“What’s the matter, habibti? Who was that?”
“My brother, Bastian.”
“Is everything all right? You look worried.”
She sighed, then crawled back into bed with him. He had already pulled the covers away and they cuddled underneath. “It seems he’s playing peacemaker between me and my parents.”
“Wait … you are quarreling with your mother and father?”
She nodded, then told him what happened when she returned from Zhobghadi. “I just … I can’t believe they did that, you know? Then Dad went all super protective and took me away. And now they ask my baby brother—who they know I could never say no to— to invite us to dinner tonight.”
His mind flashed back to the events of that day, when they came to take her away. And then he thought about his child—the one who could at this very moment be in her womb. Though he hadn’t yet met him or her, he was very sure he would kill anyone to protect them. “I think we should go.”
“What? Really?”
He sighed and ran his hand down her back. “You cannot be fighting with them forever. Besides, they are your only parents, and you should be happy they are still here.”
“I—oh, Karim, I’m sorry.” She looked up at him, those light eyes so full of love and tenderness. “I suppose I need to face them at some point.”
“We need to face them.” He caught the hand lying on his chest and squeezed it. “Together.”
“Yes.” She pressed a kiss to his side. “We will.”
“But not until tonight.” He rolled her over and covered her body with his, his cock already hard as a rock. “We still have time.”
“Won’t Amaya be back soon?”
“I’ve sent her home.”
“Home?”
“Yes. The press release was sent, and despite our pleas for privacy, they found out we were staying here. I can handle them. I’ve been doing it for years. But what if one of them got into our suite? Or popped out of the trunk of the limo? She was distraught, of course, and was furious that I sent her away.”
“I’m sorry, Karim,” she said. “I didn’t think about that.”
“It’s not your fault, habibti. It is the world we live in and the greedy people who run it. But I promise you; I will make things right with her.” At least Amaya would not be angry at him anymore, not if he brought Desiree back to Zhobghadi.
His thoughts went to the black velvet box he’d been carrying around since he arrived in America. The jeweler back home had fashioned one of the remaining yellow-green diamonds into the most stunning engagement ring he’d ever seen. The final jewel would grace her crown as queen, though he saved that for her to decide on the design. Once things were settled with her family, he would ask her properly, maybe even tonight. And then bringing her back to Zhobghadi would not only be a possibility, but a reality.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Deedee asked Karim as they stepped into the elevator that took them up to her parents’ loft in Tribeca. She’d lived here most of her childhood and young adult life, but somehow, the thought of entering this place made her nervous. She loved Karim with all her heart, but if she had to make a choice between him and her family, it would only end in sorrow.
“I am sure.” He squeezed her hand. “They are your parents. You cannot stay mad at them forever. Think of our own child.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, in the future. You would want our children to know their grandparents, right?”
“Of course I do.” Why did the thought of having children with Karim not make her nervous or wary? She always thought she’d have kids one day, if she were ever so lucky, but not so soon. Besides, she and Karim hadn’t even had the chance to talk about what they were, at the moment. He talked of having her as queen, but never as his wife. Couldn’t they date for a bit before going through all that?
The elevator stopped, and they stepped out. There were two doors in the main foyer, and she led them to the one on the right.
“This is an interesting space,” he said, looking around. “Your parents have the entire building to themselves?
“Oh, right, er, they share the loft space with Daric and his wife. Same building, different apartments.”
He raised a brow. “Ah, so you grew up here. And Astrid lived next door?”
“Yes.” And Cross.
“You were lucky to have your best friends so near.”
When he placed a hand around her shoulder, she smiled and leaned against him. “Okay, show time.” She pressed the doorbell and waited. It didn’t take too long for the door to swing open, revealing her mother.
“You’re here.” Jade Creed’s eyes lit up. “Darling.” She stepped forward and embraced her, and she nearly wept. Her mother’s face when they fought the other day nearly broke her heart. And while she felt betrayed that Jade didn’t say anything about those men following her, she was still her mother, and she would forgive her for almost anything. “I missed you.”
“Me too, Mom.” She pulled away reluctantly. “Mom, this is Prince Karim.”
“Mrs. Creed.” Karim nodded in acknowledgement.
“Your Highness, lovely to meet you.” Jade curtseyed, being half-English herself. “I was told your sister, the Princess Amaya, was in New York too? Did you bring her to dinner?”
“Yes, she was, but she is on her way home now. She did enjoy New York every much, especially The Met Museum.”
“Oh, Deedee was the same with the mummies.” Jade winked at her.
Deedee craned her neck above her mother’s head. “Is everyone here for dinner?”
“Oh dear, forgive my rudeness!” Jade stepped aside and motioned for them to come inside. “Yes, dinner’s almost ready. I don’t cook but Gio was nice enough to send all of Deedee’s favorites from Muccino’s.”
