Chapter Twelve
Nicholas watched his queen with keen care. He could sense everything about her, nearly hear her thoughts. They were written across her sweet face: fear, confusion, panic, worry for someone she loved. He could even sense that. And ridiculously, it made him jealous.
He was already on the edge and knew he would need to utilize what magic he’d thus far gained, but that envy forced his instincts and his eyes heated up. He looked inward to find the magic that was now returning to him at a faster-than-usual rate. The power was there, buried deep, dark and ancient. He melded with it as usual, then pulled it into the material world, forcing the elevator into hyper-drive. He had a general plan, but they needed to move very quickly. There was an entire nation to deal with in this case.
He could feel Adelaide’s fear around him, fueling him like oxygen to a fire. She was on the edge, and he couldn’t blame her one bit. He ordered her to sit down, not only because she needed to, but because he knew the elevator was about to shoot upward. He ordered her to breathe, and this command he laced with power, because breathing during a panic attack was a hell of a lot harder to do than to say.
Breathe, he whispered into her mind as he spoke the word aloud. Slow and deep, in and out. She had a mind like a steel safe, but she did as he said, so somehow his request sank in. Either that, or she was simply smart enough to do it on her own. She rested on the floor of the elevator, bracing herself against its rapid ascent, and slowly inhaled and exhaled.
Nick’s head spun with the weight of the situation. If he’d ever been in a position where he had a lot of explaining to do to a lot of people, this was it. Hell was sure to freeze over before he was finished talking.
The elevator hit the top floor, and Nicholas slowed its descent just enough before it stopped. He then shoved the doors wide open with the same magic.
Adelaide looked up at them as they each hit their encasements and sparks went flying. Just as rapidly, Nicholas allowed the Nightmare in him to recede, returning fully to his human form. Silence stretched beyond the doors, punctuated by Adelaide’s ragged breaths.
Nick stepped toward her. The absolute bewilderment on her beautiful face was painful for him to behold. “Come with me,” he told her softly, though he could feel time pressing in, and that pressure did lace the edges of his words. He slowly knelt before her and took a chance, curling his finger beneath her chin to turn her face toward him.
She was soft, firm, un-giving, yet yielding.
“I know this seems insane, believe me I do,” he told her. It was the truth. He could feel her confusion like it was his own. A few seconds. That was all it had been, and already he was connected to her.
There was a split personality sensation within him now: One, he was filled with hope and joy – here she was, so close, and so linked. Two, he was furious – there were people looking for her, people who would most likely do terrible things to her if they got their hands on her. Three, he was jealous – the Challenger had already played his cards for her. And four, he was terrified – she was only human.
She was human. Not a fae, not a vampire, not an Akyri, not a Wisher, but a human. Every once in a long while, a human came along who was like a diamond. Stronger than any metal or stone, as brilliant as the center of a sun, beautiful beyond compare. But they were still human, so strike just right, and that person would shatter beyond repair. Precious yet fragile.
Adelaide’s acorn brown eyes fixed on his, and Nick felt a churning in his gut. He wanted to say her name, but she hadn’t given it to him, and that would only add to her confusion. “Listen,” he said, cupping her cheek with his hand. She was so soft, and a heat passed from her and into him at the contact. He repressed the urge to run his thumb over her flushed, full lips… it was hard for him to focus. “You have to trust me,” he told her, reining in the monster that wanted free again already. “I only want to help you, I swear it.” The monster in him raised a disbelieving eyebrow. He ignored it.
I don’t even know you, Adelaide’s eyes told his. And this can’t be real anyway.
Time ticked more loudly, the hands of the universal clock bringing danger closer with every second. The world was pressing on them. This moment here was so sacred, so special, and he was being robbed of it. For that reason, he wanted to destroy the world and everyone else in it. But that was the Nightmare in him, throwing its weight around.
He made a command decision. “Okay. I understand,” he said, letting his hand slide from her face to drop to his side as he slowly rose to his feet once more. “But try to look at it this way. What choice do you really have at the moment?” There was no cruelty in his tone. He was simply being honest. She had no choice but to trust him. If she didn’t, he was going to pick her up, carry her out of there, and tie her up until all of this was over.
