Mate Of A Dragon Villain (Skeleton Key) (15 page)

Hargreave slid his hand through her hair. “You should not insult my mate. I do not approve of it.”

Amanda smiled, taking his wrist and holding it tightly. “Do you believe me, though?”

Hargreave nodded. How could he not?

Amanda’s chest rose and fell in a heavy sigh. She stepped forward, her arms coming around Hargreave’s chest, her body warm as she held on tight.

He held her tightly back. “You will be the death of me.”

He would protect her. He would have to. He would lay down his life if he had to. She couldn’t know that, but it no longer mattered.

“I am a villain.”

Amanda shook her head immediately. “No, you’re not.”

“I am,” Hargreave said, smiling down at her, kissing her on her sweet mouth. “Because a better man would have been able to resist you. I cannot. So I will do the selfish and villainous thing, and bring you back into a war torn land.”

“That’s fine. It won’t be war torn for much longer anyway.”

Hargreave listened to her, to the determination and surety in her voice, and he almost believed it. “I hope you are right.”

A
manda packed
up everything she thought would be useful for their trip back. She took some spare clothes, since she didn’t want to be wearing those dresses all the time, as nice as they were. She definitely packed her books. She hadn’t finished the series, and she never would, but if she kept the books, she might be able to scan the pages for something that could help her. Some clue or detail about the world she’d thought she had created to help her figure out how to end this.

As a writer, she often didn’t see plot points until well into the story. Now she had to go looking for those twists and turns she hadn’t been aware were there, as well as figure out what was real, and what she had made up to make the story seem more exciting.

Amanda realized part way through packing up her stuff that she wouldn’t be coming back. At least, she was ninety percent sure she wouldn’t be coming back.

When she’d fallen through that hole in her closet, the skeleton key had vanished, appearing underwater in Hargreave’s hidden treasure room. There was no telling where it would end up next time, if it would appear again at all.

Part of her thought she might be able to come back, but there was another part that knew she wouldn’t. That she would never see a TV ever again, find out how
Game of Thrones
ended, speak with her parents or siblings, none of it. It would all be done and gone.

And that was all right. It hurt, but she was at peace with it.

Amanda stuffed some empty journals and sketchbooks into her bag, along with a few other essentials she couldn’t do without. Her eyebrow pluckers, photos of her family, and the little stuffed Coca Cola polar bear she had that said “Canada” on it.

She couldn’t forget where she came from, after all.

Hargreave stood in the doorway, watching her. “Are you certain about this?”

Amanda briefly thought of taking her iPad, but no. There was no way to charge it and it would just make her miss technology. Might as well rip that Band-Aid off as fast as possible.

“I’m sure,” she said, looking at Hargreave. The villain of her books was the love of her life. “How do you feel about the idea of me still writing when I’m living with you?”

He grinned at her. “You can pen whatever you wish. I would ask that you make me the hero of your tales the next time, however.”

“Deal.” Amanda hoisted the gym bag over her shoulder. She’d already written a note to her parents and left it on the coffee table, under a paperweight so it wouldn’t get blown away or something. In it, she told them she loved them, asked them not to worry about her, that she was going to be fine and was with someone she loved. It also gave them permission to get into her bank accounts. They could have what she’d saved. Maybe it would help them retire earlier. That thought eased her guilt a little bit, but whatever guilt she felt vanished entirely when Hargreave reached out and took her by the hand.

A light, giddy feeling swelled inside her as they walked into her office, to the closet with the keyhole that would fit the bulky, glass skeleton key.

Hargreave put it into the lock.

Amanda’s heart pounded.

“Are you frightened?”

“More worried it’s going to drop us from three thousand feet, or put us under water somewhere.”

Hargreave gripped her hand tightly. “I have you. I will let nothing happen to you.”

Amanda looked up at him, feeling some of her anxiety easing.

She nodded, and Hargreave hesitated a moment before turning the key and opening the door.

Amanda braced herself for the feeling of falling, for the sensation of being sucked into a hole and wind blowing in her face. None of that happened. Gravity stayed the same when the other side of the door was revealed to her.

The key worked. It definitely wasn’t her closet in there.

Stone walls and blue carpeting. It was warm, and the lights were electric with wires snaking along the walls.

This was not the modern world, but it wasn’t Hargreave’s castle either.

It was Eldric’s castle.

“Shit. Maybe we should try again.”

