War Bringer (14 page)

Fiona lifted her brows. “Who?”

“The pretender.”

Fiona clasped her hands in front of her to keep them from shaking. “Um. Maybe this all makes sense to you, but just two days ago, I was a student going to Colorado State University. My worst challenge was grasping the finer nuances of macroeconomics, so forgive me if I’m not following you. What ‘pretender’?”

Kelan’s words of wisdom from yesterday came to mind:
“It’s some kind of role-playing game. I don’t know anything about it, what the rules are, how one wins. Just go with it. Buy us some time.”

Her favorite class in high school had been her drama studies. She had no idea what was expected of someone who was King’s daughter, but it no doubt had to do with being regal and having a sense of entitlement. She could play this role.

Especially if she were acting to save her life.

The man motioned his guards to search the place, then crossed the room to stand in her space. She didn’t back down. Perversely, she thought Selena would be proud of her.

“I thought it was a bad idea that you were raised out in the world where you would know nothing of your true identity.”

“Perhaps you were right. Who am I really?”

“You are the Princess Fiona.”

“I see. And who are you?”

“Mr. Edwards. Where is the imposter War Bringer you brought back with you last night?”

“Imposter? I brought with me? In case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Edwards, I am no longer in control of my life—I haven’t been since I was kidnapped on my way home from school. I’ve been given no choice in where I went or what I did. And if I resisted, I was drugged until I complied. So you tell me—who was he?”

Mr. Edwards’ eyes narrowed. “Don’t be coy with me, girl.”

“That’s ‘princess,’ I believe—”

“He’s your lover, from the Red Team. The one who’s been panting after you since he took you from your stepfather’s.”

That took her aback. How did he know about that? Had Alan said something to them about her living with the guys? “What makes him an imposter?”

“The true War Bringer is a pure-blooded Arian son, not a mixed-breed mutt like the one who was here. Not only is he from a perfect race, but he will be its leader too. And you will be his bride.” The man—was he King or not, Fiona wondered yet again—leveled a hard glare at her. “Marriage to him is the start of the very purpose for which you were conceived.”

“What purpose is that?” Fiona asked, half dreading the answer.
 

“Why, to perpetuate the perfect race of Arian warriors.”

“No, thanks. I don’t think that’s what I want to do with my life. I’ve been having a hard time figuring it out, but I’m pretty sure that’s not it.”

Mr. Edwards smiled. “That’s not your choice to make, as you so wisely observed earlier.”

Two girls came into her room, entering from her closet. They brought a tray of dishes, a sewing box…and a white dress.

“I’ll leave you to your breakfast and your fitting.” He gave her a hard look. “Get your imposter out of your head. He must be here somewhere. I will find and terminate him like the rat he is.”

Fiona watched the man and his guards leave her room through the door to the hallway. The girls made no eye contact with them. Did they fear them?
 

“Princess—” the older one began.

“Please, call me Fiona or Fee.”

The girl nodded. “I’m Ellen. That’s Bryn. We’ve brought your breakfast. Once you’ve eaten, we’ll begin your fitting. Would it be an inconvenience if we stayed here while you ate?”

“No, of course not. I’m sure you brought plenty—I’m happy to share if you’re hungry.”

“That would not be acceptable.” Ellen dipped her head. “Though it was kind of you to offer.”

Bryn laid the white gown out on Fiona’s bed. It was just like the one she and her friend had seen the time they’d gotten the courage up to go into one of the bridal stores in Fort Collins. The dress had cost thousands of dollars, so Fiona had only admired it from a safe distance. If she still doubted her friend had been playing her, she didn’t any longer. That dress was one of a kind. Her friend had to be the one who told King’s people about it.

Fiona looked at the duo, wondering how deeply mired they were in this weird world here at King’s Warren. They’d come in from the same door that Kelan had been taken through.
 

“I didn’t notice a door in my closet,” Fiona said as she went in there. Looking around the room, she still couldn’t find an obvious door.

“We used the servants’ entrance,” Ellen said, following her into the room.
 

“How?”

“It’s best if you don’t know.”

