Hidden Game, Book 1 of the Ancient Court Trilogy Read online

  “And what will happen to you—if anyone finds out you helped us?”

  “Ah, do not worry about me. I am the favored son, the heir. If I ‘lose’ a couple of fan pod girls, I doubt there will be much concern.” He attempted a breezy smile, but it did not reach his eyes.

  I nodded, lapsing back into troubled silence.

  After a while, Nic glanced away from the road to my face. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what? Being another species?”

  He cracked a small smile. “I’m sorry you got mixed up in this. You didn’t choose it. None of this should ever have happened to you.”

  “But it’s okay that it’s happening to the other fan pod girls?” I challenged.

  He shook his head, blinking in surprise. “No. They’re… they’re fine, Macy. Nothing is happening to them. They chose to be there. We have hundreds of applications from girls who weren’t chosen, just hoping to be accepted as these girls were. I can show them to you.”

  “You don’t need to do that. I believe you. But they don’t know the truth. Why are they really there? Not just to spread the word about celebrities and increase their social footprint. I think there’s something else going on.”

  A deep blush climbed from his neck to his forehead. “Well, some of us with fan pods… spend time with the members one-on-one. Not me. But some. The girls are always more than willing, I assure you.”

  “They have sex with them?” The girls back at the castle had insinuated as much—and seemed to be hoping for it.

  “Not in the way you’re thinking,” he said.

  How many ways were there to have sex? Or maybe… “Elves don’t have sex?”

  They really were more different than I’d imagined. And, perusing Nic’s stunning body and way-too-tempting mouth, I couldn’t help but think, What a crying shame.

  He coughed and cleared his throat. “Um, no—I mean, yes, of course we do—they do. But only with one person—for eternity. That’s what being bonded is. We can only bond with one person.”

  “So then, what you told me at dinner that night in Siena… about being a… virgin—that was true?”

  He nodded.

  “And the fan pod girls—all the groupies…”

  “Not once,” he confirmed. “There’s been a bit of… fooling around. But I have bonded with no one. I cannot. Or else she, and she alone, would be my bond-mate. It is a rather first-and-last sort of situation.”

  “Wow.” I literally had never been more shocked in my life. This guy, this incredible- looking rich and famous guy, who had a wicked playboy reputation and was the target of lust for women worldwide, was a virgin.

  He darted a glance at my wide-eyed face and continued. “But as you know, our marriages are arranged. Sometimes future bond-mates will not even meet before the wedding ceremony. There may not be any attraction between them—or love. And that is why some choose to ‘distract’ themselves with the attentions of human girls in the fan pods.”

  “Do these girls know they’re fooling around with married men?”

  His brows drew together. “Humans will do almost anything, it seems, to gain the attention of a celebrity.”

  “So, I guess that’s why you keep a doctor around to examine the girls before they meet you? To make sure they’re not… carrying diseases or something?” I shuddered in disgust.

  He shook his head. “We cannot contract human diseases. The doctor is there only for the benefit of the girls.”

  “I don’t buy that. I saw him in action, heard the way he speaks to the girls. He doesn’t exactly strike me as the compassionate humanitarian type.”

  “I’m sure you’re wrong. I’ll agree he doesn’t have a warm and fuzzy way about him, but he is a healer.”

  Though Nic’s words denied it, his face contracted in a scowl that told me I’d made him wonder. “Listen, if you really feel unsafe there, I won’t take you back to the castle,” he said. “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I’ll just take you somewhere else—”

  “No. I promised Olly I’d be back for her. I have to go.”

  Before we reached the port city of Livorno where we’d catch the ferry, Nic pulled off at an exit.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can drive another kilometer with the rumbling in my stomach. Could you eat some lunch?”

  “Sure. I’m pretty hungry, too.”

  Behind us, Piero and Bardo’s car exited as well.

  Noticing them in the rearview mirror, I asked, “Do they go with you everywhere? Or did they actually come along to keep me from escaping?”

