The Red Door Read online

  The ride on his shoulder to wherever we were going was extremely uncomfortable. I kept banging my cheek against his back, and his ironclad grip on my leg caused my feet to go numb. These sensations were magnified as he lumbered down the stairs to the hallway below. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. It was useless to fight. Even if I could overpower him, which I’d done a few times in my life, by the way, he had the upper hand with his magic.

  From my upside-down vantage point, I couldn’t tell where we were going but soon heard the murmurings of the throne room. Great. He dumped me on the red carpet leading up to Athena’s perch.

  “What have you brought me, Brekken?”

  I opened one eye to see if this woman was as ugly as before. Yep. The capsules were still working.

  He lowered to one knee and held out his hands as if he were presenting an offering to God. “Two of the prisoners escaped, and I apprehended one of them. The other is in Aric the Great’s laboratory.”

  Athena nodded to another guard, who promptly left the room.

  “You’re one of my most trusted men.” She shifted in her seat and one of the women behind her adjusted a pillow at the queen’s back. “You’ll be greatly rewarded.” She winked at him.

  His face flushed bright red, and a knot grew in my stomach. My head spun, but it wasn’t from hitting it against the table. I was jealous, not because she was flirting with him, but because she wasn’t flirting with me.

  6

  What in the world is going on?

  Athena directed her attention to me. Her beautiful, brown, doe-like eyes met mine. My insides melted at the thought that she would spare even one second to look upon such a pitiful creature.

  She turned to the guard she’d placed in my fantasy dungeon. “Was the breeding accomplished?”

  The guard stared at his shoes. He stammered words I could barely decipher. “I’m not sure, your highness.”

  The woman stormed down the stairs and placed her feet firmly in front of my face. Delicate lace embellished the pale skin of her perfect ankles. It took everything within me to keep from touching her.

  “What’s your name, piece of filth?” Her perfume wafted through the air, filling my nostrils with unquenchable desire.

  I lifted myself into a sitting position but kept my head bowed. “It’s Megan, your highness.”

  Her tongue clicked against her cheek. She let out a light chuckle. “My, my, Megan. You seem to have had a change of heart. We must spend some time together tonight.”

  My heart beat so rapidly I thought it would burst clear out of my chest. She wanted to spend time with me! It seemed incomprehensible. “Yes, your highness.”

  She spun to climb the stairs, the swish of her dress causing my head to drift into a dizzy state. The rush of her scent entered every pore of my body. “Get Megan cleaned up.” She settled onto her throne and multiple attendants descended upon her—massaging her feet, feeding her grapes, cleaning her fingernails.

  The jealousy rose up in me again as Brek took my arm and pulled me to stand. He had to forcibly drag me out of the throne room because I didn’t want to leave. It was so magical. She was the north to my south, the beginning to my end.

  “You’re not worthy of her,” he grumbled with his eyes set ahead of him. “She needs someone strong to protect her from the insurgents. Tonight was supposed to be my night.”

  We were in the hallway alone, marching off to an unknown destination. My gut twisted in knots again. There had to be a way to be with Athena. She didn’t understand how deeply my love for her ran. If I couldn’t be with her, I would have to take drastic measures. I kept my mouth shut and marched alongside the pompous jock.

  When we reached a room at the end of the hallway, he opened the door. Inside, there was a small table with a mirror, a rack of red and pink clothes, and enough beauty supplies to kill a supermodel.

  “Stay here.” He slammed the door, leaving me alone.

  I thumbed through the clothes. Nothing was really my style, but if it pleased Athena, I’d wear Saran Wrap. Nestled between a red jumpsuit and a cotton candy pink ball gown was a decent-looking red dress. In front of the mirror, I held it up to my shoulders and examined it. The neckline plunged a little low for my taste, but the length was perfect.

  The door flew open, causing me to drop the hanger.