“Was there anyone in there? Did you pass anyone when you came in?” Had they seen Kelan with the men who took him?

“Only servants use that entrance.”

“Did you see a few men in there?”

“No.”

Fiona’s lips thinned. She had no way of knowing if Ellen was telling the truth. “Can you show me where the latch is?”

“Please, Fiona. You cannot go in there. Mr. Edwards will know I showed you.”

“I won’t tell him. This suite makes me a little claustrophobic, having only one way in or out. If there’s a fire, I’d like to know how to get out when my hall door is locked.”

“Are you going to start a fire?”

“No. I just would like to know where the door is. Please.”

Ellen looked tense. She went over and showed Fiona an electrical outlet behind some hanging clothes. “It’s this. Press it.”
 

Fiona did, and the whole front of the jewelry cabinet popped open. “Whoa.”

“Don’t ever use it. Don’t ever go in there. Mr. Edwards will kill me or one of the others if he finds out.”

“I understand.”

They went back into the bedroom.
 

She sat at the table where her meal had been set out, and took a bite of the egg soufflé. Fiona wondered what the guy had meant when he said that he couldn’t save Fiona, that only Kelan could. Save her from what? What if she could save herself? Would these girls help her? Either way, she had to make a plan.
 

“Ellen, when is this wedding supposed to take place?”

“Tomorrow.”

Oh, God. That gave her very little time to get out. “No.” She shook her head. “That’s not happening tomorrow.”
 

Ellen shared a swift look with Bryn. “You don’t have a choice.”

“Of course I have a choice.”

Ellen took the seat next to her. “None of us has a choice in our lives anymore. Not here.”

Fiona studied Ellen. “They can’t think this marriage would stick.”

“In this world it will.” Ellen shook her head.
 

How could this world even exist today? How could it be so unknown that she—or anyone—could disappear into it? “I don’t live in this world. I’m going back to mine.”

“Can she do it?” Bryn asked, looking at Ellen. “Can she get out?”
 

Fiona sent them a curious glance. “Do you know the way out?”

Ellen reluctantly nodded.

“Then why don’t you leave?”

“Only one of us is allowed to go to the surface at a time, when some errand takes us there. If that person doesn’t return, one of us is killed.” Ellen took Bryn’s hand as she came to stand next to her. “Two of our friends have died that way. We don’t challenge that rule anymore.”

Fiona frowned. “How long have you been here?”

“I’ve been here four years. Bryn’s been here two.”

“Do your families know you’re here?”

The girls shook their heads. “We haven’t been able to communicate with them.”

“You couldn’t even sneak in a phone call?”

Ellen shook her head. “Our families don’t have phones. They expected us to be gone only a few months. Our community does tithes in the form of a service.”

Fiona frowned. “Ellen, are you guys from the Friendship Community?”

“You’ve heard of our village?”

She’d heard some of Greer and Remi’s long work there while Remi was quarantined. More terror unleashed by her father and his cohorts. “My father did a terrible thing to your people. He sent one of his associates to infect them with a disease called smallpox. Many died before it was contained.” She showed Ellen her inoculation site. “I got the vaccine, but those who didn’t in your village, or those where the disease was too far progressed for it to help, had terrible sores like this one was but all over their bodies.”
 

“Ellen,” Bryn said, “we have to get home to them.”

Ellen nodded. She got up and walked around.

“Have you not been out of King’s Warren in all the time you were here?”

“No,” Bryn said. “None of us have left.”

Ellen stopped pacing and looked at her. “You will be the first to leave. If we write letters to our families, you could take them with you and see they got delivered.”

“I’m not getting married.”

“The ceremony is going to happen.”

“Perhaps that’s your custom, but it isn’t mine.”

“Even to save your life?” Ellen asked.
 

“This is crazy. This is not reality. I can’t be forced to get married. None of this is real.” She looked at the other girls. “But I will get out. And I will take your letters and get them to your families. And I will come back for you.”
 

Fiona turned away from their disbelieving eyes. She was going to get out. If not by herself, then when Kelan came back for her. This wasn’t going to be her life. She yanked the drawers in the sideboard open, searching for some paper and pens. She found some in the third drawer.
 

