Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Ryker still had nothing to say.
“Please help me.”
His hands went to his hips, and his head dropped. “Fuck, man.”
“Get me into the castle without being seen. I just need to find something in the library, and then I’ll be on my way again.”
“Ivory, you can’t go back down there by yourself.”
“I’ll be fine, Ryker.”
“You expect me to just lie to Father?” he asked. “Lie through my teeth and say I haven’t seen or heard from you?”
“I think that would be best, yes.”
He released an angry sigh.
“Please.”
“You know that castle as well as I do. You know how to come and go.”
“But I need you to keep my secret. Can you do that?”
He stared me down, breathing heavily. “How are you helping them?”
“They need me to heal one of their creatures, but it’s the type of wound I’ve never treated before.”
“You’re doing all of this for that?”
“I would do it for a person. What’s the difference?”
“Why is this important to them?”
I held my silence.
“You do realize you’re asking me to help you, which is the same thing as helping the enemy.”
“I’m not the enemy, Ryker. Father isn’t the enemy either. You know who is? Necrosis.”
He gave a sigh.
“Convince Father to form an alliance against Necrosis. I’ve already secured safety for both of you, so neither of you is in danger.”
“You know that would never happen.”
“Then you know why I’m doing this. I want to live in a world where people aren’t sacrificed. Children aren’t sacrificed. Where there aren’t people at the top of the cliffs and those at the bottom. We’re all one people, Ryker. No one is willing to do the work to change that, but I am.”
My brother seemed defeated, because no more arguments came from him. “I can talk to Father. But I don’t think it’ll go anywhere. He also intends to get me as close to the throne as possible, in the hopes that we’ll be the ruling family one day. If I really can take over the Capital, then you would have the Kingdoms.”
“The king has sons.”
Ryker gave a shrug. “He said he would take care of it.”
“Take care of it how?”
He gave another shrug.
“And you still don’t believe me?”
This time, Ryker looked away. “I’ll get you into the castle as a concubine. Work in the library during the night and sleep in your bedchamber at night. They only clean your room once a week now, on Mondays.”
“What is today?”
“I don’t fucking know. I must have lost track sometime between when I was captured by the Teeth and then bitten by one.” He turned back to the castle. “Come on, you guys can stay in one of the houses. At nightfall, I’ll come for you.”
18
RYKER
With my hood, no one seemed to recognize me.
I wasn’t sure if the people of Delacroix even knew I was missing. The guards should be searching for me, but they seemed to think I was long dead, judging by their carelessness.
There were homes in Delacroix that belonged to my father, homes used to house King Rutherford’s men when they came to inspect. I assumed none of them were there now, so the accommodations were unoccupied. I didn’t have a key, so I had to pick the lock to get the girls inside.
We stepped into the home and shut the door behind us, the curtains drawn so no one could see inside. It was a well-furnished residence with a kitchen, living room, and several bedrooms down the hall. It was nicer than most of the homes in town, except for some of the shopkeepers who did very well for themselves and paid handsome taxes from their earnings.
Effie took a quick look around before she turned back to me. “It’s been so long since I’ve been inside a house…”
“Not too shabby,” Ivory said. “Especially for the royal guard.”
“I’ll find out when they’re coming next,” I said. “In the meantime, you should be safe here. There’s money in the drawer to purchase whatever you need.” I wasn’t sure how long I’d been gone, but it must have been a significant amount of time because this place didn’t feel quite the same. “I’ll return this evening.”
“You know what I’m going to do first?” Ivory headed down the hallway. “Take a damn bath.”
That left Effie and me alone, the first time we’d really been alone together since our adventure started. Her arms were tight around her chest, and the light in her eyes was long gone. The emptiness was there, the loneliness, the fear.
“I’ll find your family, Effie.”
She lifted her eyes to me.
“I’ll get you a nice place at the Capital, and you can start over.”
“And what about everyone else?” she whispered. “The next lottery winners?”
I was too ashamed to look at her, so I dropped my gaze. “I’m working on it…”
Once I made it to the castle doors, the guards immediately rushed to relay the news to my father.