by Lexi Blake
I nodded.
Lee patted Neil on the shoulder. “Good job, buddy. Nice moves. It was smart of you to take that arrow in your ass. It’s much easier to heal than your stomach or a lung.” The older wolf turned his attention to Daniel. “What are we going to do with this asshole until he wakes up? I’d say we could lock him in the coffin but it kind of exploded.”
“I didn’t have time to ask nicely for someone to open up,” Daniel murmured as he moved under the shade of a tree, pulling me with him. While Daniel could daywalk, he felt more comfortable in the shade. “Where the hell is Dev?”
There was both anger and a small amount of panic in the question. Daniel tended to take off without checking because he knew Dev would be there to take care of me.
“The royal guard hauled him into the tavern the instant Lee called the alarm,” Felix explained. “He fought but there were five of them.”
It looked like everyone was fine, so I decided it was time to go save Dev. Daniel nodded as I passed him, following behind me.
I crossed to the doors of the tavern and called out so no one shot another damn arrow my way. “I’m coming in. Don’t shoot.”
“Zoey.” Dev was finally allowed to push his way out of the phalanx of guards. They stood down and allowed the twins to move. Several of the guards rushed out to secure the courtyard even as Danny followed me inside the tavern.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Dev hugged me to him, his arms wrapping around me. “I swear I’ll have every one of those fucking guards in the dungeon.”
Danny strode up to Declan, pointing an accusatory finger his way. “You left her out there. This is how you treat your brother’s wife? You leave her out to die?”
Declan shook his head. “I did not have a choice.”
“You wanted us to come in with no security, Your Highness.” Daniel’s voice went low, predatory. “Was there a reason for that? Were you planning on taking us out?”
Declan went pale at the accusation. “I wouldn’t assassinate my own brother, vampire.”
“I wasn’t talking about Dev,” Danny snarled. “I was talking about me and Z. I was talking about the two people in a relationship with your precious brother. Did you think he would stay here if you killed us?”
“I don’t think Declan would do that.” There was a fine tremble in Dev’s hands as he held mine.
The guard tried to get between Daniel and Declan, but the prince wouldn’t have it. He shoved them aside, preferring to get into the vampire’s space. It wasn’t a smart move, but no one could accuse Declan of cowardice. “I might think about getting rid of you, but I assure you I have no intention of hurting Zoey. She is…”
“Really tired,” I broke in, hoping to stop Declan from running his mouth. The last thing I needed was for Declan to announce that he thought I was pregnant. Besides, Daniel was wrong. “I don’t think Declan tried to kill me, Danny. He’d be more likely to kill you and hope I’d let him apply for your place in bed.”
“I have thought of that on occasion,” Declan admitted. “It would make things simpler. I was not behind this attempt. We need to focus on what is important. Guard, you must search the town and find this would-be assassin.”
Lee walked into the tavern dragging his prize behind him. “I’ll save you the trouble, Your Highness. Donovan and I took care of it.”
“Is he alive?” Declan looked down at the man but there was no spark of recognition in his eyes.
“Of course,” Lee replied. “He was a wimp, though. One friendly tap from the vampire and he went out. I guess you faeries aren’t as tough as you like to say you are.”
The way the faery’s face was swelling up, it looked like more than just a love tap. That man had been lucky Lee had been there or Danny might have taken him apart. I was sure Lee had been the voice of reason. We needed him alive. I was certain Danny would get his kill in later after certain questions had been answered.
Declan flushed, embarrassed by the accusation. For all of his flaws, Declan didn’t back down from a fight. It must have chafed to be treated like something that needed protection. Now he had to admit the outsiders, people he considered common criminals, had handled the situation better than his precious guard. Declan shook off his emotions and charged on. “He must be brought in for questioning. We must figure out if this is a lone, unstable person or part of a larger plot.”
I was betting on the larger plot. I hadn’t been in Faery for more than a day, so it would surprise me if I already had enemies. It usually took me a couple of days before I had a group who collectively wanted to kill me. This wasn’t about me, though I had been the target.
