by Cherie Marks
“Are you up for more?”
She glanced down at the obvious bulge in his pants and nodded, reaching to remove his shirt so he was as naked as she. Yet, just as she’d tugged his shirt out of his pants, there was a heavy knock on the door.
Their gazes met, and with quick movements, they gathered up her clothing. Everything secure in her arms, she took off for the bathroom as the knock sounded again.
Had she been too loud? She dressed quickly and listened at the closed bathroom door, hoping to hear who had come knocking in the middle of the night.
Muffled and deep, she heard Mav say, “Captain Narcus, I’m surprised to see you here this late. Is something wrong?”
“You didn’t check in.”
“Check in with whom?”
“The head of security. Me, Maverick. You should have stopped and checked in the minute you were back in Linwyn.”
“King Zolunder never required a check in with him or security. I have a higher clearance than most.”
“The King is dead. Things are different now.”
The two were silent, and Gemma wished she could see what was happening. She was sure it was some kind of stare down, pissing contest, but it was hard to know for sure when she could only listen and not see for herself.
“Well, now that you’re here, you’ve noticed I’m back. Are we good?”
“I hope your mission, whatever it was, was successful.”
Again, only silence. Of course, Maverick wouldn’t tell him what the King had sent him to do, but what if it was something else. What if he were signaling to the Captain that she was hiding in his rooms? It could have been his plan all along.
She couldn’t believe that about Mav, though. He might not be totally on her side, but he was loyal. He wouldn’t betray her like this. His responsibility to her father would force him to do things honorably.
“Well, whatever it was, I have news.”
“I’m listening.”
“She’s back.”
There was a long pause before Maverick, knowing full well about whom the Captain was talking, asked, “Who’s back?”
“The assassin. Princess Gemma.”
But Mav played it well. “Where? Do you have her in custody?”
This time it was the Captain’s turn to pause. He was probably trying to read Mav. Clearly, he would have suspicions that Mav might be in league with Gemma considering the timing of both of their arrivals. But he didn’t betray any suspicion as he said, “Not yet. We’re not sure where she’s hiding, but she paid a little visit to the Assassin’s Academy. Headmaster Shmeto has been cursed and can’t really tell us anything in his current state.”
Gemma covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. She kind of wished she’d witnessed that interrogation for herself. Just imagining it was going to get her caught if she didn’t get herself under control.
“Well, I’m sure she’ll show up. She won’t be able to resist returning to the palace.”
“Hmm. Indeed. We could use you in our search. I hear you are the best hunter ever trained.”
Maverick didn’t fall for the Captain’s flattery. “No one could possibly know what kind of hunter I am. I only worked for the King.” He yawned loudly. “I’ll think about it. I was just here to resupply and head back out on my mission. I don’t think I’ll have time to devote to such trivial matters.”
“Your mission is over. The crown has passed on to Hadden Marolinia. Your loyalty is to him now, and protecting the young prince from his sister seems like a much more important task than whatever the dead King gave you to do.”
“And that’s where you’d be wrong. My mission will protect the royal family, so I must continue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, you woke me from a really good dream that I’d like to get back to. Goodnight, Captain.”
Gemma heard the door close and heard footsteps approach the bathroom. A light knock sounded before Mav whispered, “He’s gone, but something was off. He didn’t smell right, like he was trying cover a sour smell he couldn’t wash away. Anyway, he’ll be back and probably with reinforcements. We should go to the cottage. We’ll be safe there for a time.”
Dressed now, she opened the door slowly. His eyes traveled from her face downward and back up again. He looked disappointed for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her until she was panting once more.
He released her with a few slow, light kisses before resting his forehead against hers.
“Thank you for not turning me in.”
He met her gaze, his lips parted and forehead furrowed. “I gave you my vow. You’re mine now.” He cleared his throat. “To protect. You’re mine to protect. I will give my life for your protection.”
She had to admit his words had sent a breathless thrill through her before he’d corrected himself. She hadn’t realized how much she wanted to mean something to him, something more than just another duty as a Royal Hunter.
She had to admit, something about being a part of Maverick’s world appealed to her. And the thought of being his, stole her breath away once more.
“Are you ready?”
Was she ready to be his? Of course, she knew he wasn’t asking her that question, but she answered him anyway. “I...I think so.”
She’d pulled her braid apart when she’d laid down in the bed, and her wavy hair hung freely around her face now. He brushed stray strands back over her shoulders, sinking his hands into the mass at her back as he hugged her body to his. With a sigh, she sunk into all the right places, fitting herself against him.
She could hear the smile in his voice as he laid his cheek against the top of her head and said, “It’s too late to turn back now.”
Chapter 16
Maverick looked around the main room, meeting the gaze of every member of his team. The light of day couldn’t hide the fear in each of their eyes, but he remained confident. Anything less would mean he would lose their trust. And that would spell certain disaster.
“Does everyone understand your role?”
Gaston’s paw slowly rose in the air, and Mav rolled his eyes. “What is it Gaston?”
