AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carefully, he put his hand over his grandmother-in-law’s hand where it rested on the city map. “We’ll find her.”
“Blueprints!” Mama Lauren called as she came through the door. Her arms were filled, as were Jesse and Christy’s arms.
Surprisingly, Roisin and Sera followed, with Iggy trailing behind them.
“I can think of six places that had stone walls and weren’t torn down, Bea.” Iggy glanced at Eli as if to ask if he was allowed to stay.
“Anyone who can help us find her is welcome,” Eli said, answering that silent question.
“She mentionedSisters of Purity and Redemptionand at least two levels to the building. Her prison has no windows, saltwater well, stone, and a dunking chair,” Beatrice said.
“No basements, though,” Iggy reminded them. “Something like a Creole townhouse with a courtyard converted to a create the illusion of an ancient structure.”
“So one with a courtyard we can’t see on the outside? That could be anywhere,” Sera interjected.
“Agreed. It would be faster if we tore down doors,” Beatrice grumbled even as she starting to scour blueprints. “We give this one hour before we do it my way.”
Better the threat we can try to overcome than do nothing now in fear of the threat that might come.
Eli nodded. “So be it.”
And so they began sorting through architectural plans, historical buildings, and potential other lairs.
No one, even Chester, would separate Eli from Geneviève, and this odd collection of people felt the same way. They would die before abandoning her, and he just hoped there was a plan that didn’t include that fate.
10
GENEVIÈVE
“Once your marriage is dissolved,” Chester pronounced smugly, “you will be less of a problem. Being the heir to thedraugrthrone and a witch is not enough to be a true bother to me.”
An image of Beatrice flashed from my memory. Her eyes had been swollen and blackened. Her lips were bruised and cracked, and he’d attacked her brutally enough that the powerfuldraugr’sarm had dangled at an angle that was far from natural. Witch anddraugr, ancient and clever, Beatrice was still overpowered by Chester.
Without the magic that came from being bound to Eli, Iwouldbe less of a threat. I would also be dead—because there was no doubt in my mind that Eli wouldn’t choose life over love. If he was that sort of person, I wouldn’t be his wife. Foolish man that he was, he chose me despite knowing that I was besties with danger and destruction.
I stared at Chester, trying to fully process his suggested solution. It made as much sense as asking a lion to become vegetarian.
Carefully, I asked, “So you think that my spouse, thatEli, is going to forsake me?”
“Women overestimate their importance.” Chester smirked, looking like every skeezy businessman I’d ever met. So sure of his misogyny and arrogance. So sure that his attitude was universal. How sad it must be to hate women so much!
But the logic that said it was pitiful did nothing to quell my rage. I wanted to throat-punch him, which was just one more motivation to escape the damn witches’ chair.
“You’re all interchangeable,” Chester continued. “A warm nothing on chilly nights. Some thinner or older or more talkative, but in the end, a man will choose life over a woman every time. He may lie and say otherwise, but your Eli? He’s inElphamewith the ritual I gave his uncle to sever your tie.”
I felt tears build in my eyes—not because I thought Eli would agree to end our marriage but that he would be faced with an awful situation. I had no doubt that Eli was now aware of who held me prisoner, and that he was furious.
I’d feel the same.
People were not interchangeable.
The arrogant ball sack in front of me said, “There. There. The good news is that as only two heritages, you are no longer as likely to require my attention. You might even survive. If you’re lucky, I could potentially never see you again.”
My mind was still rolling over the horrible things he’d said and revealed. I needed to focus on thenow, but worries filled me about what came next. Once I was free of Chester, was I going to need to rescue Eli from his former home? I had doubts that the king would send Eli back here to die if he had a way to save him—and I understood that impulse. Saving Eli mattered more to me than surviving, but the truth was that I no longer thought I could agree to such a ritual. The thought of losing that part of me, the part that wasus, was fundamentally abhorrent.
“Why can’t I go free then?” I smiled, attempting to seem harmless. I had a lot of practice at that. I still sucked at it if the expression on Chester’s face was any indication.
“No rage that he has forsaken you?” Chester eyed me suspiciously. “I expected more.”
