He’d wanted her to leave with him and she’d agreed, but she wanted to take Owen and Maria along. She was going to get them when Milo reached out to her, a look of anger on his face. That was when he’d done the spell. Should she confront him? Tell him she’d help him against Nick? What if Nick was here now?
She decided it might be best to go along with him for the moment. If Nick was here and tried anything, she’d blast him to infinity and then take care of whoever might be threatening Gloria in her future time. Because Gloria being in danger was the only thing that made sense. On his own, Nick was completely harmless, so he would have had to have partnered with someone who had turned against Milo. Could she be remembering wrong about what happened at the inn, after all?
She knew first hand, not least of all what had become of Maria, how badly a memory spell could go wrong. Maybe the story about her coven being in upheaval was the truth and Nick was in trouble as well as Gloria.
Barely able to comprehend up from down after all the tumultuous what-ifs that clattered around in her mind, she huffed out a sigh. All she wanted was to be on the road to Scotland with Owen. See that her family was safe after the fire and then fall fast asleep for days.
“And I told you I wanted to bring my friends along,” she answered his irritation with more of her own.
A flicker of surprise in his eyes made her believe she was right in that he’d done a memory spell on her and that it hadn’t worked properly.
“Yes, of course you did.” He paused for far too long, eyeing her as she continued to ease toward the hallway. “And they’re here. Of course they are. They’re still … sleeping.” He clapped his hands together as if the matter was settled and looked at her like she was a foolish child. “Come along and have some breakfast. You’ll feel better. Then we can wake up those layabouts and be on our way again.”
One thing was certain. Owen wasn’t a layabout. He’d grown up on a farm, had to ride three miles to the village for his lessons each morning, and that was after he’d done his chores. The sun itself was lazy compared to Owen Povest.
The heavy realization that she could no longer trust Milo hit her like a flooded river breaching its bank. She swayed on her feet and grabbed the doorframe. Whether he was under duress or had betrayed her, he wasn’t acting in her best interests. If she let him kill her, she’d never be able to rest in peace. All the work her parents had done to prevent it would be for naught. Even harder than the hit of Milo’s lies was the fact that she now understood why her and Owen’s parents had lied to them all those years. Tried to keep magic from them. It was dangerous.
God, she’d been a fool. A child.
“Take me to where Owen is. I’m not hungry at all.” A muscle twitched in his jaw and she could tell he was grinding his teeth. She’d never once seen him angry at her and it was jarring. She’d never had to use her imperious voice on him, either, but she pulled it out now. “At once, Milo.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” he said. “Follow me.”
She followed him down the stairs and along the back hallway she knew led to the kitchen and servants’ quarters. She supposed he must have put them in one of those rooms, but they passed them by, ending up in the kitchen. It was all she could do to not stamp her foot.
“Where are they?” she demanded.
She was through dealing with things like a spoiled princess. Full of anxiety, not just for herself but Owen and Maria now, she tried to do a truth spell on him. Have him spill whatever plan he had, see for certain if it was nefarious or not.
It fell flat, same as the healing spell she tried when she first woke up. A small smile curled his lips. He knew she’d tried a spell and it hadn’t worked. He’d warded the place. She only hoped that meant he couldn’t use any spells either.
“Ariana, really. It was an arduous journey getting here last night. You’re clearly still feeling the effects of that quick spell. Try and calm yourself. Let me grab you a spot of tea and some bread and jam and then I’ll bring Owen and Maria down to join us.”
Before she could object, he hurried across the huge kitchen and jammed himself into the larder. She rushed after him, thinking she might be able to lock him in and flee. She stopped when she heard him hissing commands to someone and she listened, still hoping against hope that he hadn’t turned against her.
“I don’t know what went wrong, but she’s not going to let us just take her back. We’re going to have to do it now. Do you have it?”
She didn’t need to hear more to know exactly what they were going to do. She looked around desperately for something to block him into the pantry with, but another voice answered and she froze. She had to know if it was Nick.
“Yes, you want me to put it in now?” It wasn’t Nick. She slumped with relief before remembering she had to barricade them in.
“Yes, idiot,” hissed Milo. “Make sure it’s enough.”
They were going to poison her. Exactly as Dexter said. Exactly as her mother had found out on her ill-fated trip through time before Ariana was born.
She pushed a wooden table in front of the door, but it was woefully light. The sound of its legs scraping across the floor made Milo pop his head out.