  He slid me a sheepish glance. “Don’t worry. They won’t be having lunch with us. I just told them to stay back a bit. They’ll eat in the car.”

  It took me a beat to respond. “You… told them. Without speaking. While they’re in a different car.”

  He nodded. “We can communicate mind-to-mind, over short distances. It is rather like texting, actually. I formulate the message in my mind, and then ‘send’ it. It comes in handy sometimes.”

  “I guess so,” I said, overwhelmed at learning yet another piece of unbelievable information about him. If I had my mind blown any more, there wouldn’t be anything left of it. Just noticing our surroundings, I asked, “Where are we?”

  “Varramista Estate. It’s a nice place.”

  Nice wasn’t the word I would have chosen. More like “stunning.” A long oak-lined drive took us through acres of parkland, rolling hills, and horse pastures and ended at a gorgeous Renaissance villa with a formal garden surrounding it.

  “Important figures from every era, from the Renaissance to today have stayed here,” Nic explained. “The villa was built in the fifteen hundreds. Now it’s used for private parties, weddings, wine tastings. They make fine Syrah here, but we are here for lunch. Come on.”

  Opening my door, he offered me his hand then went to the trunk of the car and took out a cooler.

  “Oh. You brought lunch?”

  “I did.” He winked. “Carryout from the hotel restaurant. There is no restaurant here. Come on—you’ll see why I picked this place soon enough.”

  As soon as we stepped around to the back of the villa, I understood. A fantastic box shrub maze beckoned me into the garden where enormous topiary sculptures mixed with elegant stone fountains, bamboo patches, an avenue of lime trees, and centuries-old sycamores. One huge sycamore tree had a trunk nineteen feet wide.

  “Just imagine,” I said, rubbing its warm bark. “This old guy has been around longer than anyone you or I have ever met—older than anyone our grandparents ever knew.”

  Nic squinted and wrinkled his nose. “Actually…”

  “Actually what?”

  “I do know people who’ve been around that long. Lots of people.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My mother and father for instance. All my grandparents. They’re each more than two hundred years old. I guess I forgot to mention that my people are… immortal.”

  My jaw hung loose a few seconds before I snapped out of it and said, “Oh God—you’re not like a hundred years old, are you?”

  He laughed. “No. I am only nineteen. It takes Elven couples a long time to produce children usually. Fertility is an issue for our race.”

  “But then, if nothing can kill you, your population must be quite large.”

  “Well… we don’t get human afflictions like cancer or heart disease, but we can die. An act of violence, for instance can end our lives—accidents sometimes do. Hunger,” he added with a smile and rubbed his flat belly for dramatic effect. “Come, let’s eat—before your chauffeur and tour guide perishes of starvation. That would be an inglorious end to an eternal life.”

  The food was delicious—ripe pears and soft cheese, paper thin slices of prosciutto with crusty fresh bread.

  Nic sat in the grass with his legs stretched out in front of him, swallowing his final bite. “When we get back to the castle, we may not
be able to talk for a day or two while I make arrangements to get you and Olly out. Do you… have any more questions for me? You’ve been very quiet in the car today—and now. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

  After so many days together when he’d been so evasive, I was shocked at his openness now. Maybe it was nice for him to be able to speak freely. Maybe he liked the fact that I knew the truth about him. And of course I had questions—too many to ask in one lunchtime, on one drive, maybe in one lifetime. I picked the one that had been at the top of my mind all day.

  “When you… when you kissed me—at the vineyards yesterday—was that glamour? I mean, it didn’t feel like, you know, a regular kiss.” My face instantly heated until I must have looked sunburned.

  Very slowly, a smile spread across Nic’s face. He liked that question.

  He shook his head, his eyes narrowing to dark, lazy slits. “No. I don’t have sexual glamour. That—was real.”

