Page 49 of A Storm in Every Heart (Enchanted Legacies #2)

Kastian throws his legs over the edge of the bed and starts pulling on his boots as Jett walks over to the pirate and shakes him awake. “Hey. Get up!”

“Bugger off, mate,” Connell mumbles. “I just finally got to sleep. Do you know how uncomfortable this floor is?”

“I’ll make it more uncomfortable if you don’t get up now.” Kastian says over his shoulder.

“What’s happening?” The pirate asks through a yawn.

“There are guards downstairs looking for us,” I repeat. “That innkeeper called them in after all, he thinks the captain and I were kidnapped.”

“Well, he’s not wrong, darling,” Connell says. “But don’t worry. It may surprise you to know that a man of my profession isn’t much of a fan of royal guards. I won’t sell you out.”

My stomach lurches. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Connell might sell us out until he brought it up, which only goes to show how ill-suited I am to sneaking around or doing anything illegal.

Fortunately, Jett jumps in, clearly not struggling at all with suddenly being on the wrong side of the law. “I don’t believe him. He was working with Magnus. His best bet is to walk right up to those guards and tell them he needs to deliver Dessa to the king and Kas and I have captured them both..”

“Ye of little faith,” Connell says with mock horror. “Do you really think I’d stoop so low?”

Jett scowls. “I think you’d lick the soles of those guards’ boots if it meant you’d go free.”

“It doesn’t matter what Connell does,” Kastian says, getting to his feet. “We can’t even walk past those guards. If any of them recognize me, we’re fucked.”

My already racing heart skips a nervous beat. “How are we going to get out of here without walking through the front door? I didn’t see any other exits.”

Kastian comes up behind me and leans over my shoulder to look out the small window. He tries to shove it open, but it doesn’t budge. “I could break this,” he says slowly. “But I don’t think any of us could fit through anyway, and especially not with wings.”

I turn to Jett. “You’re the one who’s always telling those stories about how you escaped from one heist or another. What do you think?”

His dark eyes dart from left to right as if he’s cataloging the room in his mind. “If we can’t get out, we need to hide until they think we’ve already left and go look somewhere else.”

“But where?” I moan, gesturing around at the sparsely furnished room.

Before anyone can answer, we hear movement downstairs, and the muffled voices grow louder. Jett swears harshly, and I feel sweat bead on my brow and along the back of my neck beneath my braid.

I wish desperately that the floor might open and swallow us whole. That a larger window might appear. That we could turn invisible.

Wait a minute.

That thought sparks something in the back of my mind, and an idea hits me just as the sounds of boots on the stairs reach us.

“Which room?” the guard’s angry voice demands, loud enough that it feels as if he’s already in the room with us.

“Top of the stairs on the far left,” the innkeeper says. “I put them all in one room to make things easier.

Asshole! I knew every room couldn’t be taken.

Indignation shoots through me, even though that’s not really the point right now and we have far more important things to worry about.

Focusing on the issue at hand and the idea swirling around in the back of my mind, I shove both hands into my pockets, feeling around into the corners. Please, please still be there. Please, please!

My fingers close around a tiny wilted flower stem, so shriveled and droopy that it had fallen into the very deepest corner of my dress pocket. I pull it out and hold it up in triumph. “I’ve got it!”

“Got what?” Kastian whispers, his eyes on the closed door.

I don’t bother to explain, just break the stem into smaller pieces and shove a bit at him. “Eat this.”

He looks at it in disgust. “What is it?”

“Just trust me.”

He meets my eyes, and without question pops the stem into his mouth. “That’s sweet like candy. Now really, what is it?”

My heart skips a beat, but I don’t need to answer as in that exact moment Kastian disappears. One moment, he was standing next to me, and the next I’m looking at the unmade beds.

Jett gasps loudly. “What the hell is that?”

“Aurelia gave this to me. She said if you eat it, you’ll turn invisible.”