Hargreave looked at her, then at the empty hall before him. Voices sounded in the distance. There were people here. Someone would eventually come down this way and see them.

“No. I won’t risk it.” He stepped forward.

Amanda grabbed him by the arm. “Are you serious?”

“I am,” Hargreave said, looking back at what awaited him. “I won’t risk the next time the key opens a door for us that it leads to some wreck beneath the ocean. I can handle that, you cannot. Come.” He took her by the hand and dragged her forward.

Amanda dragged her feet only a little. “Are you sure?” she whispered as they entered the hall. The change in temperature was obvious as they exited her air conditioned apartment.

Hargreave nodded. “Quite certain. Eldric would not harm a lady, should we be caught anyway. You said as much yourself that he is an honorable man.”

Hargreave really sounded like he was hesitant to admit to that much. Understandable, since it was Eldric’s father who had killed Hargreave’s mother. She was still happy he was making an attempt to believe her, but Amanda still wished he wouldn’t take this kind of risk to do it.

It was too late anyway. The second they were out of reach of the door, it slammed shut behind them. Loudly.

Amanda and Hargreave spun around. The white door to Amanda’s closet was gone, replaced with something wooden with thick iron hinges.

She and Hargreave looked to the door, then at each other.

“The hall leads to this door. It must be someone’s chamber.”

Amanda nodded. Only important people got rooms all to themselves in a world like this. It made her all the more grateful that Eldric had given her a room to herself when she’d first arrived at the castle.

Amanda got a feeling she knew whose room it would be without even thinking about it, but her suspicion was confirmed when an angry voice called out from the other side, demanding to know what the racket was, and the door yanked open and Udolf revealed himself.

He stopped abruptly at the sight of Amanda and Hargreave, his eyes big behind those tiny glasses.

He and Hargreave seemed to snap out of it at the same time. Udolf tried to slam the door shut again, but Hargreave was younger, faster, and stronger as he pushed through it, grabbing Udolf by the mouth before the man could scream for help.

Oh shit. This was going sideways. Amanda rushed into the room behind them, quickly shutting the door before a guard could walk by and see what was going on.

It didn’t seem to matter anyway. Hargreave pushed Udolf into one of his lush chairs next to the fireplace, eyes blazing red. When he spoke, Amanda could see the flames in his mouth.

A sight like that made her wonder why she wasn’t a little more hesitant to kiss the man, but then she wasn’t thinking about that. She was only thinking about how much she didn’t want this to end in blood.

Hargreave wasn’t wearing the clothes he’d come into Amanda’s world with, but he did still have his claws. Udolf gasped for breath when those claws were put to his throat. “One sound, anything that will draw attention to us, and I will kill you. Understand me?”

Udolf nodded.

Amanda’s heart raced, but at least when Udolf nodded, she was able to relax a little bit. She wouldn’t be seeing a man killed, not yet, at least.

Hargreave looked back at Amanda. “Are you sure he had something to do with it? Though he was Edward’s advisor.” Hargreave turned his angry stare back to Udolf. “It would not shock me.”

Amanda stepped forward quickly before he could dig those claws into Udolf’s throat.

He looked at her, his eyes calm, though his voice trembled. “It’s good to see you healthy, my lady.”

“Yeah, perfect.”

Udolf frowned slightly, his gaze moving up and down Hargreave, his shirt, jeans, and shoes. “What are you wearing?”

“Never mind that,” Amanda said. She put her bag down on the floor and unzipped it, yanking out her books. She looked to Hargreave just then, remembering the skeleton key. “Do you still have the key?”

His red eyes widened slightly, as though only just remembering it. “It was still in the lock.”

And the door and portal were both closed.

Amanda shook her head. “Not like we didn’t see that coming, I guess.” She handed Udolf the books. He took them, glancing down at them as if he did not know what to make of them. She briefly wondered if he even realized they were books right away, considering they weren’t big, heavy hardcovers made of leather.

“Okay,” Amanda started, pushing her hair out of her face. “The quick explanation is that I’ve been having visions of your world, thinking it was a story idea, and writing about it. Those are my books.”

“These are books?” He flipped through the pages, his mouth set to a firm line, clearly unimpressed.

Amanda snatched the book out of his hands, leaving the others on his lap. She felt really protective of her work just then, but that wasn’t what was important. “Whatever, shut up. The point is that I’ve been writing Hargreave as the villain, but he never was. I always knew this, too. I was going to write a story for him, but everything was getting too messed up in the series.”

