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

“This is unacceptable.” Alessia stomped, her nostrils flaring in offense. “I will not have this… this battona living under the same roof, consorting with my husband. If she knows he is in love with her, she will be unbearable. She will think she is better than me. I won’t have it.”

  Papà roared at her. “You will do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it. You are not in your daddy’s court. I am king here. I say what we will have and what we will not have. And this is my will.”

  He directed his gaze at me. “I will tell a servant to prepare a room for the human girl near yours in the family quarters.” He pointed at Alessia. “And you will keep your mouth shut and be thankful not to have yet another broken engagement to live down.”

  She huffed and stormed out of the room.

  Calling into the hallway through the open door, Papà said to the closest guard, “Send Dr. Schmitt to me.”

  The guard stepped into view. “He left the palace an hour ago, Your Highness. He said he was going to a lab in Paris for some further analysis of one of the girls’ samples. He must be on the ferry by now.”

  “Che palla. Send word that he needs to get on the next ferry back. I need him here as soon as possible.” Turning back to me, he said, “We will do the collection procedure as soon as he returns. No arguments, no excuses. Not if you want her to stay alive. Now come along. The guards will escort you to the clinic to wait.”

  “I understand.” I did. I understood he no longer trusted me and that I would be under guard, under lock and key if necessary, to make sure I didn’t throw any more wrenches into the process by trying to escape or get out of my duties some other way.

  “I’ll do it. But may I have a few minutes alone with her first, Papà? She is terrified.”

  Papà studied me, trying to read my eyes. “Very well. Five minutes. But if you bond with her, I will kill her right in front of your eyes. And the door stays open.”

  “That’s fine. Leave it open. I only want to comfort her. Thank you.”

  Five minutes was all I needed. I had a new plan to keep Macy safe and thwart the plot my father and Dr. Schmitt had cooked up. It had come to me when Alessia said the words “under the same roof.” It would be risky for all involved, but if it saved Macy’s life, it was worth any risk.

  As soon as Papà left the room, Macy threw her arms around my neck, pressing her face into my chest. “Oh Nic, thank God. I thought they were going to kill you. Or me. Or both.”

  I clasped the back of her head in my palm and pulled her to me, relishing the feel of her. “I would never let that happen.”

  “What did your father say?” she asked. “I couldn’t follow all of the Italian.”

  “He said he would allow you to stay here—with me—as long as I agreed to give them what they want and go ahead with the marriage ceremony with Alessia.”

  “Oh. She didn't seem too excited about that idea.”

  “No. She wasn’t. But she has no choice in the matter. Neither do I. I have to give them what they want.”

  “No, Nic.” She drew back and implored me with tears in her eyes. “You don’t have to. It doesn't matter what happens to me—not in the grand scheme of things. My life isn’t worth ruining all these others.”

  “Macy—if I don’t cooperate, they can just take the genetic matter forcibly. And your life is worth everything to me.”

  “So you agreed? You’re going to marry Alessia and keep me around as a… a mistress or something?”

  Conscious of the listening guards, I said, “It’s the best we can have—more than generous, really.”

  Then I leaned close to her ear and whispered. “No. I want to keep you with me—you know that. But if you stay, you’ll only be a blackmail tool for my father. Your life would be on the other end of a hair trigger at all times, constantly in danger. If I were to ever step out of line in the future, he’d kill you to punish me. That’s why I’m getting you out of here tonight.”

  “How? Is it possible now that they’ve caught us together?” she whispered back.

  “The Americans. Their party is scheduled to leave early in the morning. I will arrange for them to take you with them. I met Nox, the leader of their group. He’s a good man. You can trust him. They’re advocates of the humans. They’ll keep you safe. They’ll get you home.”