  Now I was sorry I’d asked. I was charged with the sort of nervous energy I used to get before competitions, though there was no cheering crowd here, no judges. Only Nic and me alone on this lovely Tuscan estate. And he was staring at me like he wouldn’t mind giving me another demonstration of just how real the kiss had been.

  “Oh, okay. I was just wondering, you know, because you’re Elven and everything, and I haven’t kissed that many guys, and—”

  Nic moved quickly, leaning over and ending my inane babbling by closing his mouth over mine. And then my mouth was opening, my senses were opening, and Nic was sliding his arm around my back to pull me against him, and I did nothing whatsoever to stop him. I didn’t want him to stop. I wasn’t sure exactly what sexual glamour was, but if this guy didn’t have it, I didn’t want to meet someone who did. I was already ridiculously attracted to him and more excited than I’d ever been in my life to be with a guy. Add any magic to that, and I might not survive it.

  The kiss went on and on, deepening, growing more and more drugging and pleasurable. Nic’s hands began moving over me, up my back to my shoulders and then cupping my face, positioning it just right for more kisses. And then they slid down to my waist, my hips, up my ribcage—

  Loud voices from behind us shocked us apart. Turning toward the house, we saw a group of tourists heading into the garden. Nic and I looked back at each other, staring, breathing hard. His eyes were filled with something like surprise—or wonder. I wasn’t sure. Mine, no doubt, were just as dazed.

  “We should…” his voice trailed off.

  I nodded. “Yes. Get back on the road.”

  “Right. We’ll miss the ferry otherwise. Unless you—”

  “No, you’re right. We need to be on that ferry.”

  For a few minutes, while he was kissing me, I’d forgotten all about the fan pods, and Olly, and the entire world. The sense of urgency that had propelled me before melted under his touch, replaced by other more selfish urges.

  But there was no time to waste. Maybe later, after I’d gotten Olly safely away, Nic and I could… no, that was silly. He was getting married in a few weeks. He was Elven, for God’s sake. There was no later. There was no anything for us beyond this road trip and the few brief moments we were likely to share over the next few days as he helped Olly and me escape.

  We quickly gathered our picnic supplies and got back into the car. By the time he pulled it out onto the highway, my breathing had slowed, but his was still erratic, faster than usual.

  “I want to show you Paris,” he blurted.

  Surprise kept me silent a few moments. “I’ve seen Paris,” I finally said, my voice as full of caution as my belly was full of butterflies.

  “No—I want to show you Paris. My Paris. All the best restaurants, the best shops. I want you to see my penthouse there. It has a roof deck with a view of the Eiffel tower. It’s even more beautiful than last night’s view in Florence. You would love it.”

  “I’m sure I would.” Where was he going with this? Was he trying to talk me out of returning to the castle? “Are you backing out on your promise to help Olly escape?”

  His brows shot up to his hairline. “No. Not at all. We’ll take her with us. It’s just… after I help you both get out of the castle, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want you… to leave… me.”

  What was he saying? I knew he wasn’t looking forward to spending time with Alessia, but eventually he was going to have to own up to his promise to her. And then I got a terrible suspicion.

  “You don’t think I’m going to, like, keep hanging around and… kissing you… after you’re married, do you?” I was crazy about the guy, but I was just not mistress material. Maybe my behavior the past few days had made him believe otherwise.

  Nic shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut briefly then smiling. “Obviously, I’m doing a terrible job of it, but I’m trying to tell you how I feel about you. I told you the secret of my people, even though it’s forbidden, even though I’ve never told anyone, because… I don’t want to lose you. And I didn’t like lying to you. I wanted you to know me. No one else does—they don’t want to.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Everyone wants you, Nic.”

  “No they don’t. The humans only like the façade, the image. They don’t know the real me. And my people, my family and Alessia—they only want me to be what they want me to be. Not myself. They don’t like the real me. But you have seen my real self. I haven’t been able to hold back with you, to fake it.”

