Stolen Heart

chapter 20




Claire stood up and ran around the desk. She launched herself into Annika’s arms and gave her a hard hug. Annika looked down at Claire and saw her eyes were swimming with tears.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Annika soothed. “None of that.”

Claire dashed her tears away. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so worried. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep. This was such a bad idea, Annika. I wish you would have never stolen The Scepter for me.”

“Hush now. What’s done is done but we need to work quickly. Did you have a replica made like I told you?”

Claire nodded. “I’ll get it.”

Annika watched as Claire walked into another room off of her office which was Claire’s bedroom. She took a seat and mentally calculated their next moves.

This was why Kieran was going to hate her. It was why she didn’t deserve him. Annika had been the one who had stolen The Scepter and given it to Claire. And she had not regretted her actions once. That is until Kieran told her that he was falling in love with her. Since then she had been a mass of confusing emotions. But she just didn’t see any good way out of her predicament. Yes, she had stolen The Scepter for Claire. It was Annika’s idea and Claire had reluctantly agreed.

Annika had known Claire since she was eleven years old. It was at the time her Aunt Mary fell in love and married a wealthy businessman from Balvraine. Annika visited Mary as often as she could, which gave her respite and peace from Mason’s rape. It also gave her a friendship with Claire.

Mary’s husband was good friends with Claire’s father and the two children were introduced early on. Annika was only a year older than Claire but she felt Claire was like the baby sister she never had. Over the years that Mary lived in Balvraine, Annika and Claire spent all of their time together when Annika visited. Once Annika left Vyronas and relocated to New York, she continued to travel to Balvraine at least once a month to see Claire. Claire was, without a doubt, her closest friend on the face of the earth. She was also the only person, besides Kieran, who knew what Mason had done to her.

The reasons that led Annika down the path to steal The Scepter were numerous, but it was mainly to protect Claire. Claire’s father had died unexpectedly four months ago, leaving Claire alone and bereft. Unlike Annika’s relationship with her father, Claire had worshipped the ground her father walked on. He was a kind and gentle man, and a great ruler to Balvraine. His magic was powerful and it kept his people protected.

Claire though, had led a sheltered life, and was completely unprepared for the pressures of ruling. Her father was a young man when he died so no efforts had ever been made to strengthen Claire’s magic or prepare her for the monarchy. It was a harsh lesson to learn.

Annika spent as much time as she could with Claire after her father’s death, but then she eventually had to get back to her life in New York. Every time she came back to visit though, she found Claire more and more despondent over the pressures of her reign. Without anyone to advise her, without any training, Claire was facing an internal rebellion by a group of sorcerers who sensed blood in the water. Terrified for her people as well as for her life, she turned to Annika for advice and help.

Annika didn’t know anything about running a country, but she did know one thing well. And that was thievery. The other reason why Kieran would ultimately hate her was because of her compulsion to steal. By preying on those that helped to aid and abet abusers, and giving their wealth away to the abused, Annika felt she was striking a blow at Mason every time. She knew it was a metaphorical blow, but it was her therapy and it worked. It kept her sane. It kept her going.

During her lowest points when she had thought about taking a knife to her wrists again, it was only the thought of the women she helped that kept her going. And her ability to glamour made stealing almost easy. She couldn’t believe the cake walk it was to take The Scepter from Kestevayne.

So here she was. She had stolen a powerful magical object to help her best friend. It belonged to the family of the man who now loved her. And she was caught in the middle. Her fate was sealed. She was guilty of her crime and she would pay one way or another. Kieran would be crushed when he found out what she had done. But there was still Claire that she could help and there was no way she was going to let her down.

There was some tiny part of Annika that told her to confess everything to Kieran. To beg Kieran to help Claire. But then she thrust it aside. He may claim to love her, but when it boiled right down to it, she was too afraid to place her trust in him.

Annika was jolted out of her thoughts by Claire’s return.

“Here it is.”

She handed a small, lead bar to Annika. She turned it over and examined it carefully. It looked damned good. “Where is the real Scepter?”

“It stays locked in my bedroom.” Claire pointed at the door she just came from.

Annika had visited Claire a few nights ago, right after she had stolen the jewelry of that ogre of a woman on Park Avenue. It wasn’t a trip that she had planned, but Kieran’s forced manipulation of her to participate in The Scepter’s recovery necessitated a trip to visit Claire and make a plan. They had decided to plant a fake, and then give Kieran access to steal it back. With any luck, Kieran wouldn’t know it was a fake until he returned it to Ava. By then, Annika would be long gone. She knew the price she would pay was not only losing Kieran, but also her life as she knew it. She was going to have to pick up and start all over again. But that was another problem she would face as soon as she wiggled out of this one.

Getting Kieran to take the fake scepter was the easy part. The hard part was going to be on Claire. For them to get out of this mess, Claire was going to have to learn how to use the real Scepter soon. Like immediately. She only had a few days at most before Ava would probably show up with her entire Army once she realized what Kieran had was a fake.

“What type of progress are you making on the real scepter?”

Claire sighed. “Annika, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Sometimes, I think I feel it responding to me, but then it’s gone. Half the time I think I’m imagining it.”

“You have to keep working at it, Claire. Hard.”

“I know, I know.” Claire grasped her hands together in worry. “Maybe we should just let Kieran steal back the real scepter.”

Annika was already shaking her head no. “We can’t, and you know that. There is going to be retribution to pay from Ava. The only way to protect yourself is to harness The Scepter’s magic. It’s the only way to protect your people.” Annika knew her voice sounded desperate.

“I’m so scared, Annika.”

Annika reached out to hug Claire. “I know, honey. Me too. Remember, worst case scenario, you and I disappear together. If you cannot get The Scepter to work, I’m taking you out of here and Balvraine be damned. You’re too important to me.”

Claire nodded her head in agreement. “Sometimes I think that may be the best. I don’t have any friends or family here. I hate it sometimes. You’re the only one I have to count on.”

Annika pulled back and smiled at Claire. “Hey, kiddo. Chin up. You’re the great Claire Moldevaine, soon to be reigning goddess of The Scepter. You can do it. Heck. You can conquer the world if you want.”

Claire laughed. “No conquering for me. I just want to protect our land and live in peace.”

Annika pointed to Claire’s desk chair indicating for her to take a seat. Annika sat down opposite of Claire’s desk. It was time to solidify the plan.