by Nana Malone
Still, they all shook their heads. Jessa shrugged. "I don't know who he is, but he is hot."
"Oh my God, you guys are the worst.”
It looked like I had a date. The only thing was I hadn’t gotten that rush, that excitement. He was cute, obviously, but I didn't feel anything.
But I had to start somewhere because it was beyond time for me to let go of the past and move on.
THREE
ARIEL…
IT WAS good to be home.
Oh sure, I’d been at the palace plenty of times since I’d left the guard, but it hadn’t felt the same. Entering that morning had a very prodigal-daughter feeling.
So far, my team was mostly keeping their cool about being invited into the palace. But Neela, Jax’s fiancée, was the only one fully keeping her cool. She was mingling and chatting happily. Although every time she talked to Lucas, Jax narrowed his eyes.
I hid a smile. Lucas was a natural-born flirt. He was also a natural-born con man. So whenever he talked to anyone, they felt like the most important person in the room.
Jax needed to relax, because Lucas was completely and wholly in love with Bryna. And the two of them were finally getting their wedding plans together. So that meant I had to dig out a dress from somewhere, do something about my hair, and slap on more paint to make myself presentable for yet another royal wedding. I couldn't be happier. Although, given the way Roone was looking at Jessa, it might be a double wedding. Neither one of them looked like they wanted to wait too long.
Jameson, as always, kind of kept to herself. But I knew her well enough to know she was happy. She still hadn’t told me why she’d left the guard so suddenly, but given the time period when she'd left and who she was in charge of guarding, it was safe to assume that Prince Ashton had been responsible for her swift departure. Ethan had tried to keep her and put her on the queen's service, but she only lasted a couple of weeks. And then she was gone. She left and had gone to university. I was surprised she’d come back to the islands.
All around me, I watched my whole family. God, I was lucky.
My phone chimed, and I glanced down.
Ian: I’m looking forward to our date.
I couldn’t help it. I grinned like an idiot.
“Oh, I know that look.” Busted. I glanced up to find Penny in front of me looking like the cat who had just swallowed a canary. “What’s got you smiling so much?”
I narrowed my gaze at her. “What are the chances you’ll pretend you didn't see me smiling?”
“Slim to none.”
“Any chance I’ll be able to pretend it’s nothing?”
She shook her head, sending her cascade of curls into riotous disarray. “What do you think?”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. I got a text from Ian confirming our date.”
Penny all but squealed, which brought Jessa over as she sipped from one of her classic mugs. It read, This is what awesome looks like. She liked that one best to psych everyone out during game nights.
“What’s got Penny looking so excited? You have a plan to hack the game tonight?”
I rolled my eyes. “You can’t hack Mafia. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. I’m not the one who cheats. Look at your stepmother and Lucas for that.”
Jessa nodded. “Good point. So why does Penny look so happy?”
“Ariel is texting Ian.”
Jessa’s grin was so wide, all I saw was teeth. “Oh, fantastic. I won the pool.”
My brows snapped down. “Pool?”
Penny whacked her on the arm. “Jessa.”
“What?” She shrugged. “Like Ariel wouldn’t have taken bets on any of us.”
She had a point there. “What was the bet?”
“Just that you’d cancel the date. I said you’d ovary up and go. Penny said you’d try to find a way to avoid it until we forced you. And Jinx and Bryna point-blank said you’d cancel.”
I scowled at Penny. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
She was completely unfazed. “How many times did you consider cancelling?”
“That’s beside the point,” I muttered.
Penny sighed. “See, but you didn’t in the end.”
What I didn’t tell her was I’d started texting him to cancel. I was way too busy. Scaredy cat. But something had stopped me. And he’d been charming and funny. I could use some of that.
I forced myself to tap out a return message.
Ariel: I’m looking forward to it too.
God why was this so much harder than I expected? I held up my phone. “See, I’m going. Penny, pay the girl.”
My bestie rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I know you. You were going to cancel or at least postpone.”
I gave her a beatific smile. “Prove it.”
Roone came over and started nuzzling Jessa’s neck. We knew from experience that this was a moment to walk away. When she had me alone, Penny said, "You look happy."
Despite my niggling self-doubt, she wasn’t wrong. "I am happy."