  “But what about you?” She pulled back and stared at me, new tears pooling. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  Taking her face in my hands, I pressed my forehead to hers. “I will always love you. And I will never regret meeting you—I want you to know that. After I was forced to give up Mariana, I turned off my heart, checked out. I was just going through the motions of life. It was all pointless. I wasn’t allowed to choose my own bond-mate, to choose my own profession. There was nothing to live for. But you changed me. You saved me. You showed me the meaning of life again, you showed me joy and wonder. Though I may never see you again, I will love you until my dying day.” Which could be very soon if things didn’t go my way tonight.

  “Never see me? No. You’ll come and find me in America. Once they have what they want, maybe they’ll stop watching you all the time and you can sneak away. We can be together there—they have no power there.”

  “The Ancient Court’s reach is far. And even if it were possible, you wouldn’t want me. Not after they’ve used me to create their master race and enact their plan to wipe out your people.”

  “Nic—I will always want you. I know you don't want to be a part of this. I know you can’t help what they make you do or what they take from your body. I won’t blame you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether it’s two years or a hundred. I’ll wait for you.”

  I wanted what she was describing more than I could express. But the odds of my surviving tonight were too small. I shook my head. “No. Don’t. Live your life to the fullest and forget about me. Please. That’s what I want.”

  “No.” Her tone turned insistent. “No, Nic. I’ll wait for you.”

  Merda, this was hard. “Macy—I won’t be coming. Please understand. I want to be with you more than anything, but I can’t be a part of this evil. I can’t allow it to continue. And there’s only one way to stop it. I have to kill Dr. Schmitt. I may not survive the battle, but even if I do, I will be punished for my crime—taking an eternal life carries a heavy sentence in the Ancient Court. I’ll be imprisoned forever.”

  Understanding crept across her face in increments, and then it collapsed. “No,” she sobbed. “No Nic, please. Please please please don’t do that. Just do whatever it takes to save yourself.”

  “Hush,” I whispered against her lips, fighting tears of my own. “You’ll alert the guards. I have to do this. Let me make up for all the wrong I’ve done, for the wrong my people have done to yours. If they force me to participate in this, my life would have no value, anyway. The guilt and shame would be too much to live with. I wanted to have a life with you—more than anything. But we can’t have that now. This is the only way I have left to show you my love. Let me love you, Macy. Let me save you.”

  She burst into tears. “I love you, Nic. I love you. I’ll never stop loving you—no matter what.”

  I couldn’t take any more. If I stayed another minute, I would make love to her and get us both killed. I kissed her mouth hard one last time then got up and swept out of the room, wiping my wet face with my shirtsleeve as two guards fell into step beside me.

  “We’re supposed to take you to the clinic, Your Highn—” one of them began, regret and embarrassment coloring his voice.

  “I know,” I said. “It’s okay. I’ll go peacefully.”

  And now to see if my theory about the Americans was correct. And if my mind-to-mind communication skills were up to the task. It generally worked over short distances, but the castle was vast. I waited until we entered the main corridor and drew close to the passage leading to the guest quarters. I hoped Nox hadn’t gone to bed yet. Formulating a message to him, I hit the mental send button.
/>   Remember how we said we’d talk later?

  Nicolo? came his reply a few moments later. He did sound sleepy.

  Yes. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’re going to be able to have that meeting. But there is something going on you should know about. My father and the other Ancient Court leaders have not been true with you. They’re planning a strike against the humans—a major one.

  When can we meet? Now his mental tone was fully alert.

  I may not be able to help you in the effort to prevent it. I have been… compromised. I’m being guarded. But there is a girl here. A human. She’s an American, one of my fan pod members. Her name’s Macy. You must find her and take her back to the States with you.

  Okay. She has information?

  Yes. She can tell you what they’re planning. But there’s more to it. She’s… important to me. You must promise me you’ll keep her safe and get her home to her people.

  There was a pause before he answered. I understand. I promise. Don’t worry. We’ll get her out of here. Want me to break you out while I’m at it? he added, a bit of dark humor in his mental tone.

