The Wood Queen (16 page)

Starting now.

Donna wasn’t exactly proud of what she was doing, not to mention how undignified it was. Hanging around suspiciously in an ancient-looking bathroom at the Frost Estate, preparing to tear the metal grille from the tiny window, was far from where she imagined she’d end up today. But she’d picked this bathroom for her escape from the mansion specifically because it was in one of the oldest wings—it wasn’t likely that anyone would be using it.

There was no way she could stay here a moment longer, despite the fact that she was supposed to be waiting for Aunt Paige to finish up some business with Quentin. Simon had insisted Donna wait in one of the guest bedrooms, well out of the way.

Anyone would think they don’t trust me
, she thought with a grim smile. If her aunt really believed that she was just going to wait around like a dutiful alchemist-in-training, she was in for a surprise.

Hadn’t Aunt Paige figured it out? Last night really had changed everything between them. Their fight wasn’t just a typical family argument, the ones that blow over the next day so that things can go back to normal. Nothing could ever go back to normal now, not as far as Donna was concerned.

“Crap,” she muttered, almost slipping on the cracked plastic toilet seat. Nervously, she shot a quick glance over the top of the stall and was relieved to see that the bathroom was still empty.

She crouched on her precarious perch and grabbed the window ledge with both hands. Pushing her fingers through the wire bars of the grille, she pulled with as much strength as she dared. The teeth-rattling scraping made her cringe, but she kept pulling and easily removed the now-twisted metal from the frame. Screws popped and fell to the tile floor with a loud tinkling sound, and she wondered if it was realistic to think that nobody could hear the racket she was making. Stealth wasn’t exactly her strong suit; but
it would have been nice if she could have exercised a
little
of it, just this once.

She laid the mangled steel grate on top of the dusty toilet tank, careful to avoid the flush mechanism, and unconsciously brushed her gloved hands against her jeans.

The window opened inward, which she’d been careful to check before even attempting this, but the sun was high in the clear blue sky and it wouldn’t be difficult for a casual passerby to notice a seventeen year old girl climbing out of a second-floor window round the west side of the estate.

Donna looked down. The drop didn’t look too big, and it wasn’t like she hadn’t climbed out of windows before.
Yeah, because I’m such a daredevil
, she thought, pressing her lips together as a blast of icy wind hit her face. She scrambled to a crouch on the outside window ledge. Her back was bent so low she could feel the belt on her jeans digging into her stomach and, despite the cold, she wished she wasn’t wearing her long gray winter coat.

Nevertheless, she had to get out of here, and all the regular exits were being watched—either by actual people or by remote viewing (the magical kind). If she could just get back to Xan’s house, she could finally tell him about the Wood Queen’s demands and see if he could help her figure out how to use her new abilities to do what Aliette wanted. Donna wasn’t going to let Xan come
with
her to the Ironwood, not this time. She wasn’t about to put a friend in danger again—not after what happened a few weeks ago with the elixir.

Research assistance and moral support, however, were things she was willing to ask him for.

Looking down again, she was relieved to see that the narrow path circling the house was empty. She took a deep breath as she sat on the window ledge, then grabbed the frame and slid down until the only things holding her entire weight were her magically enhanced hands. Her legs dangled out into space.

Donna gritted her teeth to keep from crying out in pain. She might be super strong, but that strength was only in her forearms and hands. Her shoulders? Not so much. Swinging from a scarily rotten window frame was all well and good in theory, but it felt as if her arms were about to be pulled out of their sockets.

She could probably jump down easily enough—it wasn’t that far, really—but thinking about doing something and actually doing it were entirely different.

Why did it always seem so much more straightforward in movies?

Her shoulders were burning and her feet scrabbled for purchase against the wall. If anyone walked by now, it was all over. Finished. The alchemists would throw away the key. She didn’t give herself any more time to think—she had to get to Xan, and to do that she had to let go.

She forced her fingers to open just as the window frame started to splinter under her weight, and fell to the winter-hard ground like a stone.

The afternoon was bright and clear, the air cold enough to freeze her breath. Donna blew out and watched the white mist slowly drift away. Just as she reached the end of Xan’s street, filled with its impressive-looking townhouses, she felt that horribly familiar prickle at the back of her neck. Her intuition seemed to be getting sharper every day, and she wondered if it had something to do with her strange new ability to … teleport, or whatever the hell it was she was doing.

She glanced over her shoulder, and her heart lifted when she saw a young, dark-haired figure. Had Navin followed her from the Frost Estate?

But the tall figure striding after her wasn’t Nav at all.

It was Robert Lee.

“Wait a sec, Donna, would you?”

He half ran to catch up to her, and she reluctantly slowed her pace. They stopped at the crosswalk in silence for an uncomfortable moment.

Donna didn’t want the young alchemist to follow her to Xan’s house, which meant she needed to lead him somewhere else. Which would waste precious time. Irritated, she shoved her hands into her pockets and glared up at him. “What?”

A grin spread across Robert’s angular face, his lip ring glinting against his pale mouth. “That’s all you have to say to me, after I oh-so-kindly didn’t give you away to your aunt?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you making your daring escape from the mansion, all impressive and superhero-style.”

Donna’s stomach clenched and she half-expected to see more of the alchemists following Robert.

“Oh relax, I didn’t tell them,” he said airily. “You owe me.”

She didn’t know what to say to that.
What could he possibly have to gain from letting her off the hook?
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice filled with suspicion.

“You don’t give your trust easily, do you?”

Way to state the obvious
. Donna simply raised her eyebrows.

