Reluctant Prince (10 page)

Reluctant to aggravate her further, he chose his words carefully. “Elijah believes you are meant to be in our realm. You have a small reprieve at the moment because King Maynard allowed me time to prepare a defense and try to find an alternative solution. It won’t last forever. Even if I refuse to collect you, once I’m sentenced he’ll send someone else…someone who will have no problem completing the task he’s been assigned.” He pinned her with a glare, hoping she would understand without him having to spell it out. “Plus, if Daygan figures out we’re looking for you, he’ll want you as well. If he finds you and transfers you to Argonas you will be enslaved for eternity.”

Mia jumped up and clutched Ryleigh’s side. “Ryleigh?”

“It’s all right, Mia. Nothing’s going to happen.” She glared at Jackson even though she spoke to Mia. “We’ll work it out, I promise.” She kissed her sister’s head and handed her the comb. “Why don’t you go put this away and dry your hair while I talk to Jackson for a few minutes?”

Mia hesitated, but turned her back and sulked as she headed toward the bathroom.

“I don’t want you scaring Mia any more, do you understand me?” She pointed a finger at him.

“I’m sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt Mia, but you need to know what you’re up against. I know you’re having a hard time believing everything I’ve told you, but it is true. All of it. We need to start making decisions and preparing for this trial. It’s not only my future on the line here, but yours and Mia’s as well.”

“What trial?”

“Sit down.” It came out sounding more like a command, and he softened his tone. “Please. Sit with me, and I’ll explain.”

He reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry about what happened before. My people haven’t had any real emotions for hundreds of years, but you make me feel again. You make me feel things I don’t understand, things that scare me. I’m so afraid of losing you, and yet I don’t even have you.” He paused, tried to corral his erratic thoughts. He cupped her face in both of his hands. “I don’t want to scare you, Ryleigh, but I know there’s something special between us. I’m not sure what it is yet, but I want to take our time and figure it out.” He didn’t dare tell her any more than that. Not yet. The urge to kiss her again was strong, too strong to ignore. He leaned toward her…and froze. What was he doing? He jumped back. “We don’t have the time right now, though. We have too much else to figure out first. Please work with me on everything else, and then we can see where this is going.” It couldn’t go anywhere. He had to keep reminding himself of that. She was human, he couldn’t claim her, had to stay away from her.

“What trial?”

“Huh?”

“You said we have to prepare for trial. What trial?”

“I’ll tell you what.” He needed a break for a minute, needed to organize his thoughts. “Why don’t you get Mia so she can hear this too? It’s better to go through it only once.”

She stared at him a moment longer, but then left to do as he asked.

He perched on the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, hands fisted, forehead resting on his intertwined fingers. A headache hammered at the base of his skull, and he tried to ignore it. With any luck, the constant throbbing in his head would keep his mind off Ryleigh. But probably not.

He lifted his head and found Ryleigh and Mia staring at him from the doorway.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. I don’t suppose you want to get some sleep before we talk about the rest of this?”

Ryleigh raised an eyebrow before she sat in the chair and tucked her feet beneath her.

“That’s kind of what I figured.”

Mia pulled the beanbag next to Ryleigh’s chair and sat as close to her sister as possible.

“When I returned to Cymmera without you, I was brought before the King for punishment. I was able to convince him I needed time to prepare a defense and look into the possibility of you transferring to Cymmera by choice, rather than by force.”

“How long do you have?”

“Three months.”

Ryleigh relaxed back into the chair a little.

“But I don’t think I’ll need that long. If you can transfer to Cymmera, it’ll prove I’m right. If you can transfer back and forth at will, as all Cymmerans can, I’m pretty sure the King will lift the treason charges.”

“What if you’re wrong and I can’t transfer, or what if I choose not to? What happens to you then?”

“I’ll try to find another way to sway him.”

“And if you can’t?”

She wasn’t going to let this drop without an answer, but he didn’t want it to affect her decision. “I’ll be convicted of treason, at the very least, and punished accordingly.”

“What’s the punishment for treason?”

“You don’t want to know.” He stood and resumed his pacing.

