Page 53 of Maddie

Maddie motioned Noah to the plush black settee in the middle of the room. She followed his gaze around the cozy area as they took a seat. Red and black checkered tile rested beneath their feet. Anatomical hearts were painted across the walls, and in between hung ornate roses. Always red roses or hearts. Maddie should’ve brought a bouquet of ivory roses to shove in Imogen’s face.

Heels clicked against the marble steps and Maddie peered up as Imogen descended the stairs. Rine never followed, always stayed behind to do whatever it was she did. The queen’s fiery curls flowed down to her waist, the hem of her black and blood-red silky gown trailing behind her. She was dressed fancier than when Maddie had seen her last. The queen always wore trousers when out in the city, but inside her home, she dressed extravagant,dramatic.

“What is this?” Imogen cooed when she crept closer to them. Her gaze locking on Noah, a wide smile playing across her ruby lips. “How do you like being immortal? Osanna told me the glorious details.” She turned to Maddie. “Pity she has to find a replacement for Robin, though.”

Anger coursed through Maddie, but she held it back as she went to stand.

“Stay seated,” Imogen snapped, fishing out her deck of cards from inside her dress. Lazily, she ran her fingers across the deck, shuffling them. “Pick a color, Hatter. If you’re wrong, I’ll keep your lover here with your sister.”

Maddie bit the inside of her cheek, knowing she needed to play along.Don’t get anxious, Maddie. Fifty percent chance she would be right since there were only two colors in her deck. “Black,” she sang.

Imogen drew out a card, moistening her lower lip with her tongue as she flashed a black five of spades. “It seems to be your lucky day.” She stuffed the cards back into her dress and straightened. “But we’ll see if your luck is still here next month. Now, first thing’s first before we move on to other matters—show me my hat.”

Maddie’s heart pounded,slammed, against her rib cage as she handed Imogen the box. The queen’s lithe fingers slowly unraveled the silky bow, peeling it away. And then she lifted the lid…

“What the fuck is this?” Bright crimson crept up Imogen’s throat, her face, pure fury as she took out the hat.

Maddie tensed up, preparing to strike just as Noah was grabbing the tape out from his waist. She then jolted from the settee, barreling Imogen to the floor. Noah rushed beside her and slammed a piece of duct tape to the queen’s mouth just as she was about to scream. Imogen bucked and wriggled but Maddie flipped the queen to her stomach. Maddie held Imogen’s wrists behind her and pressed down on the queen’s body. Noah took out the silk scarf from his waist and wrapped it around Imogen’s wrists before tying it into tight knots.

“Go!” Maddie hissed once the queen’s wrists were bound. “I’ll take care of the rest.” They didn’t have any time to fiddle around. It would be better if they could both go and retrieve Mouse, but they couldn’t drag Imogen down the hall with the guards and they couldn’t leave her here alone. Besides that, even if she tossed her into a closet, Maddie would be recognizable without a disguise, and they would know she wasn’t supposed to be there. However, Noah would blend in with the queen’s newly-turned vampires. Maddie was also stronger and better equipped to fight Imogen.

Noah’s throat bobbed as he stared at her, as though he wanted to say something, but then he nodded and took off down the hall.

Maddie drew out the silk cloth from her waist and tied Imogen’s ankles together as she continued to buck and make strangled sounds. She didn’t know how long the silk would hold, but she wouldn’t have been able to sneak in chains or rope.

Gripping Imogen’s upper arms, she tossed the queen into the chair across from the settee before taking a seat in front of her. With a satisfied grin, Maddie leaned back against the plush material of the settee and crossed her legs. She waved a hand in the air. “How about we discuss the different kinds of teas? Let’s begin with Earl Grey, shall we?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Noah

Bloody fucking hell!

By some miracle, Noah and Maddie had just tied up the queen without getting their hearts ripped out. It felt as if the organ was going to pound out of his chest now though. He forced himself to walk slowly through the hallway to avoid drawing attention. Leaving Maddie alone with Imogen made him more than uncomfortable. Even tied up, the female was a threat due to her paranormal strength and the decades she’d had to hone it, but there was no other choice. He swallowed hard and flexed his sweaty hands. How had he gone from making coffee to breaking someone out of a dungeon?

The mission. He needed to focus on his whereabouts.

Ferris’s map was detailed enough that, after going over it days earlier, Noah was able to easily recognize the turns he needed to take without bringing the folded paper out to check. He knew if anyone saw him standing around, examining a map, it would draw suspicion. The anatomical heart décor seemed to flow throughout every hallway with only slight differences. The material of the hearts hanging on the walls switched from metal wire to a variety of cog wheels to thread and nails. One smaller heart he found appeared to be made from real flesh, but he wasn’t going to stop and examine it to be sure. Sick bastards.

His vision narrowed on a suit of armor with a black spade painted on its chest. There were two on the map, one with a spade and one with a diamond. Was it the spade where he was meant to turn left? He envisioned the map in his head, seeing the path Ferris had drawn, and he became sure itwas, before rounding the corner. A dazed human with puncture wounds on her neck exited a room ahead and stumbled past him without looking up. His breath caught at the scent of fresh blood, but it smelled diluted, as if she barely had any left.

Shaking the thought away, he looked for the painting of dodo birds. It was large enough that the frame nearly touched the ceiling and floor. The artist had used heavy brush strokes to depict six of the feathered beasts seemingly dancing around a small fire.Wait.Noah sniffed. That wasn’t paint … it wasblood. He scowled and turned again. A few yards later, he went right at the stained-glass window of bloody red roses, down the stairs across from a velvet chaise tucked into an alcove, and through a hidden door behind a tapestry of a mortal woman on horseback.

The farther he went, the more his fear increased. Someone had surely noticed the queen was in danger, Maddie was in trouble, and soon they would be coming after him. But he had to save Mouse. That was what Maddie wanted and he owed her for helping save Alice—he couldn’t slip up and get himself caught beforehand. He’d already passed by a few servants. Thankfully none had given him a second glance.

He slowed his steps, listening intently for guards. Ferris had told him one or two always lurked in the dungeons, but Mouse was kept away from the other prisoners. Her constant ramblings apparently made the guards stay far from her door. They would pass by once in the morning and again in the evening with blood bags. He and Maddie had timed the escape to avoid both. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t run into anyone on the way.

Creeping from the dark tunnel, he lifted the edge of a tapestry showing the image of a moonlit lake and entered the path behind it. Noah hurried to the left to find a hallway full of metal doors. Each had a metal slat near the top with iron mesh covering it and a locked slat halfway down which, he assumed, was how they passed blood to the captives. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked inside the first door.Completely empty.

Noah shook his head, ignoring the urge to open the door to make sure no one was there. Curiosity would get him killed. It didn’t matter who was inside these cells—only the one Ferris specified on the map. He kept his steps light and moved as quickly down the hallways as he dared. The scent of piss, stale blood, and death permeated the air, so he kept his breaths shallow—not an easy thing to do when his adrenaline was soaring through his entire body.

“Did you see the new servant Rav brought in yesterday?” a distant male asked.

“Which?” replied a feminine voice.

The male laughed, the soft pad of their boots coming closer.Damn.Noah needed to get the hell out of sight, but the only place to take shelter here was an unlocked cell.Fuck…Without any other choice, he slipped into the nearest one, shutting the door with barely aclick.

“He’ll present her to the queen later today if you want to take a look. Luke is keeping an eye on her in the south wing,” the male said.

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