Untouchable Girl_A Fantasy Adventure Page 14

  “I hope you put a more romantic spin on it than that,” I joked. “She’s a sweet girl.”

  “Left me for a few weeks when I disappeared, way back when the whole Avalon thing blew up. But we got back together. I’m in permanent doghouse mode since I didn’t come back with an engagement ring, so I cook dinner every night and do most of the cleaning, but she pays half the rent, so it works.”

  “Tell me more of this sweeping romance you two have,” I said with a hint of dreaminess to curb my sarcasm. My fingers were clasped under my chin, and a cheesy smile was plastered across my features.

  “Well, I’m sure she thinks I’m dead by now. They took me at least three weeks ago. It’s hard to keep track. Trashed the place in the struggle to get me out.”

  “I hope you made it hurt.”

  “I so did. They were all, ‘I’m gonna kidnap you to lure Rosie into a trap,’ and I was like, ‘I’ll straight up Schwarzenegger your asses! I’ll fill your inbox with penis enlargement spam! I’ll reprogram your computer so it crashes every time you save a document!’” Judah demonstrated with a few punches in the air. “They eventually won, but they know I’m a beast.”

  I laughed and threw my arms around him again. “You’re a terrifying programmer, that’s for sure.” I let out a stream of laughter mixed with elation at the familiar back and forth. “So much of my life is different now; I barely remember who I am most days. This? You being here? I feel it now. I can feel myself still in there, thanks to you.”

  Judah’s cheek lifted into a smile that was pressed next to mine. My bird hopped from his shoulder to mine, and back again, chirping excitedly. “Aw, you’re still you. I could recognize you a mile away, even with your new funky eye and this whole Beauty Queen Barbie look you’ve got going now.”

  I laughed at the truth of that statement. “You loved me even when I was walleyed and had a hump.”

  “Of course I did. You were the best rapper I’d ever met. You’ve seen pictures of Biggie. He’s no princess, and he was still awesome.” Judah pulled back with a frown. “Don’t tell me you traded your rap skillz for this new prom queen body. Please tell me Shorty’s still gonna be a thug.”

  I grinned at Judah as a dozen more birds flew in through the window. Finally I felt waves of my personality that had nothing to do with survival or power struggles or hot guys flow through me. The simplicity of friendship revived the parts of me that needed rejuvenation.

  Judah took the beat, climbing off the bed so he could throw up fake gang signs while he rapped in style. We had this song so down.

  Bastien stood awkwardly at the side of the bed, not knowing how to invade our dynamic that hadn’t skipped a beat. His eyes were wide at our goofiness, his eyebrows raised at our synchronized antics. We rapped to our hearts’ content, letting 2Pac lead us home. I threw my hands up, ignoring Link and Mad, who strolled into my room without knocking.

  We cut the outro short because Link started hooting and hollering that we were awesome. To be fair, we totally were. I threw my arms around Judah, who squeezed me tight at the sight of the newcomers. “See? You’re still you, no matter where they put you or what you look like. Life’s good, because we’ve always got each other – two thugs throwing shade in Avalon.”

  I let out a nervous laugh of elation as the birds chirped around me, hopping and flapping their wings. “I think I needed to hear that. Thanks, Judah.”

  The Untouchables each eyed me with bewildered looks of amusement and wariness. “So tha’s your mate, Judah, yeah?” Judah had seen Link murder the soldiers who’d held him hostage one by one, but they hadn’t had much in the way of conversation, since Kerdik had knocked the three out for much of the journey home.

  Judah gave me a look to ask if these guys were cool, and I nodded. He stuck his hand out and shook Link’s with a firm, welcoming grip. “Hey, man. Thanks for the rescue. I thought we were goners for sure.”

  “Aye. It’s no trouble. Are ye well?” Link nodded, releasing Judah’s hand. He kept his eyes affixed to my bestie to size up just what kind of weirdo Judah was.

  The awesome brand of weirdo, that’s what kind.

  Judah grinned and turned his head to me. “Dude’s legit Irish, like from the motherland. Totally cool.”

  “He’s from Éireland – that’s the other country here. Do not ask him where he keeps his Lucky Charms. You’ll get penis jokes for days. Learned that one the hard way.”

