by Erin R Flynn
I’d never let the Navy get away with that, or more, it was James who always stepped in and made it clear that they’d deal with him if they threatened me. It was sad I let him, but it was the easiest path without having to explain why a senator who put his hands on me was bloodied and broken.
“Touch my sister and you will not survive your trip here,” James hissed as he smacked the first guy’s hand away when he reached for me. “I understand you have certain preconceived notions, but you are mistaken it will happen here. Our princess has explicitly said if anyone mistreats any shifter in her coven, the vampire will answer to her. She turns a blind eye to nothing.”
“That’s not the way things work, even if you’re in her bed,” the first snapped.
“Inez doesn’t care,” James chuckled, giving him an amused look. “It’s her coven, her rules, and she’s boss here. You weren’t even among those invited. I’d be very careful you’re not writing checks you cannot cash and your princess won’t offer up your head as an apology.”
“Bullshit, a young princess needs backing,” the second argued. “Our princesses can give it.”
James rolled his eyes. “She has fourteen courts backing her that she never even asked for. She’s Aether’s champion.” He shook his head when they exchanged shocked looks. “As I said, you’re writing checks you can’t cash, so get caught up first and don’t touch another shifter here or I will kill you myself.”
He pulled me after him, smiling politely and nodding to people as if there wasn’t a problem. We ended up in Inez’s tower on the first floor as it had the crazy ass soundproofing and no one could hear us.
And we weren’t alone.
“What happened?” James asked Tyson and Maggie.
“Some of the visiting nobles cornered me and tried to touch me,” Maggie rasped. “They said we’re the party favors and—”
“Inez wouldn’t allow that,” Tyson cut in, hugging her gently.
“Wouldn’t she?” I argued. “How do we know that? I mean, really? What if she ignores a bit of slap and tickle like she does when people tear her down? I know you’re totally into her, James, and you’ve never been gaga over someone before, but do we actually know that? Would she really start shit when it could risk the others or—”
“I will forgive your doubting my fiancée as I can feel the panic and terror coming from you,” Kristof said from behind us. “You are both Inez’s closest friends. She would never allow you to be hurt. You know this, Trisha.”
“Trish, you’re letting the past cloud now,” James said gently. “Inez isn’t our CO in the Navy, or even Dad being sexist that men steal kisses, and shifters are comfortable with touching like they weren’t assaulting you. Inez has been through it too, remember?”
I closed my eyes, feeling about two inches tall. Yeah, she’d been through it, and worse maybe with those nobles putting their blood on her. I let out a slow breath and nodded. “She wouldn’t let them touch us.”
“No, she would not,” Kristof promised. “Trisha, Maggie, I ask you find Lara and Hope and get them out of the party. James and Tyson, come with me. I want to know which nobles and make clear to them, and their princesses, the rules of our coven. Inez would never allow this and she would never forgive me if I did not handle it swiftly.”
He was right. She would tear into him if he simply ignored it. How could I have doubted her?
Right, past traumas and all that fear. That would do it for sure.
We separated, and luckily Hope was running around checking on everything and giving new instructions for all the extra guests. Lara, on the other hand, was being cornered and seconds from breaking out the claws.
“Lara, sorry to interrupt, but Princess Nora asked to speak with us about some preparations,” Hope said smoothly, giving the nobles a fake smile. “And it’s never wise to keep Nora O’Cleirgh waiting.”
They nodded and gave Lara room to make a break for us. She shot me a relieved look as she’d had a lot of the same in the Navy as I did. Hope was just too sweet, and I think even assholes knew how bad it was to push someone so nice. Maggie was sort of everyone’s little sister, so touching her would bring a lot of wrath from a lot of places, and no one was that stupid.
“I have no idea how to handle all the problems the extras bring,” Hope whispered as we reached Inez’s tower.
Simon came darting in a moment later, checking the doors were closed behind him. “Okay, so Inez is in the kitchen with Nick getting caught up and making the calls she can. Why are people treating us like we’re a buffet?”
“Apparently, knights are perks of covens for guests,” I grumbled.
His eyes flashed shock. “Damn, okay, so that—like blood or sex?”
“I got the feeling both,” Maggie sighed.
“Fuck me dead,” he whispered.
“Of course we all picked that up from Jaxon,” I chuckled, rubbing my tired neck. “Okay, so if we pull the shifters from the party, we need more fill-ins.” I let out a slow breath. “I’m going back out there to find someone who can rush to change out. Stay here.”
“We’re safer in a group,” Lara argued.
“No, because Inez calling for one of us isn’t something the rest of us can get held back from.” I went for the door, not waiting for them to argue. I slipped out and glanced around, locking eyes with Moon after a moment. I gestured for him to follow and ducked back inside, relieved it was that easy.
He slid through the door and saw who else was there, his eyes filling with understanding. “Really? That’s so, so bold to dare touch a princess’s knights.”
A few of us snorted but I answered. “It was made clear we’re a perk of visiting, and everyone is expected to turn a blind eye to it.”