  “There you are, at last.” The tiny woman bustled into the room, pinching my cheek on her way to the rack. “Athena promised me a real beauty this time, and she was right. How does she expect me to present her with a masterpiece when all she gives me is rubbish? You should see some of the filth I have to work with.”

  The woman’s hair was piled on top of her head in streaks of red and pink reminding me of a circus tent. She wore a tiny, pink suit with red lace at the cuffs and neckline. It hung straight down, accentuating her lack of curves. She dove into the make-up containers on the table and placed various bottles near the mirror.

  “I’m Megan.” I didn’t want to just be known as someone’s work of art.

  She stopped her prep work and turned to me. A giant smile crossed her lips. Her bright red eyes almost appeared satanic. I bit my lip to keep the comment to myself.

  “I’m Sutra.” She offered me a hand.

  “You mean like Kama Sutra?” Leave it to a world full of love to produce names like that.

  “You know my sister?” Sutra dragged the chair out from the table and gestured to me. “Have a seat, my dear.”

  “Um… no. I don’t know your sister.” I sat down on the velvety material. “I’d like to meet her.”

  The tiny woman worked her brush through every tangle while I winced. “Oh, you will. She’s Athena’s make-up artist.”

  “I’m not really a make-up kind of girl.”

  The brush stopped, and she crouched down in front of me so we were at eye level. “The queen has requested your presence at dinner tonight, and you want to go looking like this?”

  Maybe the burgundy shirt and pants from the mall weren’t exactly meet the queen material. “Can I go change before you do my hair?”

  “Go behind the shade.” She reached beneath the mirror to plug in a curling iron. “I’ll be right here.”

  The satin material of the red dress clung to every contour of my body, making me wish I had a mirror behind the partition. The only thing there was a door that I assumed led to the stairwell to Aric’s laboratory. I stepped out as Sutra mixed a solution in a plastic tub.

  She whistled. “If I had one word to describe you, it would be red hot.” She set the tub down. “Wait a minute… that’s two words. My bad.”

  I stuck out my hip in a flirtatious manner. “Not smokin’ hot?”

  The hairdresser led me back to the chair. “Darlin’, you should know by now that everything around here’s red.”

  She stood behind me and stared into the mirror, fluffing my hair. Her fingers ran through the faded blue streak. “Now that will have to go. With your light color, you could go completely red, or better yet, hot pink.”

  I chewed the inside of my lip. As much as I wanted to please Athena, I wasn’t ready for a complete overhaul. “How about changing my streak to red and then a trim?”

  She pouted as she continued to run her fingers through the strands. “You’re no fun. I finally get my masterpiece, and she wants a trim. Kama gets to do all the interesting things.”

  In the mirror, my bare shoulders appeared bony to me, and I wasn’t sure if I filled out the dress as much as it deserved to be filled out. Sutra snipped at my ends and then brushed a bluish glop down a couple strands of my hair. She pinched a piece of foil from a pile she had beside her and ran it down one strand of hair. Next, she folded the foil until the hair within was completely covered.

  “Now wait here while I get Kama.” She whisked out of the room, leaving me alone with my bony reflection. I twiddled my thumbs, unsure what to do with myself without a copy of Martha Stewart Living to page through. Right now, my soul wanted to sing with lov
e for the queen. I hated waiting around.

  “There’s a fire, starting in my soul… reaching a fever pitch…”

  “Meg!”

  My singing was cut off.

  “Meg!” The hushed voice came from the other side of the partition. Carter glanced around it. “Let’s get out of here. I’ve already explored the passageways. We’ll be free in about a half hour.” He took a hesitant step into the room. “What are you wearing?” His eyes grew wide, and I realized he was staring at my cleavage.

  I grabbed a towel from the table and threw it over my chest. “It’s called a dress, moron.” Crossing my legs, I turned my body away from him, hoping Sutra would return soon.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Carter crossed the room and gripped my arm. He dropped my backpack onto a chair.

  I reached up and dug my fingernails into his skin.

  He yelped and backed away, clutching his injury. “What the hell did you do that for?”

