OverRuled (The Over Ruled Series Book 1), page 15
She put one fist over the other, pulling hard, trying to make the elevator move as fast as she could, but she also kept her eyes glued to the stone guard. She was relieved, but still on edge, thinking it wouldn’t be that strange if the statue suddenly jumped to life.
She needed to get to the stables, and she needed to get there fast.
Jade shrieked when blue and green streaks crawled across the door and gravitated toward Chael’s fingertips. The glowing flashes feathered out like lightning, and Chael yanked his hand away before the strange energy connected with his body. Jade’s heart thumped hard as she watched the current recoil. Even from a distance, she could feel its heat. What would’ve happened if Chael had grabbed the door handle? Her mother’s curse had already taken Rose. Jade’s cheeks were still fresh with tears. She was still stunned by the discovery. She certainly couldn’t handle losing Chael as well.
Taking a few quick steps away from the door, Chael breathed, “I don’t think Nova got out of the castle.”
Jade looked around the courtyard, running her eyes over frozen guards, wondering if every route out of the castle was secured by her mother’s magic.
Just a few minutes prior, Chael had turned his back as she disrobed and pulled on breeches and a blouse. Her body was no longer restricted by a tight corset or hefty layered skirt, but her mind was now consumed by pain and confusion – a boiling pot of emotions which was quickly turning to anger. What had her mother done? Had she turned everyone to stone other than her and Chael? And Nova? And then she sealed the castle with magic?
Chael grabbed Jade’s hand as her mind imploded and he pulled her into a dark corridor.
“Look for any evidence of Nova,” he instructed. Jade’s boot heels clacked along with his stride. “A footprint, a sound, anything.”
They passed another door, and it pulsed with the same blue and green energy that had nearly grabbed Chael.
“She literally created a cage and locked us inside,” Jade blurted as they moved through the darkness. “After she told Nova to kill me. After she told Nova she would become the princess – but only if I’m dead.” She shook her head but stopped as pain shot through her skull, and she was reminded of the lump on the back of her head – another wound her mother had given her.
“You said the queen can’t kill you, right?” Chael asked as they walked.
“Technically, yes. I read that in one of the books I found in Cor Montem.” Jade rubbed her temple with one hand, wishing her whole head would just go numb.
“So, that gives you an advantage.”
Jade paused, her forehead furrowing. “Does it?” Her mother couldn’t choke her to death, or slit her wrists, or toss her from a balcony. But what she could do was create an environment in which someone else would make the decision to kill Jade. “She’s locked me in a bubble with a girl who will die if I don’t. My mother won’t be held responsible if someone else makes the choice to end me.”
Chael reached out and grabbed Jade’s arm, slowing her to a stop. “That’s why we have to outsmart her, Jade. We have to get to Nova and make sure she is on our side.” He turned her body to his. “I won’t let either of them hurt you. I’m here to protect you. And I know enough about Nova to know she wants out of the queen’s control as badly as you do. She’d rather fight the queen than give her another reason to keep her here as a prisoner.” The strength in Chael’s eyes burned straight to her heart, and she held his gaze, wanting to soak up his loyalty. What was it about him that made her feel so safe?
And then he added: “Please trust me to do my job.”
With that, the burning in Jade’s heart turned to an ache and her eyes flitted to the floor, away from Chael’s. His job. Chael was doing his job. He was loyal to her - which she felt. But she wanted more than loyalty. Had she been fooling herself? Had she imagined hints of romance where there were none?
“Jade?” He raised her chin with a finger, and she reluctantly returned his gaze, wanting the intensity in his eyes to be for her, not simply for the responsibility of her.
“I could die today,” she whispered. “You could die today.” She swallowed, feeling the gravity of what she said. “But I do trust you, Chael. You’re the only person I trust right now.” Her words were hard to form, giving her a new sense of vulnerability, even when she didn’t think she could possibly be more vulnerable.
Chael’s eyes bore into hers. His dark pupils swam in cool blue pools.