"Good. I'm glad this worked out."
"I don't know how you and Sebastian pulled this off and came up with this idea, but thank you."
"No, thank you. While Tristan may have insisted he doesn’t need protection, I know it makes Sebastian feel better, knowing that he can send someone. He would have normally just sent Blake Security, obviously. But things are a little too tense to flout the rules right now."
I nodded. Blake Security was a very high-profile security firm in New York. They had assisted the royal family on more than one occasion. In the time of King Cassius and the early days of Sebastian, finding Lucas… hell, one of their agents had even helped me when I was looking for my father during the mission with Princess Jessa. But everything changed once the conspirators were all in jail. The Council had become a lot tighter about the rules. Rules like no civilians guarding royals. But hey, they’d found a loophole.
I swallowed hard. I just hoped that loophole wouldn’t lead to me having to see Tristan. I had a whole capable team. Feelings aside, I knew my duty. The Regents Council was on a power trip. The prince should absolutely have an adequate number of guards.
Are you sure you don't want to do it yourself?
Nope. Swallowing that lie was getting easier. I had a whole team at my fingertips if need be. I could keep my feelings separate.
Sure you can.
The door opened, and Sebastian caught Penny’s eye. His mouth was tight, and from where I was standing I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw.
“Shit. Something’s happened,” Penny muttered.
Something was definitely up. Sebastian made eye contact with the inner circle and one by one they all walked out.
Eventually, it was only myself, my team, Queen Mother Alexa, Jinx, Bex, Adam, and Neela left.
“Well, I guess we’ll just—” The door opened again with Sebastian staring at me with his brows drawn down.
Shit. Was I supposed to have gone with the others? Zia deftly took over gamemaster duties as I followed after Sebastian.
“Sorry, I didn’t think you meant me before. Been a minute since my last closed-door powwow.”
His voice was low when he asked, “Do you command my knights?”
Well, when he put it like that. “I suppose I do.”
“Then you’re needed.” I joined the others in Sebastian’s office and I had to admit it felt like pulling on my favorite pair of worn, soft jeans that fit just right. How many Team Winston Isles meetings had we had in there?
Unfortunately, all the badasses in one room usually meant trouble.
Sebastian got straight to the point. “Prince Tristan was attacked two nights ago at a charity fundraiser. He’s unharmed, But Frank Talbott was shot. He’s currently at the hospital in critical condition.”
Time screeched to a halt as I tried to process. Even though my brain couldn’t grasp what was happening, my body knew. My skin had gone clammy and cold, my heartbeat boomed in my ears. Someone had shot at him again. He c
ould have been killed, but instead, a friend of mine had been hurt.
Frank had been one of my trainers when I first joined the Royal Guard. To know that he was fighting for his life left an open hole at the center of my chest. What the hell was going on?
Somehow through the fog, I processed someone asking a question. “Is it personal? Or is the whole family under attack again?”
Lucas, maybe Roone. My brain couldn’t filter accents to tell who’d spoken. It was too busy trying to process that Tristan was ok. But poor Frank. I blinked tears away as my brain finally decided to function. “You’re bringing them both home, right?”
More threats to the royal family? I didn't know if I could take any more. Hadn’t we had enough?
“Frank is already being airlifted home. I’ve sent a replacement guard,” Sebastian said.
“Who?” Roone asked.
“Trevor.”
My former partner nodded as if he approved. Then he pushed away from the wall. "When do I leave?"
Sebastian looked up, and his gaze slid to me and then back to Roone. "I need both of you."
I answered automatically. “Of course. I can have Trace and Jameson ready to go tonight. I’ll need—”
Sebastian shook his head. “No, Ariel. I need my best team. The two of you have already proven that you get the job done.”
No. No. No. That wasn’t supposed to happen. That was not part of this bargain. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
Penny, though, was right there for the rescue. “Sebastian. Ariel does have a team to run. She just got Royal Elite started. She probably should send her team.”
He stubbornly shook his head. “Ariel, you’re a knight. And the best. It only makes sense that you and Roone go. Besides, it’ll be a security assessment, and Ethan will support anything you need from here. I obviously prefer we keep this quiet until we assess the threat.”