  I appreciate the offer my friend. I must stay. There is something I have to do.

  I told him where he could find Macy, that she’d be transferred soon from the fan pod quarters to the family wing of the castle, about a dark narrow turn in the passageway where he and his bandmates could surprise her guards and overcome them. Before we turned the corner and got out of range, I added my thanks.

  I owe you a debt I can never repay. You have no idea how grateful I am. And good luck. I wish I’d gotten the chance to know you better.

  You, too. Hang in there, he said. And don’t worry. We’ll take good care of your girl.

  A surge of relief swept over me at his words, and I started forcing my mind to release all the worry and fear I’d been harboring over her safety. I needed a clear head for the next step of my desperate plan.

  The guard had said Dr. Schmitt was on the ferry to France. That ride took nearly five hours. When he reached the shore he’d immediately board a ferry heading back to Corsica. That gave me about ten hours. Plenty of time for Nox and his group to rescue Macy and get her out of here. Plenty of time to think of a way to take out Dr. Schmitt before he could steal the genetic material from my body and use it for his vile plan.

  Plenty of time to make my peace with this life before I left it, should that become necessary.

  20

  Macy

  I hadn’t thought things could get any scarier. When Alessia and then Nic’s parents had burst into my room, shouting in Italian and threatening both Nic and me physically, I thought we were going to die.

  But now I was being marched through the long corridors of the castle by two huge guards, and Nic was on his way to apparently kill Dr. Schmitt, either dying in the process or forfeiting his life in an eternal prison sentence.

  It was maddening to be this helpless. I wanted to wriggle away from the guards and dash through the castle, find Nic, and force him to run away with me. We’d go somewhere no one could find us—where his family couldn’t force him to participate in their horrid plan.

  It was a silly dream. Though strong for my size, I was small compared to even human men. These giants would be impossible to overpower and escape. Still, I glanced around me as we marched down the hall, searching for something, some shred of hope or possibility.

  And then it jumped out of the shadows—hope in the form of four Elven men who attacked my guards, knocking them out. Two of the guys—now that I could see them clearly, I could tell they were not men but guys about my age—bound and gagged the guards and dragged them through a dark doorway. The other two remained with me, and one of them spoke.

  “Macy?”

  “Yes. How do you know my name? Who are you?”

  “I’m Nox, and this is Anders. We’re going to help you. Nic sent us.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “As far as I know. I haven’t seen him, but he… sent me a message not long ago.”

  “Mind to mind?”

  His dark eyebrows shot up. “Uh… yeah. So then I guess you know about us.”

  “A little bit. Hey, wait—are you that Nox?” My mind swam with simultaneous recognition and disbelief. This guy was like, super-famous.

  “That’s me. Your friendly neighborhood rock star and rescue hero. So here’s the plan… Matteus and Rolf are ‘taking care’ of your guards, making sure they won’t be found until we’ve left the castle. We have a private jet waiting at the airport. We’re leaving here as soon as our car arrives.”

  “Is Nic coming with us?” The volume of my voice went up with my rising hope.

  The guy he’d called Anders cupped a hand over my mouth and leaned down close to my ear. “Be quiet. We’ve got to keep it down, get back to our quarters, and figure out a way to smuggle you out of here without getting ourselves killed.”

  I squirmed to be free, pushing at him, though the effort was futile considering his size and the hardness of the stomach muscles under my hands.

  He removed his hand and leaned back, scanning me up and down with a bemused expression. “Though, now that I’ve seen you, I think you might fit into my keyboard case.”

  I glared at him, and Nox stepped in between us. “Hey now. Don’t tease her. Can’t you see she’s on edge?”

  “Who’s teasing?” he said. “We can’t just stroll through the front doors hand-in-hand with her. We’ve got to hide her somewhere. I’m just trying to be helpful.”

  “Yes, well, be helpful by going to check out the hallway ahead. Let me know if it’s clear.”