The girls sat at the table and began scribbling madly. Fiona silently ate her breakfast as she watched them. Not only was she going to get out, she was going to keep her promise to come back for them.

* * *

The bunker conference room was empty when Max and Ryker brought the boxes in from Catherine’s storage unit. There were ten of them. Owen helped them unload.

“Let’s not dig into these until Blade’s here,” Owen said. “I think it’s going to mean a lot to him to be part of it.”

“Fine,” Ryker said. “But I want to be here too.”

Owen looked at him. “I don’t have a problem with that.” He looked at his watch. “I need to ask a favor, Cord.”

“What’s that?”

“Most of our team is down in Colorado today. I could use another pair of eyes here at the house until they get back.”

Ryker looked from him to Max. “Sure. I’m off today.”

“Max, get him a handgun. I want him armed.”

“I’m a convicted felon, Owen.”

“An exonerated one.”

“The exoneration hasn’t come through yet. And I haven’t shot a gun in almost three decades.”

“Noted. When things calm down, I’ll have Blade spend some time with you at the shooting range so you’re ready if we find ourselves short-handed again.”

Chapter
 
Thirteen

Fiona was in her closet after the girls left. She waited anxiously for enough time to pass that she could follow them into the tunnel without their knowing. She heard someone enter her room. She came out of the bathroom to see whom it was.
 

Mr. Edwards. Whether he was King or not, the man gave her the willies. With his wiry build, his strange, short nose, and his predatory grin, he seemed more of an enforcer of sorts, not the man capable of masterminding tunnel systems like those in King’s Warren, and all the other wicked things he’d put into motion.

But wasn’t that the powerful thing about King? No one really knew who he was or if they’d seen him.
 

She caught her hands together so that he wouldn’t see them shaking. “Are you King?”

The man laughed. “I told you who I am.”

“I’d like you to leave my room, Mr. Edwards.”

The fake affability left his face. “I don’t care what you’d like. Your wants, your needs, your hopes, your dreams matter nothing against those of your father. Your entire life you have been spoiled and coddled. Now, he’s calling upon you to do your duty. You will stand up and do as he wishes.”

“My father can go to hell.”

Mr. Edwards’ hand shot out, but stopped before connecting with her face. She cringed as if the strike had happened. “We all do what is asked of us.”

“Maybe you do, but I don’t blindly follow madmen. If you’re going to kill me, do it.”

Again, the thin smile of his carved space across his teeth. “You aren’t required to live very long. Just how long that is will be entirely dependent on you.”

Fiona thought of all the deaths her father had caused. What if she couldn’t find a way out and Kelan couldn’t find a way back to her before the wedding tomorrow? She had to go along with the crazy they all lived by here; she had to live long enough to return to reality.

Her expression must have changed, for Mr. Edwards visibly relaxed. “Very good. Yes, very good.” He walked away, but paused by the door to her suite. “I have a special treat planned for you—lunch with your fiancé.”

“The War Bringer.”

“The
true
War Bringer. The man hand-selected by King for a very important role. Be ready in fifteen minutes. You will be escorted to him.”
 

* * *

The guards came for her precisely fifteen minutes after Mr. Edwards left. She followed them meekly, and hated that weakness about herself. She couldn’t battle her way out. Maybe she could think her way out. If she truly was King’s daughter, then she had his smarts. She’d chosen to be like her mother—always letting kindness rather than cunning be her guide.
 

Not for the first time, she wondered about her mom…how had she crossed paths with King? Were they in love? Was she just a useful female? And why, why had her mom never mentioned this dark world?

She glanced around her at the elegance of the hall she was escorted through. It looked like a European art museum. Interspersed with the sculptures and paintings were huge floor-to-ceiling red and purple banners with words in languages she didn’t know. Occasionally, they were in English, and those talked about a new world order.

It was a grand show. A theater of dominance. The scale and arrogance reminded her of the Nazis she’d learned about in history class, how rapidly their claimed superiority became true superiority, letting them perpetrate crimes on their own people and the whole world.