  “Leave me alone.” I got up and stood by the door he’d entered. “Can you see yourself out, or do I need to call a guard?”

  Carter slapped his hand against his head and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up in crazy directions. “She’s got you, too?”

  “What do you mean by that?” I stuck my hand on my hip, which had now become my signature move. “By she, I’m assuming you mean Athena, and no, she doesn’t have me.” What kind of stupid comment was that? I pointed my nose higher in the air. “We’re in love.”

  “Oh, God.” Carter gripped his hair tighter making me wonder if he’d go bald if he kept doing that. “Megan, you’re my girlfriend. You have no defense against her pheromones.”

  He grabbed my shoulders, crushing his lips against mine. It suffocated me and made me feel like I was cheating on the one person I ever had feelings for. The main door to the room opened right when he pulled away.

  “Megan?” Sutra stood open-mouthed in the doorway next to a woman who was her mirror image.

  “I was just leaving.” Carter slipped through the back door and disappeared.

  “Who was that?” She came up to me to check the foils around my streak. “You know that other relationships are strictly forbidden.”

  “That… is not a relationship.” I laughed and twirled a piece of my free hair around my finger. “That’s called an infatuation by a very lonely boy. He thinks that just because he’s the quarterback on the football team that every girl is going to fall all over him. Well, not me. No way. If anyone needs to be punished, it’s him.”

  Sutra punched something into a device she held . “I’ve already alerted the guard of the intruder’s presence. Let’s get back to work.”

  “I can see what you mean, Sister.” Kama placed a palm on my cheek. “Such flawless skin and mesmerizing eyes. Yes, I think we can present Athena with a real beauty this time.”

  The women tag teamed my beauty regimen and by the time they were done, I was exhausted. The Megan Covington who posed in front of the mirror was not the same girl from the Dump. My blonde hair was swept into an updo, highlighting the bright red streak. After a bit of adjusting, the slinky dress accentuated every curve from my chest to my hips. Diamond teardrop earrings sparkled in the lights around the mirror. This was a woman worthy for the queen. My red lips curved into a smile.

  “A true masterpiece.” Kama circled around me, straightening my hem and brushing stray powder dust off my shoulders.

  “Now, you must wait here for an escort.” Sutra patted my head and replaced a wayward strand into a bobby pin. “He will take you to the queen’s table.”

  Both of the sisters had tears in their eyes. They each blew me a kiss and then left me alone in the room.

  I lifted my nose again, confident in my ability to seduce even the highest of royalty. It really didn’t matter how many people were at this dinner tonight. I’d sweep in there with this dress and catch Athena’s eye. My mind swam with pictures of the evening to come when someone knocked on the door.

  I turned the handle and opened it. A guard dressed in one of the silly red and pink uniforms stood at attention, but unlike Brek, he didn’t carry a spear. The man wore an elaborate, red masquerade mask. He bowed and lifted his elbow to me.

  We glided regally down the hallway toward of the throne room. The wall sconces danced to the romantic tune that frolicked through my head. This would be the most important night of my life. How could I have ever had feelings for Carter when I could have this? The guard gripped my arm tighter. Did he feel important taking such a fine woman to Athena?

  Within a few hundred feet of the queen’s hall, the guard pulled me to the side and pinned me against the wall. His heavy breathing sounded muffled in his mask. My heart pounded beneath my dress. What was he doing? His one and only job was to deliver me safely to Athena.

  I shoved his chest. “Let go of me.”

  “Shut up,” he hissed. The guard opened a door beside us and dragged me inside.

  Wherever we were was dark and musty and I panicked, not because I was alone with a strange man, but because I thought he might mess up my hair before I got to see the woman of my dreams.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but instead, a drenched cloth entered my lips. My head spun, and I grasped for something to break my fall. I hit the cold floor, elbow first, and I cried out in pain. The dark room closed in on me from all sides as I lost consciousness.