Someone didn’t like the royal family.
Dev was getting his feet back under him and now that the immediate threat was over, he stared his brother down. I got the feeling he was ready to fight Daniel for a piece of Declan. “You will inform the guard that I can handle myself.”
“Do not be ridiculous, brother. I am not going to tell the guard to back off you,” Declan declared. “You are a precious resource for this kingdom. Not only are you a royal, you are second in line for the throne and an ascended god. You must have a guard. My only mistake was not placing a guard on Zoey. I believe I tried to get you to allow it.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “That royal guard of yours would have been helpful.”
“Finally, she listens to reason,” Declan said.
“They would have been good at carrying out my corpse,” I admitted. “Your guard did nothing until Lee raised the alarm. They didn’t notice the assassin. My wolf did and Neil had me covered before your boys thought to show up. Keep your guards, Dec. I’ll put my wolves up against them any day of the week.”
I looked down at the man unconscious on the floor. His face was a mottled mess, and I could tell very little about him except that he’d pissed off Danny.
“I don’t think I know him,” Dev admitted.
“Neil, Zack.” Lee called his little army to come forward. “Get his scent. Memorize it.”
Everyone in the tavern watched as the wolves got on all fours and ran their noses everywhere. They took their time and cataloged the lightest of smells that could come in handy later.
“Why do they need to do this?” Declan frowned, watching them. “When he wakes up, we will ask him questions and he will answer.”
Lee’s brown eyes rolled. “Yes. He’ll just tell you everything he knows because he wants to help.”
“Well, I intended to torture him,” Declan admitted.
Daniel looked down at the man who probably didn’t have long to live. “I’ll get him to talk.”
Dev agreed. “Nothing you do, brother, can be as persuasive as Daniel when he gets his freak on. Trust me. One look at Dan’s beast and this asshole will be begging to make a full confession. We’ll handle the interrogation.”
“I have to think about it.” A stubborn look settled on Declan’s face.
“She is our wife.” Daniel’s fangs had popped out.
“Fine, you can ask the questions,” Declan agreed with a long-suffering sigh. “We will hold him at the palace until he recovers enough for us to beat him again. I’ll get our best healer on it. I want him healthy for his torture.”
The boys argued about which fun torture method would work the best, the wolves continued their scent adventure, and I couldn’t help but think. No one knew about my possible pregnancy. I’d been married to Devinshea for roughly two weeks. It wouldn’t occur to these people, who waited decades to get pregnant, that I might already be carrying a child. Since it was obvious Declan had kept his big mouth shut, I discounted the attempt had been made because of the child. I didn’t set policy or have anything to do with politics. I hadn’t even met my mother-in-law yet. So while I was the pawn, I wasn’t the true target. Someone thought my death would hurt a member of the royal family.
This had to be about Devinshea.
“You’re sure you don’t know him?” I asked husband number two.
&n
bsp; He studied the assassin again. “I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. Dan messed him up.”
Neil and Zack were on their feet again. Zack looked at his boss. “If it helps I think he works with candles.”
“Yeah, he smells like beeswax,” Neil agreed. “It’s all over his hands. He also smells like cabbage. Eww.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Dev said with a shake of his head. “Sorry.”
“Well, maybe you know his wife or his girlfriend or his daughter,” I pointed out with a humorless smile.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Dev asked.
“This isn’t about me,” I said flatly. “You and Declan were prime targets but they chose me. If they wanted to take out a member of the royal family, they would have gone for the two of you. So this is about hurting someone. They don’t know Daniel so this has to be about Dev.”
Dev and Declan passed a long look between the two of them. It was one of those moments when they might as well be telepathic. Declan sighed and nodded his head after a long moment. Dev looked angry but turned to me.
“It’s going to be all right, sweetheart.” He took my hands in his.
