43. Adina

43

ADINA

T he first hour was the worst.

It was the hour of waiting, the hour of hoping that my plan was going right without us being able to see it happen.

The basics were simple enough—we needed to get to Jeffry and regain control of Gene. To do that, we needed to get out of this room, and to do that , we needed decoys. Genie-D39 was only powerful enough to create a single hologram, and even then, not for very long. However, among my trousseau, I had over a hundred mobile holographic projectors, the same ones I'd been using to put on dance performances and plays. Unfortunately, they were all in my bags in the queen's rooms, and there was no way I could get there without being killed by Ravana.

Fortunately, I had someone else with me who had a much better chance of making it that far. Bingo might be an older lookout, but he could climb better than any of these weird, spiky things Jeffry had brought into the palace. I had faith in him making it to the queen's rooms, and he'd be taking Genie-D39 with him, who would enact my command to activate the projectors as soon as he was in range of them.

This was the riskiest part. If Bingo dropped the genie or it was taken from him, then we were screwed, and we probably wouldn't even know how badly we were screwed for hours.

We didn't have hours.

It was hot in the suite and getting hotter as the day progressed—clearly, Jeffry had cut the environmental controls. We were sweating and had no water on hand to replenish ourselves with. We were hungry, too, after a very active night together. Needless to say, our situation was grim and getting grimmer. We had to act while we still had some strength, or we'd lose our chance.

I gave Genie-D39 some precise instructions then handed him to Bingo. "Go fast," I whispered to my little lookout. "Be as safe as possible, but do not let go of the genie." Bingo beeped in quiet affirmation even as the clicking, rolling sound on the floor got louder.

Yeah, we had to take that one out. I was leaving that part to James, who had taken what was supposedly a ceremonial spear off the wall and hefted it in his hands. "I've got this," he said.

The second before I let Bingo go, Genie-D39 used some of his precious power to illuminate the spot where the spiky lookout was lurking by the door. James threw the spear, hitting the mechanical creature head-on and breaking it into a dozen pieces while I simultaneously let go of Bingo. He climbed up the wall over the bed, made his way over to the decorative lintel connected to the hall outside, and squeezed through, taking the ring with him.

A second later, Jeffry's ugly face appeared again. "Have you resorted to breaking things now?" he asked in a bored voice. "So childish, Your Highness."

"Release us!" James demanded, standing tall. "I demand to see my parents at once!"

Jeffry laughed. "Has your mind turned to dust in the past few hours? Or is it the effect of your simple-minded paramour? The only way you're getting out of there, boy, is by conforming to my demands. Only once Adina is gone can we begin to negotia?—"

"Security alert."

I tensed. That was Gene's voice.

Oh no. Gene was powerful enough that he might be able to see through my plan when the palace's security system couldn't. I did my best to knit my fingers together as I waited to see what he had to say. "There is an intruder in the garden."

"What intruder?" Jeffry demanded, turning his head away from us—probably to look at another screen. "That—" He stopped, turned back, and stared at us, then turned once more to look at the other image. "No. What…"

"Security alert," Gene repeated. "There is an intruder in the aviary."

"Show me!"

"Security alert. There is an intruder in the?—"

"Show me all of them!" As more and more alerts distracted Jeffry, I knew it was time to take action.

"Are you sure you can do this?" I whispered to James, holding his hand tight.

"I know I can. As soon as I get the door open, run."

I nodded, and then he raised his foot and hammered it hard into the suite's door. It burst open, showering us in blinding sunlight.

James didn't hesitate. He threw himself forward, sword raised, and met the blade I hadn't even sensed. He stopped it a few inches away from my skull.

Holding on to it, Ravana growled.

"Run!" James shouted.

I was desperate to stay with him, but we had to stick with the plan. He told me that Ravana's most central program, the one it had been designed around, was focused on never harming him. That meant he was safe, even with Ravana turned into a wild beast, while I was in immediate danger. I had to run, for both our sakes. I had to leave my brand-new husband to fight for my life and possibly lose his own. I had to…I had to.

I ran.

"Security alert…security alert…" The dull alarm sounded throughout the palace as I made my way down the hall.

I was dressed not in the finery of a princess but in the plain blue and gold garb of a servant. It was a leftover from James's freewheeling days, so it was way too big on me, but it might be enough to distract Jeffry if all the other versions of me weren't already doing that.

Thank you, Genie-D39!

He and Bingo had made it. They'd uploaded my commands to my holographic projectors and sent them all over the palace, looking like dozens of different versions of me and a few more Jameses, for good measure. It wouldn't take long to determine the fakes, but I didn't have that far to go, either. Just a few hundred more feet and another couple of turns.

A spiky lookout rolled around the corner ahead of me. It turned to assess me, then beeped and sped toward me. What was it going to do, throw itself at me?

That was one way to figure out whether I was real or not.

I jumped straight over it just as it reached me, and it ran by underneath—but turned faster than I'd anticipated and picked up the chase again, hurtling itself toward me at top speed.

"Shit," I muttered.

I didn't have any weapons at all, and this hallway was so well-trodden that there weren't any tables or plinths or any handy, heavy things nearby to tip over onto the lookout.

