Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion #1)(59)
Author: Aimee Carter

“Steady,” he said, taking my arm. While his tone was friendly enough, when he looked at Celia, his expression was anything but. “It’s about time you showed up.

What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know,” she snapped. “Exactly how long have you known my daughter was still alive?”

Knox scowled, and instead of answering, he led us through the maze of hallways, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. When we reached the common area, he jerked his head, and everyone cleared out. He led me to the nearest chair, and at last I shook myself from his grip.

“I can seat myself,” I said. Now that I’d calmed down, I could feel pain in the side of my cheek from where I must have bit it. When I probed the ragged flesh with my tongue, I tasted blood.

Knox backed away, and behind him, Celia paced, her hand still on her holster.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about Lila,” he said. “We tried to include you when I heard about the threats, and when you dismissed them, Lila got scared. I tried to get her to tell you after she was safe, but she was afraid you would make her come back.”

Celia looked away, but not before I noticed a shadow of guilt cast across her face. Knox must have seen it, too, because when he spoke again, his voice was gentler. “Tell me what happened.”

“I didn’t take Greyson to hurt him,” said Celia tightly.

“You know that. I love him, but I knew it would scare the hell out of Augusta, and—”

“And what?” he said. “You really thought she would hand the country over to you?”

Celia was silent for a long moment, and when she spoke, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Dammit, Knox, I thought they’d killed my daughter. I wanted them to hurt, but that didn’t mean I was going to hurt Greyson. All I did was drive him out to the cabin. He agreed to come with me, and he was never in any danger.”

He’d gone with her willingly? I looked at Knox for any sign he’d suspected Greyson might’ve done that, but all he did was grimace.

“We had no way of knowing that,” he said. “And with the way you’ve been acting lately—”

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I was acting that way because I thought Lila was gone, but she’s not. Is she?”

She glanced at me. “They shot her, but Kitty said it was a tranquilizer—”

“Kitty was right.” Knox looked at me, and for a split second I saw the ghost of a smile. “Augusta has her locked in her suite now, and she’s fine. She and Greyson both are. He’s seen the reports that you and Kitty are dead, and he’s so angry that if I didn’t know him any better, I would guess he’d take care of Augusta himself.”

The thought of Greyson killing his own grandmother made my stomach roll. “What about Benjy? Did Augusta let him go?”

Knox shook his head. “He’s locked in the safe room. I tried to get her to release him, but she refuses until your body shows up.”

I bit my lip. Of course she hadn’t kept her word. I’d been stupid to hope she would.

“Does she really think we’re dead?” said Celia. “The spray of bullets—”

“They blew up the cabin,” said Knox. “She was sure you were in it.”

Celia let out a string of curses that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “So now what? I have no way of getting back into Somerset, and the best we can do with Kitty is hope the guards think she’s Lila—”

“Actually, there is a way,” said Knox. “Kitty, you’re staying here.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“It’s too dangerous, and you have no idea how to handle a weapon.”

“Then teach me. You said you would anyway.”

He scowled. “If you get yourself killed—”

“Then I promise not to blame you.” I stood. “Let’s go.”

I’d never held a gun before, and the cold metal felt foreign in my hand. Knox ran through the basics, and my quick lesson boiled down to the number of bullets I had, the safety, and the trigger.

“Don’t be afraid to use it if you have to,” said Knox as he strapped the holster onto me. I slid the gun inside and pulled the hem of my sweater over it, hoping it wouldn’t come to that. I’d chickened out injecting Daxton with poison; I had no idea how I would ever work up the courage to shoot someone, but there was no way in hell I was letting them leave me behind.

Celia and Knox took so many different weapons and bullets that it was a miracle they could carry them all.

Knox assured me he didn’t plan on using his, but Celia made no such promises.

The plan was simple: we would find Lila and Benjy and get out of Somerset. Knox was determined to find Greyson as well and offer him the chance to leave, but his life wasn’t at risk if he stayed. I wanted him to come with us as badly as Knox did, but my priority was finding Benjy.

It was freezing in the underground tunnel, and I shivered as I followed the glow from Knox’s flashlight. Celia was fuming, and she had been ever since Knox opened the door to show her the entrance into the passageway.

“This has been here the whole time, and no one ever bothered to tell me?” she’d said. She was carrying too many weapons for me to have any desire to answer her, and Knox also stayed quiet.

None of us spoke again until we stood in the empty space directly above Knox’s suite. He and Celia started to sort through the arsenal they’d brought, silently exchanging clips and holsters and guns. Without an explanation, Knox handed me a plastic thing that felt like a toy, and he unlatched the hole in the ceiling once they both looked satisfied with their choices.

“We meet back here as soon as we can,” he said. “No detours. Celia, you grab Lila. Kitty, you know where the safe room is?”

I nodded. I remembered how to get there from my first night at Somerset.

“Good. You have the password?”

“Yeah.” I touched my hip, where the piece of paper Knox had given me was safely tucked in my pocket. I couldn’t read it, but if I had time, I could find the right letters.

“All right,” said Knox. “I’ll find Greyson. Don’t hurt anyone unless you absolutely have to. Kitty, the plas- tic pistol—it’s loaded with extremely strong tranquilizer darts. Your other one has bullets. Don’t mix the two up, and only use the real one if it’s a choice between you and the other guy. Got it?”