“Yes, it is,” Daniel agreed, his face taking on that stoic look I knew way too well. “I’m going to make sure it’s fine. We’ll be home before you know it. I can fly us to the door in less than half the time it took to walk.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Danny,” I said, knowing his plan before he said it.
“We can’t leave, Dan.” Dev shook his head. “We have too many things we have to accomplish before we leave.”
Daniel crossed his arms stubbornly. “Maybe you can’t leave but Z sure as hell can. Someone tried to kill her, Dev.”
“I have a job to do,” I stated implacably. “You can haul me out of here, Daniel Donovan, but I’ll be back the minute you fall asleep.”
“Not if I lock you up, you won’t.” He leaned over in a useless attempt to intimidate me.
I went up on my toes so our noses were close. “You promised me you would stop doing this.” We’d had a big fight about trust and I thought we had gotten past this “trying to protect me” crap.
Danny shook his head. “Not even close, baby. I promised I wouldn’t leave you again. I’m not trying to leave. It’s the opposite. I’m going with you. I never promised not to tie you up. As a matter a fact, I tied you up last night and you were damn happy about it.”
“That was for fun.” It had been a hell of a night. The boys had tied me up, blindfolded me, and made me guess who was doing what to me. I actually got hot thinking about it now, but it was a cunning distraction and I couldn’t fall for it. “You’re talking about actual, not sexy, bondage. Not happening, Danny. Besides, Dev already knows who did it so we’ll be fine once he proves his ex-honey Gilliana is behind everything.”
Gilliana was Dev’s wife at one point in time before the queen annulled their marriage. I’d been told she was a bit perturbed at the thought of a new Mrs. Quinn.
“How did she know that is what we were thinking?” Declan asked, his jaw dropping slightly.
Dev smiled. “Because she’s clever. Yes, my wife, I think it was Gilliana or at the least her family. We’ll know more once we get this one awake and talking.” He motioned to the unconscious faery.
“I knew it was someone you slept with or someone related to someone you slept with,” I muttered under my breath.
Declan rolled his aristocratic eyes. “Well, Zoey, if we went by that then our list of suspects would be…everyone in the sithein. It is much easier to count the women Devinshea forgot to sleep with than the ones he actually did.”
“That is rude,” Dev shot back.
“And true,” Declan responded, unwilling to back down. “We could do a hand count. Anyone who has slept with Prince Dev or had a relative sleep with him could raise their hands.”
“Don’t you dare, brother,” Dev hissed. His fists were clenched as he spoke to his brother, but he finally relaxed and chose to turn back to Danny and me. “You knew I had a past. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because it’s Gilliana. No one else hates me enough to do it. I was actually quite kind to my partners.”
Danny nodded. “Padric mentioned I should watch out for her.”
“Excellent.” Declan took control, snapping his fingers at his guard. “Then we can go to the palace and sort this all out. The guard will surround us and we will move quickly. We shall travel as true trooping faeries. I will send servants for the luggage. We shall be at the palace within moments.”
“I have a problem. Does anyone have an extra pair of pants?” Neil turned around and his whole left cheek peeked through the cotton.
Dev bent over, laughing at the sight. Daniel put his hand over his mouth to try to hide his smile. Sarah just pointed out the problem to Felix.
“Oh, sweetie.” She tried not to giggle. “You spray tanned before we left.” I remembered the day. I’d gotten a facial while Neil got a nice glow he was sure he would need in Faery.
“Yes,” he said impatiently. “I need a tan or I look ghastly.”
Zack couldn’t seem to stop giggling. “Dude, I pulled out a hunk of flesh when I took that arrow out of your ass.”
“OMG, I don’t match.” Neil announced what the rest of us had already figured out. “Nice, Z. I save your life and what do I get for it? Mismatched butt cheeks.”
I hugged him and smiled brightly. “We’ll find someplace quiet and sunbathe nude. I promise you’ll match soon enough.”
“Fine,” he said with a pout.