  He darted a fevered glance over at me. “I’ve never felt like this about anyone, Macy. What happened back there—in the garden? I want to do it all the time. It takes all my strength not to reach for you a hundred times a day and hold you and kiss you. It was never like that, even with Mariana. I know I’m betrothed, I know you’re human and I’m not, but I can’t help the way I feel. It has to mean something. I don’t want it to stop.”

  My heart did stop. And when it resumed beating, it was like Lily’s pet hamster Frodo had escaped his cage and was running around loose in my chest.

  Nic stared ahead at the road, his knuckles clenching the steering wheel tighter and tighter the longer I went without responding.

  “This is the part where you tell me how you feel about me,” he prompted, following it with a nervous laugh.

  “I feel…” How did I feel? As he was speaking and pouring out his heart honestly, I’d recognized every emotion he was revealing—in myself. I had never felt this way before, either.

  I didn’t want to be separated from him. I wanted to see the Eiffel tower at night from his penthouse in Paris. I’d want to be with him even if he lived in a basement studio apartment with a view of the building’s dumpster. I wanted to kiss him every day for the rest of forever.

  I loved him.

  “I… feel like I need to know how this is going to work. Are you saying you’re thinking of breaking off your engagement—betrothal, whatever?”

  He pulled to the side of the road, put the car in park, and shifted to face me. Sliding his hands around my face to cup my jaw, he raked his gaze over me. “If you tell me you feel anything close to what I feel for you, if you give me any reason to hope… I will do it today—as soon as we reach the castle.”

  Time seemed to crystallize as we stared into each other’s eyes, there in the front seat of a car in broad daylight. My insides filled with bubbles of elation.

  I swallowed, took a breath, and said it. “I love you, Nic.”

  His eyelids closed, and his breath rushed out in a loud surge. When he opened them again, the dark irises had taken on a new light. And he smiled.

  “I love you, too, piccola. My beautiful girl.”

  And then he kissed me. Deep and long and painfully sweet, the kiss was infused with hope, with the promise of things to come.

  17

  Nic

  I didn’t walk into the castle so much as floated into it. I’d never thought I’d feel this alive again.

  She loves me.

  Macy was the most beautif
ul, most fascinating girl in the world, and she loved me. She really knew me, understood me, and she accepted it all—even the parts of me that others in my life had rejected. It seemed too good to be true.

  The knowledge filled me with an indescribable joy. With hope. And with courage. My life, which had seemed so bleak only a few days ago, now seemed full of possibility. And I was going to go for it. This time I would not let my family’s expectations and my damnable birthright stop me.

  I would not simply give up on my own desires and dreams and meekly go along with my father’s plan for my life. He didn’t really need me, anyway. Papà was not that old, still very energetic and capable of leading our people for a long time to come. As far as carrying on the family lineage, Estelle could do that. She was also at bonding age and had no shortage of eager suitors.

  I was lucky to be one of the rare ones with a sibling and not solely responsible for carrying on the family name. I wasn’t sure if humans and Elves could even conceive, but that was a distant concern at this point. If Macy and I were ever to be blessed with children, they would not be welcome in the Dark Court anyway.

  As far as others in the Court. Well, they wouldn’t understand my decision to walk away from my legacy, but their expectations of me no longer mattered. Only Macy mattered—and the future we would have together. As long as I had her, I didn’t need a “people.”

  I already got along quite well in the human world. I had plenty of money and the means to make plenty more without depending on my family’s fortune. And this time it would be different. No one knew about us. My father would not be able to threaten her and hold it over my head the way he had with Mariana. I would leave with Macy in secret and protect her from ever having a target on her back.

  I delivered her to the fan pod quarters so she could find Olly and quietly prepare her for our departure tomorrow, and we stole one more forbidden kiss. Soon, we’d no longer have to hide.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I promised, unable to keep a giddy smile from my face. “Do not be afraid. I love you.”