Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (29 page)

She nodded, wiping her tears away. “Yes. Oh, Ferox, he did this to you. He did this to
us
.”

“What do you mean?”

“You two fought and something must have happened. He’s been pretending to be you for weeks.”

His thumbs swirled over her shoulders as he tried to soothe her. “Why would I fight my own brother?”

As if he weren’t already dealing with a whole ton of shit, she had to wallop him with another one. “Ferox, Damion is your enemy.”

****

Traitor to the crown.

Garrick tried to fight the lump that had formed in his throat. Why now? Why had Cedric decided to hold court
now
? He knew it was only a matter of time, but he’d hoped to be long gone by the time Cedric came up with an appropriate punishment. Did he want to shirk his responsibilities? Sort of.

No, that wasn’t true. He didn’t want to shirk anything. He knew it was coming, and he was ready to face the music. Only, facing it now could mean a whole slew of problems for every Fairy on the Isle. He and Dani needed to get out of here and find the portal, get back to the human realm and rescue Queen Sarah, or else the Ha
rpies would attack Túir with hellish fury
.

All around him, Fairies looked at him with different expressions on their faces. Some were of outright pity, some were shocked, and some had the smug looks that said, “I knew he’d get you good.” He wanted to punch those particular Fairies in the face. The only expressions he didn’t look at were th
ose
of his family, and the one on Dani’s. He just couldn’t gather enough strength to see what they thought of him.

“Lord Garrick,” Cedric continued, after letting the gravity of the situation fall over everyone. “Nearly thirteen years ago to the day, there was an attack on our lands by our Harpy enemies. Do you recall this day?”

“I do,” he replied.

“And on this day, do you remember the individuals in your presence when the attack began?”

Garrick’s eyes met his. “I was in the presence of you, my
lord
, as well as in the presence of my sister, Lady Abigail of the house of Cyne, cousin to the crown.”

“I know this to be an accurate recollection,” Cedric said to the crowd. “Though there were others in the immediate vicinity, the accused was in charge of protecting both myself and Lady Abigail, gods bless her spirit.”

“Gods bless her spirit,” many of the Fairies whispered as well.

“Is my statement accurate?” Cedric asked, eyeing Garrick.

“It is.”

“Very well,” his voice boomed. “Do you acknowledge the fact that you left me, your king, to defend myself against the Harpies?”

Garrick’s eyes focused on a white marbled tile in front of him. “Yes.”

Cedric stepped forward at this. “And what is the reasoning for leaving your charge to defend himself?”

Teeth clenched, Garrick kept his gaze on the floor.

“Has the guilty no response?”

“Tell him,” Dani whispered. “
Tell. Him.
”

“Ah,” Cedric said. “Maybe your
lady
has something to say. Tell me, Lady Danielle, has my cousin told you of the battles that day?”

“Leave her out of this,” Garrick growled, his gaze clashing with Cedric’s. The Fairies watching the trial all gasped in surprise and began whispering at his outrage.

“Yes,” Dani replied, ignoring Garrick’s protest and the hum of voices around her. “He
told me what happened
.”

“Would you kindly tell the court what my cousin told you?” Cedric asked.

“Dani.” Garrick shook his head. “I have no excuses—”

“He tried to save his sister from the attacks, because
you
had weapons to fight with, and she didn’t,” Dani said, talking over him.

“Oh,” Cedric nodded thoughtfully. “You know, one would think that my dear cousin had the audacity to bring you into my court, just to fill my head with these ideas.”

Garrick glanced up at him. “No, my lo—”

“Silence,” Cedric yelled. “For if what she told me is true, about how you left my very capable hands to protect myself for the purpose of protecting a lady of the court and a dear, dear cousin of mine, and then took a moment to regain your thoughts after your sister was savagely slain by our enemy, only to be forcefully removed from Túir, then one would in fact
not
find you guilty. If it were true, of course.”

Garrick gaped at Dani. When in the hell had they talked about that?
“Of course.
”

“Well,” the king said, still using his theatrical voice to keep every Fairy’s rapt attention on him. “If the tale
had been
told to m
e by anyone other than Miss Weston
, then my ruling m
ight
have been different, cousin.”

Garrick inclined his head toward Cedric as he let more silence wrap the audience in a blanket of nerves.
But no one could have been more on edge than he was. Cedric
’s decision meant he either lived or died
. And what if he was condemned to death? What would become of Dani? Dearest gods in the heavens, he wished his cousin would just announce his ruling.
Honestly, he was sick of the theatrical bullshit that Cedric had reveled in since he could remember. He’d been that way ever since they were kids. The bastard belonged on the silver screen even more than he belonged
o
n the throne with that crown on his head.

“I find you innocent of all charges of treason,” Cedric said, surprising Garrick, Dani, and everyone else in the hall.

His head snapped up. “What?”

Cedric stepped down from the platform, clapping a hand on his back. “I was never mad at you,” he said quietly so that no one other than Garrick and Dani heard it. “I wondered where my friend went, though.”

“You don’t blame me?”

He
smiled and shook his head. “No. Fathe
r did, but he wasn’t
there that day. I saw you trying to reach Abby. Even if you’d have stuck by my side I would have told you to get to her instead.”

