Rise (Roam Series, Book Three) (5 page)

“What the fuck
is this?”

“His idea of fun.”

The
guards aimed their weapons at Logan, one soldier stepping forward. “Release the queen.”

“Yes, release the queen, bringer of
the sun,” I said sarcastically, and jerked my arm away.

He lowered his voice. “I wanted to tell you that I learned something this morning.” He nodded curtly at the guard who approached him as he took a step back. “For Laurel, only a year had passed in
Icepond. For Violet, nine years had passed.”

Listening to Logan speak their names, I was
jolted from the horrifying trance of weeks of abuse and terror.

“Maybe that’s why every minute feels like a decade,” I said, but as the words crossed my lips, I reached for the doorframe for support. “Logan… it’s been almost two months… does that mean years have passed for West?
And Eva?”

“Your majesty,” Logan bowed slowly, and I stiffened as Troy’s hand slid around my waist.

“Good morning, brother. Before we announce to the kingdom, I would like you to know the good news. Roam?”

One year, to nine…
I’ve been gone for almost a year and a half there…
the rabbit hole swallowed me, and I let emotional tears fill my eyes for the first time in weeks. When his grip tightened, I lifted my face to Logan’s.

“I’m pregnant.”

Logan shifted his eyes downward, his knuckles white at his sides. “My sincere congratulations.”

“We will have a celebration,
” I felt his lips on the back of my head as I stared blankly at Logan. “Finally, my kingdom will rise.”

“You have more than the sun and an heir,” Logan said suddenly, smiling at Troy. “Roam is
smart. I’m sure, in time, she will be an excellent advisor.”

Troy pulled me into the bedroom, closing the door without speaking to Logan. I flattened against the door, waiting for him to lash out at me for Logan’s comment. Instead, he cupped my chin in his hand. “I understand that you would like to feel… productive.
Valued. I have decided to allow you to the affairs of the people; small claims, simple disputes. I can’t trust you in my financial affairs.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“And the ideas you were rambling about last week, of the sun running our kingdom… global energy… are sparking interest with my people. We have engineers working on solar panels as we speak.”

I kept my eyes on the floor.
Eva is one and a half years old… she’ll never know me.

“My physician will attend to you this evening. Confirm that a child is coming.” He took my hands in his, and I nodded once. “I would like to give you a gift. I must travel back to your world today. What would you like?”

His frosted eyes searched for mine, and finally, I met them. “You won’t harm my family?”

His mouth hardened into a thin line. “Have I kept my bargain the entire time, even as you refused me in the beginning?”

“Yes, my lord. I’m sorry. I just care for them.”

“In time, you’ll accept. A child will entertain you.”

Thinking for a moment, I finally forced myself to return his light smile. “I would like to give something to Eva. Knowing she has something to… remember me by, will help me accept.”

“You
want me to go to her?”

“No
!” I almost doubled over in fear. “No… just mail her a gift… with a note from me.”

His face turned to stone.
“No.”

“You
can read it,” I rushed, pleading. “Your entire panel of advisors can read it. I will not cross you. I have to have closure, as I did when my mother died. I need that if I’m ever going to move on here, with you.”

He watched my fingers
level over his arms, his eyes moistening with desire. I had learned to identify the moment he would relent. “You have an hour.”

When he left, I asked my maids to wait while I moved to the table with the pen and paper that I was finally awarded two weeks ago. The tears began before ink touched the blank, white sheet.

When finished,
I asked a maid to take my note and West’s diamond to Troy. After bathing and dressing with the assistance of several women, I sat as they arranged my long hair in a beautiful array of braids and emerald clips.

From the mirror, I watched T
roy’s expression as he thundered into the bedroom.

“
Leave us.
”

I stood, careful not to dart b
ackwards to the wall.

As the last maid left, he slammed the door. “How long have you had this ring?”

“I carried it through, around my neck.”

“And it was taken from you. Who gave it back to you?
Do not lie to me.
”

Alarm took the feeling from my hands. I clamped them together, pulling at them
painfully. “I’ve had it all along…,”

His fingers found their familiar place at my neck.

“
I said, don’t lie to me.
”

Helena… I can’t let her die for me, for caring for me. She is my only friend.

My eyes lit with fire. All of the anger that I had in my soul surfaced, and my mouth moved against my will. “
Squeeze
, you demented monster.
Kill me and your disgusting child.
I hate you and I always will, and I spend every moment dreaming of the way I will
finally end you.
”

He
released me, and I held my throat.

Something new flashed in his eyes, for only a moment, and it warmed me deep inside.
Hurt
.

The malicious grin returned, and he chuckled. “You know, I actuall
y missed your tongue. I suppose you’re growing on me.”

He turned and left the bedroom. My maids rushed in, Helena moving them aside to gather me into her frail arms.
I cried into her shoulder, my head beginning to ache.

“
The ring… how could I have been so stupid,” I sobbed. She led me to the bed to sit down.

“You protected me.”

“You are my only friend. I can’t lose you,” I let her smooth my hair. “You helped me that first… awful night.”

Helena took my hand. “The physician comes this evening.
He will confirm your pregnancy. And when the child will come.”

I lifted my eyes to hers, my breath catching.