Connell raises his eyebrows in disbelief, but Jett grins with excitement. We’ve been living with Aurelia long enough to know that she’s a little odd, but her magic is more advanced than anyone I’ve ever met, and it nearly always works.

“Fuck yes,” Jett gasps excitedly. “Give me some.”

I break the rest of the blue stem into more pieces and try to hand him one, just as a heavy knock sounds on the door.

“Open up by order of the Kingdom of Hydratta.”

My stomach lurches with panic.

Jett looks at the door and shoves my hand away. “Never mind. You take it.”

“What—” Kastian’s disembodied voice begins.

“You two take it,” Jett cuts him off. “You’re the ones in danger of being recognized. I’ll distract them for you.”

“Excuse me,” Connell says dryly. “What are you expecting me to do?”

Another loud knock sounds on the door, harder this time as if the guard is pounding with his fist. A second later, the doorknob rattles as the guard tries to shove his way inside.

“Dessa, eat it,” Kastian’s voice hisses.

I feel Kastian’s large hand reaching for me, tugging me sideways as I pop the stem into my mouth and chew.

My first thought is that Aurelia was right—the flower tastes like marshmallow—then, a cold sensation washes over me, like ice water crawling slowly over my skin. I freeze, looking down at my body only for a split second later to find myself staring at the empty floor. I gasp.

“Stay quiet,” Jett demands, striding over to the door, then raises his voice, shouting to the guards outside. “Be right there!”

An invisible hand that can only be Kastian’s reaches for me, feeling along my arm to my ribs. His fingers close around my waist, and he tugs me sharply down to the floor between the wall and the edge of the bed. I’m not expecting it, and I fall sideways, a tiny yelp escaping my lips.

“Why are you all wet?” Kastian's bemused voice tickles my ear, his warm breath fanning over my invisible skin.

“Uh—” I begin.

“Shhh!” Jett hisses.

I freeze.

It’s the strangest sensation of my entire life.

I’m lying half on the floor, half on Kastian.

I can feel the wood beneath my hip and his chest rising and falling against my back.

His arms wrap around me from behind in something like a hug.

I can feel his breathing in my ear, but when I look down, I can’t see anything except the dirty wood floor, as if I’m peering through my own legs.

Jett walks over to the door, raising both hands to his hair and messing it up, making it look even more as if he just rolled out of bed, then in one movement he pulls his shirt over his head and tosses it on the floor, revealing a heavily muscled chest.

He stops just in front of the door and looks back at Connell. “I’m going to send him away. You stay quiet or I swear to whatever God you believe in that I’ll make you regret it.”

Then, Jett swings the door open and leans against the doorframe, using his body to block the rest of the room. “Morning, officer,” he says cheerfully.

“Why didn’t you answer the door?” the guard demands, looking Jett up and down.

“I was asleep,” he says with an exaggerated yawn. “Can I help you with something?”

The guard seems to falter, perhaps surprised by Jett’s casual tone. He peers around Jett’s bare shoulder and into the room beyond. I hold my breath, all my muscles tensing as Kastian’s arms tighten around me.

“We were told there was a disturbance up here,” the guard says slowly.

“Disturbance?” Jett asks innocently. “I didn’t hear anything.”

The guard frowns. “We were told there were four of you and two might be hostages.”

Jett laughs. “I think there must have been a misunderstanding. No one here is being held against their will.”

Before Jett can do anything to stop him, the guard shoves him out of the way and pushes into the room. I gasp, and Kastian clamps a large invisible hand over my mouth, squeezing me even tighter around the middle with his other arm.

The guard stomps into the small room and stops, his eyes widening in surprise when they land upon Captain Connell, whose wrists are bound securely to the end of the wooden bedframe with Jett’s leather belt.

Connell raises his eyebrows in mock innocence, lifting his fingers in as much of a genial wave as his constraints allow, and offers the guard a lopsided grin. “Morning, mate.”

The guard’s expression darkens, and his hand instinctively moves towards the hilt of his sword. “What the fuck is going on in here?”

