Impulse (21 page)

‘Long-time no
see
, hey?' said Robbie, grinning, before reaching out in front of him until he found his friend. The two men hugged and whacked each other across their broad backs, as strong blokes do, before drawing apart and talking extra loud about the greenhouses, what Robbie was growing and how the butterflies were coming along.

It was odd seeing Robbie, who was both tall and muscular, looking almost small next to Jonathan's massive height and bulk.

The bed squeaks increased, and the air between the three of us grew extra awkward. Robbie began to fiddle with pots and pans in his cupboards.

‘I'll make coffee!' he said.

‘Thanks! I love coffee!'

Jonathan cleared his throat. ‘I'm going to stand outside and keep guard…err…in case…um, I don't know.' His face glowed red as he slipped out the door.

‘It's from Italy!' said Robbie.

‘What?'
Oh, the coffee.
‘Really? Which part of Italy?' I covered my ears with my hands.

The bed squeaks were soon joined by loud banging against the wall.

Robbie threw the coffee pot back into the cupboard. ‘Changed my mind. Let's get out of here.'

‘Should we go visit the greenhouses?' I shouted.

‘Sounds like a good plan!'

Robbie slammed the door behind us, reached out for the wall and, with his hands groping the bricks, walked.

‘How long has Lauren's visitor been here?'

The muscles in Robbie's jaw tightened.

‘Too long. He arrived this morning and they've been…' he paused, his cheeks tinting pink,
‘at it
in that room all day.'

‘Do you know who he is or what he looks like?'

Robbie paused. ‘Let me see, he had blond hair, green eyes and—'

I winced.

‘Sorry. I didn't think…'

Robbie smiled. ‘Don't be sorry. I'm just teasing. I did catch a glimpse of pale hair.'

‘Oh.' Maybe Damir was using a wig. ‘Is your leg okay?'

Robbie nodded, smiling wide. ‘It's fine. The fall was nothing.' I tried not to think about what Lauren had said, about Robbie crying in the kitchen the morning after the ball.

Halfway along the cottage wall, Robbie stopped and turned slightly before walking directly towards the greenhouses. Jonathan was standing near the first one, talking to the man who worked with Robbie.

‘He sounds a little like Marko,' Robbie started to say, ‘but don't worry, Miranda, it isn't him. His name is Gerard.'

‘Gerard? I haven't heard of him.'

‘He must be one of the new recruits.'

Robbie reached out until he found my hand and gave it a squeeze. I squeezed it back. ‘Don't worry, Miranda. When we return from the greenhouses I'm kicking him out, and I'll make sure he doesn't return.'

‘Thanks,' I said, giving his hand another squeeze. ‘I'm sorry my sister is causing you so much trouble. She had it tough after Mum and Dad died, and then I went missing on her last year…' I shrugged.

He smiled and let my hand fall away. ‘She's lucky to have you. So is Marko.'

‘Robbie—'

‘Miranda!' It was Jonathan, staring up at the ocean sky with a frown. ‘We need to leave,
now.
'

‘Okay.' I turned to Robbie and took his hands. ‘Thanks for keeping Lauren under your roof. I'll be back, with Marko, and we'll work out what to do next.'

‘Don't worry.' He let go of one hand to brush my cheek gently with his thumb. ‘She'll be fine. I like to think I'm still of some use, even without full sight.'

I threw my hands up around Robbie's neck and squeezed him tight. ‘Of course. Thanks. You're a true friend.'

He smiled. ‘Look after her, Jonny.'

‘I will. Take care, Rob.'

‘Yeah,
see
you around,' said Robbie, grinning, as he started towards the nearest greenhouse.

‘He shouldn't have to look after my sister,' I said a few minutes later, more to myself but loud enough for Jonathan to hear. He remained silent.

But as we neared the cottage, he finally spoke.

‘You going to want to go in and speak to her?' he said.

‘Do you mind? I'll only be a second. And maybe I can convince her to get rid of the guy before Robbie gets back.'

‘Good luck. I'll wait by the door.'

Without knocking, I entered Robbie's cottage. Lauren and her guy were still in the bedroom, giggling, but I marched down the hall without hesitation. My heart thudded madly as I approached the door, from which muted voices drifted.

I knocked.