  Link clapped his hands and threw his head back in a laugh. “‘The hard way?’ Tha’s brilliant.”

  Judah jabbed my side with his elbow. “Are Éirish penis jokes better than ours? I might do it just to get some new material.”

  I pointed to Mad, who made no move to greet Judah, or speak. “This is Lucky Charms, Part Two – Madigan. Mad, this is my bestie from Common, Judah.”

  Mad was no-nonsense, as usual. “So he’s staying around? Or are we taking him up to Common?”

  I shrugged, but Judah was firm. “I’ll go back up when Rosie does. It was a bad idea to split up the first time, Ro. We’re not going through that again.”

  Mad nodded once. “Fine, but he’s sleeping in a different room if he’s staying here. No fiancée of mine is sleeping with another man, unless it’s Bastien.”

  I groaned as Judah hooted his shock. “You’re engaged? You’re engaged to Murdering Éirishman Number 2? No offense, Ro, but he’s… What’s the word? Terrifying.”

  Link guffawed, indignant. “No, he’s not! Mad’s only formidable. Wouldn’t ye rather be Link the Terrifying? Way better sound to it than Madigan the Formidable.” He stuck out his tongue in a grimace, as if Mad’s moniker tasted sour on his lips.

  I rolled my eyes. “It’s not a real engagement. It was just for show, to keep my uncle from trying to marry me and get me pregnant.”

  Judah stumbled back and sat on the bed. “Hold up. You’re fake engaged, you found more family, but they’re apparently disgusting, you got a neck tattoo, and your birth mom’s a kidnapping villain?”

  “That about sums it up, yeah. But we’re not fake engaged anymore, Mad,” I reminded him. “You broke that off when you left the first time.”

  Judah jerked his thumb toward Bastien, who’d moved to affix his arm around my hips. That was about as subtle as Bastien got when he was staking his territory. “Then why’s Bastien acting like he’s the husband? I don’t get it. Start from the beginning.”

  “I am the husband,” Bastien declared, making my spine straighten. “Or I will be, anyways.” At his pronouncement, the birds went wild, some of them flying out to be the first to spread the news to the wild kingdom that the Voix was getting married.

  I massaged my forehead. “Oh, jeez. Now they’re telling all the animals that.”

  “Good. I hope they do. I hope they spontaneously grow the ability to speak to more people than just you, so everyone knows that you’re with me.”

  “If you keep this up, I’m going to start believing you’re in love with me, and then where would we be?”

  “Married, that’s where. Exactly where I want us.”

  “Papa!” Annabelle cried, crashing into Mad from behind. She clung to his leg until he picked her up with a frustrated sigh, glaring at me. She flung her arms around his neck and squeezed. “Papa, ye left before I was finished eating!”

  “Aye. I told ye I would if ye didn’t hurry it up. Ye eat too slow.”

  Annabelle turned her head to me and smiled, pressing her cheek to Mad’s. “Auntie Rose, ye came back?”

  “I did. And this is your new friend Judah. He’s a brave knight from Common.”

  Annabelle’s eyes widened. “A knight from Common? Papa, is he a good knight, or an evil one?”

  Mad sized up Judah with a hard stare. “He’s harmless. You’re safe with him, so long as no one attacks.” More of my birds flew in through the window, landing on my shoulders, and hopping onto the arms of whoever I was talking to. They were so excited I was back, and wanted to be part of the action.

&n
bsp; Still, Annabelle didn’t let go. She clung to Mad with her arms and legs, no doubt scared that he’d been gone for so long. His thick forearm supported her featherweight easily as he leveled his hard stare at me. “Are ye alright, Rosie?”

  I nodded once. “You can thank Kerdik and Link for that. They saved the day, for sure.”

  Link took no joy in being the victor. “I still don’t understand why she lured Draper, Mad and Bastien to the castle, when Lane was in the opposite direction. She had to know it would be them who’d come to the castle, and she couldn’t touch them. It makes no sense.”

  “She was probably hoping I’d come with the ring or the Jewels of Good Fortune.”

  “She knows Urien would never allow tha.”

  Judah spoke up from his seat on the bed. “She took us to the middle of nowhere to see if Rosie could find us.” He held up his fist to me for a quick pound. “Rosie could find a bent needle in a stack of good needles without a blink. I knew you’d find us.”

