Page 53 of Rapunzel Unchained
Rebecca left food for me each day on the side table. I’d pick at it, forcing myself to eat though my stomach rolled with each bite. I didn’t have time to be heart broken. I needed my strength for what was coming. So I forced myself to eat, to bathe, to dress, to move around the room.
Then the day finally came.
Everything was coming to a head. Everything that I ever wanted and desired would be accomplished tonight. I just had to keep my head straight and not let what happened with Adam frazzle me.
There were people depending on me. I wouldn’t let them down. I wouldn’t let my mother down.
“My queen?” Rebecca knocked on the door, before pushing it open. “Are you ready?”
I glanced over myself in the mirror, searching for any hint of weakness.
The makeup Rebecca had taught me to use covered up the bruises under my eyes from lack of sleep. The red lipstick was stark against my pale skin. We’d decided to leave behind the crown and majestic dresses for something more modern that would make the masses think I was one of them and not some foreigner coming to conquer their city.
The pants suit was unlike anything I’d ever worn before. The pants clung to my backside and thighs, flaring out as it hit the knees in a pale shade of violet. We left my chest bare under thejacket, and the buttons starting just below my breasts made the look feminine and yet powerful.
The high heels she paired with the outfit were three inches and, while normally I wouldn’t care, I worried that, if tonight’s event went wrong, I wouldn’t be able to run away.
Still, I trusted Rebecca to know what kind of statement we wanted to make and wore them.
I breathed a heavy breath, before turning to her. “This will work.”
Rebecca inclined her head. “It will. It has to. If it doesn’t...”
“No.” I shook my head, approaching the door. “We can’t think about second chances. This will work. We have to keep that in mind. We have no other option.”
“Right.” Rebecca gestured for me to exit the room first. “Your chariot awaits, my queen.”
“Eva,” I reminded her with a smile.
“Right, Eva.” Rebecca returned my grin as she rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. She was nervous. We all were. We couldn’t afford to fail this.
Unfortunately, we were relying on a lot of unknown variables to strike this revolution into a full movement. Every piece had to be perfectly in place, with me creating the biggest spark.
It was a lot of pressure, pressure my still tender heart didn’t want to deal with. Still, I shoved down my emotions and made myself put one foot in front of the other.
I could have teleported to the warehouse, but Nick wanted to go over some final details on the way. I stepped into the car waiting in front of the house. Rebecca sat in the back with me, while Nick drove.
“Is everything in place?” I asked the mage, my eyes staring out the window as the scenery passed by. My hands were slick with nerves, and I resisted the urge to wipe them on my pants.I had to be perfect tonight and sweat stains wouldn’t make the statement we wanted.
Nick looked in the mirror above his head, meeting my gaze as he drove. “We have tips being sent out to every reporter and news station in approximately twenty minutes. Once they hit, you will have only about fifteen minutes to do what you have to do before the place is swarming with them.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I’ll be ready.”
“Eva,” Nick started, his eyes flicking between me and the road. “If something goes wrong...”
“It won’t,” I clipped. I couldn’t let even the possibility slip into my mind or we were all lost. Just the slightest slip-up and not only could I be locked back up or worse, but so would Rebecca, Nick, and all those who supported us.
Zane, Luke, and Blake were going to meet me there, coming in as surprise back-up when I faced down the three council members. Nick had found out they were meeting in secret at one of Cleric Jetta’s warehouses.
The fact that all three of them already knew about his experimentation made me wish I’d just killed them all when I’d had the chance.
Instead, I’d tried to be diplomatic. Tried to do it the peaceful way. Adam’s way. And look where that had gotten me.
The scenery changed, and the sparse buildings looked even more menacing in the shadows of the night. There weren’t any mages or humans walking along the side of the roads. As if even they knew to stay away from this place.
The large warehouse crept into view, its dim grey siding hiding the horrors that happened within.
My heart stuttered in my chest, telling me this was it. Everything would happen tonight. Everything would change. And for better or worse, I would get my revenge for the humans, for my mother, and for myself.