‘What?' said Lauren. Anger burned through my veins. So this is how she'd speak to Robbie?

‘It's me, Miranda.'

I heard a muffled swear word, followed by a squeak of the bed and then some serious stomping around the room.

The door opened a crack, through which Lauren's blue eye peered.

‘What do you want?' she asked breathlessly.

‘I need to speak with you, alone, right now.'

She widened her eye at me. ‘In case you haven't
heard
, I have company.'

‘So ask him to leave.'

The door opened a fraction wider so that I could see Lauren's smirk. ‘Listen to yourself, ordering me about. I'm the older sister, remember.' She looked me up and down. ‘I think being with Marko has made you worse. It's like you've now got an even bigger stick up your arse.'

‘Why are you being so horrible?'

Deep laughter boomed from behind the door, cutting me off. I involuntarily shivered at the sound.

‘Lauren…' I hissed, my heart pounding in my chest. ‘He sounds exactly like Damir.'

She rolled her eyes. ‘Don't be stupid. I've met Damir. He's got proper blond hair. My guy has dark hair. He just wears a wig to sneak out here to see me.'

‘No, he
hasn't.
Damir has black hair, like Marko's. Get out of there now, Lauren.'

The door slammed in my face. But seconds later, it swung open.

‘Miranda.' Damir's cool green eyes looked me over. He was exactly as I remembered; same unshaven face, same cruel glint in his eyes—a harder, cruder version of Marko. ‘You're looking good.' He pulled the door so that it was nearly closed.

I stepped back. ‘Jonatha—'

Damir's hand clamped over my mouth and he slammed me against the wall, hard. Pain shot down my back and I moaned beneath Damir's sweaty hand.

‘Miranda?'

It was Robbie, calling from the kitchen.

‘Shut your mouth or your blind friend is dead,' said Damir, his eyes alive with excitement, as though the idea of killing Robbie thrilled him. ‘Tell him you're speaking with your sister.'

He removed his hand but quickly made a slashing motion at his throat before pointing down the hall. I nodded, but glared at him with all the hatred that was bubbling inside of me.

‘I'm just having a quick word with Lauren. I'll be a minute.'

‘We'll be outside,' Robbie called, and then said something in a hushed voice to Jonathan before the two went outside, leaving me alone with a psychotic mermaid-loving lunatic and my dumb, delusional and smart-arsed older sister.

‘Randy, I said I don't want to talk,' said Lauren, from behind the door.

Damir released me.

‘Hop back into bed, love. I'll see her out,' he told her. He shut the door on her and shoved me against the wall again, his forearm pressing against my neck.

‘Your sister doesn't want to talk.'

‘How did you get free? And what are you doing with Lauren?' I managed to splutter through all the choking.

‘I've always been free,' he said, his voice calm and cocky. He glanced at the bedroom door and then winked at me. ‘It should be pretty obvious what your sister and I have been doing and what I want from her.'

The pressure of his arm decreased a little, and I coughed and spluttered.

‘You can go now. No screaming for help or the blind one gets it. Maybe I'll do something to his ears,' he said, grinning, ‘to match his dud eyes.'

‘I'm going, I'm going. Don't you dare touch him! Or I'll come here and…kill you myself.'

He removed his arm and I fell forward, hands on my knees, coughing.

A gentle hand stroked my hair away from my face and when I saw that it was Damir, I jerked away and swore at him. He laughed and returned to the room with Lauren.

The front door of the cottage squeaked open and I quickly stood up. My neck was killing me, but I had to put a smile on my face and act normal.

‘Miranda?' It was Jonathan calling me this time, not Robbie.

‘I'm coming.'

‘Where's Robbie?' I asked when I joined Jonathan outside. ‘I thought I heard him call out.'

He nodded to the greenhouses. ‘He got called to the greenhouses again; said he'd be a while so I told him I'd escort you back to the castle safely.'

‘Right.' I let out a sigh of relief and rubbed my neck. With Robbie out of the cottage, and therefore out of danger, I had enough time to get to the castle and tell Marko where Damir was.

My skin crawled at the idea of my sister sharing a bed with that man—even if she didn't actually know he was Damir.

‘Okay,' I said reluctantly. ‘We'd better go.'