  My fist fell to my side, and I paled. “The soldiers said that was the plan? To see if I could find you?”

  Judah nodded, confused as to why I looked sick to my stomach all of a sudden. “Yeah. But you found us, Ro. We’re safe now. Not Remy or Damond, but I know you came as quick as you could.” He looked down. “They were good guys, too. It was hard because he couldn’t talk, but to his last breath Remy seemed like a decent guy. We would write notes in the dirt to each other.” Judah looked as if he was seeing the scene in his mind. “He said he was your healer, and that if I got free, to tell you that he was grateful you let him in your service. Said he was your knight.”

  I closed my eyes at the painful slash that marked my heart. Of course Remy was grateful, even until death. That’s just who he was. “He should’ve been cursing my name. If he hadn’t been affiliated with me, he wouldn’t have been taken. He was helping Lane, making sure Reyn was healthy for the trek across Avalon.”

  Bastien’s grip on me tightened, bringing me in for a hug I needed. “He died knowing he’d chosen the right side. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn’t hesitate to go where you went.”

  “And I get to live with that guilt. He would still be alive if he hadn’t followed me to Province 9.”

  “I don’t think he’d been alive for a long time before he met you.” Bastien was kind to me, gentle when I seemed perpetually fragile. I didn’t used to be so emotional, but having the people you care about drop like flies whenever you turn your back can wear down even the most stoic girl. “Remy loved you, babe.”

  I nodded into Bastien’s shirt. “And now he’s dead because of it. I’d get your wills together now, guys.” I turned to the others, determined not to tear up; I didn’t want to scare Annabelle by letting blood stream down my face. “Could we send a medal or something to Remy’s parents in his honor, like how we did when Montel died?”

  “Of course. I’ll make sure that happens,” Bastien said softly.

  I shook my head at the state of the world, wishing so many things could be different. “Judah, you’re saying Morgan wanted to see if I could find you guys? That was the whole point of the trap?”

  Judah nodded. “No fair. You joined a gang without me?” He motioned to my neck tattoo.

  “Sort of,” I admitted. I rubbed my temples. “You guys, this is bad. Now Morgan knows I have the Compass ability, which was something I didn’t want her to figure out. She’s going to use me to find something. I don’t know what, but something. She knows I have more than half the jewels. She knows where the others are. What could she want to find that she doesn’t already know who has it?”

  Bastien tensed at the new development. “I don’t know. She only wants power, and she has about half of it, judging by the census we’re taking.” His hand clutched mine. “Not out of my sight. I’m firm on that.”

  “Oh, fine. It’s almost like you’re telling me to have ice cream for dinner. Being around you? Not the chore you’re making it seem.”

  “I’ll remember you said that when you’re begging to go do something dangerous, and I won’t let you.”

  “Aw, I love when you think you can control me. It’s so cute.”

  Judah sized us up. “Wow. He’s not a bad match for you, Ro.” He looked over at Bastien. “Not for nothing, but I thought you were a tool when you first kidnapped us. Now that you’ve got Rosie practically swooning with Stockholm Syndrome, I’ll give you a second chance.”

  Link moved in and scooped me in a gentle hug. “I just came up to check on ye, then I have to go back out. Are ye alright, wee Rose?”

  “I am. You saved the day.” I grinned up at him, trying to let everyone know that I didn’t want to talk about the awfulness of it all. “Now, no more killing, okay? That was about all the murdering I can handle.”

  “I’d do it all over again to keep ye safe. You’re one of us now. No one puts their hands on an Untouchable’s lady.” Link smooched my lips, earning a contented look from Bastien that his brothers doted on me.

  I ruffled Link’s hair. “Love you,” I said, earning a raised eyebrow from Judah, who was no doubt wondering, as I was, just what the crap had happened to my life.

  Link pulled back with a grin that was almost bashful. “Aye. If you’re alright, I’ll go back to the men and see what soldiers we can drum up. If Morgan’s planning something, I want us ready next time.”

  Mad shifted Annabelle on his hip, his hard gaze meeting mine after he snarled at the three birds on his shoulder. “I failed ye again. I’ll not fall for Morgan’s traps next time.”

