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I don’t know if she realised I was shaking like a leaf as I said it, but she gave an exasperated sigh and got to her feet.
‘Very well, if that’s the way you want it.’
She hobbled to the staircase and somehow climbed the steps to the door. As she grasped the handle she said, ‘Let’s see who gives in first, shall we?’
With that she left the basement, and I sank back in the sofa, overwhelmed with despair. It was all right acting all tough and brave, but the truth was I was scared. Real scared. For all I knew she was a Pendragon, or worked for them. What if she brought them to me? What if she decided that if I wasn’t going to talk to her, maybe I’d talk to someone who was more used to taking prisoners?
My eyes fell on the door in the far end of the room, and I got to my feet and headed towards it. The chain yanked me to a halt, and I strained to reach the handle, wanting to see what was on the other side. There might be an escape route, and if I could just persuade my captor to unchain me for a while… But it was no use. Besides, it was probably locked.
I sat down and wrapped my arms around myself. At least she’d left the light on for me, which was a comfort. I wondered if she’d meant to or if she’d just forgotten.
I’m not sure how long I sat there, shivering with cold, my stomach growling with hunger. I had no sense of time and realised that, somewhere along the way, I’d lost my cell phone. I’d grown too reliant on it, I thought dully. I used to wear a wristwatch, but I’d stopped bothering because it was just as easy to look at my cell. Without it I was lost.
Well, I’d better get used to this. I could be here days, weeks, months even. I tried not to panic at the thought that I could be here for the rest of my life—nor that the rest of my life might not be a very long time at all.
Even so, I was determined. I was doing this for Lowen and for my family. My brother—wow, it still sounded so amazing to say that word—my brother had to be protected until he was ready to take up the mantle of the Great Guardian. This weird woman wasn’t going to get any information out of me.
I resigned myself to a long, cold, hungry spell in my prison and decided I might as well lie down and get some sleep if possible. At least asleep I wouldn’t be hungry.
I turned to make myself comfortable and gasped. On the sofa beside me was a blanket, a cup of tea, a bowl of tomato soup, some thick, crusty bread, and a slice of chocolate cake.
It seemed my captor had a heart after all. Either that or she was playing a weird game with me. Right now I didn’t care. I wrapped the blanket around me and began to eat as if it was the first meal I’d had in days.
Who knew when I’d be fed again.
Chapter 6
Romy
While Killian was away at Ballydraiocht, Hector returned from Peloryon Island and told us Ewella and Emrick were willing to take Johnnie into “informal custody”.
I honestly didn’t know what to think about that, unsure whether it was the right or fair thing. I was certain John had no recollection of Blaise St Clair, but it had thrown me, knowing my dear, sweet boyfriend wasn’t really the man I thought he was—or the man he thought he was, come to that.
And Simon, a Guardian! I couldn’t get my head around it all, and every time I tried I just felt sick and desperately sad.
It seemed clear to me that any future I’d planned with John wouldn’t happen now. And where did that leave me? Where, more importantly, did it leave him? He couldn’t languish on the island forever.
I tried not to blame Keely and Harley, but there was a part of me that did, no matter how I tried to reason that they’d only acted the way they had because they were afraid for me. It had been an act of love, but dragging John to Castle Clair and telling him bluntly that he wasn’t really John Ford at all, but a witch from 1669, was not only downright cruel, but it meant the Guardians now had only one option: wipe his memory a second time.
That would mean yet another identity that would take him well away from the St Clairs, as had been originally intended. Whoever he became, I knew that the man I’d promised to spend the rest of my life with would be taken from me forever.
‘I’m so sorry, Romy.’ Celeste had clearly seen the despairing look on my face as she gave my arm a sympathetic squeeze. ‘I know how you feel, believe me.’
‘But you don’t. Not really.’ I didn’t mean to sound ungracious, but her circumstances had been very different from mine. ‘You’d already fallen out of love with Blaise. You loved Hector by the time you realised what had been going on. I still love Johnnie! He’s my world.’ Tears ran down my cheeks. ‘What am I supposed to do without him?’
‘You’ll find a way,’ she said gently.
I knew she was trying to be kind and reassuring, because there wasn’t a bad bone in Celeste’s body, but she wasn’t helping.
‘Don’t tell me there are plenty more fish in the sea,’ I said, wiping my face. ‘And do you really think this is fair?’ I asked her desperately. ‘Johnnie has no idea about Blaise. How do you think he’s going to feel when he wakes up and finds himself a prisoner on an island?’
‘He won’t exactly be a prisoner,’ she said uncomfortably.
‘So he can leave any time he likes then?’
She looked down, clearly embarrassed. ‘Well, no…’
‘There you go then! It’s not fair. He’s being punished for something someone else did.’
