'You need to eat,' he said.
'I don't think I can.'
'You haven't eaten for over twenty-four hours.' He opened the package. I took a couple crackers to make him happy and after eating one, I realized how hungry I actually felt. I devoured the entire package and then started on a candy bar. Just as I swallowed the second bite, my stomach lurched again and I had to run for the bathroom.
'You okay?' Tristan asked when I came back out.
'Just really scared,' I admitted.
He held me close in the bed and I trembled in his arms. I woke up once after a nightmare and the room was dark. I was alone in the bed.
'Tristan?' I whispered.
'I'm here, my love. It's okay,' he answered from somewhere else in the room. It must have been his turn to keep watch.
I felt Mom climb into the bed next to me. She put her arms around me. I fell back to sleep.
'Lexi, ma lykita ,' Tristan murmured, nuzzling my neck. 'You need to wake up.'
He picked me up and carried me into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind us. He kissed me fully awake.
'What are you doing?' I asked between kisses.
'We only have thirty minutes and it's been nearly twenty-four hours since I made love to my wife,' he said, starting to undress me.
'Now? Here?' Despite the verbal protests, I automatically responded to his touch.
'Just be very careful so we don't break anything. I've already paid in cash.'
He turned the water on and we stepped into the shower together. The bathtub was tiny and we had to be careful, so it wasn't nearly as wonderful as it usually was in the shower. But it was real . And it was for us, when everything else was against us. I gave myself to Tristan, not knowing when the next time would be that we could just enjoy each other.
Thirty minutes later, we left the motel. Mom, Stefan and Owen disappeared while Tristan and I drove for hours. I stared out the window, barely noticing the changing landscapes as we sped north, past the Washington, D.C., area, up through northern Maryland and even briefly crossed into Pennsylvania. Every time we stopped for gas, Mom, Stefan and Owen waited for us, as if they'd somehow been following. Mom accompanied me to the bathroom and she didn't say anything, but gave me a knowing look when I vomited every time. My stomach stayed knotted with fear.
In the afternoon, we looped back, dropping down into Northern Virginia. As we had several times already, we exited off the highway to take the back roads, sometimes crossing and retracing our path.
'We're getting close,' Tristan finally said at about five in the afternoon.
We were somewhere in Fairfax County, Virginia. Though it was only twenty miles from where we lived in Arlington, I didn't know the area. The busy suburbia tapered into a more rural area, with large colonial-style mini-mansions in estate-type subdivisions. Then the subdivisions disappeared and houses were scattered on large acreage lots, thick woods separating them. We turned down a narrow street, sunlight filtering through the trees encroaching both sides.
'Shit,' Tristan swore under his breath. The street dead-ended about two hundred yards away.
'Are we lost?' I asked, my voice small with fear. This was the worst time to be lost.
'No.' His jaw clenched. 'We're surrounded.'
My stomach rolled. Vomit shot up my throat and I clamped my hand over my mouth, but it couldn't make it past the huge lump stuck in the passageway. I trembled all over.
'Hang on, ma lykita . Things could get ugly.' He slammed on the accelerator.
We tore down the narrow street. I wanted to squeeze my eyes closed before we flew into the wooded dead-end, but my eyelids peeled back, refusing to shut. Just before we reached the end, the trees surrounding us opened into a large meadow. A grand mansion stood toward the back of it. Tristan sped for the structure.
A man suddenly appeared in the meadow, to our left. He turned toward us. Someone else flew out of nowhere, knocking him to the ground. More people started appearing with faint pops. Voices yelled over the Ferrari's engine. They started fighting with each other. The car slid and fish-tailed as Tristan swerved to avoid them. I turned in my seat to watch as we passed.
Some shot unseen powers at their opponents, sending them backwards several yards. They were instantly on their feet, shooting power back at their assailants. Others traded violent blows in hand-to-hand combat. A long object sailed across the window. My head whipped to where it came from. One of the people fighting just lost an arm. But he kept fighting, unfazed.
Holy hell! Who are these people?! I didn't even know who was Amadis and who was the enemy. They all fought viciously, like animals. Is this what it means to be Amadis? Is this what I'm in for the rest of my life? Rina said Amadis were good, full of love, ruled by Heaven. Not this…this repulsive brutality.
The Ferrari abruptly stopped. My hands flew to the dash to brace myself before I sailed head-first through the windshield. The car door flew open. My body left the car seat and air rushed by. Then I was suddenly set on my feet inside the mansion. Owen stood next to me and Tristan appeared right behind us. My stomach heaved.
'Bathroom!' I bellowed. Another rush of air and I stood in front of a porcelain toilet. I leaned over and puked. Then my knees buckled as I fell to the floor, my body shaking violently.
'It's okay, honey. You're safe now,' Mom said, pressing a cool, wet washcloth against my forehead. I had no response.
Eventually the trembling stopped and I tentatively stood. Mom led me down the hall to a dark living room filled with antique furniture. The curtains were drawn tightly shut, but I could still hear fighting outside. Rina rose from a wing-backed chair to my right and opened her arms wide.
'Alexis, my poor dear,' she said. Her power washed over me as she embraced me. 'Ah, a baby…or two?'
I stepped back and stared at her. Mom frowned and nodded. A baby? Or two? Tristan appeared in the doorway behind Rina. His brows momentarily furrowed, then he smiled at me, his eyes sparkling. For two beats. Then the smile disappeared.
He took my hand and led me through the doorway, into a library. Books lined the shelves, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall. At each corner of the room sat a pair of chairs with a small wooden table between them, a reading lamp on each table. They were all lit, the only light in the room as there were no windows. Tristan took me over to one of these sitting areas and pushed me down into a leather chair.
'I need to talk to you,' he said, kneeling in front of me to look me in the eye.
An ominous feeling brushed my shoulders and slid down my spine. I narrowed my eyes. 'I don't think I'm going to like this.'
'No, you're not. I hate it myself.' His eyes were dark, the gold sparkle from just a few minutes ago gone. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'I need to go out there.'
'What?! No!'
'I can put an end to it, Lexi.'
Of course he can. Nobody can beat him. But I shook my head.
'You can't go fight! What if you don't come… back ?' I choked on the last word, my voice cracking as I spit it out.
'I may not have to fight. They just need to see proof I've given myself to you and the Amadis and that I am truly part of the royal family.'
'Oh.' My chest loosened from the grip of panic. 'Well, that's not so bad. Let's give them proof. What do we do?'
I searched his face and he looked away from me for a moment, then back into my eyes. He pulled the collar of his shirt down to expose the Amadis mark.
'They have to see it for themselves,' he said grimly. 'They've set a meeting place for me to meet Lucas.'
