Page 58 of Maddie
Noah’s brows rose. He and Maddie were the last two to be alone with Imogen. It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together. “Who do they think murdered her then?”
“Don’t worry, Noah, I killed Rine first, so you’re in the clear.” Maddie held her stained hands up in surrender. “Chessmayknow it was me, but Rav and everyone else think that the prince is the culprit.” She bit her lip. “Chess escaped but I’m confident he didn’t follow me.”
“We’re all safe at the moment,” Mouse piped up. She shuffled closer to Maddie on the sofa. “That’s the most important thing right now. That we’re safe and together.”
Alice slipped her hand into Noah’s and squeezed. “She’s right.”
Mouse took a long inhale of the air, her eyes fluttering, her canines lowering. Her gaze landed on Alice and the tip of her tongue darted from between her lips, licking as if she were hungry. “She’s mortal again?”
“Yes,” Noah replied, shifting to partially hide Alice behind him. “She’s my sister.”
“I’ll get us all something to drink,” Ferris announced, his worried stare still trained on Mouse.
Noah protectively inched backward into his sister, remembering all too clearly how Alice had lost control of herself and attacked him in this very room. Given how long Mouse had been in captivity and knowing what he did of Imogen, she was likely starving for fresh blood instead of bagged. He turned to Alice and ushered her toward the bedroom. “Why don’t we let them have some time alone? They haven’t seen each other in two years.”
Alice appeared to take the hint and went straight into the other room. “We should probably talk about going home now,” she said the moment the door was shut.
“She won’t bite you,” Noah assured her. “No one will let her.”
Alice scowled. “I trust you, but I can’t stay here. I just … I really want to go home.”
Noah flopped onto the mattress and sighed. He knew she wanted to go home and that it needed to happen as soon as possible, but not tonight. Now that the adrenaline was beginning to wear off, the ache in his hip throbbed. It was probably shattered, or at the very least, cracked. He was sure it would heal like everything else, but until it did, he just wanted to lay down. The exhaustion hit him like a truck.
“Tomorrow,” he promised her. “I need a little rest now.”
Alice mumbled something to herself and plopped down beside him. “Don’t fall asleep until you drink some blood, okay? It will make you feel better.”
“I feel fine,” he lied. Alice smelledmortaland his gums tingled, fangs threatening to descend. But he wouldnotbite her—even if his instinct for blood told him to. So he would drink whatever Ferris brought to ensure Alice’s safety, then he would sleep with one eye trained on the door.
“You were limping.” She lightly smacked his arm. “Don’t argue with me.”
Noah smirked. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
When Noah opened the bedroom door the next evening, he found Maddie nervously weaving a needle and thread into some sort of cloth. Mouse’s head was in her lap as she slept, but it looked as if Maddie hadn’t gotten an ounce of rest. He’d meant to have a chat with her after finishing the blood Ferris had brought him, but he’d fallen asleep as Alice listed out options for returning to London. Oroutsideof London, since they couldn’t risk Rav finding her again.
“Give me a minute?” he asked over his shoulder to Alice.
“Sure,” she whispered, shutting the door at his back.
Maddie silently slipped out from beneath Mouse’s head and nodded toward the other side of the room. Ferris had taken the second bedroom, and they couldn’t ask Alice to wait near Mouse, so it was as private as they could get. Noah followed her into the corner and cast a glance back at Mouse to make sure she was still asleep before turning fully to Maddie.
“Are you okay?” he asked, brushing the stray hairs from her face. Flecks of blood had dried in a few places.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. “Thank you.”
Noah hugged her back, soaking in the feel of her against him, and placed a kiss on top of her head. Warmth stirred inside him at her sweet scent, and he tightened his arms slightly. “For what?”
“You got Mouse out.” She pulled back and looked up at him with a bright smile. “She’s safe now because of you.”
“Not because of me. Because ofus. You, me, and Ferris.” Noah may have physically broken Mouse out, but he never could’ve done it alone.
“It feels a bit like a dream to be with her again after all this time.”
He could only imagine. But, he supposed, he wouldn’t have to wonder for long. Once Alice was back in the mortal world, there wouldn’t be a day that went by where Noah wouldn’t wonder if Rav had found his sister. Still, Alice was smart and he liked to believe that she would make sure to cover her tracks.
Maddie’s smile faltered as she peered at him, seeming to notice something in his expression. “Are you taking Alice home now?”
“We thought it best to get it over with.” Before anyone figured out it was Maddie who killed Imogen and came looking for her on the streets. One of the guards could recognize Noah from when he had wandered the halls looking for Mouse. Or worse—Chess.