By the time we got to the castle, my heart was ready to bust out of my ribcage. Jonathan was just as desperate as I was to reach Marko—especially since I'd used the journey from Robbie's place to fill him in on the whole Damir incident—so much so that, when we reached the foot of the castle steps, he picked me up and carried me half the way down the main castle corridor, before I demanded he put me down.

We were beginning to draw attention to ourselves, and a small group of guards and castle visitors eyeballed us with raised brows. I didn't want to alert any of Damir's men of
our erratic behaviour. We had to be as discreet as possible with our information.

‘Has Marko returned?' Jonathan asked one of the guards at the door. The man nodded.

‘He's in the dining room with Sylvia. But he does not wish to be disturbed.'

Jonathan ignored the warning and stormed down several corridors, with me running to keep up.

We entered, me puffing and panting, and not knowing if my neck bore any bruises from my altercation with Damir. In a way, I hoped I had bruised, because it would provide more solid proof of what had gone down at Robbie's.

Sylvia and Marko sat at opposite ends of the table, discussing something very heated that I couldn't quite make out. They didn't notice me at first. However, when Sylvia finally spotted me, she banged a fist against the table.

‘This is what I mean. She has no manners. She is still a child, and not fit to be a queen.'

Marko's face flushed with anger or humiliation—I wasn't sure.

‘Miranda, where have you been all day?' he asked, before pushing his chair back and rising to greet me. ‘I've been worried,' he said, in a softer voice, before lightly touching the back of my hand.

‘I never said I wanted to be a queen,' I said, my eyes on Sylvia's smirking face, before shifting them to Marko. ‘I need to speak with you, in private. It's important.'

Sylvia dropped a piece of cutlery, and a maid bent to scoop it up before replacing it with a clean fork from her crisp-white apron pocket.

Marko sighed and pressed his fingers against the centre of his brow, as though he had a killer headache. ‘Whatever
you need to tell me, Miranda, you can say here in front of Sylvia.'

Sylvia abruptly pushed her chair back and stood.

‘Perhaps I should leave you two alone.'

Marko raised a palm. ‘No. Stay. We have to learn to respect each other's opinions if we have any hope of living under the one roof.'

Sylvia swallowed loudly and nodded, offering Marko a weak smile, though her eyes were full of malice for me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled shakily.

‘Damir is out. Go check the dungeons.' I showed Marko my neck and he stared at it and gasped before gently touching my skin with his fingertips.

‘How did this happen? Where is he? I'll
kill
him!'

‘He's at Robbie's cottage, with Lauren, hiding out. But Robbie doesn't know, and he's in danger. And Lauren, she thinks he's a guard—she doesn't know that it's Damir.'

‘How is this possible, Sylvia?' Marko said, his eyes shooting daggers at his sister. ‘I could have locked you away, but I didn't. I forgave you.'

Sylvia braced the flat of her hands against the polished stone table. ‘Damir is of no threat.'

A long silence filled the room, broken only by the maid sneezing. Sylvia fixed her cat eyes on the woman and shouted, ‘Get out!'

‘No threat?' bellowed Marko suddenly. His eyes bulged wide and incredulous, his face reddened with rage. ‘Have you gone stupid, sister?' He stormed out of the dining room and shouted, ‘Guards!'

‘There's no point calling the guards,' Sylvia said calmly. ‘Most know that he is out. In fact the majority of your staff helped him move between the castle and the city,'
she paused for effect, ‘as did I. Your men have all turned, Marko.'

Marko's sharp intake of breath and the broken look on his face shattered my heart. He drew his daggers and faced the open doorway, where an avalanche of footsteps approached.

‘Not all have turned,' said Jonathan, both daggers drawn. I could have thrown my arms around his neck and kissed him.

A
FTER A BRIEF
altercation between Marko, Jonathan, the few faithful guards that remained and Damir's men, who had been masquerading as Marko's guards, Sylvia agreed to a visit at Robbie's cottage.

She still refused to believe that Damir had killed Svetla or had endangered Anne's life. She was adamant he had been conducting fertility experiments on Anne, not planning on sewing her up into a mermaid. And to prove so, she decided to lead a human train of guards and civilians to the very door of Robbie's cottage, so that the people of Marin could see for themselves that Damir was harmless and, in her own words, ‘About to do great things for Marin'.