Page 42 of A Princess, Stolen (A Kiss of Revenge, Blood, and Love #1)
I swallowed. My gaze flew over the blurred, embarrassed faces of the crew. I only saw one clearly at that moment. Sparta. He stared innocently at me, his gaunt features marred by shock. I blinked and in my mind, his dreadlocks turned into a pointed executioner’s hood.
My heart started racing, and suddenly, I felt as helpless as the moment he grabbed me.
“Sparta,” I whispered in horror. “It was Sparta.”
Nathan took me to his room and wordlessly helped me out of my wet clothes until I was standing in front of him in only men’s underwear.
“Can you manage the rest on your own?” he asked, looking at me worriedly.
I merely nodded. I was terribly cold even though they had wrapped me in two blankets beforehand.
My teeth chattered and I was incredibly relieved that Nathan didn’t shout at me.
Or tie me down somewhere. Obviously, I had had to confess the truth to convince them of Sparta’s guilt, so now the whole crew knew of my failed escape attempt.
Nathan shook his head as if he still couldn't believe it all before he pocketed the blunt knife that he found when he removed my boots. “And you wanted to defend yourself against Sparta with that?” he asked, aghast.
I nodded. I hadn’t thought about that knife under the water, but it probably wouldn’t have been able to cut a single thread anyway. “I couldn’t find another one,” I replied sheepishly, shifting my weight.
“I should lecture you…” Nathan looked at me reproachfully. “Honestly, next time you’re planning something so daring, arm yourself properly.”
“O-okay.”
Nathan sighed. “Pan will bring you tea. You shouldn’t be alone for long because of dry drowning…sometimes it comes later…if there’s still some water in your lungs.”
“I know.”
“I would stay with you myself, but I have to take care of Sparta first.”
I vaguely imagined what taking care of looked like, but I didn’t want to ask. Sparta was sitting in my old cell for the time being. Pan and Nathan had led him away like a criminal. He had raged and yelled, spat in my direction, and declared his innocence, but they had locked him up anyway.
Before Nathan disappeared, he pointed to the dresser. “Help yourself to my clothes, but don’t expect haute couture. This is all I own.” He wanted to close the door, but I held him back.
“Nathan?” My voice still sounded hoarse from all the coughing.
He looked at me, the door handle in his hand.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “Thank you for getting me out.”
His expression betrayed no emotion, but he nodded briefly.
“You scared the hell out of me, do you even know that?” He sounded so serious and that almost made me cry.
His words filled something inside me that felt empty and hollow at the moment.
I merely shook my head, happy that I didn’t burst into tears.
After he left, I stood there for a while, trying to calm myself down, but I heard Sparta yelling from the corridor.
“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life, Nathan!
” It sounded as if he was shaking the bars with all his might.
“It wasn’t me! God damn it! Willa! Tell him the truth!
I swear, when I get out of here, I’ll…” I covered my ears so I wouldn’t have to hear his voice anymore.
Of course, he protested his innocence, the bastard! Who would admit it willingly?
But I was certain even if Nathan had doubts.
“You said your attacker was masked,” he repeated three times.
“Yes, still, I’m certain it was Sparta. A thousand percent. Honestly.”
The Outer Banks plan was Sparta’s and he was the only one who knew where to find me at five in the morning. He also smelled of camphor. He must have only come up with this plan to get rid of me since he could never have accomplished it on board unnoticed.
I had no idea how long I stood in front of the dresser with my hands covering my ears. I only lowered them when Sparta grew quiet. I could now hear Nathan speaking, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying through the door.
Still dazed, I crouched and opened the bottom of three drawers with shaking hands. I found underwear and socks, but so few that I could count them on two hands.
Did he say earlier that was all he owned?
At home, I had a closet with over thirty compartments for my underwear alone.
If I hadn’t been so exhausted and scared, I would have been ashamed especially when I discovered the meager amount of sweaters in the next drawer. There were four in total, all black.
Because of my frozen limbs, I awkwardly slipped on a pair of boxers, socks, and a hoodie, and then pulled on one of the few pants he owned.
They were thickly padded, definitely thermal pants, which were needed for the winters in Coldville.
I quickly rolled up the hems, sat on the bed, and slid back against the wall.
Then, I bent my legs and threw the blanket over me.