They stepped inside to the familiar loft apartment, and Deedee couldn’t help but feel nostalgic, as she did each time she came here. It had gone through a few changes and upgrades over the years, especially with three Lycan children around. The corner by the entrance could never stay clean and organized, especially during the winter when they would pile all their boots in the corner. The space opened up to a large living room, and the TV in front of the couch was tuned to a football game. She recalled that the sectional couch had to be replaced twice when, as a teen, Bastian threw several wild parties over the course of a summer. Of course, Jade and Sebastian were only aware of that first time the couch had been replaced.
As soon as they stepped into the living area, two nearly identical figures stood up from the couch and walked over to them.
“Your Highness,” Jade began. “These are my sons, Wyatt and Bastian.”
“What’s up?” Bastian said with a raise of his chin, his slate-colored eyes surprisingly friendly as he and Karim exchanged handshakes. Of course, despite their age difference, she and him were always close growing up, and it was nice to see her brother had her back.
“Your Highness.” Wyatt bowed his head low. “It’s nice to meet you finally. I was a few years behind you at Eton, though I’d never had the pleasure.”
“I didn’t realize,” Karim said, then turned to Bastian. “Were you at Eton as well?”
Bastian guffawed. “Hell no. Spent a year there and told my folks to get me out. Grandma Fiona insisted, even though I told her I wouldn’t fit in.”
“He tried to get expelled,” Deedee said, with a wink at Bastian. “And that last prank nearly did it.”
Wyatt, that pretentious ass, looked mortified. “I’ll never live that down.”
“Well, look what the cat dragged in.”
All eyes turned toward the kitchen door where Sebastian Creed stood, feet planted shoulder’s width apart and tattooed arms crossed over his chest. His stare could have frozen any man, and the air in the loft suddenly felt thick as molasses.
“Dad, be nice,” Deedee warned.
“This is my home.” He walked toward them with deliberate, heavy steps.
“I can be nice,” he glared at Karim, “and not so nice to anyone I want.”
“Why don’t we sit down to dinner?” Jade wound her arm around Sebastian’s. “Before it gets cold.”
Deedee threaded her fingers through Karim’s and led him toward the dining table, which had been set up elegantly with their finest china and linens.
“This looks lovely, Mrs. Creed,” Karim said as he pulled out a chair for Deedee.
“Thank you, Your Highness. It’s an honor to have you here.” When her husband snorted, she gave him a death glare. “I’ll grab the salad and appetizers.”
“I’ll help, Mom.” Bastian followed her into the kitchen.
As they settled into their chairs, it seemed neither Karim nor Sebastian was going to back down on their staring contest, and so Wyatt spoke up first. “Your Highness, are you enjoying New York?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered. “It’s an exciting place. I’ve been before, of course, but there’s something about it that’s different from anywhere else I’ve been.”
“And when will you be leaving?” Sebastian asked.
Karim looked down at her and smiled. “Not any time soon. I hope to establish an embassy here.”
Sebastian huffed. “Not soon enough, then.”
“Dad,” Deedee hissed.
It was a good thing Jade and Bastian came back with the food at that moment. “What did I miss?” Bastian asked cheekily as he put a plate in front of Deedee.
She slapped her head. Oh brother. This was going to be a long night.
“Aren’t you going to be king or something, Your Highness?” Bastian took a swig of wine. “How’s that going?”
“Preparations will be made as soon as I return,” Karim said, his gaze sliding over to Deedee’s. “I have business to take care of beforehand.”
“The embassy, right?” Wyatt offered.
“Yes, among other things.”
Sebastian stabbed his fork into his salad bowl. “Maybe with some kind of presence abroad, your country and people can finally answer to its crimes.”
If it were possible, the air grew thicker and colder in the room. Jade went pale, as it was obvious her hope for a peaceful dinner had been thrown out the window.
Karim politely wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it on his lap. “I think perhaps it would be best to put the pleasantries aside and speak plainly.”
Sebastian leaned forward. “I can’t agree more.”
“I love your daughter,” Karim declared. “And she loves me.” That seemed to shock the entire table into silence. “I would do anything to make her happy, and you must feel the same. But it is not our relationship that you object to, but something else entirely that irks you.”
“‘Irks’ me?” Sebastian’s voice grew deadly. “Your people did this to me.”
“Did what?” Karim straightened in his chair. “Give you the gift of The Great One?”
“Gift?” Sebastian bellowed. “You call taking me against my will, locking me up, and torturing me for weeks a gift?”
“Sebastian,” Jade gasped. “I thought you didn’t want the kids—”
“They’re not kids anymore, Jade,” Sebastian said. “They should know what happened to me.”
Nerves rippled through Deedee’s stomach as she watched her father’s eyes go blank. Beside her, Karim went still.
“I was separated from my squad while on the way to a mission. Someone came at me and I blacked out. The next thing I remember was that I was in a dark room. I yelled and called, but no one came. They would only give me food and water through a slot in the door.” His jaw tensed. “A few days passed. Finally, someone came in. They drugged me and then took me out of that dark room and strapped me to a table. Then they started the torture. Over and over again for days.”
The entire table was silent. Her mother’s eyes were shiny, while both Wyatt and Bastian were visibly pale. As for Deedee, her throat burned with unshed tears. Oh Lord, she didn’t know. None of them knew. They always said it was an accident, whatever it was that turned him into a dragon. Her dad obviously did his best to make sure they were shielded from the awful truth.