He shook his head. “Spoken like assholes who do not have shifters at their court. That is the rumor everyone spreads, but it is a grave offense to touch a knight. Others might have made friends with nobles, or those guests, but that’s not unlike any other party or alliances. It was their choice, and a princess would remember such goodwill for the coven, but never demand or expect it.”
“We can debate history and semantics later, but there were reasons clans stopped ever tying themselves to covens; or, some like mine never did it before,” I cut in. “We have problems now. There are too many people, and we have to get others to take over for the shifters before someone gets raped.”
“Get Jacob,” Lara suggested. “Matilda would offer her people raiding here as help, and he’s not Cerdic’s dad, so he’s like a plus, plus one.”
“I will,” Moon agreed, and then was gone.
It must have worked because more and more shifters that had been working the party came darting into Inez’s tower. No one was ever allowed in a princess’s wing or tower, and I guess people had made it known Inez knew that, so that was a line they wouldn’t cross.
Because then she could cross it with them. Funny, because they seemed to cross so many other lines, and I was shocked she would let it go. Then again, I wasn’t the one who had to have all of this on my shoulders and miles behind on how it all worked.
Not long later and Inez came in with her party, Nora and Matilda hot on her heels and both were fuming. Oh good, they thought this was bullshit as well.
“No more trailers, that’s power you don’t have to spare, given what else is on the agenda, and we can’t risk that was the goal,” Nora declared.
“Open one more of those resorts in Salt Lake,” Matilda agreed. “They’re fixed, but just need to be cleaned and opened up. Nothing more. They weren’t invited and even if they ‘misunderstood’ it was a group gathering, even before it was one, people need to make their own arrangements. So no mints on the pillows, just basics.”
“Fine, yes, fine,” Inez sighed. “I prefer shooting them all, but whatever, we play the game.” She glanced around and found me, worrying her lower lip before making some sort of internal decision. “Get Eddie to help you. He can facilitate a lot. Let me know if there’s any
thing I need to fix.”
“Eddie?” I checked, thinking I wasn’t getting her message right as I was jumping to conclusions in my frenzied state.
She gave a firm nod, her eyes hard, but dancing with the slightest mischief. “Yes, Eddie. He can give room assignments, and no one would mess with risking his mom’s wrath, even if they’re on bad terms.”
“I’ll see it done,” I quickly said when Nora and Matilda gave us weird looks.
Inez changed the topic and decided a few things before they headed back out.
“Did Inez just tell us to bug the whole hotel and all the guest everything?” Maggie whispered, sounding like she was losing the battle with laughing.
“Yeah, she did so clearly she’s not going to take this lying down. Nice. We gotta find Eddie.”
Because Eddie had the best ears on the ship. That was the “code” for having Eddie handle this. No matter how young, or even us being part feline, that guy could hear anything. It was like his superpower on crack, and it was one of the reasons he’d shot up the ranks, even with his degrees and pedigree, as all kinds of military intelligence sent him recordings to try and pick up what others couldn’t.
And, he’d recently said he missed listening to all the crazy conversations people sent him from wiretaps or bugs. Inez had been fascinated by it and said getting back into that field might be a good idea for him as we weren’t going to be popular.
However, she’d meant the humans in Texas or even Fort Knox, so she’d fixed a lot of equipment he’d found that was top-of-the-line. A lot of bugs too. We teased him that he’d gotten enough to bug a whole major city, but yeah, that was sort of what Fort Knox had become.
Or, bug part of the castle, the trailers, and a whole resort.
We grabbed Eddie, who looked really happy to get out of his current conversation, and brought him to the noble’s tower where he had a room, even if he wasn’t one of Inez’s nobles like lovers. He was on the team and we all knew that.
“Awesome, fuck, that’s awesome,” he agreed, worrying his lower lip. “I need Branko. I think we can take this further.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “You said it earlier that you were safe in the tower because if they go into Inez’s tower, that puts their towers or wings as fair game. However, they just came into her territory and coven without sending word first, which she’s going to shut down in the future, but right now it’s fair game and…”
“You are so much more than a pretty face,” Maggie praised. “Yes, do that. Fuck them. I’ll get Branko. Where are we meeting?”
“I have the equipment in Albuquerque since that’s our staging area, but you need to get to Salt Lake,” he answered.
Things moved fast. Lots of guest vamps who were raiding and staying longer term arrived to help, several taking us to Salt Lake to get things started. The clans there were already doing everything they could to get the resort ready. We grabbed extra linens from the places they already had done, and that got the jump going, doing the laundry there too so we didn’t use all the hot water heaters that were going now.
Eddie arrived and started going over the plan with those in the trusted circle. “I need listening outposts parked all around this hotel. I will link the right bugs to the gear, but we need to separate it out and mark it all as to which princess we’re listening to.” He waited until we nodded, but then paused. “And be careful where you put the bugs. I wouldn’t put it past these people not to steal everything.”
I bit back a snort. More like they thought it owed to them, so it wouldn’t be stealing them. Yeah, that sounded about right.
Still, we were careful. Once an outpost was ready, he linked up the bugs and we plotted out the rooms and who would stay there. Then, we got everything in place, assigned who was handling the listening, and everything else for that group.
