Will helps me stand up and gives his brother a scathing glare. “Who’s to say you aren’t the little bro?” They give each other a playful shove before firing serious looks at the same time. Kind of eerie watching them make mirror movements. Silas’ plan probably could have worked if I never came along. I’m sure that’s what ultimately fucked everything up for him.
“What’s the plan? How do we get out of here without getting caught? I’m sick of this place and don’t want to get wrapped up in Silas trying to use us in any way,” Klaus asks, trying to get things going.
Will reaches for my hand again, wanting to keep me close, and the pesky bond has been screaming from the moment we stopped touching. He gazes at me with love in his eyes and a teasing glimmer. “How about you let me plan out the adventures from here on out, Darling. I’m not sure I like how yours turned out.” My mouth drops at how rude the implication is! How dare he say my plans ended up with Silas betraying us both. He presses a quick kiss on my nose and turns to the others.
“I have an escape tunnel we built when they had us doing renovations down here. They don’t know about it, and I have a place for us to lay low while we come up with a long-term plan. It was always the plan to bust out of this place as soon as Cecily was awake, and with me. Follow me and stay close,” William instructs the group. Before leaving his cell, with a wave of his hand, he cleans up all of the vines that suddenly appeared with Silas bursting into the room.
We all follow him closely, of course I’m at his side since he won’t drop my hand. I can tell the guys are all still worried about me being close to him, but they are going to have to get over that shit real quick. We make our way through many false walls, fashioned the same way he fixed the cover over the escape tunnel he took me through way back in the day. Finally, we find ourselves in a long dark tunnel, with torches lining the wall. Will lights them in an instant, each torch igniting to life before the next.
“Sweet! It’s like we’re in an Indiana Jones movie! Better not have any snake pits in here, William, or we’re going to have some words later. And by words, I mean my fist in your face,” Alex pipes up. Derrick and I exchange looks; it seems like Alex hates snakes. We may need to plan a prank later.
“Why would I have a pit of snakes? You’re... odd.” Will gives a puzzled look before squeezing my hand and walking forward, leading the way. With all of the differences I noticed between them, I can’t believe it never occurred to me that Marcus was a twin to my first mate. Silas’ plan certainly would have worked. It worked on me five hundred years later, and he wasn’t even planning for things to take that path.
I’m consumed with guilt at how I treated Marcus when I first woke up. Fuck... I treated him like shit, filled with rage over my betrayal, and all I wanted to do was make him experience a portion of how shitty I felt. I look over my shoulder for Marcus and find him right behind me. My free hand twitches in his direction and he’s already reaching for it. I never had thoughts about a twin sandwich until this moment, but I can’t help it as I’m holding hands with both of them.
Marcus gives my hand a squeeze, settling my thoughts of guilt. We got past our rocky beginnings, and now knowing he has a twin—the missing piece he felt all along—I believe things will develop quickly between us.
The tunnel we’re traveling down seems to be endless. It obviously had to be a lot longer than the other one he had taken me out of previously, seeing as we exited out of the dungeon instead of by the castle wall, but it seems like by now, we should have reached the end of the wall for the castle. We travel mostly in silence, not wanting to get into any heavy conversations while making our escape from the place which holds so many painful memories.
My question about why the tunnel is so long is quickly answered when we finally exit out into the open. We’re in the middle of some woods, a huge rock acting like the door into a secret realm sits to the side of the exit, which William is quick to put back in place once we’re all out of the tunnel. He waves his arm in afollow himgesture while saying, “This way. Darling, do you still have your protective spell firmly in place?”
I check in on the magic holding the spell intact, and strengthen it to ensure the rest of our travels go undetected. I throw in protection against tracking, covering our scents and footprints and such as well. “Good to go!” I reply with two thumbs up, and my hands are quickly scooped up by the twins once again.
The woods surrounding us don’t look familiar, but why would they? It’s been so long since I was here before, and I never did much exploring of the surrounding area except for the two adventures William took me on. Although this is quickly starting to feel like another one of our fun adventures. I suppose it can be, if we allow it. I have my... holy shit... I have five mates. That’s a lot to keep track of.
Thinking about it, I check in with my two fully bonded mates. Derrick and I bonded several days ago, and Klaus and I bonded just two nights ago. Both occurrences seem like forever ago, while still feeling like they happened just last night. A flair of lust pulls at me just thinking about the nights I spent with each of them. Now all I need is to repeat a bonding experience three more times... no big deal. Or possibly a big deal... I haven’t seen what I’m working with yet. Wow, way to get distracted thinking about dick.
