The Offering (The Pledge 3)

Brook strode forward, her boots kicking up dirt as she stomped across the chamber. She plopped down on a stack of crates, settled on the edge of them and leaned forward, her eyes filled with fervor. “We both know this was her doing, and Xander was a fool to believe that Elena has any integrity. You know it too, don’t you, Charlie?” Her eyes met mine, and something about the way she said my name and not “Your Majesty” made me hesitate. I wanted to open up to her, right then and there, about the message, but something stopped me.

Because I still didn’t know where she and I stood.

I longed for us to go back to the way we used to be, to when we were friends and I could trust her to keep me safe.

That wasn’t entirely fair, though. We might not be friends anymore, but I could still trust Brook. I knew as much as I stared into her bottomless brown eyes. She was still loyal. To me. And to Ludania.

“Who else could it have been? They were her messengers.” I didn’t mention the letter I’d found, the one with her unmistakable red seal.

She gave me a quick nod, and I realized it was a start. Not a smile, but an acknowledgment that she was still with me.

Brook stood abruptly. “That’s it, then. My forces have been ready for weeks. I can send word and have units deploying by dawn. We can have our first troops at her border within a day.”

I stood too, already shaking my head, unwilling to accept that this was the only option. I couldn’t let others risk their lives when there was still a solution remaining, even if I couldn’t share with them what that solution was. “Not yet. Let me have some more time to think.” I looked at each of them, first at her and then at Max. “And I guess I need to start looking for a new place to be alone.”

Max bent forward to retrieve his shirt. “What if we just go back to pretending we don’t know about this place?” He winked at Brooklynn over my shoulder.

I sighed. “You might as well tell me, then. How long have you known about this one?” I asked, feeling suddenly foolish for ever considering it private in the first place.

It was Brook who chimed in first. “There are no secrets around here, Charlie. You should know that by now.”

I spun to face her, trying to decide which bothered me more, that everyone knew about my underground hiding spot, or that she might be right. That nothing could stay hidden inside the walls of the palace.

My heart squeezed, hoping neither of them knew what I’d found hidden in the bottom of the box. Hoping neither of them knew about the letter from Queen Elena . . .

And the proposal she’d made me.

“Charlie.” Max’s voice emerged from the darkness, and I halted, my heart crashing hard against my ribs. My eyes adjusted as I found him, and I could make out his outline. The way his feet were planted and his arms were crossed. His already dark eyes were made darker by the murkiness of the subterranean passageways.

“You scared me,” I accused. “I thought you and Brook had gone. What are you still doing here?”

“You shouldn’t be wandering around down here alone, even if Zafir does know where you are. I figured I’d wait for you, walk you back. It’ll give us a chance to talk about Brook, and what she’s suggesting. She’s just upset. We all are after . . . after that message Elena sent.” He frowned, but suddenly the letter from Elena felt incriminating and I worried that Max knew I was keeping it from him.

I glanced away. “You didn’t have to wait. I’m fine. Really.” But Max crossed the space between us. “Don’t bother, Charlie. Today’s been anything but fine.” He slipped his fingers through mine. “ So what was it? Something happened. Something you’re not telling me.”

I had to remind myself he had no way of knowing how fast my pulse was racing, and I hoped my palms weren’t a sweating mess against his. “It was nothing—” I tried, but Max interrupted me.

“Charlie, I can’t make you tell me anything.” He chuckled and tugged my hand, bumping my shoulder against his arm. “I’ve never been able to make you do anything, but I feel like you’re keeping something from me. I wish you’d trust me.”

“Trust.” Right now I hated that word. I didn’t want to lie, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. The fact that it was Max only made the situation worse. I hated lying to him, especially after everything we’d been through and all the secrets I’d already kept from him. Just when he’d finally started believing in me again, I was about to stand here and shatter that trust. “Nothing. I’m just worried, is all. The idea of going to war, of putting Ludania at risk like that, it . . . well, it makes me ill.”

Max’s eyes narrowed as he studied me, his brow furrowing. “Is that all?”

I sighed and leaned against him, burying my face in his chest. He probably thought I needed his strength, but really, I couldn’t stand to face him any longer. “Isn’t that enough? You know I’d do anything”—I choked on the word, because that, at least, was the truth—“anything to keep Ludania out of war.”

“I know,” he said, his hand finding my back. And he stood there stroking me like that, unaware that he was comforting me because I was a complete and utter fraud. That he was making me feel better for lying to him.

It was hard to stay still in the quiet of my bedroom as the hours dragged by. I still felt guilt over lying to Max, but it had been the right thing to do. I couldn’t afford to let him stop me. Besides, it was better to keep him out of what I was about to do.