“It stopped snowing the day you arrived,” her voice shook, and I could barely hear her whispers. “The land heats at twice the speed, and I’ve heard that evidence of another sun has been discovered by our astronomers.”

“Another… sun?
Two suns in the sky?”

“
Only the child can bring the sun. The death of the child will keep the land from burning.
That is the prophecy.
Our land is burning at double the pace.”

Only the child can bring the sun.
I covered my stomach through the gown, staring into Helena’s eyes.

Our
child will save the world…

My child with West.

I stared at the wall, my mind recalling the last days with West. The morning we left, he made love to me…

I’d asked him for a baby.

“Oh… my God,” I realized, lying back against the pillow.

It has to be West’s child.

“You must hold your tongue, my queen. Protect yourself.” She pulled the blanket over me, touching my forehead to brush away a long strand of hair. “You have much to do.”

December 17
, 2014

“I do it.”

“Eva, I have to help you. The oven is too hot.”

“I do it!” She stomped her foot, nearly teetering off the wooden step-stool in the kitchen.
Her wide, green eyes, so like Roam’s, stared at him defiantly.

“
Daddy will help.”

“No!”

West reached for her, and she went completely slack before kicking her feet at his shins. He lost track of how many tantrums she’d had since six o’clock that morning.

Morgan came in at that moment, tossing her keys at the table. “Eva Anastasia Perry. You are going to kick your dad.”

Eva leapt from West, her crimson curls sticking to her crocodile-tear-stained cheeks. “Mo-gan!”

“Auntie
Mo-gan wants you to be a good girl on your birthday. Two-year-olds listen to their daddies.” She tucked the toddler’s head against her shoulder, shrugging off her coat. West helped pull at the arms of her jacket, taking it for her.

“
Thanks Morgan. It’s been a day.”

“What’s wrong?” Morgan met his eyes before carrying Eva to the table. “Listen sister, I’ve got balloons and a tank of helium. That makes the balloons
float
. If you’re good, you can help me. Deal?”

“Deal,” Eva giggled as Morgan
tickled her sides.

“
More nightmares,” he nodded at Eva as her laughter turned into a tired yawn. Lowering his voice, he kissed her forehead. “She can’t talk about them. I’m afraid of what they are… of what she’s seeing.”

“Two-year-olds have night terrors. Common.” Six months after they returne
d, Morgan changed her major to early childhood education. Her love for Eva was instantaneous, from the moment he placed the infant in her arms at the castle.

She
cared for Eva every day while he went back to teach, and West paid for her education as well as for anything else she wanted. She was gracious, taking only what she needed and refusing the extras that he offered, like paying off her car.

“This is something else,” he lowered to the couch, and Morgan sat next to him, brushing her hand over Eva’s hair. “She woke up this morning with a deep scratch across her cheek. It healed by ten this morning.”

“Immortals have the best healthcare.” She leaned back, looking down at Eva’s face. “Sound asleep. She just wanted me.”

“You want me to lay her down?”

“In a couple minutes. Let her get settled.”

He stood up, stretching. Morgan looked away, uncomfortable with her betraying admiration of his incredible body. He wore jeans and a long sleeved, thermal blue shirt that matched his eyes, and his face needed shaved. “I
have to get the cookies out of the oven.”

“Okay.” She cleared her throat, leaning back against the couch.

“Your birthday’s coming up. We can’t skip it like last year. We have to have a do-over for your twenty-first.” She heard the cookie sheets slide over the burners before he shut the oven door. “We have chocolate chip… surprise!”

Morgan laughed- Eva’s favorites were chocolate chip, and they baked cookies at least once a week.

“Twenty-one, twenty-two, what’s the difference.”

He bent over her, gently gathering his sleeping daughter into his arms. “
Don’t grow up too fast,” his breath smelled like cookies, and she backed her head away, stiffening.

She watched him carry Eva up the stairs, deciding it was time
to talk to him. She and Jason had broken their engagement more than six months ago, and the countless hours she spent with West and Eva consumed her life. When she would consider a relationship with West, she would immediately think of her sister, and the impacting guilt sickened her.

“Balloons.
Guaranteed aunt maneuver, like Play Dough and silly string.” He rolled the switch on the baby monitor, turning it up to a rushing hum.

“Don’t forget whistles,” Morgan added, waiting for him to sit back down on the couch. When he did, she took a deep breath and turned to him. “Listen, I have to talk to you. This is messy, so hold on, okay?”

West raised his eyes, shrugging. “Shoot.”

“I’m having feelings for you, and I hate myself for them, so I need to… stop seeing you so much. There.”

He stared at her, unblinking. The silence was louder than any word he could have spoken at that moment. She turned and looked down at her hands.

“…and I can
tell you did not see this coming, so I am also embarrassed.”

“Morgan,”
he sat back, floored. “You can’t even know what you mean to me.” He reached for her, pulling her head to his shoulder. “Please don’t be embarrassed.”

“The guilt is eating me up. I have to go away for a while, from you… I hate that it means leaving Eva, too.”

“I’m used to waiting centuries for Roam. These two years have been the worst, longest two years of my life. But I can’t give up on her. I have to find a way back to her.”

“I get that. I don’t
want
you to give up.”

“I
can’t imagine my life with anyone else.” The resolve in his voice was clear. “One time I could- with Laurel. But Roam is
all I will ever want.
”