I could die today, she reminded herself. If ever there was a time to find out the depth of Chael’s feelings for her, this was it.
Convincing herself this was her last chance; Jade took a step toward Chael and looked up at him. She reached out and covered his chiseled jaw with her hand. The warmth of his skin caused her heart to bound, and as her thumb brushed his cheek, Jade marveled at his strong features - how they made her hand look fragile.
There were questions in Chael’s eyes, but he didn’t step away. He never let go of her arm or her gaze. Energy surged between them, and to Jade it felt stronger than the magic locking every door out of the castle. Her body gravitated toward his and when his lips covered hers, she wasn’t sure if she had reached up or if he had leaned in. The sensation of his flesh pushing against hers took over her mind, satisfying every fantasy she had ever had of their first kiss.
When Chael pulled away, abruptly, Jade nearly fell over, catching herself against his chest.
Chael’s head wrenched to the side and Jade’s fingers fell from his face, brushed aside with the sudden movement. She thought she heard a faint noise in the distance, but she wasn’t certain. She could barely focus on breathing.
“Nova,” Chael exclaimed.
Without a moment’s hesitation he grabbed Jade and pulled her into him, yanking her out of her stupor before he jumped forward. Jade’s feet left the ground as Chael sped up quickly, surging into the dark, making a wind tunnel out of the hall. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the kiss before they skidded to a stop in front of a closed iron door.
Setting Jade down, Chael rushed to the elevator and pried at the metal, banging on the cage a few times before it obliged and opened to reveal an empty tunnel.
“That had to be her,” Chael said as he looked down the shaft and then to the rope which was moving faster than Jade had ever seen before. She barely had her wits about her, her heart still fluttering, but she watched Chael pace before the open door and she knew his mind was elsewhere. She knew he wanted to grab that rope, to bring Nova back, but the cable was practically spinning it was moving so fast. There was no way he could touch it until the elevator stopped.
Then Jade glanced at the symbol above the elevator, and she stopped breathing. “How did she know where to go?” she gasped, suddenly understanding Chael’s urgency, suddenly wishing they had caught the door before it closed.
Chael kept pacing, as though his persistence would hurry the elevator back to their floor. “I don’t know,” were the only words he uttered as they waited.
The cage crawled down its tunnel, and Nova stayed pressed to the wall, the handrail gouging into her side as she yanked on the rope. She was one step away from a guard, and even though he looked like he was chiseled out of stone and then dressed in the royal uniform, Nova didn’t trust him in the least. She imagined the stone man cracking out of his “skin.” And her visions only intensified as the elevator seemed to change directions.
Nova yelped when the box jolted sideways and then careened along at an odd, new angle. The rope pulled through her fingers and she couldn’t keep hold, its fibers burning her palms. Unwillingly, she released the line and the cage dropped, making her stomach roll.
Trying to keep her balance through the shift in movement, Nova pressed her back against the metal and broadened her stance. She gripped the handrail tight. When she was with Chael, the elevator hadn’t rushed sideways like it was skating down a hill. What was happening? Where was she going? Nova squeezed her eyes shut, hoping she was on a fast track to the stables, hoping she didn’t make a mistake by jumping into a death-box. But all she could feel was the rushing sense of falling.
And just as Nova was certain she was going to die, the elevator slowed and jerked to an abrupt stop. Nova’s eyes popped open, but everything was dark and she stumbled, falling to the floor, along with the stone guard. Thankful she was at a destination and not dead, Nova crawled across the ground and tugged at the door until it opened. When she was able to squeeze out, her fingers dove into cool dirt and Nova had never been more relieved to touch the ground.
Breathing hard, she stayed on her hands and knees, but scrambled away from the elevator when the cage creaked and started climbing back up its shaft. Wanting to get further away from the crazy box, she raised her head and looked for the bright lights of the arena. Miraculously, she discovered a light, but it seemed further away than she remembered. And the hallway seemed darker. There wasn’t one sconce glowing on the wall. Actually, she couldn’t even make out a wall.
