Mark of Love (Love Mark #3) - Linda Kage Page 0,161
and Afton, Qualmer leaned in close behind me and murmured, “Want to know another reason why I’m so excited to get you in my possession?”
I blinked, trying to stay conscious as we entered a hall and started down the stone floor to a stairwell. It took him some effort to hobble the wheels up each step, but his glamouring was impressive; he somehow made it look like two men—the king and his personal guard—were strolling up them side by side.
“Because of my mother,” he finally added, murmuring in my ear when we reached the top of the steps. “Melaina always did have a soft spot for you, hiding you away as her servant like she did for all those years after the tenth reaping, then sending you off for good when she interrupted me that one time I was just trying to have a little fun. She probably still keeps tabs on you now, doesn’t she?”
He paused his talking to straighten and shout, “Make way for the King of Lowden,” as we passed through an archway that led outside into a courtyard filled with people milling about, shoeing horses, shoveling hay, training with swords. But they all straightened respectfully as he and I and his entourage of fake guards marched right past them.
The man had guts; I’d give him that. I never would’ve had the courage to attempt such a deceitful show in front of so many people, too worried my charade would be discovered.
Yet no one questioned it. One Graykey was wheeling another half-dead Graykey right through their midst, and no one had a clue.
“Tell me,” Qualmer whispered in my ear as we started toward what looked like a dozen waiting horses and a royal carriage but was probably only one or two horses. “Have you seen the bitch lately? Yeah, I bet you have. And that’s also why I’m keeping you.”
He unstrapped me from the dolly and hauled me into the carriage, my feet dragging along the ground as I slumped lifelessly over the arm he clamped around my middle, though I’m sure he made it look like something else entirely to everyone watching. Slamming the door behind us so we were alone in the carriage, he bumped his fist against the inside wall, and we began to move.
“You’re going to lead Melaina right to me,” he finally announced. “So I can have my revenge on Mommy dearest at last for taking my eye and trying to kill me. The last thing she’ll ever see is me, taking her worthless life.”
If I had been able to talk, I would’ve told him then that he’d never see his mother again. She was safe and sound on Earth, where he could never reach her. Never hurt her.
Through my split lip and ruined jaw that I feared would never work right again, I managed to smile. I had lost my true love and would probably lose my own life once Qualmer realized I couldn’t provide him with Graykey babies—if not sooner. But at least Melaina was safe.
Chapter 37
Indigo
With a pounding headache, I opened my eyes.
At least there wasn’t another pile of horse dung in front of my face this time.
That was my first thought, but I wasn’t immediately sure why I thought it. A sense of déjà vu washed over me. Like I’d done this before. Woken in pain, not sure where I was, or what day it was, or what I’d even been doing.
“What the…?” I lifted a weak hand to the ache on the side of my head and winced when I encountered a bandage covering my temple. “Motherfucker.”
Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I’d said the last time, too.
Weird.
But I was on a bed—pretty sure I’d roused on the ground the last time. I lay on a cot in some kind of room made of stone walls with one door and one window that let sunlight stream through the clear rock. But that told me basically nothing.
Needing answers and feeling an urgency to get them, as if I had somewhere important to be, and time was imperative, I sat upright, only for my stomach to revolt at the sudden movement.
“Christ.” Spotting a chamber pot by the door, I dove toward it, landing on my knees and vomiting everything inside me.
What the hell was happening? Something felt wrong. Inside me. There was this cryptic emptiness I couldn’t explain.
It scared me.
The door opened as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.