Alex catches my eye, a smirk on his face as if he knows I’m thinking about one of his favorite subjects. Shaking my head, I try to clear my thoughts of impurities. “How are you guys holding up?” My question goes directly to their minds, a trick we have only because the bond is formed.
“Doing pretty well, Sunshine. How are you doing? Must have been a big shock to find out Marcus and William are twins. I know it was throwing you for a loop trying to figure out how their lives didn’t match up.” Klaus, always so tuned in with what my soul is going through.
“It was a mind fuck, for sure. Just before I opened the cell door, I could feel them both at the same time. One standing beside me and the other behind the door. I was worried I was going to be betrayed again somehow. I’m really glad it didn’t happen. And the exhaustion of trying to fight my heart’s desires versus how my mind felt about things, has lifted.” I trail off with a shrug, causing William to give me a raised eyebrow in question. I just give him a smile.
“You sure you can trust him, Precious?” Derrick cuts in.
“No doubts at all. Marcus made me realize I should never have doubted the connection of the bond in the first place, no matter what the situation looked like. The Fates would never give me a mate who would have been capable of betraying me in any way. Plus, I would’ve felt it in the bond, and I never did. Also, William sent me his memory of what happened the night it all went down. He was betrayed by Silas, who took control over his body. The things he felt inside... I don’t know how his mind hasn’t broken…” Soon we will be able to talk out the rest of the remaining pieces and everyone will all be on the same page.
Never ending to-do list...
We emerge from the trees, and a small mountain is before us. I recognize the shape of it immediately. This is the same area William had brought me when he took me to see the Blackfoot Indians. We approach a smooth side of the rock and Will doesn’t even slow down his pace before pulling me through the rock face.
The others follow us into the side of the mountain, and as soon as we pass through the spelled barrier, I see we’re inside a cavern. The slab in front of me brings me back to the day the miners found my body. William is watching me carefully and I’m at a loss for words. Why did he bring us here? I’m not sure I really want the memory of the time I spent trapped in my soul form.
“I know this is probably less than ideal to bring you here, but it’s the closest safehouse of sorts. I wanted us to be able to talk before more chaos ensues and it gets pushed back constantly.” My eyes narrow in suspicion. It’s like he knows just how much that’s been happening lately.
William walks over to the edge of the room and pulls out cushions for us to all sit on comfortably so we can talk. When we’re all seated, once again flanked by the twins, Will kicks things off. “So I know a lot has happened since the night shit hit the fan, but I wanted to cover one of your questions you asked before we talk about all the other stuff.” He turns to me, blue eyes holding my gaze trapped in his.
“You asked me how I was able to remember you. Cecily, I could never forget you. You’re my mate and our connection would never allow me to forget what we have. Plus, when you linked our minds, you created a type of completed bond between us. It’s not as strong as consummating, but it formed a bond strong enough to keep you alive the night Silas tried to kill you. It was odd sitting next to you when the spell traveled across the world though. I saw the immediate effects of everyone’s minds being wiped. Confused the shit out of me.” It makes sense the bond wouldn’t work on concealing us against him.
William continues to share the details of what happened to those hit with the forgetting spell, and the consequences he’s noticed from everything that’s happened. Then he tells us about how he protected my body and everything that happened with Silas, including their falling out when my body was discovered. I’m beyond shocked to find out he was able to join my soul when he was sleeping. Somehow knowing I wasn’t actually alone all that time makes me feel better.
While talking about joining me in soul form, we were able to tell the guys about what it was like for me. William and I even shared a few of our favorite adventures. Then the guys and I share what we’ve been through since they found me, so William is all caught up on the things he didn’t see when he was awake. They all had a bonding moment over murderous rage for the people who were trying to experiment on me. Go figure on that one.
Finally, we get to a topic I’ve been wanting to ask about, which conveniently came up again today with the vines showing up out of nowhere. “While I was in my soul form, I remember you talking about a prophecy you found about the vine that keeps popping up around me. Can you tell me more about it?” I direct my question to Derrick and the rest of the guys lean forward, anticipating what information he can give us.
Derrick nods his head and his eyes light up, being asked to talk about his favorite subject. “It’s no secret around here I enjoy researching our history. While perusing Silas’ library, I stumbled upon a book of prophecy. I swear the book just appeared one day. It talked about how a day would come when the royal family would be wiped from history for a time due to one of them being betrayed. Then it went on to talk about Queen’s Thistle being used against a Queen and of how the vine would choose to protect her after the initial betrayal.
“There were no details on how the vine would be used or anything helpful, unfortunately. Sounds like your family will be coming out of hiding soon though. I bet you’re looking forward to being reunited.” He finishes off his explanation, not able to give more information than what he had told the guys when I was in soul form.