Nova’s chest clenched as she surveyed her dark surroundings, unsure if she should walk toward the light or crawl back to the possessed elevator. The room was blacker than black and Nova couldn’t tell where the perimeter started, or ended. Squinting, she looked for shapes, waiting for her eyes to adjust, but she couldn’t make out a single thing in the smooth black that surrounded her.
Dear God. Where am I?
Her ears searched for the sounds of a stable – a whinny or the clip clop of hooves - but nothing penetrated the stale silence. Hoping she stumbled on a different entrance to the arena, Nova placed one foot underneath herself, followed by the other, and cautiously stood.
As she rose, a warm dankness cloaked her skin. The air was hotter, thicker around her shoulders and head. Without a sense of the space surrounding her, Nova didn’t know if she was standing in a long hallway or an expansive room, but the stark change in temperature didn’t sit well with her. There were only five feet, two inches between the tip of her head and her toes. Why would there be a temperature change in such a short distance? How low was the ceiling?
Fear washed over her and Nova knew she had two choices: stand blindly in the dark or walk toward the light. Making a quick decision, Nova put her hands out like feelers and took a few small steps forward. She searched for a wall with her fingers and poked at the dirt floor with her feet, not wanting to trip and fall into a hole.
But, instead of finding a wall or a hole, Nova detected a flutter with her ears. She stopped cold in her tracks. The noise was faint and far off in the distance, giving her a mental image of the size of the room. The noise confirmed the space was much wider than a hallway.
“I need to get out of here,” Nova muttered tightly to herself, feeling handicapped by her lack of sight.
As the words left her mouth, a whooshing noise filled the space near her head and something hit her on her chest and back - at the same time. Nova screamed and threw her arms up, but the sensation came again. She jumped forward, trying to get away. Her response only succeeded in increasing the whooshing to a loud flapping.
The noise was now coming from multiple directions, followed by high pitched shrieks. Nova had no idea what surrounded her, but she knew she didn’t want to be there any longer. With her arms covering her face like a shield, she raced toward the light, deflecting solid, moving objects as they bounced off her, smacked her legs, and tore at her hair. She screeched with each and every hit, now certain the attacking objects had fleshy wings. The insight pushed her into a crazed sprint.
When the approaching exit neared, Nova launched herself into the light, summersaulting across a patch of grass and ultimately landing on her back with a thud. She didn’t care about the hit to her body. The only thing she cared about was getting far, far away from the winged darkness, but it followed her into the light.
Screeching black animals zoomed above her. The wind from their wings blew the hair back from Nova’s face. She scrambled to her knees. They circled above her, but instead of continuing their attack, they returned to the same blackness they came from.
Bats. Nasty, disgusting flying rats.
And as the bats returned to the cave she just ran out of, a shudder rang over Nova’s body and verbalized itself in a breathy moan. She could still feel their bodies on hers – all bones and wings – and she frantically brushed at her arms, trying to push away the feeling. But worse yet was the realization of being stuck. In order to get back to the elevator, she’d have to navigate back through the cave, back through the bats.
There has to be another way out.
Her eyes shot around, but Nova’s new surroundings looked nothing like the castle. Instead of red runners, grass rolled along in fields and hills. Tall trees replaced white columns. And, there were no more marble walls. Tipping her head back, Nova looked up at a massive dome of sandstone.
Where am I? The question rattled in her brain for what seemed like the millionth time, but an answer started to materialize when brush rustled nearby. As the rustle increased, Nova recalled Chael’s words: She collects beasts from all over the world. Anything with sharp teeth and a need to kill.
I’m in the menagerie. With the queen’s beasts, Nova realized, not daring to utter a word, though her silence was useless. Just a minute ago she’d been screaming bloody-murder. Unknowingly, she had alerted every animal of her presence.
And she’d never felt more like prey.
A bead of sweat trickled down Jade’s back as she stood before Chael, catching her breath, her heart pounding in her chest. After witnessing the elevator cage fall to its destination, Jade and Chael ran to the closest stairwell and descended by foot, knowing they had to find Nova in the depths of the castle. Thankfully, Chael seemed to know where he was going.