“What is…?” Udolf looked between the two of them. “What is this about? You attack me for literature?”

“No, not literature. Not really.” Amanda rubbed her temples. She was getting a headache.

Hargreave tightened his claws around Udolf’s throat. “I suggest you listen to the woman, old man.”

“Hargreave, it’s okay.” She reached out and touched his arm. That seemed to get his attention, to calm him. “I’ve got this.”

He looked at her, the tension in his shoulders seeming to melt away slightly, and he nodded. Amanda was shocked and pleased when he even released Udolf’s throat.

Udolf still seemed less than impressed by this whole thing as he righted the tiny spectacles on his face. “What is this about?”

Amanda took in a deep breath. “Whenever I was thinking about rewriting Hargreave’s story, I always thought about who had to be the real bad guy. The twist at the end, you know?”

Udolf said nothing. He still had that sour puss expression on his face.

Amanda clenched her hands into fists. “I can’t always figure out what I’m making up in my head and what’s real; some of what I wrote was clearly right, and some of it wasn’t, but I always had you in mind.”

Both grey brows lifted high. “
Me
?”

Amanda nodded. “I’ve talked with Hargreave about this a lot.”

“Yes,” Hargreave agreed, his eyes still flashing. He showed off his teeth and the points they had become. “Extensively.”

Amanda wet her lips. “I want to make sure I’m not wrong about this, too. You’re the easy target because you’re kind of, well, older, and you just…you give off a vibe.”

Udolf glared at her. “So, because I am old and ugly, I do not meet your requirements for innocence?”

The question would have made her flinch if she wasn’t so sure she was right. “What do you know about what happened to Hargreave and his family, and what does Eldric think happened?”

“The king knows what happened.”

“Unless you’re hiding some things from him,” Amanda said.

Hargreave paced the room. “He attacked my people first. That insufferable cock.”

“Edward was my friend. He did what needed to be done,” Udolf said. “You were a casualty of that.”

Hargreave spun on the man, his fist slamming into Udolf’s nose before Amanda could stop him.

She jumped and shrieked a little, her hands flying to her mouth to keep anything else from coming out.

Udolf held his face with both hands, his eyes squeezed shut through the pain while Hargreave pointed a clawed finger at him. “Never speak of what happened as if it was nothing, you miserable old—”

“Hargreave,” Amanda stood, taking him by the arm before he could hit Udolf again. “He needs his teeth if he’s going to confess this to Eldric.”

Hargreave puffed and panted for breath. He looked at Amanda, then down at Udolf. There was something animal in his eyes, something unforgiving and cruel, and part of Amanda really wished she could just let him take his anger out on Udolf for his part in what happened, but for now, he couldn’t.

Amanda turned back to Udolf, getting to her knees in front of him.

All three times the skeleton key brought her to a place she’d needed to go. An intense anxiety and anticipation built up inside her. She was close. She was so damned close to getting all the answers. She was here for a reason, and this was it.

“Why did Edward attack Hargreave’s clan, and why does Eldric think Hargreave’s parents are responsible?”

It was at the end of her questioning that Udolf’s eyes flew wide, and she knew she had him.

Amanda nodded. “Right. You’re the family friend. Advisor to the king and everything. You know exactly what was going on back then.”

“I don’t know what you’re speaking of,” Udolf said, glaring. He barely cast his eyes up to Hargreave, as though he wasn’t worth looking at. “His side attacked first. They thought they had a sword in hand when really it was a butter knife. They failed in their attack.”

“My father and mother did not attack your worthless clan,” Hargreave hissed.

Udolf smiled, and Amanda swore it was the ugliest smile she’d ever seen in her life. “Prove it. You were in that hole for a reason. To be made an example of after your father’s cruelty when he set fire to farmlands and innocent homes.”

“Only because Edward had me put into that pit!”

He was getting loud. Amanda reached for his hand, but he pulled away, nostrils flaring as he glared fire at Udolf.

Udolf smiled. Even though his nose was a little crooked and bloody, his eyes became half lidded as his mouth quirked up, as if he was a cat playing with a mouse until it got tired so it could eat the poor thing.

Hargreave seemed to pick up on that as well, and he clearly didn’t like it. His eyes blazed.

Amanda thought he would punch the man again, and she felt terrible for it, but she also didn’t want to stop him. She wanted to do a little punching of her own just to get that smarmy look off his stupid face.