I took his hand as the royal guard began to herd us toward the exit. We would walk to the palace surrounded by a phalanx of guards. Lee pulled his quarry behind him and Danny and Dev argued about how to prove Dev’s ex was behind everything. I held Neil’s hand and looked up at the white palace that got closer with each step.
“I already want to go home, Z,” Neil admitted.
I sighed and squeezed his hand because I knew the feeling.
Chapter Four
“She gave us three different rooms?” I asked the small creature who had guided me to what I assumed was our dressing room. Now I looked around and saw that only my luggage had been delivered.
When we’d reached the shining palace, we’d been divided up. Daniel had met with Padric and the two had decided the first order of business was to take the prisoner to the “holding cells.” They actually used those words as they looked at me like they didn’t want me to know there were dungeons. As I planned on visiting the dungeons later, I didn’t see how they were going to keep it from me. I had some questions for my would-be assassin that I would like answered, too. With Daniel, Lee, and Zack following Padric, Sarah and Felix were shown to their room. Dev had been told he had business with Declan, and that left me and Neil looking down at my brand new social secretary.
The small troll bit her lip and looked about, wondering how to respond to me. She was dressed in the same flowing skirts as the Seelie around her, though the style swallowed her small body. She had brown hair and eyes and her long tail peeked out from under the skirt. Even as Mara had introduced her to me, she seemed nervous and on the verge of tears. She reminded me of a scared little mouse.
It looked like Mara had decided to play games with me. I should have expected it. I’d been warned by my brother-in-law that the royal court was a place of back stabbing and mind games, but I’d been hoping for something better. I hadn’t missed the way Mara and her friends had laughed behind their hands as they introduced me to Bibi. I bet the rest of the royals didn’t have trolls for their social secretaries.
“I am sure that Mara wanted you to be comfortable, Your Grace. You have the whole room to yourself. Perhaps she thought you would like that.” Bibi’s voice was tremulous.
I began to understand that becoming a social secretary to the human wife of a high priest had probably not been her idea. It was Mara’s idea of an insult since the troll was obviously ill equipped to be involved in organizing a high-soci
ety social life. I wondered where Mara had picked her up. From the dirt under her nails, I suspected the gardens.
“I’m sure Mara wanted me to feel alone,” I murmured, looking around. The room was airy and magnificent. Every inch of the palace was natural stone, mostly white marble. It was stunning, but it wouldn’t do because I had no intention of being away from my husbands. It had been so long since I slept alone I doubted I would remember how to do it.
Neil jumped onto the bed. “Look at this, Z. It would barely hold you and me. What are these people thinking?”
He was right. The bed was maybe a queen when we were used to the oversized king in the penthouse that required specially made sheets to fit it. That bed was a monster but then it held me, Danny, and Dev, and occasionally Neil when he whined enough and Dev let him in. Neil wasn’t good at sleeping alone, either.
I cocked an amused eyebrow at Neil as I walked over to the window. The view was like a painting. Everything was vibrant and green, with slate-colored mountains touching the brilliant blue sky. I could see the snow-capped peaks in the distance, but here in the valley it was summertime and the air was gauzy and sweet. I let the sunlight warm my skin for a moment before getting back to the problem at hand.
“I think you’re going to have to sleep with Zack, babe. Three in a bed looks like it’s going to be hard here, much less trying for four.” Zack wouldn’t mind. Lee was the odd wolf who preferred to sleep alone, but Zack would think nothing of Neil crawling into bed with him. It was like that for werewolves. There was nothing sexual about it but they preferred a lot of physical contact.
Neil walked up to me and threaded his hand through mine. “That’s okay. I like Zack.”
I turned to him, and my question was laced with just a bit of fear. “You like Zack, or you like like Zack?”
I hoped that wasn’t it. He and Chad seemed happy the one night they’d had together in Colorado. Chad was due to come home from the Council in Paris in a few months, and he would expect his boyfriend to be waiting. Vampires don’t like it when you break up with them. They tend to be possessive creatures.