Behind the guard, Jett shifts uneasily on his feet. His eyes dart from side to side, like he’s trying hard to think of a plausible explanation and coming up with nothing.

“Er…” Jett begins tentatively, clearly stalling for time.

My heartbeat pounds with nervous anxiety, and I can feel Kastian’s heart doing the same against my back even as his fingers press against my mouth.

“Ah, don’t look so shocked,” Connell says, winking at the guard. “Just indulging in a little… recreational restraint. You know how it is—some folks pay good money for this kind of treatment.”

Leaping on Connell’s excuse, Jett grins and strides across the room to stand beside the pirate. He gives Connell a light, open-palmed slap on the cheek. “Did I say you could talk?”

Connell’s eyes sparkle with mischief. “Forgive me, Master,” he utters with mock solemnity, his voice dripping with an irony that I’m not sure the guard will be able to detect.

The guard’s brow furrows deeper, and I swear I see a flush rise up the back of his neck. “Er…right. Fine then. As long as no one is getting hurt.”

“That’s half the point, mate,” Connell says. “It’s no fun without a little?—”

He breaks off as Jett slaps a hand over his mouth and gives the guard an innocent smile. “Sorry. I can gag him if you want. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“Er, no, that won’t be necessary,” the guard clears his throat, looking definitely embarrassed now.

The guard takes a step toward the door, but Kastian and I still don’t move, and he doesn’t take his hand off my mouth.

“Hang on,” the guard says, stopping at the door. “I thought there were four of you in here.”

“There were,” Jett says flatly. “I don’t know where they got to. They’re newly bonded, and you know how that goes. Must have snuck out while we were sleeping.” He chuckles as if he and the guard are sharing a private joke at mine and Kastian’s expense.

The guard’s shoulders relax. “Fine. Sorry to disturb you. If I were you I’d be on your way, though. Find another inn for whatever this is.”

“Excellent suggestion,” Jett says cheerfully, following the guard to the door. “We’ll do that. Thanks a lot.”

He shuts the door behind the guard and immediately his easy smile slides off his face. He presses his ear to the door for a moment, listening. “He’s going back downstairs.”

Kastian sighs and finally lets go of my mouth. “Fuck me,” he breathes in relief.

I scramble up, still uncomfortable with how I can’t see my own body as I move. I slump onto the bed. “Well, that was insane.”

“You can say that again, darling,” Connell says. “As if I’d ever submit to this sort of treatment. I’d rather tie the knots than be the prisoner if you catch my drift.”

I ignore him and turn to Jett before remembering that he can’t see me trying to catch his eye. “Jett, do you think those guards will linger?”

“Not sure,” Jett says, walking back over to where he threw his shirt and bending to pick it up.

“But I think we should leave separately just in case. If that plant wears off and they see four of us leaving, it will cause all sorts of new questions, and the last thing we need is any of them looking at you or Kas too closely.”

“How long does the invisibility last?” Kastian asks from somewhere near the window.

“No idea. Aurelia didn’t give instructions.”

“Let’s assume it could wear off at any moment, then,” Jett says. “You two should leave now, and we’ll leave in half an hour.”

“You sure you want to be alone with the pirate?” Kastian asks, sounding dubious.

“I resent that, sir,” Connell snaps. “Perhaps I’m the one in danger, you ever think of that?”

“You’re definitely the one in danger,” Jett snaps, then turns toward the wall where he seems to think Kastian is standing. “It’ll be fine, I’ve been stuck with worse people for far longer than a few days.”

“Where will we meet you?” I ask.

“It will probably take two days to reach the border of Vernallis without horses or flying,” Kastian says, his voice coming from the complete opposite side of the room from where Jett is looking. “Let’s meet there two nights from now.”

Jett agrees, and they speak in fast whispers, working out the details of where and how we’ll meet back up.

Hardly listening, I instead turn to look in the direction of Kastian’s voice, suddenly very glad we can’t see each other.

Two days alone with Kastian traveling through the swamp with no one else to play buffer. I think I’d rather be stuck with the pirate.