It was only now that I had changed and was calming down that I realized how bad I felt.
My head throbbed, my palms burned, my throat hurt when I swallowed, and I could barely control the shaking of my limbs.
Sparta had actually tried to kill me. The shock was so deep in my bones that they felt as if my marrow had frozen.
The worst thing, however, was that my situation had not changed.
I was still stuck here while Isaac was surely on his way.
When Pan entered the room a short time later with a cup of peppermint tea, I was still leaning against the wall as if in a daze.
“Please, prinsessa,” he said quietly. “I put on dresser. You get when you want.”
“Thank you.” I forced a smile onto my face.
Pan stood in front of the bed for a moment, a gigantic foreign body in the tiny room. He looked at me searchingly as if he wanted to say something and was struggling with himself.
“What is it?” I looked up at him uncertainly.
“You scare boss to death.” He sounded reproachful. “You no more make plans with people who hate you.”
I was too exhausted to ask him who else I should make plans with, so I merely said, “It’ll never happen again.” How could I , I thought bitterly. They would never leave me unattended again.
Pan took a step closer. “Boss fought for you in net like lion. He tangled in net because he not know it stretched there. He thought you fell from cutter, he rip net apart with bare hands. He inhuman strength, bleed everywhere.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I never saw boss like that. He can’t stand losing someone again who mean world to him. You understand?”
“Yes.” I looked at him standing so angrily over me and felt a burning in my eyes. “I’m scared, Pan,” I whispered.
His gaze softened. “I watch outside door, prinsessa. I no let anyone in except boss.”
With that, he left, but some of his words still lingered in that tiny room. He can’t stand losing someone again who mean world to him .
In all the fear, a brief smile crept onto my face that I couldn’t suppress, and for a tiny moment, the cold lost its edge.
I was dreaming. And in the dream, it was dark, cold, and quiet.
I sank to the bottom of the sea as a white ghost down to Mom, down to more memories that flashed through the darkness.
And like before, the time of these memories dissolved as if there was a piece of immortality in them as if they were eternal and now.
“Will,” I hear Mom call through the impenetrable blackness of the sea before I see her. “Will, darling, there you are!” She gives me one of her rare smiles that I love with all my heart. “I forgot Mr. Sparkles. Quick, get him out of your room so Grandma can pack him.”
A ray of sunlight falls into the water like a finger of light, and the black turns a rich, intense blue. And the further I sink, the deeper it becomes as if it were also infinite, as if it would never cease .
I nod in Mom’s direction even though I don’t want Mr. Sparkles crammed into a tiny, dark suitcase.
“I’ll be right back,” I say and rush up the stairs to my room.
My bunny has to come with me, that’s quite clear.
Suitcase or not. But I can’t find Mr. Sparkles.
I look under the lilac velvet cushions, under a pile of Barbie dolls, and I even look in my walk-in closet.
Suddenly, I remember that the last time I had Mr. Sparkles was with Banana and Balou.
I dash down the stairs and run into the garden to the camera-monitored back entrance with doorman Peter.
The bird aviary with the budgies and canaries is next to the big golden door and the snow-white parakeets Banana and Balou are having a screeching competition on their birch branch.
Once we’re gone, I won’t see them again.
My heart feels as heavy as a lump of lead.
Mom explained to me that we can’t take them with us because it would be cruel to transport them in a small, narrow box.
She also explained to me that we can’t tell Dad what we’re planning to do even if I don’t understand it.
With a lump in my throat, I watch Banana and Balou feeding each other and playing together.
Mom says that birds shouldn’t be locked up no matter how big and beautiful the birdhouse is.
She says that birds belong in the sky like the moon, wind, and stars.
But Banana and Balou seem happy. And they have everything they need. I hesitate. Maybe I should open the cage, and then I could watch if they would fly away if they could. I look around to see if our gardener is nearby and then I spot my stuffed bunny on a marble column.
“Mr. Sparkles,” I say reproachfully. “You’re sitting there and you didn’t say a word!” I tuck him under my arm when I hear a noise .
From one second to the next, I can’t breathe anymore as if I’m only now realizing that I’m underwater.
Help! I want to scream, but I can’t make a sound. I dig my fingers into Mr. Sparkles and dig my thumb into his stomach, into the tiny hole that Mom has to sew up repeatedly.