She sighed. “I was going to say that we look like victims in a teen slasher movie, but thank you for taking the wind out of my sails.”
“I’m sorry, princess.” His serious tone said he was apologizing for a whole lot more than cutting her off.
“You couldn’t have known.” She should be pissed. She might be later on, when she wasn’t so bone-crushingly exhausted. Maybe. Meg didn’t know anymore. She really had stepped through a mirror into another world and while the rules and players didn’t make sense, there was one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Theo and Galen would never intentionally put her in harm’s way.
A week ago, their unintentionally doing exactly that would have had her screaming the roof down. But that was before seeing Theo’s despair and his body hanging limp and unconscious in his seatbelt. Before Galen stepped between them and danger again and again without thought to his own safety. Both men carried their own demons.
She wouldn’t add to them. Not when the circumstances were beyond their control.
She squeezed Theo’s hand. “Why don’t you get one of those showers and then you can help me with mine?”
He gave another of those tired half smiles that still managed to warm his eyes a little. “I think my aunt might kill us if I take you in the shower in her house.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” She said it with a smile of her own, though. “Go, Theo. We should be ready for Galen when he gets back.”
That got him moving. He nodded and disappeared through the doorway. A couple minutes later, the sound of water running upstairs reached her. Meg tried to relax and counted slowly in her head. Before she made it to sixty, Alexis walked into the room.
Now that she knew the woman was Theo’s aunt, she could see the resemblance. It was there in the proud line of her nose, the way she carried herself, and of course her blue eyes. She sat in the chair he’d vacated and folded her hands in her lap. “What my nephew is doing is foolhardy at best, and suicidal at worst.”
So we’re going to play it like that.
Meg made a noncommittal noise. As suspected, that didn’t slow Alexis down any. “My sister was the same way—impulsive and too inclined to see the glamorous big picture instead of the nitty-gritty details required to create her vision. She died because of that.”
“I was under the impression that the late Queen of Thalania died because of an illness.”
Alexis shook her head slowly, her eyes hard. “Oh, honey, you’re playing in the big leagues now and you have no idea what’s at stake. She died because someone took exception that their queen was a foreign commoner, rich or no, and poisoned her. Just like someone very likely poisoned Teddy last year.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice, every line of her barely concealed fury. “That place might look like a paradise, but it’s a viper’s nest. No sex is good enough to put yourself at those people’s mercy.”
Meg searched her face. She’d known Alexis would come back to make her pitch, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure outif the older woman was sincere or if she was playing at a deeper game. “I appreciate the help you gave me today.”
Alexis sighed and sat back. “But you’re going to make your own way regardless of the advice of people who know better. I see.”
“Do you really blame an entire country for your sister’s death?”
“I place blame where blame is deserved. My sister was a good girl with terrible taste in men. Her first husband nearly beat her to death, and she ran straight into the arms of Theodore Fitzcharles II. For all that she thought he was a literal prince charming,hewas the one who ended up killing her. It doesn’t matter whether his hand wielded the poison, because he was responsible.” Alexis rose. “Some things are unforgivable. Theo should have taken his exile as the gift it was and started over. He’ll regret his choice before the end of this. You all will.” She walked out of the room.
It was only then that Meg realized the shower overhead had turned off. She tried to situate herself more firmly against the headboard, thinking hard. She didn’t have siblings, and though part of her had always wanted them, her rational brain was all too happy to provide a bullet list of reasons why she was lucky her mother had chosen not to have more children.
But if she did…
Meg shook her head. Her family wasn’t like Theo’s or like his mother’s. They weren’t close. There was no magical bond holding them all together no matter what life threw their way. Her aunt and uncle and their respective children lived the next town over, and she’d only seen them roughly once a year at a very uncomfortable Christmas dinner. They were simply people who happened to share blood by virtue of birth.
That said, she knew all about carrying around a chip in her shoulder a mile wide. Hers was a different flavor than Alexis’s,but ultimately that made no difference. She understood the other woman, at least in part.
Theo strode back into the room. He wore a pair of sweatpants and a white T-shirt and his hair was wet and slicked back. The man always looked good enough to eat. It was downright criminal. “My aunt was dripping her poison in your ear, I see.”
“I get why she is the way she is.” She obviously cared very deeply about her sister and grief and guilt had turned into hate. In her position, Meg couldn’t say that she’d have reacted any differently. “What I don’t get is the relationship or lack thereof.” She motioned between Theo and the rest of the house.
“Come on.” He helped her stand and kept his arm around her as he guided her up to the bathroom upstairs. Only once he’d closed the door behind them and flipped on the water did he speak. “Let me help you.” He touched her dress and grimaced. The blood had long since plastered it to her skin and dried. “I’ll buy you a new one.” He ripped it down the center and helped her slide the sticky fabric off her body.
Meg very pointedly didn’t look in the oval mirror over the sink. She stepped into the glass shower and bit back a cry as the hot water hit her skin.Safe. We’re temporarily safe… Probably.She wrapped her arms around herself and ducked under the spray, letting it work the blood from her hair and body. It swirled around the drain in red and then pink, and finally clear. Only then did Meg shampoo her hair and wash her body as best she could with one arm.
Through it all, Theo stood just outside the door, ready to jump in if she needed him.
“If you don’t want to tell me, it’s okay,” she said softly.
He sighed. “As much as my aunt blames my father for my mother’s death, she blames me, too.”