  I knew Mad didn’t like to be touched, so I resisted hugging him or kissing his cheek. “You didn’t fail. You did everything you could. I’m glad you made it back to me safely.”

  Mad put Annabelle down. “Go into the hallway. I have to talk to Auntie Rose for a mo.”

  “You’ll come back out soon?” Annabelle questioned, scared to be without him.

  “Aye. Remember what I taught ye.” He pulled a dagger from her apron and wound her tiny fingers around the handle. “If anyone tries to snatch at ye, through the stomach and drag the blade sideways.”

  “Jeez, Mad! You can’t give a child a knife like that!”

  Mad quirked his eyebrow at me. “I had more than this little pig-sticker at her age.”

  I rolled my eyes, exasperated. “Yes, let’s try to get her childhood closer to yours. That’s a great idea.”

  Mad patted Annabelle on the head, and closed her out in the hallway. He fixed his eyes on me, his shoulders tensed. “Ye were supposed to be my wife, and they all knew it. Ye wear our mark, but it didn’t do nothing to save ye. I told ye I’d keep ye safe, and I failed again.”

  I couldn’t take his matter-of-fact self-loathing. I didn’t want this to be the truth he told himself. “Mad, stop it. Seriously, it’s not your fault. Morgan is who she is. I didn’t keep you safe, either. Link got this slice on his arm in the fight, no doubt.” I motioned to a small cut on Link’s forearm, which he scoffed at.

  “Tha’s from a tree. No one dared touch me.”

  Mad held my gaze. “Point is, listen to Bastien. Don’t go anywhere without one of us on ye.”

  I nodded, if only to make him feel better. “Okay, Mad. If that’s what you want.”

  Judah stood, reminding the men that there was a new addition to the castle. “I’m going to hang with Lane for a while. See what she needs.” He pointed to Link, who raised his chin. “And for the record, you go ahead and slit the throats of anyone who hurts my mom like that, or my best friend. I know you don’t know me, but I straight up love you, man. Thanks for coming in and getting us out of there before they took Rosie like how they took Lane.”

  I loved when Judah claimed Lane as his mother. It made it feel like we were brother and sister, which part of me always wished we were.

  Link nodded to Judah, giving him a small smile at his declaration. “Aye. I’ll end any man who touches our wee Rose. Mind ye remember tha.”

  Judah held up
his hands to prove their innocence. “Never been a thing between us like that, so you don’t need to worry. I’ve got a girlfriend back home.”

  “I’m coming with,” I said to Judah, wanting to escape the serious conversations. When Bastien opened the door for me, I kissed his cheek. “You can come, but you don’t have to. I know you’ve got stuff you want to take care of with Link, training the men and whatnot.”

  Bastien yanked on my ponytail, jerking my head up so I couldn’t escape his frustration. “It’s like you didn’t hear a word we said. Not out of my sight.”

  “Oh, right. Okay, then. You’ll be bored, though.” I knelt down and gave Annabelle a hug, carefully tucking the dagger back into its sheath before placing it in her apron’s pocket. “Make sure the soldiers mind their manners, and that they listen to your papa, okay?”

  Her head bobbed, her pin-straight black ponytail swishing up and down. “Okay, Auntie Rose. Uncle Bastien, can I have a cookie?” She giggled at the birds that flapped their wings on her dainty arms.

  Bastien knelt down on her other side and kissed her cheek. “I think that would be okay. But only after supper tonight, alright?”

  Mad growled. “No sugar. I already said tha downstairs. You’re asking these pushovers because you’re hoping they’ll cave. Sugar makes your brain soft when it should be sharp.”

  Annabelle sighed with discontent. “Aye, Papa.”

  Bastien gave her tiny arm a light pinch. “Listen to your Papa, then. Gotta make sure you eat enough healthy food. Big meals mean big muscles.” He slapped his meaty bicep and growled at her with a grin. “You’re supposed to have my back, right?”

  Annabelle nodded, loving being part of the team. “Okay. I’ll watch Papa while you’re gone.”

  “Good girl. Make sure he smiles at least twice today, got it?”

  She saluted Bastien, taking her post seriously.

  After everything we’d been through, it was nice to know there were still little girls in the world who dreamed about cookies.