Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Apollo’s jaw is tense as he curses to himself. I can see the confusion on his features as he glances at me. “What world of hurt am I in for, Angel?” he asks through gritted teeth.

My brain is rapidly trying to piece things together.

“Don’t move and close your eyes,” Apollo hisses as the black metal snake coils itself around my ankle.

“Is it a bomb?” I ask as my body shakes with fear. Taking a calming breath, I will myself to be still.

“No. It’s a tracker, but it also bites like a snake, emitting a deadly poison. If the poison does not kill you, the pain surely will. It will scan your eye to confirm its target, so keep them closed.

“Now,” he takes a steady breath, “who have you pissed off? This type of technology is illegal, which worries me. This is heavy stuff, underground stuff.”

I grit my teeth, wondering what I can tell him that will not get me into trouble. Queen Irena? Did Laura set me up today? She was mad at me this morning, saying she will be my worst nightmare.

“Shit,” he groans.

“What?!”

“Company.” I feel his hand on my waist tighten. “Keep your eyes closed.”

I hear footfalls to my left, and fear seeps into every pore. I can feel Apollo tense around me, and I can hear him drawing a knife. This is not good.

“Apollo,” I whisper in question. “I’m sorry,” I say, not knowing what else to do. I’m panicking.

A voice I have never heard before speaks. “Well, this is surprising, to say the least.”

Apollo shifts slightly. “I am assuming you already know what grave offense you’re committing to the House of Garthorn and House of Galleon. I will go easy on you if you call off the drone.”

I hear laughter.

“Who sent you?” Apollo growls.

“The great Apollo of Garthorn, at my mercy. I am actually surprised I was able to catch you off your guard. Though,” he pauses, “I don’t blame you. She is quite distracting.”

“Call off the drone.”

“I’m afraid I do not take orders from you,” he says easily.

I hear Apollo curse. “Who the hell sent you?”

“Unfortunately, I am not here for you, but for the impostor in front of you. It seems the House of Garthorn was infiltrated. Compromised, I’d say.

“And from the looks of it, she has you wrapped around her little finger. I’m impressed.”

I can feel Apollo’s questioning stare on me.

“Don’t listen to him, Apollo,” I whisper with my eyes closed.

Suddenly I hear a distant scream and know without a doubt it’s Laura. Alarms in my head start ringing. She is not that good of an actor. That was a scream produced by pure, authentic fear.

Adrenaline starts pounding in my bloodstream. If Laura is screaming, then this is worse than I thought. I was about to tell Apollo Laura set this up out of jealousy, but now I am confused.

~What is going on?!~

“Who sent me is not your concern, Apollo. I am just here for the women, and we will be on our way,” comes the man’s firm request. “Apollo, this is in your best interest.”

“My best interest?” Apollo asks with mockery. His voice is dark and threatening. “Very thoughtful of you. I will remember when I spill your blood.”

“She can open her eyes. I deactivated it already,” the man’s voice says. I open them right as I feel Apollo react.

“Don’t!” Apollo yells, but too late.

Apollo, with quick reflexes, grabs the snake before its fangs sink into my ankle but only to puncture Apollo’s forearm.

“Apollo!”

I’m such an idiot!

He tosses the snake a hundred feet, and I see two red dots forming. Blood trickles out of them as Apollo falls to his knees with a gasp, grabbing the wound. ~This is all my fault!~

“Apollo!” I scream as tears stream down my cheeks. No, this is not happening! Not happening…

He’s going to die.

This—Is—Not—Happening.

I see men surround me, but all I can see is the anguish on Apollo’s face. “Apollo!”

He looks up at me, dark eyes glittering. I see his pain as he says, “Angel, anything you want to tell me before they t-take you?” I can see the veins in his neck protruding.

I feel a strong arm on me, and I blurt, “Apollo, forgive me! Queen Irena! She’s a witch—”

Blackness overtakes me.

***

My head.

Bleeding hearts.

I roll to the left and feel my temples pound in fury.

“Are you awake, human?” I hear Mort at my side. “She is waking up, and from what I can tell from the body scan, she will be fine. Fractured collarbone, the brutes, but it will heal.

“Laura has a broken arm, but Leenie said she will be fine as well. She set Laura’s arm a few hours ago.”

I open my eyes to see Mort typing and blinking.

“Uh-huh. Right, I thought so too. This is bad, but fixable. Well, I like to be positive most of the time.”

“Mort,” I say.

She looks up at me and exhales. “Finally! She’s awake. I’ll talk to you in a second.”

“What happened?” I say and try to sit up, feeling pain in my shoulder. I take in my surroundings and see that I’m in a tiny bedchamber.

Am I in a space pod? It looks very concerning with all the shiny metal and slanted lines. I steady myself and focus, going through my brain’s filing cabinet.

Oh…

Shit…

“Apollo!” I yell, feeling dread seep into every bone in my body. “Mort, what’s happening?! Where are we, and where’s Apollo?

“Why did I open my eyes?! I’m such a moron! It was just instinct—I was not thinking on my highest level! That was an amateur move.”

Mort places a hand on my leg. “There, there.” She continues, “More than likely they would have overpowered you guys anyway. They had some pretty big guns, from what I saw.