Robert shrugged. “So, are we just going to stand and admire the traffic all day—fascinating as that is, of course—or are we going somewhere? I could come with you.”

Could he
be
any more annoying? “I have to meet … someone. Whatever you have to do with your oh-so-exciting life, have fun. I’ll see you later. And don’t worry, I’ll tell my aunt that you successfully shadowed me.”

She headed across the street, thankful that the crosswalk light had conveniently started counting down right at that moment. Perhaps Robert would get the message and leave her alone.

“You have some big cars over here, you know that?” he said conversationally, keeping pace with her easily as they hit the sidewalk on the other side.

Donna kept walking. There was no way she was going to tell him who she was meeting, but at the same time it was pretty obvious that Robert wasn’t going anywhere. She sighed, making a wide circle back toward the Common.

Robert glanced at her. “Are you going to visit the hot boyfriend I’ve been hearing about?”

Donna’s jaw clenched. “You think I need a guy to protect me?”

“No,” he replied, his voice surprisingly reasonable. “I just thought you’d want to spend as much time as possible with him before getting shipped off to my side of the Atlantic.”

She refused to let him bait her.

Robert seemed unfazed by her silence. “Seriously, is your boyfriend really a halfling?”

“Don’t call him that.” Donna kept walking, increasing her pace even as she knew she didn’t have a hope of losing him.

“What, ‘your boyfriend’?” Robert’s grin was wicked, making him look sort of devilish. “Oh, you mean the ‘halfling’ thing.
Please
. Don’t get all offended on me.”

Shooting a glare his way, she turned into a side street, hoping he’d lose interest if she took the long way around. “I’m not offended,” she replied. “I just think you’re being rude about someone you don’t even know.”

Robert shrugged easily. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’m the last person to throw stones.”

His British accent sounded more posh when he was teasing, and Donna had the feeling that he was laughing at her in more ways than she understood. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you just run along back to Miranda?”

Robert spun around, walking backwards in front of her, so she had no choice but to slow down and look at him. He clutched at his heart and staggered dramatically. “You wound me with your scorn, madam! And how dare you not let me enjoy the massive chip on my shoulder.”

She almost laughed, but stopped herself just in time. He was pretty funny—sometimes—when he wasn’t being intensely annoying. In any case, he seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

“It could have been much worse for me, of course,” he added. “I was almost apprenticed to the Order of the
Rose
.”

Rolling her eyes, Donna was relieved to see they were almost at the Common. Maybe she could finally lose him there.

Yeah, she could hope.

Robert seemed to be on a roll. “Can you imagine how well that would’ve gone down? The oh-so-cultured Order of the Rose, saddled with the illegitimate, half-Chinese, gay son of one of the most notorious alchemists in recent history?”

Donna tried to hide her interest, but she couldn’t help herself. “Really? Which alchemist?”

“I bare my soul to you—a complete stranger—in a transparent effort to gain your trust, and all you care about is who the notorious parent is? What about my race? My sexuality? My—”

“Questionable mental health?” she cut in smartly, feeling quite pleased to have actually shut him up for a moment.

“Are you saying I’m mad? Considering that you just climbed out a window, one could make the argument that there’s only one crazy person here.”

Donna stopped walking when they reached the edge of Ironbridge Common and glared at him. “Just when I decide you might be okay, you ruin it all by speaking.”

“Sorry,” he replied, his shoulders shaking with barely repressed laughter. “You’re just too easy.”

She crossed her arms. “Like you’d care about that.”

“Ah, so the lady does have a sense of humor. I approve.”

Sighing loudly, Donna waited for him to tell her why he was being such a pain in the ass.

“Look,” Robert said. “You’re probably wondering why I bothered to follow you, if I’m not intending to turn you in.”

“The thought
had
crossed my mind.”

“I think I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

She smiled nastily. “Because you care
so much
about how I am? Why, Mr. Lee, I’m touched.”

He nodded his approval. “You’re mastering the fine art of sarcasm already. Wonderful. We’ll soon have you baking scones and drinking tea with milk and two sugars, don’t you worry.” His expression shifted to something more sly. “You’ll make an excellent apprentice for Miranda.”

That was all it took for any good feelings that might have been building toward Robert to melt away. She felt like punching him, and had to remind herself that she really didn’t know this guy at all—and he wasn’t Navin, no matter how much he made her laugh.

They’d reached one of the many areas of the Common where trees were planted on both sides of the path, and Donna took a deep breath of cold air. Her companion had fallen silent—thankfully—and although she was tempted to just enjoy the reprieve, she also had questions that perhaps he’d be able to answer. As they emerged from the canopy of leaves, the bright winter sun emerged from behind a white cloud and Robert’s cobalt blue highlights stood out in stark contrast to the regular inky blackness of his hair.

He indicated a bench. “Will you sit with me for a minute?”

He actually wanted to talk? “I really have to be somewhere,” Donna said stubbornly. “And I’m going there
alone
.”

“Five minutes.” His expression was sincere, and for the first time she saw that he looked tired. Not that she knew him or anything, but the dark circles under his eyes were unmistakable.

“Well …”

“Please?”

It was the “please” that did it. “Okay, five minutes.”

Maybe Robert really was okay, and maybe he wasn’t; but it didn’t matter either way, because she didn’t intend to become friends with someone so closely tied to the alchemists.

He tucked his long hair behind his ears. “Listen, I know we don’t know each other and you have absolutely no reason to trust me, but working with Miranda wouldn’t be such a terrible fate—”