

“James, what are you talking about?

“I cannot let Gregor know the plan. He will take you from me, and then we are all done for.”

“Why is he here?”

“Because he is my father’s other son.”

“Uh, what?” Ainsley sat up. “Not that I should be remotely surprised. Nothing anyone has said or done in the last few days has been normal.”

“I did not know before. Although to be honest I am not surprised my father had another child. What surprised me was that my father hid his existence from me.” I had discovered he had been keeping countless secrets from me. Some were more surprising than others.

“Your father was only concerned with getting what he wanted from people. That knowledge might have changed how you dealt with him.” Ainsley wrapped the blankets around herself.

“It is not as though I were conceived out of a loving relationship.”

“Did you know your mom?” Ainsley rested her hands in her lap.

“No. She died in childbirth.” That was no secret. My father had reminded me of that reality again and again while I was growing up.

“I’m sorry.” Ainsley squeezed my hand.

“There is nothing to be sorry for. I only wish she would have been able to continue her life. I am sure she was a good woman, but how and why she became involved with my father I will never know.”

“I want to know more about her, but first I need to understand why you are telling me to run away.”

“I can keep my father at bay when we touch. I am strong enough to hold back the darkness when I have you.” But it was only temporary. There was a limit to my strength.

“Then how could you send me away? Wouldn’t that mean you lose control?” Ainsley inched closer to me.

“Even with you I cannot do this forever. I need help.” And I had to protect Ainsley. I finally understood my father’s plan, and I refused to use her in the way he intended.

“And how does my running away help you at all?” Ainsley sighed. “I am so confused, and I don’t know how much is from the haziness and how much comes from this situation being insane.”

“I need you to get Charlotte. We need her help.”

“But what happens when I’m gone?” Ainsley’s eyes were wide. “What if the darkness takes over?”

“It is one of the many reasons you need to hurry.”

“I’m not worried about myself.”

“You should be.” I buried my head in my hands. “I have no strength to beg you to leave when all I want is to keep you here.”

“How am I supposed to get back to Belgard by myself?” Ainsley pulled my hands from my face. “Have you thought about that?”

“I know you can do it.”

“Even though I have absolutely no sense of direction?”

“You do not have to get all the way to Belgard alone. I know of others who can help you.”

“And how do I get to them?” She sighed.

“That my love is going to require a little bit of work.”