Althena Book 2

108. Think Better

The man walks me into the house and Jake runs to me. I get a big hug. "I knew you'd come back to visit."

"It's not a long visit. I can't stay. Are you getting some good fishing time with your dad?"

"He's been busy for a few days. But he promised he would tomorrow."

"Tomorrow isn't too far. That'll be fun."

"Do you want to color?"

"He's ready for you, ma'am."

"Next time."

"Ok." He runs down the hallway.

The guy leads me to the lawyers office.

"Have a seat. I have the list of deposits in your account for the last couple of months. You did take a hit when the dock was bombed. Also, the bad drugs that got through hurt. But the deposits have still been relatively good."

"When did this start for my father? How did he trick my father into this?"

"Trick him?"

"Blackmail. Whatever. How did he get my father into this life?"

"Sark. The S- A- came from Salvodor. The R- K- came from Dark. Your father helped make the drug. The old drugs were killing too many people. There was a 50% death rate. They tweaked someone else's formula. Sark was made by Akley and your dad to lower the number of drug-related deaths. And it worked. Your father dealt with transporting it. Akley dealt with the labs and made it. Akley got more money because he had to pay people. You have the same deal your dad had."

"He made it?"

"Yes, 15 or so years ago."

"Damn."

He nods. "Your dad and Akley were friends for a long time. Anything else?"

"My boys are closing in on Edwardo. They think he's someone in Mystical Moon. Any advise?"

"Don't go to Mystical Moon. Is the card there?"

"Not anymore. I have it."

"You were using it from there?"

"Yes."

"That was a bad decision."

"I noticed."

"I'll have a new card sent. Destroy the old one when you get the new one. They won't have the number." He takes a deep breath. "They're chasing an alias. Do they know that?"

"I believe so."

"They'll have to find his papers and card to pin it on someone. Do not get caught with them. They need to be at his house. They are safe there. That's his house. Of course, his paperwork will be there."

"I will put it all back."

"Akley is ready for you, Ma'am." I follow the guy to Akley's office. "Queen Thena, sir."

"Lovely to see you. I understand why you're here. Another batch of bad drugs got through. One of my labs was sabotaged. It's over. I closed the lab for cleaning and knocked a few heads together. I'm also increasing security."

"I want out. Too many people are dying. There is always going to be another bad batch with some bullshit reason as to why it happened."

He nods. "That won't happen. You don't get to quit. I have your signature. That's all I need."

"I will change it."

He smirks. "My name isn't on the shipments. If you change your signature, they search the herbs, then you and Edwardo are found."

"Being found out is better than killing innocent people."

"You know what I found out?"

"What?"

"You have multiple mates. Mike parading your scent right in front of me when you killed Evelina proved it. Cyrus too. With your signature, we can distribute to all 3 cities. I know you're upset now, but we're going to triple our money. You'll get over a few deaths here and there. You're still very young."

"I'm not too young to know killing people is bad."

He grabs a remote and pushes play. It's me last time I was here.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Yes." I sign the paper.

He turns it off. "Relax. Everything will be sorted. Nothing comes back to you. As soon as you're of age, we triple our money. We got this. And don't try to abdicate. I would hate to have to kill Clayton. We have this set up, and it's working perfectly. A few deaths are not a big deal."

"Do not touch my brother." I feel hate and rage flow through me.

"He's a good kid. I don't want to do anything to him. But the deal with you is too powerful now. I can't let you walk away from it. But I promise, everything will be ok."

I'm so mad I'm shaking.

"We're done here, Arthur."

The man in a suit guides me out.

I run to the car and lay in the backseat. "Floor it."

"What's wrong?"

"He said he'll kill Clayton."

3 minutes later we stop for Katen. She jumps into the passenger seat. "That was educational."

"Where are we going?" Chris takes off.

"Safehouse, I have to get the paperwork back, and I need to think."

40 hours later, I'm driving. We're taking turns and sleeping. It's going fast. We're less than an hour away.

"I figured it out."

"What?"

"The boys have the drugs. I should have realized that before. Drogon said Edwardo was smuggling drugs. The only way he would have known that was if he found them. That's the only place our signatures are together."

Katen sits up. "They're trying to find Edwardo to clear your name. Expecting Edwardo will say he stole your signature somehow."

Chris nods. "But he's been giving you money for so long. And the boat. They were trying to find out if you knew what was going on at the same time. That's also why Drogon thought it was Monte. You and Monte are close. You work on quite a bit of stuff together."

"I can't believe they were gaining intelligence against me. Leaking information to see what I would do. Who I would tell. Trying to prove Monte was Edwardo. Using me for their..."

"Let me drive."

"Sorry. I'm alright." I relax my fingers. "We're almost there anyway. I wonder how long they've known?"

"Probably weeks if they're ready to move against someone now. They tested the credit card theory after exams. They've known for a while."

"It's up here on the right."

"How did it take you 10 days to drive to Darkburn? It took us 2 to go halfway."

"I couldn't drive 24 hours a day. I drove between 8 and 12."

Katen rubs her face. "I just need a shower. Please tell me this place has running water."

I pull in the driveway. "Welcome to Edwardo's house. I do have running water."