Garrick stood and placed his hand on Cedric’s shoulder, the same way Cedric was now doing to him. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come back until now.”

“I just hope that you’ll stay now, brother.”

Garrick glanced at Dani. “I can’t. We must leave again soon.”

His cousin’s jaw dropped open slightly before he righted himself. The crowd around them had started chatting amongst each other, knowing that the trial had concluded. “What do you mean?”

“There are things we have to do,” he replied, gesturing between Dani and himself. “She doesn’t belong here, and I’m not sure I do either anymore.”

“Because of Abby?” Cedric asked quietly.

Garrick nodded. “My family blames me for her death.”

Cedric’s hold on him tightened. “That wasn’t your fault, Garrick. The Harpies murdered her. It was their queen that took her essence.”

“Sarah killed her? Queen Sarah fucking
killed her
?” Garrick paced the guest room Dani had been given during her stay. As soon as Cedric had dropped that atom bomb on him, he and Dani had excused themselves from the festivities so he
’
d
have
some time to think. She hadn’t known him very long, but she could see by his expression that he’d needed to get away from the others.

“Could it be another queen?” Dani asked. “You did say there are multiple clans, right?”

“It could be, I guess. But the Harpies we met are the very same ones that attack us ninety-percent of the time. They’re the closest, so it’s likely
she who
did it.”

“Oh,” she said, sitting down on the bed. She kicked her shoes off and rubbed
her feet
.

How could things have gotten this bad? How could the Harpy they were tasked to save be the very same Harpy that took his sister’s life?

Dani eyed Garrick, who hadn’t been able to sit still since they had reached her room. “Why don’t you sit down,” she suggested. “You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet if you keep that up.”

“I can’t,” he said, continuing his pacing. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What are your options?”

“Break Sarah out of the Institute and return her to her clan, or don’t and risk the lives of everyone here.”

“There are no other options?”

He stopped pacing. “Not that I can think of. I keep thinking that I can’t just loose the bitch that killed my sister on Caireal again. But then, can I really live with myself if the Harpies slaughter everyone because I don’t?”

The second option would kill him; she knew that without a doubt. “No, you can’t. Risking other lives would make it worse. I think we should move forward with the plan. We can’t assume she’s the one who did it.”

He crossed the room and sat in a chair. Resting his head against the back, he
stared up at the ceiling
. “Okay, I won’t assume she’s the one who did it.”

“It’s the only way for now,” Dani agreed. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted and this bed is really comfortable. Can we go to bed?”

He
turned his head
and smiled at her. “Sure. I could use some sleep, and that flo
or looks really
comfortable,” he said, mimicking her statement.

“You are
not
sleeping on the floor.”

“Yes, I am. I’m surprised the whole fleet isn’t up here tearing me out of the room as it is. Remember, your maidenhood is at stake here.”

Dani quirked her mouth to the side even as heat rushed through her body. Yes it was, she thought. “Don’t sleep on the floor. Please, Garrick.”

“When’s the last time you slept in a real bed?”

She sighed
. “Nine years, I guess.”

“Right. So why would I ruin your chance at an actual night’s sleep by hogging all the covers?”

“I’m sure you won’t hog all t
he covers. This bed is massive.”

“Oh, I’m a cover ho
g. I’ve had plenty of…
”
Garrick closed his mouth quickly. “Never
mind.”

He’d had plenty of women tell him so, Dani filled in in her mind. The thought of
him
being around any other woman kindled a small flame of anger in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t explain it, but she wanted him to desire
her
and no other. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll just sleep in this giant bed all by myself even though I wouldn’t be able to reach any of the edges if I spread my arms and legs as wide as I could.”

Ga
rrick’s jaw visibly tightened and
he stood to his feet. His gaze went from her, to the bed she sat on, and back to he
r again. “Stand up. Turn around.
”
His voice had grown husky. He stepped t
oward her.

“Why?”

“I’m going to take off your dress. Now turn around.”

A shiver ran down her spine and through all of her limbs. Goose bumps spread o
ver her skin when
his
eyes heated as he
stared at her.

“You’re going to
what
?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he darted in. His large, warm hands wrapped her bare shoulders as his lips crushed against hers. His hands started roaming, rubbing her shoulders and back as their kissing intensified. She moaned at the taste of him. A very male sound came from him, leading her to believe he was very much with her.

And then he pulled away.

Softly, yet leaving no room to question his demand, he said, “Turn around, Dani.”

She did as he said.

Garrick’s fingers tickled her skin as he started to work at the laces. More goose bumps covered her flesh, and his lips
gen
tly touched the soft skin of her neck and shoulders before
he
plac
ed
a few
kisses
on her back. “I’ve wanted to take this off of you ever I since I first saw you tonight.
You take my breath away, Dani.
”

“Really?” she breathed.
It was all she could say, her thoughts vanishing at his words.
Warmth settled deep inside her, her body warming with anticipation from his kisses and gentle caresses.

He answered her with another kiss to her neck. Her bodice was loosening, but he was taking his sweet time in undoing the ties. She’d never worn so many clothes before, and right now she wanted them
off
. The bodice fell just before her skirting did, and she squeaked as Garrick scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He gently laid her down and crawled over her, placing his body deliciously on top of hers.