“You do remember that I’m fat and lazy, right? I don’t understand why you even gave me a job.”
Another paw shot up, this time from Jeff.
“Yes, Jeff?”
“I just want to say that in my day, we fought through snow, uphill both ways, for twenty miles. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it, and I’ll do it better than all of you. However, your plan is doomed to fail. Just thought you should know.”
Mav dropped his chin to his chest and shook his head back and forth.
Kylie piped up next. “I’m a little nervous about talking to the guards. Do you think you could give me a lesser role?”
Suddenly, all three of them began talking over each other with suggestions and complaints. Maverick watching them in shock. The noise clashed inside his brain, and he dropped his head back on his shoulders.
A high-pitched whistle filled the air, and everyone went silent immediately. All focus went to Gemma, who stood with her arms crossed and a laser-eyed gaze scanning the people in the room.
“Enough! I know this is asking a lot from you. It probably doesn’t feel like your battle, but I can assure you that if we don’t figure this out, things are only going to get worse in Linwyn and probably beyond. Now, Mav has laid out a really good plan, but we all need to do our part. Once I’m inside my father’s bedroom, if all goes well, in an instant, everything will change for the better around you. That means that no matter how hairy things get, like the weather, give it a minute, things will change.”
Slowly, Mav saw heads nodding, and he watched Gemma kneel beside her backpack, clearly satisfied that everyone was on board. She stuffed a few supplies inside—rope, flashlight, something wrapped in tissue she hid from his prying eyes—and zipped it up before throwing it over her back. Everything she wore was black, and her long, brown hair into which his fingers itched to sink was tucked up inside a knit cap. They
were just a spell away from making things right again. The question was would it change things between Gemma and him?
When they were together in his quarters, her reaction made him dizzy with arousal, and he’d wanted nothing more than to rip off his drawers and plunge deep inside her. The only thing holding him back was how much he wanted to watch her go over the edge. He’d been with other women. He wasn’t a monk by any means, but he’d never felt that intensity of fire inside. It felt like he’d been burned from the inside out, and she was the only way to extinguish the blaze.
As he looked at her now, though, he knew that the firestorm inside would never die. He would always burn for her no matter what happened now. Maybe he’d always felt something for her, even before he had known her. From her father’s pride as he spoke about her accomplishments at the Academy, from the candid moment in the photograph in the King’s study, from the moments he’d watched her from a distance, he had begun to feel something for her. Yet, then, he’d actually met her, and he admitted to himself, he hadn’t really known who Gemma was. And now that he did, she blew him away.
She was strong, one of the strongest people he’d ever met. And she was determined. Most of all, though, she was honorable. She might not want to admit it, but she wasn’t trying to set things right to clear her name. Her father and she hadn’t agreed on many things, but she knew his death was unnatural, and she was resolute about one thing. Someone needed to pay for the crime.
“Okay. I’ll do whatever. Just point me in the right direction. I know what to do.” Kylie’s response was enough for Mav. They just needed to get moving while there was still daylight.
Maverick, Kylie, and Gemma wore long, flowing brown robes, the kind of garb worn by the religious monks of the region. Mav had spanned into the monastery where, when he was seven years old, he’d been taken after his parents’ deaths. It had been a somber place for a child to mourn, and he’d wandered the halls of the buildings like a ghost. He’d learned every inch of the place by heart and could still find his way through the old edifice that served as the main place of worship. He’d lived there a full year before the King saw him and took him to the palace instead. He’d never missed his time there, but he was grateful he’d had the space to grieve.
Once he was inside the garment closet, he’d grabbed three robes and spanned back to the cottage. There were so many, three wouldn’t be missed, and they would disguise the three spies enough to get them inside the palace gates.
They had no problem getting past the guards at the gates, but the ones posted at the entrance to the palace were checking visitors thoroughly, including requiring monks to remove their hoods. They would need to find a different way in.
He was satisfied to see both Gaston and Jeff make it into the palace without any problems, but he had to think quickly to get the rest of them inside before those two crazy cats completed the first part of the plan.
“Could we go in through the kitchen?”
Gemma’s suggestion was worth considering. He thought about it briefly. They could remove the robes, grab a basket of grain or vegetables sitting behind the palace, and walk in through the kitchen. The only problem was that he didn’t see any random baskets just sitting on the ground behind the palace. “What’s that building over there? I don’t think I’ve ever been inside.”
Gemma and Kylie looked at the small shed where he was pointing.
“It’s just a small storage shed.” Gemma shrugged. “There’s no secret passage under it or anything.”
“Do many people use it?”
“As far as I know, only the outside maintenance workers use it during the summer travel months to repair the infrastructure of the roads to and from the palace. Considering the season, I’d say no one uses it currently.”
“Come on. We’ll span from the shed into the palace.”
Gemma followed behind him, Kylie on her heels. Once they were standing inside the cramped space of the tiny shed, Gemma asked, “I thought you said you couldn’t span into the palace?”
“Just the royal bedrooms. I could never span into your father’s or your rooms. But I can span us into my quarters, and then we can go from there.”
