by Lola Gabriel
“This can’t wait?” he called as he hurried to join the advisor’s side.
“You couldn’t!” Vextor snapped, his eyes flashing with irritation. “Now it can’t!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lennox said as they made their way to the second floor, stealing through the candlelit shadows of the corridors toward the royal suites.
Vextor stopped and whirled to look at him face-on.
“What did you do in the library?” he growled before turning back toward Lennox’s chambers. A warm flush filled the dragon as he recalled the feel of Gia’s skin on his fingers, the scent of her vanilla shampoo in his nostrils.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he lied, unwilling to tell. Vextor waited as Lennox used his retinal scan to enter his suite and slammed the door closed, folding his arms across his chest as they peered at one another.
“You don’t?” the demon screamed. “You don’t know what I mean?”
“You sound like you need a drink,” Lennox said. “Do you need a drink?” Is everyone determined to be pissed at me tonight? This is such a weird evening. Maybe I should call an end to the party—
“I don’t need a drink!” Vextor yelled, his unusually pale face reddening. “Who were you screwing in the library?”
Well, that’s crass, the dragon thought, but he shifted his eyes down guiltily. “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Talking about, yeah, yeah,” Vextor scoffed. “Have you forgotten that you screamed at two of your guests… while you were naked?”
Lennox had forgotten about that, and a combination of amusement and ire flooded his bones. “They complained that I was naked in my own house? They weren’t supposed to be in the library! That room is off limits!”
He hated that he was explaining himself to his advisor, but the one thing he had learned in the past month was that he was not alone upon his pedestal. Every action he took, every move he made had repercussions, hence the small team of advisors monitoring him. They claimed it was for the good of the crown, but Lennox sometimes felt as if it was simply a way to make him feel like a chastised toddler.
“Who were you screwing?” Vextor asked again, his words low. “Was it an employee?”
Lennox’s brow furrowed as he suddenly realized that Vextor was not merely interested in his love life. There was an unmistakable note of worry in his voice. “What the hell difference does it make?”
“What diff—? Are you crazy?” the demon howled. “Do you even care about ruling the Hollows?”
“What are you losing your shit over? Since when does my love life affect my rule? This isn’t the fourteenth century, Vex. I can marry whomever I want.”
Wait. Had he just said “marry”? He had just met the girl and he was already thinking about such things. Gia was definitely the one.
“Is something amusing to you?” Vextor cried out.
Lennox noticed that a soft smile had touched his lips, and he tried to swallow it, sensing that the advisor was on the brink of having a coronary.
“Vex, take a deep breath and explain to me why you’re having a fit,” the prince offered reasonably, adjusting his tone to show compassion. “What is the big deal if I was having sex in my own house at my own party?”
“Your Highness,” Vextor began, “please tell me that you’re being coy with me and that you know what will happen if you are caught bedding an employee.”
Lennox’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t a clue.
“It is in the bylaws?” Vextor asked, trying to help. “In your contracts?”
“I’m drawing a blank, Vex.” At Lennox’s perplexed look still on his face, the demon held his head and let out a frustrated sigh before inhaling sharply.
“If you’re caught disrupting the morals clause of your rule,” he said, his hands dropping to his sides, “you forfeit the right to hold absolute power in the Hollows.”
“And the morals clause dictates who I can fall in love with?”
Vextor studied his face pensively, as if he could not believe the words that had just come out of Lennox’s mouth. “You may choose whomever you please—as long as they are not employed by the palace.”
Lennox was bemused by the revelation, but he knew that Vextor took the contract very seriously.
“And what if I violate the clause? Who is going to do what?” he laughed. He hadn’t meant to sound so flippant about it. He just couldn’t help himself. His nonchalance, however, seemed to create even more stress in the advisor’s face.
“Then you are to be immediately dethroned and your title bequeathed to one of your brothers.”
The smirk fell off Lennox’s face. “What?” he demanded. “Who the hell made this stupid rule?”
“It’s been in the bylaws for eons!” Vextor exclaimed. “I have no idea who brought it about, but it can only be changed with a majority vote.”
Lennox took a sharp breath before plastering a smile on his face.
“Well,” he said brightly. “There’s nothing to worry about. I was alone in the library.”
“Your Highness—”
“Unless you can prove otherwise?”
Vextor shook his head and stared at his feet. “Your Highness, you need to be very careful. There are beings who want you overthrown. You must know that.”
Beings like my brothers, no doubt, Lennox thought grimly. He wouldn’t give them a chance to steal what was rightfully his; not when he had spent ages being Wilder’s whipping boy.
Had Mira known about the morals clause when she granted him his wish?
“Your Highness, whoever this girl is, you must not see her again,” Vextor warned him. “There will be no trial, only immediate reversion of title.”
“Only if she works at the palace!” Lennox cried suddenly, his eyes brightening as the solution became obvious. Gia had come with Allegra to the party, which meant she was not an employee. There was nothing to worry about.
You can’t get rid of me that easily, he thought, the taut grin returning to his face. I’ll still have everything I want, and there’s nothing they can do about it.
8
Through the palace they ran, Allegra’s hand clasped firmly around Gia’s, like she was worried the fairy would run away.