“What did they do?” Karim asked in an uncharacteristically soft voice.
“This.” Sebastian lay his hand, palm up, on the table. Tattoos covered his entire left arm from the wrist, disappearing into the sleeves at the elbow. But Deedee knew they extended all the way to his chest. She’d also seen the scars the ink was meant to hide. Long, thin crisscrossing strips up and down, like he’d been cut with a knife over and over again.
Karim’s eyes grew wide as he saw them. “You’ve been through the bloodening ceremony?”
“Is that what you call this fucking torture?”
Everyone looked to Karim, so he continued. “The Almoravid—the personal bodyguards of the Zhobghadi Royal Family—undergo the bloodening ceremony.” He paused. “I’m not supposed to reveal this to you but … it’s a ritual where the chosen ones are infused with the blood of The Great One. It makes them stronger and faster than normal people.”
Deedee gasped. “When I tried to pry them off Jacob—that’s why they were so strong and why they didn’t need to go to the hospital. So, they take your dragon’s blood and bond it to your guard?”
“Yes. Though the blood is actually a mixture of all the previous bearers’ blood, kept in a sacred vessel in the high priest’s temple. Every year, the current bearer adds to the mixture to keep it full.”
Sebastian slammed his fist on the table. “You mean to tell me, your people tried to turn me into one of your bodyguards?”
Karim gave a slight shake of his head. “That many scars is unnecessary. It only takes three days and nights. Three scars at the most. I know, I’ve seen it myself. Why anyone would do that to you, I do not know. Besides, only a citizen of Zhobghadi and someone hand-selected after years of training with the army would be eligible.”
Why was this all so familiar? Her thoughts went back to where she had heard about this ritual before. Or rather, where. “The mural!”
“Mural?” Jade asked. “What mural?”
Her fingers clutched at Karim’s arm. “The mural in the dining room. The panel where Prince Hammam was strapped down while the high priest infused his blood and soul with The Great One.”
Cerulean blue eyes lit up with recognition. “Yes. That’s … that could be an explanation.”
“It has to be.”
“Will one of you explain what’s going on?” Sebastian said.
“Dad, how long … how many days did they do that to you?”
“I don’t know … maybe a month?”
She and Karim locked eyes. “Thirty days and nights,” they said in unison. The time it took for Prince Hammam to turn into The Great One.
“Deedee?” Jade asked. “What’s wrong?”
She took a deep breath and quickly explained to them the tale of how The Great One came to be. “See, it’s a folktale. A myth, but not really. Many civilizations used stories to explain things they couldn’t understand because they had no knowledge of science. But in this case, it was probably literally what happened.”
“But why me?” Sebastian asked. “I didn’t do anything to those people.”
“Perhaps it was because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Karim said. “I was not even born when that happened to you, so I do not know who did it.” Karim’s hands curled into fists, and he lay them on the table. “But I will find out. This is a great immoral act, a crime against our traditions.” His eyes narrowed. “Will you answer a few questions for me, Mr. Creed?”
“What questions?”
“I was a born with The Great One in my soul and my mind. Growing up, I have always known what I will become someday. But you … you were made. Tell me, what was it like when you transformed? Is that how you escaped your captors?”
Sebastian’s teeth bared. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. I had this beast inside my head for years, but it ne
ver came out. I thought I was going crazy. Got discharged because of it. I couldn’t shift or do anything, not until,” he looked at Jade, and his expression softened, “not until I met her. My True Mate. She was in danger, and my dragon just took over.”
She’d heard it many times before, of course, the story of how her father’s dragon had been latent until that moment. When she glanced over at Karim, she saw him tense. “Karim?”
He looked back at her, his gaze intense. “Habibti, about that—”
The door burst open with a loud crash, and everyone got to their feet.
“What the fuck is going on?” Her father’s eyes flashed gold. “Who the fuck are you?”
Two members of the Almoravid stood in the doorway, the metal door at their feet. A third man made his way to the front from behind the burly guards.
“Vahid?” Karim said. “What are you doing here?”
“Most sincere apologies, Your Highness.” Vahid bowed low and saluted to Karim with a fist to his chest. “You must come quick.”
“What is wrong?”
“There is news from back home and …” His eyes darted to the other occupants of the room.
“Speak, Vahid. Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of them. You’ve already interrupted our dinner.”
“Highness.” Vahid’s voice was almost a squeak. “Zhobghadi. There is a coup back home.”
This time, it was Karim’s eyes that flashed a different color. “A coup?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Parliament has been dissolved, and your ministers have all been arrested. The palace is locked up, and there is a total communications blackout.”
“What?” Karim roared. “How did you find out about this?”
“My wife, Your Highness,” Vahid began. “You know my family has been loyal to yours for generations. She was able to send out word to me just before all communication was cut off.”
“Have there any been demands?”
“I don’t know, Your Highness. But perhaps we should head back home?”
Daughter of the Dragon Page 23