  7

  Brek tented his hands, bending and unbending his knuckles. He had his leaned on the door of his bedroom. A serious look consumed his sixteen-year-old face, like someone had killed his dog.

  “It was so awesome when they exploded that entire building with a homemade bomb.” We’d just returned from the movies. I had my back up against his bed, his Gameboy in my hand, trying to take out a zombie apocalypse.

  “Yeah.” He stared at his shoes and sighed. Without another word, he crawled across the room and sat next to me, shoulder-to-shoulder. “I’ve been thinking about something.” He let out a breath, his fingers running back and forth through his shag rug.

  “Hmm?” My own fingers moved quickly as I worked to take out an entire swarm of mutated creatures. The human race was literally in my hands, and Brek wanted to talk.

  “Can you drop the game, Megan?”

  My fingers stopped, letting the zombies reduce me to a pile of blood and flesh. He never called me Megan. Brek’s face brightened to an unhealthy shade of pink.

  “It must be serious.” I tossed the game up on the bed.

  He blew out a bunch of air. “Ok. I’m going to just say it.” He reached out, entwining his fingers with mine. “We’ve been friends for a long time.”

  I smiled at the thought. “Best friends for almost five years.” My heart warmed thinking about the greatest years of my life. Prior to fifth grade, it had been me against the world.

  “Right.” He finally set his eyes on me. “And in those five years, I’ve developed feelings for you.”

  I gave him a light shove on the shoulder. “Me too. What a cowinkadink.”

  “No, Meg.” He pitched his body closer to mine. “I mean feelings deeper than friendship.”

  Before I could stop him, he closed the distance between us and planted his lips on mine. Confusion and hurt ran through me as his rough lips tried to coax my unresponsive ones into submission. I squeezed my hands between us and shoved as hard as I could.

  Hot tears filled my eyes. “Why? How could you do this to us?” I jumped up and rushed to the door. It took me multiple attempts to turn the doorknob.

  “Meg.” He didn’t move from his spot by the bed. “Don’t leave. Let’s talk about this.”

  I scowled at him and slammed the door. I stormed down the stairs and ran out into the chilly night air. How dare he change our friendship? What was he thinking?

  The next day at school, both of us had pretended nothing happened. It was easier that way. And for the last two years, we had continued to pretend.

  Clutching my head, I rose f
rom a grassy spot beside a stream. I shook the dream about Brek out of my head. It distracted me from my focus—finding out where I was and getting back to Athena. The early evening shadows elongated across the tiny glen, with the setting sun peeking over the giant boulders, adding to the seclusion of the spot.

  The red dress, the representation of my former glory, was stained and damp. Whoever took me from Athena’s castle must have gone through a lot of effort to get my 120-pound frame to this point.

  Someone cleared his throat. The guard who’d swiped me in the hallway sat against a tree, eating an apple. The jerk still had his mask on over his eyes. He took one last bite and threw the core into the woods.

  I scowled at him.

  “Don’t worry. The deer will eat it.”

  “Get me back to the queen.” I stomped my foot like a spoiled child but didn’t care. “She’s expecting me.”

  The guard laughed. He continued to lounge against the tree. “Oh, is she now?” In one swift movement, he jumped to his feet, strolled over to me, and inspected my hair. He circled around to check out my backside. “I don’t think she likes damaged goods.”

  “She loves me.” I lowered my voice, “At least, I hope she does.”

  He pursed his lips, his cheeks filling with air. “Now, that’s a good one. Athena only loves herself, dear child. The sooner you learn this, the sooner you’ll succeed in Rushna.”

  “What about you?” I sat down on a boulder, realizing I had no idea how to get back to the palace. “Why is a guard of the queen betraying her?”

  The man knelt down in front of me. “Because, I’m not a guard of the queen.” He tapped me on the nose. Maybe he was the one with an ego the size of Texas.

  “Then who are you?” It was a fair question. After all, he had drugged me and dragged me who knows how many miles to this place in the middle of nowhere.