“Please come with me. I can help you get out of this mess.” He offered her his hand – and waited, watching her face carefully as she clearly weighed her options. He knew full well she wasn’t entirely immersed in the belief that any of what was happening was real. She half expected herself to be asleep or crazy or dead. But shit kept happening. The dream wasn’t coming to an end, and she wasn’t fading into the ghosts of Thanatos’s realm. Whether she was crazy or not, she was stuck in an elevator with a strange man and the government of her country was out to get her.
She must have come to the same conclusions, because she closed her eyes, swallowed hard, and raised her hand, placing it gently in his.
Once more, his Nightmare lifted its head. The feel of her hand in his was empowering. There were a hundred things he could think of doing with her in that moment, and not a single one of them was what he actually needed to do. So he told the Nightmare to settle the fuck down and led Addie out of the elevator into the lobby of the presidential suite.
Andros and Minnaea were already there. No doubt, when he’d called them, they’d immediately gone somewhere unoccupied and opened a portal directly into the hotel room.
They looked at him, and then looked at her, and he could tell they didn’t know exactly what to say about it.
“Where are we headed, boss?” Andros asked, switching out “Your Majesty” for “boss” probably for Adelaide’s benefit.
Nick pulled his phone from his pocket again. The first thing they needed to do was contact D’Angelo and fill him and the other Kings in. But they also needed to move to some place safer. “Back to the realm. I don’t think there’s anywhere on the planet Adelaide can go at the moment without being followed or found.”
Minnaea’s eyes grew wide. She looked from Nicholas to Adelaide, and the color drained a little from her face. Andros became very silent. Nick looked down at Adelaide just as she was pulling her hand from his.
Crap, he thought. I messed up.
She stepped back from him. “How do you know my name?” she asked, her voice shaking but strong. Then it raised an octave. “And what realm? What are you?”
Nicholas felt the floor drop out a little from beneath his feet.
Adelaide looked from him to his Preceptors. “Who the hell are you people?”
“Adelaide Lane,” said Minnaea, in her most reasonable tone, “the truth is we know quite a bit about you, but there is a very good and non-threatening reason for this.” She took a step toward Addie, and Adelaide’s diamond strength showed through when she didn’t step back but maintained her ground.
Minnaea went on. “We truly are here to help you,” she said calmly and matter-of-factly. “You’re in trouble and nothing makes sense to you right now. But we can fix all of that.” She cocked her head a little to one side and added, “You’re psychic. Surely you can sense we mean you no harm.”
What Nick sensed was that every word Minnaea said was laced with power. She was trying to pull the same trick on Addie that he had in the elevator. But no doubt, she was also coming up against the same road block of impenetrableness that he had. Because time continued to knock off its seconds, stringing them together into precious minutes.
What seemed like an eternity later, Adelaide stood a little straighter, rolled her shoulders back, and lifted her chin, narrowing her striking gaze. “Okay,” she started, licking her lips tentatively. “There is more in heaven and earth….”
“Than is dreamt of in your philosophy,” said all three of the Nightmares in the room. They spoke in perfect tandem, and Nicholas couldn’t help but smile.
Adelaide blinked, her brow furrowed, and then, miraculously, she seemed to relax a little – just a little. “If you mean what you say and you want to help me, then do this for me,” she said.
Every fiber of Nicholas’s body and mind were focused on Addie to the point of pain. Anything, he thought desperately. He would do anything for her. And that she would give him the chance to prove as much was frankly glorious.
“What is it?” he asked.
Addie curled her hands into fists and then extended her fingers again as if summoning up nerve. “Help me get my dog out of my suite downstairs. He’s in room 713. He’s injured and he’s been through too much.” She swallowed and licked her lips once more. “Help me get him out safely and….”
All three Nightmares watched her intently, like devils waiting for Faust to tell them what they wanted to hear.
“And I’ll go with you,” she said finally. Then, with tentative resignation, she added, “wherever it is you’re planning to go.”
Feeling like the wolf who’d just successfully cornered his prey, Nicholas lifted his phone to his ear, all the while watching his future queen like a hawk. She watched him right back. Clearly she’d decided he was the most dangerous one in the room. And there was more brave in her than anything else.
The phone rang once and picked up. “Roman, it’s me…. Get Kris and the others together. We need to meet right away. And… I’m bringing someone with me.”