"Damn." Chris climbs out. "I guess we could shower in one of the many fountains if we need to."

The alarm screams when I open the door. I put in the code and it shuts up. At least I'm in the right spot. "AAAHHHH!" I throw the box at some lady's head.

"Queen." She hands it back. Then she says something else and I have no idea what it is.

"What?"

"Queen Edwardo." She points at me.

"Edwardo." I nod.

Then she smiles and dusts the stair rail.

"That's probably fine. The place is clean." Chris walks by me. "Where are the showers?"

"I've never been here."

"Bed?" Chris motions the housekeeper and pretends to sleep. "Bedroom? Bed? Sleep?"

She points up the steps.

"Good enough."

We go up the steps and there is an entire hallway of suites.

The housekeeper pulls my arm to a door. Chris runs in the room. It's where she put my jewelry and clothes.

"Thank you."

"Welcome." She smiles and leaves us.

"Hopefully Monte sent some clothes that aren't super fancy."

"He sent this jewelry?"

"Yea. I loved it. I have never seen that though." I pick up a gold and sapphire necklace.

"That's pretty."

"He must have bought jewelry from other places."

"Found dresses. I'm stealing one." Katen is standing by an open closet.

"Did he send anything comfortable for a guy?" Chris scratches his head.

"No idea. I wasn't there when he bought the stuff."

"That's actually really good." He goes into the closet too.

I open the dresser. "Packs of underwear here." I check a few more drawers. "I guess we don't need bras."

"The dresses are supportive anyway. We'll make it work." Katen grabs a pack of underwear and goes next door.

Chris finds t-shirts and shorts. He grabs a pack of underwear and goes to the room on the other side. "I'm going to take a shower and try to tell the housekeeper to buy food with cash."

"Good idea."

I fill my tub. I put some salt in it and make it smell good. I relax and fall asleep in it. I wake up freezing and try again. I get cleaned up. Then I cry my eyes out while I shave my legs.

They know. They've known for weeks about the drugs. They never said a word to me. They were collecting evidence. Trying to find Edwardo. Trying to pin it on Monte. I won't let Monte take the fall. The entire blame lies on me. They won't find anyone else to blame. They'll sort it out soon enough. I'm lucky I ran when I did. At least I got away.

I don't know what they were planning on doing with me though.

Then Akley. He's not going to let me out of the deal. He'll kill Clayton if I try. I know he'll figure out a way.

But the boys know how we're moving drugs into the city now. If they stop the drugs, Akley will probably go after Clayton anyway.

I pull my hair so hard some of it comes out. I don't know how to make them leave the drugs alone. Maybe I can fire Drogon and take the throne myself. He wouldn't be able to say s**t.

I don't even want the damn throne. I never have.

I don't see a way to keep Clayton safe on the throne. Akley will go after him to put me back on the throne.

I need to think better. There has to be a way. I'm so dumb sometimes. Well, all the time. I was so stupid to get into this. Now, I can't get out. No matter what, I can't let him hurt Clayton. If I keep the throne it'll hurt him, but at least he'll live.

I turn the razor sideways and drag it down my arm. "I'm so stupid."

My dad was stupid and insane.

If I try to remove Drogon, he'll probably throw me in jail and tell everyone I'm smuggling drugs. He'll keep the throne for himself. Or he might just kill me. I know he's pissed, and he's always searching for drugs. The people love him and not me.

He would keep the throne. I would lose it. I hit myself on the head. "Think better."

Cyrus and Mike are going to be equally pissed. I'll be smuggling drugs there soon too. All 3 cities are going to want me dead. The boys will hand me over because they're good kings.

I'm the worst ever queen.

I deserve to die in the most horrible way possible. Innocent people have died. More innocent people are dying now. All because of me. And they're just going to keep dying if I don't figure out something.

"STOP." Monte picks me up. "What the hell are you doing?"

I look down, and the water is red. My arms are all bloody. I didn't even know I was cutting myself.

Oh well. I deserve worse than this.

He drains the tub and stands me in the shower. He washes me off, then carries me to bed. I lay there and stare at the ceiling. I don't even think my brain works anymore.

Then he puts underwear and a tank top on me and sits me at the table. "Eat." The ointment he puts on my cuts is cold.

I flinch when he touches my shoulder.

"Yea, that one is deep. What happened?"

"The boys know about the drugs. They know Edwardo is someone's alias. They were using me to leak information, trying to figure out who he is. They thought it was you."

"They questioned me about Edwardo. Did you go to Akley?"

"I asked him to let me out of our deal."

"What did he say?"

"He knows about Mike and Cyrus. He's going to smuggle drugs into the other two cities after I come of age. We're going to triple our money. If I try to abdicate, he'll kill Clayton. I think Katen recorded it."

"Keep eating. I want to hear it."

He comes back with the computer and plays everything that was said while I was at Akley's. Then he kisses me on the head. "I have no choice." He snaps his phone together and sends a text.

"They'll kill me."

"No they won't."

"I'm a drug smuggler. They can't let me get away with it."

"We'll talk to them. I won't let them hurt you. Let's get some sleep. They'll be here in 9 hours."

He lays down with me on his chest and rubs my back. I shiver into the tingles as sleep takes me.