Or…actually…

I reached over to the wall and ripped away the heavy tapestry covering it, flinging it down onto the floor just as the lookout was closing in. It was dense enough to keep the troublesome thing from ripping right through it, but I knew it was a temporary measure at best. I needed to turn this off at the source. I needed to get to Jeffry, now.

I ran for the room that James told me housed the security monitors and tried the handle. Locked. Ha, good thing I was a thief. Even amongst all my finery, I'd ensured my pins doubled as lock picks. I spent a precious minute undoing the lock, all the while expecting to hear the click-click-click of a spiky lookout coming up behind me. I finally got the lock open, turned the handle, and raced inside.

Crack! The wall behind me exploded into splinters. I immediately ducked, terrified for my life.

"Not another move," Jeffry said, his voice deceptively soft and menacing. "Or I guarantee you, the next bullet will find your skull."

Bullets. He had found another gun.

Carefully, I unfolded my hands from my head and stood up. Yep, there was the gun clutched in Jeffry's hand. It was trembling, but he didn't need to have good aim this close to me.

"You," he breathed, looking at me like I was a ghost. "You have been a thorn in my side ever since I found out about you. How can an insignificant street urchin do so much damage to a man as powerful as me?"

"You should have just left me alone," I said. "All we wanted was to be left alone."

"Left alone to run away together, you and James," he agreed, his eyes going vague.

Good. I had another plan, but it was only going to work if I kept him talking for long enough. "You're right. I should have let you go instead of telling his father what was going on. Then I could have killed both of you easily, in my own time, rather than having to put on a show for the king to alienate him from his son. And yet…" He shook his head. "The temptation of having you take on the Vault for me was too strong. That was what greed got me. And yet," now he smirked, "things haven't gone so terribly poorly for me after all, have they? I not only have the kingship firmly under my grasp, I also have him." He pointed to the lamp on the table behind him. "Come out, Genie."

Gene appeared. He looked just the same as always, hair up and clothes plain and neat, but there was something sorrowful about his expression. "I am here, Master."

"Good." Jeffry smiled. "Look at him, little thief. Look at the wonder that you foolishly let slip through your hands. You could have had anything, you know—with him, you could have held the whole palace hostage and become queen yourself, without having to marry that insipid boy!"

"I love James," I said defiantly. "He's no boy. He's a man and a better one than you'll ever be."

Jeffry fired again. I screamed, sure I was about to die, but no, the bullet missed me once more.

"He is nothing compared to me," Jeffry hissed, madness in his eyes. "Nothing! None of these fools are! The only person here even close to matching me for cleverness is you! What a shame," he said, panting heavily as he glanced toward the monitors again. "What a shame that your precious little toys aren't enough to save you or James."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my concern for myself morphing into worry for my husband.

"I mean that Ravana isn't as loyal as James thinks he is. Oh yes, I thought you might make an escape attempt, although I wasn't expecting it to be so thorough," he added with a frown. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that Ravana's code has been altered to kill whoever fights it, whether they are James or not." I heard a roar, both through the monitor and echoing from down the hall, followed by a shout. "I daresay James is about to find that out. His fight isn't going well."

"What?" I turned, ready to run to his aid.

But—no.

That wasn't the way to win. James just had to hold on a little longer. I turned back slowly, giving everything around me time to settle.

"Not going to die with your lover?" Jeffry shook his head. "You're either more fickle or more practical than I gave you credit for. But whatever your motives, it's time—" he cocked the gun again "—for you to die."

"Please," I said, my voice trembling as I stared at him. I did my best not to move and felt something comforting touch my feet. "Please, don't hurt me."

"Stay back, woman!"

I wasn't moving, but he didn't know that. "Don't hurt me!" I begged, slowly lowering myself into a crouch.

"I said stay back!"

"Don't—"

Jeffry fired…

At my hologram.

My last order to Bingo was to bring me a holographic projector double.

It collapsed just as I threw myself forward, driving my shoulder into Jeffry's knees and wrapping my arm around his legs.

He shrieked and fell, hitting his head on the console behind him on the way down.

I lunged up his body, fist raised, ready to knock him out and take his gun away, but there was no need.

Jeffry was unconscious, bleeding heavily from a wound on the back of his head.

Good! I stood up as fast as I could and grabbed the lantern.

Gene immediately looked at me.

"Save James!" I ordered him. "Change Ravana's programming back and save James!"

"There's no need," a voice behind me said.

I turned and saw James standing at the door, his sword in his hand. His face was bruised, and blood flowed from a gash on his forehead, but he looked triumphant. "Ravana is down. It turns out that little trick I learned from you the last time he and I sparred still worked."

I didn't have a cute reply, nothing smug and casual on tap. I just threw myself into his arms, desperate to hold him and be held. He dropped his sword and pulled me close, showering me with kisses and whispers of his love.

There was still so much to do. We had to cure his father, free his mother and the palace staff, and figure out what to do with Jeffry and Lavanya. But right now, this little moment was just for us. I leaned up and kissed James full on the mouth, and he responded with an eager groan, again and again, and?—

His stomach growled. Mine immediately followed suit, and I laughed as his groan became one of embarrassment instead of lust.

"Let's save your parents and get some lunch," I said.