  He did as Nox asked, and the other two guys returned from dispatching the guards.

  “We good to go?” a guy with close-cropped dark hair asked.

  Nox waited a second, listening apparently, and then nodded. “Yeah. Anders just gave us the all clear.”

  We crept through the corridor together and caught up with Anders, following him back to the guest quarters, where we all entered Nox’s room. He bolted the door behind him.

  “Okay then. Just one more step to go. Hopefully we can do this the easy way and smuggle you out of here—not have to resort to a fight. But we’ll do whatever it takes to protect you and get you to safety, Macy. Nic says you’re important.”

  “She’d better be,” Anders grumbled. “We’re all putting our asses on the line here.”

  “Don’t mind him,” Nox said. “He’s just eager to get back to the California sunshine—and the California girls. We’re all going to be fine, and we’ll have you home by tomorrow night. Where are you from anyway?”

  “Missouri.”

  “Where’s Misery?” Anders snorted.

  “Miz-oo-ree,” I repeated, stressing each syllable as if for a child. From a foreign country. “It’s in the Midwest. You’d know that if you’d gotten off the surfboard long enough to go to class.”

  “I know where it is, Miss Important.”

  “Hey, you two,” Nox snapped. “Come on now. We’ve got to focus. How are we going to get her out of here?”

  “I wasn’t kidding about my keyboard case, actually. She’s so short, I don’t even think she’d have to bend her knees to fit into it. And she can’t weigh more than…” He stepped back, placing his fingers on his chin, running his unsubtle gaze over me in an exaggerated display of assessment.

  “Come on, Anders. Lay off,” the dark-haired guy said. “You can lift her, no matter what she weighs. And if you’re too much of a wuss, I’ll carry the case and you can carry my base bag.”

  Anders smirked at his challenge. “I was joking—I’ll carry her.” He loped across the room, leaned down, and unsnapped the hinges on a long, black case. Opening it, he removed a humongous keyboard covered in electronic dials and buttons, stood and made a grand gesture of invitation with his hand. “It’s all yours, pixie.”

  I snarled at his size-ist nickname then checked Nox’s face.

  “Go ahead,” he urge
d. “It’s not a bad idea. Give it a try.”

  Walking across the room and feeling very conspicuous, I stepped into the case, sat down, and stretched out. The obnoxious blond had been correct. I fit without even bending.

  He laughed. “Told ya.”

  “What are we going to do about his keyboard?” a guy with shoulder-length sandy brown hair asked.

  “Yeah, they’re going to spot it, and we’ll be busted,” the short haired guy said.

  Anders picked up the keyboard, walked over to the large bed that dominated the room, and slid it underneath. “Viola. Any more questions, Matteus?”

  “You’re never gonna get that back, man,” the sandy-haired guy said. “You’re like… in love with that keyboard.”

  Anders took a step toward him. “What else are we gonna do? Slide her under the bed? It might work for a day or two, but she’s gonna get a little hungry eventually.” He shot a quick glance at me. “And Nox says we need her. It’s just a keyboard.”

  The other two band members gave each other a look, as if their friend had just said something very out of character.

  “Okay everybody, this is it,” Nox said. “The car is out front. Each of you grab your bags and head for the front door. Keep the goodbyes short. We’re getting the hell out of here. Anders, you’ve got Macy?”

  He nodded. I lay back down in the case, and he went onto his knees before it, grabbing the edges of the lid. Before closing it, he gave me a mischievous grin.

  “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna drop ya.”

  Then he winked and closed me into my escape vessel—or my coffin. Which of the two it turned out to be remained to be seen.

  21

  Nic

  As the first of the sun’s rays lit the exam room window, Nox’s voice reached my mind, sounding clear and triumphant.

  We’ve got her. We’re leaving the castle now. Heading for the airport. Give ’em hell, Nic.

  I sagged in relief. Thank you, my friend. I intend to. Or at least to take one of them there with me.