“Allegra, please!” Gia gasped breathlessly. “Please tell me where you’re taking me!”
“We have to get you out of here!” her friend told her urgently.
“But—I can’t! Lennox is—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Allegra growled while they burst into the chilled air outside the palace walls.
“I don’t understand why you’re doing this!”
“I’ll explain when we get away from here. Damn that beast to hell!” Allegra cursed as they continued down the steps of the south entrance. From the direction she was running toward, they were headed into the mushroom forest.
Four hundred years earlier, someone had read Gia a new story called “Cinderella,” about a servant girl with a glass slipper running from a castle at the stroke of midnight. Gia felt very much like Cinderella at that moment, except the stroke of midnight had been replaced by her wicked stepmother, pulling her away from her Prince Charming.
That’s not fair! Gia chided herself, looking longingly over her shoulder at the disappearing palace. Allegra is my fairy godmother, not my wicked stepmother! Why is she acting like this?
Finally, Allegra stopped running, trying to catch her breath. Their eyes shone with the ability to see in their dark habitat, unaided by moon or sunlight beneath the towering mushroom trees.
“I should have never told him who you were!” Allegra choked, regret coloring her face. She was panting, doubled over to place her palms against her knees. Sweat had formed on her forehead, and Gia stared at her in confusion. Allegra almost seemed to be scared. But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Nothing seemed capable of scaring her.
“He loves me!” Gia heard herself say. The look of pity on Allegra’s face almost made her sick
to her stomach.
“No, honey, he doesn’t,” she told Gia. “Lennox Parker only loves himself.”
Gia bristled. “You don’t know him!” she cried. As the words left her mouth, though, she realized how pathetic they sounded. Did she herself know anything about Lennox?
Against her expectations, Allegra didn’t laugh mockingly at her. Instead, she gestured to a lone stump nearby and spoke softly to Gia. “Sit down, Gia. I’ll tell you about Lennox.”
Gia didn’t want to hear anything that Allegra had to say about the prince, but she recalled what an amazing friend the blonde had been over the past weeks. She didn’t deserve to be dismissed, and even if what she had to say were all lies, the least Gia owed her was to hear her out.
Reluctantly, Gia took a seat on the stump, and Allegra rose to her full height, pacing around as she began to talk. “Lennox is a playboy, Gia. He has a long line of lovers he’s left behind, women he doesn’t think twice about after he uses them.”
Gia was not ready to believe the revelation, especially because of the way it made her stomach churn. The connection they had experienced in the library had not been some cheap, sordid affair.
I was the one who brought up a one-night stand, and he denied it, she reminded herself.
“I can tell by your face that you don’t believe me,” Allegra continued. “And I know he is charismatic and convincing, but he is the ruler of the Hollows. In eons, he has never settled down, not once.”
Gia stared into Allegra’s eyes and read the sincerity there. Her friend was not tricking her. She was not lying to her. In thousands of years, Lennox had never had a relationship. He was not going to start with Gia, a nobody.
“I know this is hard to hear—”
“No,” Gia interrupted, swallowing the bile that had streaked up her throat. “I’m glad you told me. I just… I just feel like an idiot for buying into it.”
“No!” Allegra cried. “You are not an idiot! You are unlike anyone else from the Hollows. You are good and pure. He’s the idiot for being such an ass.” She leaned forward to squeeze Gia into a hug. “Don’t feel bad about it, Gia. Just don’t get sucked back into it, okay? Focus on yourself and on being happy. You’ll find your mate one day, but it’s not Lennox Parker.”
Gia pulled away to look at Allegra, who smiled warmly at her.
“Are you a sorceress?” Gia asked. Allegra blinked and chuckled.
“I’m a high priestess,” she answered. A shiver coursed through the fairy, and she nodded slowly, lowering her head. “You never knew?” Allegra asked softly.
It seemed ridiculous that Gia hadn’t known. It made total sense: her radiant confidence, her infinite knowledge, and the extent of her magic.
She was telling Gia the truth. Now Gia had to let Lennox go.
It was incredible, the sense of loss which accompanied the understanding, as if a piece of her had been removed. It was ridiculous. Gia hadn’t known the first thing about him to begin with, why was she so devastated?
“Come on,” Allegra said, extending her hand. “Let’s get out of the forest and find a real party.”
“Actually, I—I should probably head home,” Gia whispered, feeling the burning of tears behind her eyes. She hoped that they wouldn’t fall while Allegra was watching, though she had a feeling that the priestess knew exactly what she wanted to do.
“Gia…”
“Thanks for taking me to the party,” Gia interjected quickly, trying to smile through the grimace of sadness on her mouth. She quickly turned away.
“Gia?” Allegra called out to her. “Will you still take the job at the real estate office?”
In all the excitement of the evening, Gia had forgotten about it.
If you take the job, she told herself, you’ll be in the palace every day. You’ll be surrounded by reminders of tonight everywhere you look. Even the name of the agency is Parker. You won’t be able to escape the memory of him.
“Gia?” Allegra asked again.
With a determined nod of her head, Gia looked at Allegra over her shoulder. “Yes. I’ll be there.”