She let it drop, at least for the moment. “Let’s say for argument sake I decide to give it a try, what about Mia? Will she be able to transfer there safely? Because I’m not going anywhere without her.”

“Let’s take one step at a time. We’re not even sure you can transfer.”

“All right. What do I have to do?” She stood up beside the couch and reached for Mia’s hand.

His heartbeat accelerated.

She was going to try.

Excitement flared in his stomach, burned its way through his lungs. “All you have to do is open a portal and step through.”

“That’s all, huh?”

He grinned.

Her answering smile relieved some of the intense pounding in his head.

“Why don’t you just open the portal?” She raised her eyebrow in that endearing, skeptical way she had.

“I can’t. When the King banished me, he stripped me of my powers as well.”

“Powers?” Mia’s eyes lit up.

Happy to have made Mia smile, he elaborated. “Yup. Special powers.”

Ryleigh snorted. “Powers that are conveniently non-existent at the moment.”

Jackson winked at Mia and elicited a giggle.

“When I get them back I’ll show you, and you’ll be amazed.”

“Uh huh.”

“So cynical.”

Ryleigh laughed along with Mia this time. “Okay, tell me what I have to do to open this portal.”

Jackson stood behind Ryleigh and took her hands in his. He inhaled deeply, dragging the scent of strawberries deep within him. He struggled to dampen the flare of heat holding her so close brought. “I don’t know how to explain it, because it’s always come naturally to me. My brother and I used to play with the doorway when we were just kids.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes, he’s a little younger than me. Around sixteen in human years.”

Mia laughed. “You make it sound like you’re talking about a dog.”

He laughed with her. It had been so long since he’d laughed, he could barely remember the feeling. He and his brother used to laugh together. The memory filled him with joy. And remorse.

His people had suffered greatly these past centuries. There had to be a way to return laughter to Cymmera. He shook off the thought. They could only fix one mess at a time.

“You can open a portal anywhere, you just have to concentrate. When you feel the air shift, you clasp your hands together, lift them like this.”

With her back pressed to him, she locked her hands together.

He held her wrists and guided her arms gently up past her head. “Now you just part the air, and the doorway opens.” He pulled her hands apart. Nothing happened.

“I saw that thing at the hospital do this. Let me try.” She chewed at her lower lip, narrowed her eyes in concentration.

He didn’t feel the familiar tingle as she lifted her arms, the telltale sign of calling the doorway, but he waited.

She pulled her hands apart, and no portal opened. “Sorry. Am I doing something wrong?”

Disappointment surged. He honestly didn’t know. He’d never taught anyone to open a portal before, nor had he been taught. It was knowledge acquired during the early years, perhaps by watching parents and others do it. He tried to remember the first time he’d used the doorway on his own. He’d been so young. He remembered the feeling of excitement, the tingle that had started in his belly, spread down his arms and through his fingertips. He’d known the exact second he gripped the portal and had ripped his hands apart to reveal a world he’d only ever seen in pictures or caught slight glimpses of when his parents transferred. He’d been fascinated…

Wait. Maybe that was it. “When I first opened the portal, I already had some expectation of what I’d find on the other side. I’d seen a picture of a rainforest when I was a small child. It was that vision that always stuck with me when I thought of the human realm, and when I opened the doorway, that’s exactly where I ended up. Maybe you need to picture where you want to be to pull up the doorway.”

She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, arching her back. “It’s worth a try. So, tell me, what’s Cymmera like?” She raised her eyebrow, in the cynical way that was beginning to frustrate him.

“It’s barren, cold, desolate. There are a lot of trees, but they’re all dead. Snow and ice cover the ground most of the time, and when it doesn’t there’s only mud or dried out dirt. The underbrush all died so long ago, the remnants have long since dried up and blown away, or been reclaimed by the ground.”

“All right. Stay quiet, and let me concentrate. I’ll give it a shot.”

He backed up, walked around to face her.

She closed her eyes, a frown wrinkling her usually smooth brow.

Mia sucked in a breath at his side and held it.

Ryleigh lifted her arms, slowly, taking her time. Once they were fully extended above her head, her frown deepened, and she yanked her hands apart revealing…

Nothing.