Kylie looked confused. “Why wasn’t that plan A?”
“Because they’ll be watching my room now. We’ll have to be careful slipping out. I’m sure there is surveillance keeping an eye on my last known location.”
Once the door was closed, Mav wrapped his arms around Gemma. It felt better than anything else he’d ever done. Kylie hugged Gemma from the other side, and Mav spanned them into his small quarters.
As soon as they landed, Kylie ran for the bathroom and puked for a full minute. Spanning wasn’t the easiest way to travel.
Mav’s gaze was drawn to the bed on the right side of the studio space. Memories of Gemma, naked in his bed, except for a pair of sexy underwear, came flooding back to him. He looked at Gemma and the heat in her eyes nearly scorched him where he stood. Clearly, her thoughts had instantly gone to last night as well.
He suppressed the urge to touch her as Kylie turned on the water in the bathroom and exited a few moments later.
“Sorry about that. I’m not used to being in one place and then suddenly in another. It’s abnormal, and I never want to do that again.”
Gemma smiled. “Hopefully, you won’t have to. If all goes well, we’ll be able to walk freely around the palace by nightfall.”
Mav checked his watch. “Speaking of which, Gaston and Jeff should be in place. We just have to wait for their signal.”
They stood at the door, ready to go as soon as the palace lights flickered, but even after waiting several minutes, nothing happened.
“You don’t think they...” Gemma didn’t finish her words, but Mav knew what she meant.
“Fu...” But he didn’t get to finish the full curse word as everything around them dropped into darkness for a few seconds before the lights popped back on.
Mav grinned as he said, “Never doubted them for a minute. Now, the surveillance should be down. Come on. Let’s get you to the King’s room.”
Chapter 17
The elevator chimed, and Mav and Gemma hid on top of the contraption as Kylie stepped off, looking bewildered as she wandered down the hallway. A pair of guards marched toward her, the expressions on their faces bland and unchanging. However, when they were facing Kylie, they both stopped and the one on the left said, “Who gave you permission to be on this floor? You’re not authorized, and you’ll have to come with us.”
Gemma heard Kylie’s performance as she began to sniffle and sob. “I’m so sorry. I’m lost. My room is on one of the floors, but I can’t remember which one.” She was in a full-on meltdown at this point, and even Gemma’s heart tightened with her misery.
“Calm down. It’s okay, Miss. We’ll get it straightened out. Just...stop crying.”
“I caaaan’t. I’m going to be arrested, and I don’t know where my room is.”
“We’re not going to arrest you. We just need to confirm who you are, and we can get you returned to the correct room.”
They spoke low to each other, and Gemma couldn’t quite hear what they were saying over Kylie’s wailing. From the sounds of things, she’d dropped to the ground at this point and was probably splayed in a starfish pattern, facedown, with her face in the crook of her elbow. They’d practiced it just like that so that it would take both guards to carry her off the floor.
“Listen, Luke, here, is going to help you back onto the elevator, and he’ll take you to the palace manager. She will be able to point out into exactly which room you were placed. It will all be taken care of in no time.”
But Kylie continued to behave inconsolable, and Gemma could imagine her arms and legs going limp each time the guards tried to help her up. It probably looked like a three-year-old who really, really wants to lick the floor being told no. Sure, it was illogical, but there was no sane way to end it.
“We’ll just have to carry her toge
ther. It won’t be that long. She can’t stay here.”
“Maybe we should call for backup.”
“Are you crazy? We’ll be the laughingstock of the entire security force. Backup for a crying woman?”
A heavy sigh followed, and Gemma heard Kylie’s intense wailing beneath them as the guards carried her onto the elevator, most likely still splayed out with limbs stretched in every direction.
The elevator started up and began to fall away, going down slowly and leaving Mav and Gemma behind, hanging onto the side of the elevator shaft.
They carefully made their way down until they were braced on a metal bar beneath the doors onto the floor. Mav held Gemma up carefully, steadying her on the ledge as she pried the doors open enough to slip through into the small opening. He climbed over her as she used her seated body to keep the doors from shutting. Once inside, he held the doors until she rolled free of them. He let them shut slowly and pulled her to a standing position.
Without wasting any more time, they ran for the room at the end of the hallway. Once there, Gemma stood staring at the cream-colored door behind which was her father’s sanctuary. It was a place she’d visited only three times in her life. Once for her father to tell her he was sending her to the Academy, once when she’d wanted answers, and once to prove she had risen above the killer he’d tried to turn her into. Yet, now as she walked in for the fourth time, she knew so much was riding on this moment.
The door wasn’t even locked as Gemma opened it and stepped inside the place that held so much influence over her life. She stepped inside and a scent of power and strength came to her. It was spicy with the hint of a forest after a rain. It was her father. She felt the tears threatening to fall from her eyes, but once more, she suppressed the urge to cry. She didn’t have time for pity. What if her father had pushed her to be something she was not? Soon, she would get a chance to tell him the truth, and he would listen to her this time.