“Take this,” Chael instructed, handing Jade a shiny sword he pulled from a cluttered wall rack. It was smaller than the others, but looked just as capable of slicing flesh. “We have to be prepared. For anything.”
Jade nodded, feeling uncomfortable in the arms room. Being surrounded by sharp, pointy objects made her feel anxious rather than safe. Regardless, she grasped the hilt and pulled the sword to her, catching a glimpse of herself in the metal – which only amplified her fear. Jade’s delicate structure and tear streaked face didn’t look like that of a warrior’s. Could she really protect herself with a sword? She probably had a better chance of channeling the magic she didn’t know how to control.
Feeling like the anti-warrior, Jade wiped tear remnants and slick sweat from her cheeks before sliding the blade inside the leather sheath hung at her hip. When she looked to Chael, he was adjusting a thick strap across his chest. His weapon of choice, a bow and arrow, looked less cumbersome to carry, but Jade didn’t have the slightest clue how to shoot. Not that she had any idea how to swing a sword either, but swinging sounded less skillful than shooting.
“You ready?” Chael asked.
Jade didn’t respond, but doubt must’ve been smeared across her face.
“It’s okay, Jade,” he started. “I want you to have the sword just in case. I’ll do everything in my power so you don’t have to use it.” Then Chael turned and walked out of the arms room, patting a frozen security guard as he passed through the door. The guard didn’t quite get the room locked before the queen cast her curse. “At least your mother had good timing with that.”
Jade exhaled and followed Chael into the hall. “I highly doubt she meant to do that.” But her comment gave her pause. “Or maybe she left it open for Nova?”
“Could’ve,” Chael responded, and Jade wished he’d told her a lie. “I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
Reaching the end of the hall and the entrance to the menagerie, Chael unlocked a heavy deadbolt, but Jade stopped him, placing her hand against the door to hold it shut.
“Chael, that girl is probably just waiting for me to come to her. She’s surrounded by animals, which she can use as weapons. And she’s supposed to kill me.” Jade pleaded with her eyes, looking for Chael’s response. “That is not a good combination.”
Chael reached out, offering his hand. “Not everyone does what the queen demands, Jade. And Nova’s not going to come looking for us. I guarantee she’s trying to get away from everything in this castle. She just doesn’t know how.” Chael turned the door handle. “And I don’t want to wait around for the queen to get involved again. We need to be on the same page with Nova, no matter if you trust her or not. All three of us need to be a team. Or the queen is going to rip us all apart.” He paused. “Including you and me.”
Jade shook her head. She didn’t want lose Chael. He was the only thing that gave her hope for the future. And if Nova was the key to making her future with Chael a reality, then so be it. Jade set her hand in Chael’s. She would stay with him. She would help put an end to her mother. And she would take over the throne. Or she would die trying. She didn’t want to live in any other version of the future.
Chael squeezed her hand, taking her gesture as consent, and opened the door to the menagerie.
“Oh my God,” Jade breathed as they stepped out of the dim hallway and into a fully caged area, bright with abnormal light. “I . . . I knew this was here, but I’ve never seen it with my own eyes.” She looked around the cage at coffin-sized containers and rows of empty wheelbarrows. Flies buzzed over dark puddles on the ground.
“This is the feeding room. Where the meat is kept.” Chael nodded to the boxes, and Jade wasn’t sure she wanted to know what kind of flesh was fed to the animals.
Distracting herself, she looked away, focusing on the greenery beyond the metal cage. “How many are out there?”
“Animals? I’m not sure,” Chael answered, “But I do know the army has made several missions searching for and capturing certain species for the queen. Actually, I helped move the last set of tigers in a few weeks ago.”
Jade touched the sword on her hip, reassuring herself that the weapon was there. “Do you think it’s a good idea we enter from the feeding room?” It seemed the most likely place to be eaten.