“I’m sorry. I tried so hard.”

“I know. It’s not your fault. I wasn’t even sure it was possible, I just figured it was worth a try.” He’d been so sure she’d be able to open it. How could he have been so wrong? Was he wrong about everything? “Why don’t you get some rest? We can try again later, and maybe you’ll have better luck.”

She lowered her gaze. “Sure. I’ll get you a pillow and blanket, and you can sleep on the couch if you want.”

“I’ll come with you so you don’t have to come back out.” The suspicion in her eyes hurt. But he couldn’t blame her, really. He was a virtual stranger, and he’d barreled into her life amid a raging sea of chaos and confusion. He wouldn’t trust him either, but he wanted to study the layout of the house just in case.

The three of them moved toward the hallway.

“Do you think it’ll work tomorrow?” Mia’s disappointment mirrored his own.

“Maybe. It could be that Ryleigh just needs more practice.” He didn’t think so, though. It wasn’t a practiced skill as much as a natural instinct. “If not we’ll just have to—

The shrill peel of the doorbell echoed deafeningly in the early morning silence.

Ryleigh stopped short and shot a quick look toward the door.

“Do you often get visitors at four a.m.?”

“No, never.”

The fear etched on Ryleigh’s face caused him to hesitate before taking a step toward the door.

Ryleigh shot out a hand to stop him. She grabbed his forearm and pulled him back.

“What are you so afraid of, Ryleigh?”

The doorbell screeched again.

“I get the feeling it’s nothing to do with me, or Cymmera.”

She stared at him, her mouth clamped tightly closed.

At the third ring, urgency screamed at him to act. He pinned her with a stare, held her gaze with his. “Do you trust me, Ryleigh?”

“I…uh…” She lowered her eyes.

He grabbed both her arms in his hands, forced her gaze to his. “No. There isn’t much time. Look deep in your heart. Do you trust me?” Impatience beat at him, begged him to act. He forced it aside.

She searched his eyes. Then she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin, and nodded. “Yes. I do.”

“Tell me. Now.”

Pounding sounded on the door. The front window rattled in its frame. He ignored it.

The words poured out in a rush. “My grandmother was our legal guardian. She passed away last week, and I’m not old enough to be Mia’s guardian. It could be a social worker from the hospital. I’m afraid they’ll take Mia from me.” The last came out on a sob. “I can’t lose her.”

“Try again to open the portal, Ryleigh.”

The pounding increased, punctuated by a loud snort.

His blood ran cold. “Hurry. Try and open it.”

“Why, what’s wrong?” She pulled Mia even closer to her side, sheltered her beneath one arm.

“I doubt a social worker would show up here at this ridiculous hour of the morning to hassle you about Mia, especially if there was no complaint about child abuse or anything.”

“How do you know? You seem to know an awful lot about a world you supposedly don’t even live in.”

Desperation demanded he act. He shoved it ruthlessly aside. “Death Dealers receive extensive training in and about the human realm.”

The door shook. Another snort. A grunt.

“That’s one of Daygan’s savages out there.” He backed up, pushing the girls behind him.

“That’s ridiculous. Why would they knock on the door?”

A loud thud hit the door, rocked the house.

Mia whimpered.

“Probably hoping you’d answer it and they could just grab you quietly.”

The door splintered under the next blow.

“Run.” Jackson shoved both girls into the hallway and turned to follow them.

Rhythmic grunting came from beyond a closed door at the end of the hall. He stopped short, kicking himself. Even without his extra senses he should have realized what Daygan was up to. “Ryleigh, you have to open a portal. They knocked on the door to allow the others to come in the back without us noticing.”

The remnants of the front door crashed against the wall.

“Ryleigh.” Mia’s voice shook. “Do something. Hurry.”

Daygan and three of his savages now stood in the living room.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Jackson Maynard. Imagine meeting you here. Shouldn’t you be home learning how to be a soldier, or a king, or a princess, or something?” Daygan’s vicious smile held no humor.

Jackson ignored him and turned the girls toward the back of the house.

Two more savages blocked their escape route.