All night, Gia tossed and turned on her lumpy mattress, the stench of the Trenches wafting through her open window. It was a humid night, but she knew that was not the reason for her restlessness.
Every time she closed her eyes, she could feel Lennox’s lips against her skin, as if he was in the room with her.
Yeah, right, she scoffed to herself. Like the ruler of the Hollows would ever step inside a rat-infested apartment in the Trenches. He’s probably never even been inside the ghetto.
Had Lennox wondered where she had gone off to? Or had he forgotten about her the minute she walked away? Had he just replaced her with someone else?
Even though Gia knew she was being unreasonably emotional about the entire thing, she grew more desolate as the night dragged on.
Allegra had no reason to lie to her. She gained nothing by ruining Gia’s happiness, not to mention that she had proven herself to be a better friend to Gia than anyone else she had ever known. Still, Gia felt like she should get Lennox’s side of the story before dismissing him on the word of a friend.
Her alarm went off, and Gia growled in annoyance as she reached for her cell to silence the exasperating tone. When she looked at the screen, she realized she had two missed calls, both from a private number. Whoever had called her had apparently left a voicemail.
Gia dialed her message center.
“You have one new message. First message,” the automated voice intoned. Gia slipped out of bed, cracking her back slightly as she moved, the cell pressed to her ear.
“Hey, Gia, it’s Lennox.”
Gia froze in her tracks. Lennox's voice kept spouting words into her ear, but she was too stunned to hear any of them. How had Lennox gotten her number? When had he called her?
In her shock, the cell dropped from her hand and hit the floor. Gia let out a horrified yelp, and she quickly leaned down to retrieve it. To her great relief, the cell was perfectly fine, and Gia pressed it back to her ear, firmly holding it in her palm.
“Anyway, call me back if you can,” said Lenox’s voice through the device. “Thanks.”
A beeping tone told Gia that was the end of his voicemail. She impatiently pressed four on the keypad to listen to it again.
“Hey, Gia, it’s Lennox. Listen, I know you’re probably wondering what happened to me last night, but I just wanted to let you know I didn’t disappear on purpose. I… I had some business to take care of. Listen, I need to talk to you about something. Until we do, can you do me a favor and keep what happened between us… well, between us for a bit? I’ll explain why when we talk, but for now, it’s really important that you not tell anyone else. Don’t worry, I know you already spoke to Allegra about us, and that’s fine. I’m just asking you to tell her to please stay quiet as well. Like I said, it’ll only be for a bit. Anyway, call me back if you can. Thanks.”
A lump formed in Gia’s throat, and her chin quivered slightly. That settled it—it was more than enough confirmation of what Allegra had told her: that she was just another notch in Lennox’s belt.
She deleted the message, forcing herself to keep her chin up. She wasn’t going to let this ruin her life. She had made a stupid decision; she wasn’t the first nor the last to do that. Now she had to forget about it and move on.
Gia’s eyes were woeful as she stared back at her reflection, but she was determined not to let her unhappiness follow her to work, much less on her first day. She still had Lilith and Trojan’s judgment to deal with, and she only had enough strength to fight one of her adversaries at a time.
I may not be able to forget about Lennox, she thought, spinning away from the mirror. But I will find a way to distract myself from him. In no time, I will be over my wounded ego and back to my pitiful life as it was.
9
Lennox threw the file down on his desk and shook his head in disbelief. Indeed, there were bylaws instilling a morality cl
ause that dictated he couldn’t fraternize with palace staff, whether they were employed commercially or in the household.
Dumbest rule ever, he decided. I’ll have to change that immediately.
But first, he needed to find Gia and explain the ridiculousness of what had happened. She had yet to return his phone call, and Lennox assumed she was angry that he had disappeared from the party after they had agreed to meet.
He picked up his cell and tried her again, but the call went directly to voicemail. Lennox grunted slightly, hanging up. While he didn’t want to bombard her with messages, he wanted to hear her voice.
Wracking his brain, he tried to recall where she had said she worked. That had been half the issue right there; even though he suspected she didn’t work in the palace, he had no way of knowing for sure.
This is humiliating, he thought. I met my mate and I don’t know where she lives or works. I had to find her phone number on a cellular look-up website.
He vowed that when he found her again, he would take her on a proper date and learn every single detail about her, even if it took a week to learn. Of course, it might have to be a very quiet and remote date until he had the ridiculous bylaw repealed.
This is all so stupid, he scoffed to himself. I can’t believe I have to deal with this. I’m the damned ruler of the Hollows! I can do what I want! That’s what my wish entitles me to!
Though his thoughts were brave, Lennox could not help remembering the seemingly sinister conversation he’d had with Owen the previous night. He better not risk it. If Owen’s words had been any indication, his brothers would relish the fall of the great ruler over semantics. They wouldn’t get rid of him that easily.
Lennox rose from his desk and strode toward the double doors. He might not know where to find Gia at that moment, but he did know where to find Allegra.
She was sitting behind the counter of her boutique, thumbing through a magazine when he entered. Her head moved upward to smile as he approached. When she saw who it was, though, the smile froze on her mouth.
