Page 25 of Maddie

Noah’s head jerked up. Maddie was talking to Alice outside a small cave at the base of the cliff. He made a quick step forward and Ferris yanked him back. “What now?” he snapped. Alice was right there. Safe, for the moment, and he wanted to keep it that way.

Maddie patted Alice on the shoulder and strode away from her. Alice shifted back until she was barely visible behind a large boulder. Noah shoved at Ferris’s arm so he could get his sister before someone else saw her hiding there.

“I’ll go first, grab Alice, and take her back to the safe house,” Ferris whispered. “Once we’re gone, get Maddie’s attention and bring her back with you.”

“Like hell!” He wasn’t about to trust Ferris with Alice’s safety now that Maddie proved untrustworthy. For all he knew, Ferris would take the opportunity to trade Alice for his own pardon.

“Shut the fuck up,” Ferris hissed as a group of vampires meandered down the street. “Do what I say.”

Noah fell silent, only because he knew other vampires finding them would thwart their rescue efforts. While the group took their time passing, Maddie started up a long, winding staircase carved into the stone.

“Now?” he asked when the strangers disappeared into a nearby red house. Though, once Alice was safely away, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t shout at Maddie for her betrayal. A scene wouldn’t matter much if Alice was safe, so what stopped him? He scowled at Maddie as she climbed higher and higher.

Ferris released him and moved so fast, he was a blur. One second, Alice was hidden with only a small piece of white fabric visible, the next, she was gone.

Noah took a deep breath and stormed forward. None of Imogen and Rav’s lackeys knew him, so he didn’t feel the need to sneak around like Ferris. He barged forward, hands in fists, and stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

“Maddie!”

“Bloody hell!” she yelled, whirling around. Then her gaze landed on Noah, and she froze. “Noah?”

“What the fuck?” he demanded.

She raced back down the steps, darting around him to peer at where Alice had been. Finding it empty, she turned and grasped Noah’s shirt. “Where is she?”

“I’ll tell you where shewasn’t.” He grabbed Maddie’s wrists and pried her hands away from him. “Tucked safely in bed. Where she belonged.”

“She’sdying,” Maddie whispered in a cracking voice. “Your sister wouldn’t suffer long locked up, but Mouse will be tormented for eternity.”

“You’re out of your fucking mind. Are you listening to yourself? I never would’ve done this to you.”

Maddie took three heaving breaths, eyes blazing with desperate fury, before her shoulders curled forward in defeat. “I’m sorry, but you don’t understand.”

“You’re sorry?” Noah scoffed. Healmostfelt sorry for her, but she’d just kidnapped someone he loved. “I don’t think that’s quite good enough.”

A male vampire passed by in a long trench coat and studied them both with a curious expression. “I’ll talk to you about it when we get back,” Maddie urged.

Noah didn’t know what there was to talk about. She had planned on serving Alice up on a silver platter to her king and queen.Andshe was likely doing so while fully aware it wouldn’t work. Noah had met Imogen and Rav once and even he could tell they weren’t the sort to negotiate. Especially since they already seemed to loathe Maddie.

“Now, we need to leave,” Maddie whispered. “There are guards inside the palace.”

“You weren’t worried about the guards two minutes ago,” he snapped.

“We can’t do anything for either of our sisters if we’re locked up,” Maddie hissed. “Don’t be a fool.”

Noah pursed his lips. She was right—he couldn’t get the cure for Alice if he was locked in a cage. “Fine,” he relented. “But this doesn’t mean we’re square.”

Chapter Eleven

Maddie

Maddie was caught red-handed as though she’d held a blade to Alice’s throat. She just as well could’ve been. She knew Noah would come after her when he’d discovered Alice missing, but she’d hoped she had enough time to switch out one sister for another. However, she wasn’t foolish enough to think Imogen would simply hand over Mouse. No, that wouldn’t have been the heart-stealing queen at all. But with a carrot dangling in front of her, Imogen may have given in. Which was why she hadn’t brought Alice with her onto the palace grounds. Imogen didn’t keep guards outside her palace as they did within the mortal world. The queen only kept her slaves inside.

Maddie had hoped Ferris would’ve sided with her on the matter, but even then, she had an inkling he wouldn’t. Because Mouse had told him to save Alice.

Clusters of large red beetles trailed beside her while she and Noah trekked back toward the safe house. As they passed through the city, a male vampire’s head lay, torn clean off, beside a body, blood pooling out from both wounds. Most likely an altercation between two males over a female.

Noah pressed a fist to his mouth like he may lose the nutrients in his stomach, but he said nothing. In fact, he hadn’t asked a single question, only kept those shapely lips of his in a tight line. Her fingers fidgeted with the skirt of her dress, wishing she had a needle and fabric in her hands right then.

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