And then we did it several more times.
“I also want the younger, small, feline shifters roaming halls and hanging out on trailers,” I ordered. “They will feel shifters all around, but they will absolutely dismiss anyone young. I want eyes and ears more than the bugs. No one slips out in the middle of the night to spy or go for Inez. We’re the early warning system.”
“We could get some bird shifters to fly around for security as well,” someone suggested.
“Good, do it,” I agreed. “I want round-the-clock patrols until this madness is over.”
I met up with Eddie to check in and found him working with Tian, of all people, on how the surveillance linked up to the DoD satellites worked. Interesting. So he was going to make a run to one of the other covens.
I honestly thought he would have disapproved as he seemed to disapprove of most things.
We headed back to the castle to make an appearance and act like we weren’t up to anything.
Inez came over to me and gave me a hesitant look. “I get spiraling out. I’ve done it a lot too. I would never toss you guys up as—”
“I know,” I said firmly, understanding Kristof had told her what had happened. “I know that and I’m sorry I doubted you.”
She gave me a sad smile and patted my arm. “I’ve doubted a lot more than that. As long as you trusted me when you came out of spiraling, that’s all that matters to me.”
She headed off, leaving me speechless. She was way too forgiving when most would have been hurt or asked for more from me… Or at least a real apology besides a few quick words. I wasn’t sure how to even process that, but I was distracted by James watching her.
Again.
I went over to him and pulled him aside in the tower where no one would hear us. “James, I think—”
“I messed up, I know,” he whispered, staring at the ceiling. “I know, Trish.”
That threw me. He normally brushed off his mistakes but this time he wasn’t using his charm to get out of trouble, and I wasn’t sure he’d actually made a mistake. “How so?”
He swallowed loudly and met my gaze.
He fell for her. I saw it in his eyes that he was falling or had already fallen. “Oh, James.”
“Right?” he chuckled darkly.
“You might not—she feels for you too. Do you want her?”
He nodded. “But I won’t ever get involved with a princess.”
I flinched. “You don’t deserve her then.” I crossed my arms over my chest when he gave me a shocked look. “She’s my friend too, James, and I doubted her once tonight, but on this I would never doubt her. If she took that step, she would be as real with you as the others. This is your shit and you’ll hurt her with it. She doesn’t deserve that.”
“I know that,” he hissed, turning slightly, but not before I saw tears in his eyes. “Fuck. I wish she was a shifter.”
I gasped. “You didn’t say that to her, did you?”
“No, I flat out lied even when she told me sometimes she wished it,” he admitted.
“Then it’s time to distance yourself from her.” I shook my head when he opened his mouth to object. “James, I love you, but I adore her too and we need her. We have everything here, our family. We’re her top people and lots would want those spots. Please, please don’t risk those in the fucking apocalypse.”
“I know you’re right.” He cleared his throat, wiping his eyes again.
I hugged him. “There are lots of attractive people all over. Go have a fling and get over her. Go have a few if you need to.”
“Yeah, maybe a night of hot sex is exactly what I need,” he mumbled, not sounding convinced at all. “Thanks, Trish.”
I nodded and let him go, catching his arm when he moved to leave. “Not with a vampire. You’d destroy her if you had a fling with a vamp but won’t touch a princess. Respect her more than that and have fun with shifters.”
He bobbed his head. “Yeah, maybe in a week or two after I grieve I can’t have her.”
My heart broke for him when he left. Idiot. Men were such idiots. He probably coul
d have her… Simply not how he wanted or had always dreamed of mating. That was up to him what was more important. Her or what he saw as the life he wanted?
The life I’d wanted hadn’t ever involved the corrupted so… Yeah, shit changes.
We made it through the rehearsal dinner and got everything set up in time, but it was just the beginning of the games and bullshit. What we learned listening in was fucking terrifying, and we needed to be unified more than ever, work harder to fortify our coven, and protect Inez.
Because all of the princesses were planning on making moves against her. Holy fuck, it was truly terrifying. It was fairly hard to sleep after hearing some of that, but we made sure we recorded it all so we had the evidence.
The next day we had another problem… Well, many, but one that worried me.
“Ceawlin left,” one of the bird shifters who had been doing patrols reported to me.
“That’s the first good news I’ve heard today,” I mumbled, rubbing my tired neck. I sighed when he shook his head. “What else?”
“He suddenly blurred away from the castle and intercepted a princess. I think his princess. I couldn’t hear much, but she knows about Inez and we have power. That made her happy, and they said something about starting plans before blurring off.”
“Shit,” I hissed and with feeling. “Okay, thank you. That’s a concern we’ll have to handle after the party. A big one.”
Needless to say, that put me in an even shittier mood, so when I came across Olivia talking shit once again, I lost my temper. I muttered apologies to the group she was speaking with and grabbed her arm, saying I had to escort her to speak with her mother and it was important.
She ground her jaw at my touching her so easily, but didn’t object when she heard it was about Princess Matilda. It almost made me feel bad for her that she couldn’t tell I was lying.
Except she was a twit and a pain our asses, so not so much.