“Apollo is good, but I don’t think he’s bulletproof. So, a few things to touch base on. The House of Galleon is waging war with the House of Garthorn.”

My mouth drops open, my heart jumping to high speed. “Come again?” I whisper.

“Apollo is on his deathbed, and it’s a lot of finger-pointing at this point.” Mort shakes her head.

“What?!” I scream, my voice breaking. “Mort, you better explain before I freak out.”

My heart is pounding so fast I feel lightheaded.

“Apollo is very ill, being poisoned and all, terrible stuff. I can’t get a lot of details because it’s against code T-9, but I can just get basic information.

“Apollo and Tarren were blamed for the Galleon Princess’s abduction. Apollo, when he was still conscious, spat in Queen Irena’s face and called her filthy names.

“That did not go over well with the king, and he vowed that if his daughters were not returned, he would have Apollo’s head. Naturally, House of Garthorn is defending their soon-to-be king’s honor.”

“No,” I whisper.

“Oh yeah, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Then the queen laughed like one of those evil witches and said not to worry, the poison will kill him.”

“We have to do something!”

Mort nods. “Well, that’s tricky, because you are currently being held hostage to be sold into slavery.”

The color drains from my face.

“I know, Pierce is beside himself right now.”

“Sold into slavery?” I squeak. “Sex slavery?”

“Probably.”

“Mort, I will not be a sex slave,” I hiss, tears welling in my eyes.

“You can exit the game if you wish, but you will never see Apollo again.” Mort gives me a sad look and shrugs. “I told you there is bad blood here.”

“Will Apollo die?”

Mort is typing again. “It’s hard to say. Apollo seems like a fellow who does not give up easily, so I think there is a chance. I think vengeance alone might keep him alive.

“From what I hear, Apollo has never shown so much fury. Some worry that the beast within him will take him over from the amount of unhealthy rage he was displaying.”

She shook her head. “Too much power for a mere human, if you ask me. I will get an update soon on his health from Pierce.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “There’s nothing Pierce can do?” I ask, praying there is something, anything.

“He is working on it.”

We hear voices, and Mort jumps up and shapeshifts into a butterfly within seconds. The large latch opens with a suction sound, and a man walks in.

The man is tall, and surprisingly, not as ugly as I assumed.

He has jet-black hair and a beard, with silver rings in his ears. He is dressed in nice black clothing and has a large gun on his hip. His chocolate-brown eyes survey me, and I tense.

“So you’re the woman that has two kingdoms at odds,” he says, and sits next to me on the small cot.

“No,” I say as I feel myself shake. “When you take a princess, this sort of thing happens, or did no one tell you that before you decided to abduct us?”

He laughs. “Sharp tongue.” He smiles at me, and I shiver. “I would have slapped you for that comment, but I need you looking your best. I have some high bidders. Very exciting.”

“Queen Irena paid you to do this? Why her own daughter, then?”

He looked like he was thinking in a mocking way. “Queen Irena, you say? What a worthless bitch—had one job to do and fucked everything up. Well,” he winks at me, “I guess I have you to blame for that one.”

I take a breath, trying to scoot back on the bed. “How did I ruin your plans? Or do I even want to know?”

“Well, let’s just say that Princess Laura was supposed to be married to Apollo, and that was Irena’s sole job.

“You were supposed to be killed long ago when Apollo was apparently showing interest in you. Any distraction was supposed to be taken care of immediately by Irena.

“Princess Laura seemed like she would be easily manipulated through mind control, thus giving me all power over her.

“Of course, Apollo would be killed after their child was born, but now that can’t happen because of you. Now we will take Garthorn by force instead of the nice way.”

“Apollo is dying, how are you going to get his child?” I ask, seething.

His jaw flexes, and he looks like he is keeping his anger in check. “I am working on that part. He was never supposed to get bitten—you were!” He surprises me by yelling, his face reddening.

I flinch. “What is the point if he dies?”

“There is a lot that I can benefit from taking over Garthorn. I am the rightful heir, in fact.

“The Garthorn family stole this land from my family long ago, and now I’m taking it back,” he says, with a smile and a simple shrug.

“Who are you that you can do that?”

“Powerful—keep that in mind.” He winks at me.

A man comes running in, clearly out of breath. “My Lord?”

The man sighs in frustration. “Speak.”

“I just received word that Apollo has flatlined, my lord.”

“Fuck!” he yells, and punches the wall so hard it makes a dent.

“No!” I scream. “Apollo’s dead?!”

This is not possible!

Tears fall down my face as I try to keep it together.

“My Lord, he is still alive, but in a coma state. It might take months before he wakes, if he ever does,” he says with a pinched expression.

The man rubs a hand down his face and turns to him. “Our plan is still the same, and if he ever wakes, it will be a bonus. All we need is his sperm, not his brain.”

I don’t realize I am crying until he has me around the neck telling me to shut up. I think he slaps me, but I can’t tell.

It feels like my world has just crashed and burned, and it’s all because of me. It was my fault he was bitten.

I feel no pain when I am tossed around like a rag doll.

It’s like voices talking when you’re underwater, tears making my vision seem as though I really am sinking into the dark abyss.

What have I done?