Aimee Carter - Pawn

A knock on my door made me jump. Knox wasn’t due for hours, and I scrambled off the sofa and padded over, half expecting him to be waiting with a change of plans.

Instead, Greyson stood outside my suite. His shoulders were hunched and his hands shoved into his pockets, and when he looked at me, the coldness in his eyes made me shiver.

“You didn’t come see me.”

I frowned, wary of the accusation in his voice. “You didn’t come see me, either,” I said, silently willing Celia or Knox to appear.

Resignation passed over Greyson’s face. “You said you’d come see my inventions, and you didn’t.”

Right. I shrugged, not sure what Lila would’ve said or done. No one had told me if she got along with Greyson. “I can come see them now, if you’d like.”

“Don’t bother.” At first I thought he was going to leave, but then he pulled something out of his pocket and thrust it toward me. “I made this for you while you were gone.”

I took the necklace. From a distance it looked like a simple silver disk dangling from a chain, but when I examined it, I could see tiny grooves running through it like a labyrinth, breaking it into sections.

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Thank you.”

Greyson ducked his head, but not before I spotted the hint of a smile. “It’s not just a necklace, you know.” With nimble fingers he pulled a section of the disk apart, and it unfolded into an instrument I instantly recognized.

“A lock pick?” It put the crude ones Benjy and I made out of paper clips and hairpins to shame.

Greyson nodded. “There are three different ones in there that’ll open any lock, and if you put it together and pass it over an electronic security device, it’ll open any of those, too. Before you left...” He hesitated. “When you said you felt trapped, I thought maybe this would help. So no one can make you stay if you don’t want to.”

He handed the necklace back to me, and I stared at it, speechless. I wanted to tell him that no one had ever given me this kind of gift before, but this wasn’t for me. It was for Lila.

It wasn’t fair for Greyson to go on thinking that I was his cousin when I wasn’t. He and Lila must have been close if he’d made her something like this, and it would only be a matter of time before he found out I wasn’t her.

“Greyson,” I said, brushing my fingers against the disk. It was warm against my skin, probably from his pocket. Or maybe he’d clutched it all the way here, worried I wouldn’t like it. That Lila wouldn’t like it. “I need to tell you something.”

“There you are.”

Augusta’s voice stole the confession from my tongue. She set her hand on Greyson’s shoulder, but her icy gaze was focused on me.

“I’ve been looking all over for you, Greyson. Your father wants to see you in his study. Just because we are working from home today does not mean you can skip your lessons.”

Greyson made a face. “I decided to take the day off. Someone else can learn how to run the country for once. Like Lila.”

Augusta’s grip on his shoulder tightened, and she steered him away from me and toward the atrium. “Lila has her own duties to attend to. Besides, she is not the one who will take over for your father.”

He twisted around to look at me, and I forced a sympathetic smile. Lila would probably have felt sorry for him, but all I could imagine was Greyson on one of the floating platforms in Elsewhere, cackling as he shot into a sea of innocent faces.

I clutched his gift and pushed the image out of my mind. Just because Daxton was all right with hunting his own people didn’t mean Greyson was, and I refused to think that anyone capable of creating such a beautiful gift could be evil. Not until he proved me wrong. In the meantime, I had to tell him who I really was before something I did gave it away. I was short on friends here as it was. The last thing I wanted was to lose any trust he might otherwise have been willing to offer.

I studied the necklace for a moment, and when I looked up, Augusta stood in front of me. Greyson was gone.

“Do not talk to my grandson,” she said. “If he initiates a conversation, you will make up an excuse and walk away, do you understand?”

“He knocked on my door. What was I supposed to do, slam it in his face?”

“Yes,” she said. “Greyson must not know about this. If you tell him, I will not hesitate to make arrangements for you and your little friend to be reunited Elsewhere.”

My little friend. Benjy. “If you hurt him, I’ll go straight to the media and tell the entire world what you and Daxton did.”

“By all means, go ahead and try. Give me an excuse to have you executed for treason.”

She took a step toward me. Even though she was close enough for me to see every line in her face, I refused to back away.

“You may think you have a modicum of control, but I have a dozen stories ready to explain away your presence here. Even if you do live long enough to talk to the media, I control what news is presented to my people, and I assure you, your words will die before anyone else hears them.” She touched my jaw, trailing her cold fingertip down to my chin. “You will stay away from my grandson. Understood?”

I shook my head. “He has a right to know his cousin’s dead.”

“He has the rights I decide to give him, as do you and everyone else in this country.” She straightened, her stare never leaving mine. “Do not underestimate me, Kitty Doe, not even for a moment. Because if you do, I promise you will spend the rest of your short life regretting it.”

Without another word, Augusta turned on her heel and walked away. Clenching my fists, I slammed the door and locked it, not caring if it was something Lila would have done. Whatever it took, I would find Benjy that night, and even if we had to leave the city, I would get him to safety. He’d been protecting me nearly all our lives, and now it was my turn to protect him.

Knox knocked on my door at exactly ten-thirty. When I opened it, he gave me a once-over and raised his eyebrows. “I thought we were going clubbing, not looting the place.”

“You’re wearing all black, too,” I said, grabbing a leather jacket from the closet. I’d dressed in a pair of fitted black pants and a black silk tank top, and at the last minute, I’d crammed a matching hat in my pocket. If I tucked my hair up, no one would be able to see the telltale blond, and the silk scarf in my other pocket would cover the VII on the back of my neck. With any luck, I would have a chance of getting to the Heights without being spotted.

“So I am.” He offered me his arm, and when I wrinkled my nose, he chuckled. “Let’s go before someone sees us. Wouldn’t want to get caught before we even leave the wing.”

I trailed after him into the hallway, expecting to head to the atrium. Instead he opened the door to his suite, and I hesitated. No matter how much I trusted him relative to everyone else in Somerset, that didn’t mean I wanted to see his bedroom.

“Don’t give me that look,” he said. “This is how we’re getting out.”

“I’m not afraid to knee you if I have to,” I said as I ducked past him and entered his sitting room.

It was exactly like mine, except decorated in navy blue instead of white. The fireplace crackled, and it had a homey feel to it that my suite didn’t. He led me down a short corridor, and I was so pleased his suite was half the size of mine that I almost didn’t notice when he opened the closet door.

“In here,” he said, and I snorted.

“I am not going in your closet.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, and I stood there stupidly, trying to decide what to do. I heard a rustle and a soft scraping sound on the other side, and with a huff, I yanked open the door.