Sebastian was speaking words, like threat assessments, protection, team, but I couldn’t process any of it. Focus, damn it, your king needs you. I dragged myself out of my reverie. Penny gave me an I’m sorry look, and I shook my head to let her know it was okay. No matter what, I was loyal to the Winston Isles, so whatever was needed, I’d do it. I just didn’t prefer to personally guard the prince. I just couldn’t.
Pussy.
Hell, yes.
I just had to figure out how to do this. I couldn’t show any weakness. I’d just gotten back to where I was. “Your Majesty, of course, I’ll defer to your wishes. But I’d be more useful here in front of my laptop. I’m good in the field, but I’m better with a laptop. You know that. I can run threat assessments from here and send them to the team in the field.”
Sebastian looked like he still wanted to argue, but I needed him to just accept that there was no way I was going to Barcelona. Seeing Tristan again was not high on my to-do list this century.
I was being a coward, but so be it. This was about survival. If I saw him again, I’d only be dragged back into that abyss.
Ethan spoke then. He was Penny’s father and head of Intelligence, but I’d forever think of him as my surrogate father. And right about then, I wanted him to tell me everything was going to be okay. He wasn’t going to tell me that though. He was going to expect me to be up for the challenge.
“Prince Tristan and his fiancée were ambushed as they were leaving a charity benefit.”
I choked back the wince of pain at the mention of his fiancée.
“Their exit was decided upon at the last moment from three possible routes of egress. It was a risky maneuver if someone wanted the job done. We need you to speak to the authorities and figure out what angle they are going with. We need a jumping off point. I’m inclined to think it might be related to his fiancée, but we need boots on the ground to assess.”
I wanted to refuse. I needed to refuse. I had to refuse. There was no way. After ten years, I was going to see Tristan again. I couldn't be his personal guard. And well, he had a fiancée now, so me drooling after the prince wasn't going to work out that well.
I couldn’t do it.
But you have to. If not you, then who? It didn’t matter what had happened between us. I had sworn to protect him.
Beside me, Roone nodded. "You with me Ariel?"
“Royal Elite is at your command, Your Majesty. I’ll send Trace and Jameson with Roone.”
Sebastian frowned. He certainly wasn’t used to being told no. I just hoped he’d eventually forgive me. There was no way I could see Tristan again. I just wasn’t strong enough.
TRISTAN...
Fear was like a cloying lover. No matter how many times I tried to shake it off, it just clung tighter, desperate to choke me.
Waiting to hear news about Frank was beyond nerve wracking. He wasn't just my guard. In the last two years, he’d been one of my few friends.
Ella and I had ridden with him in the ambulance, and I had to be honest… I had never known fear like that in my life, and two days later, I was still in fear for his life.
Sure, I'd been on edge after Vienna. But this, this was different. I could write the previous attempt off as a fluke. I could pretend that maybe someone hadn't been trying to kill me. But this situation was incontrovertible proof, and my friend was paying in my stead. I'd been unwilling to see it for what it was. Someone was trying to kill me. The real question was why. And more importantly, did I have enough time to still make arrangements for Max before something really bad happened?
"Is he going to be okay?" Ella asked as she stood close, but she wasn't touching me. Thankfully, she seemed to at least know that I needed some space. God, how the fuck did this happen? One second, I'd been with him. Following as always. The next, he'd been down, bleeding. Staring at me as if willing me to understand what I needed to do.
"I know he'll be okay."
"Do you? You haven't said a word. Not since we got here."
"I'm fine. I'm just thinking."
She audibly swallowed. "Tristan, maybe it's time we stop."
I turned to face her and leveled my gaze on her. "One thing has nothing to do with the other. You can’t possibly think this is Max. He’s a bully, yes. But do you think he has the brains and know-how and ability to stalk us? Just to take us down?"
"Or one thing has everything to do with the other. You don't know that. And to not even consider it is foolhardy."
I tried to gentle my voice. She was scared and worried, and it was currently my job to look after her. "Look, I made you a promise. I will keep it. What happened to Frank has nothing to do with what we’re doing about Max, okay? This is something else entirely."
"You don't know that. Max has always been furious about our relationship. He didn't want me to do it. He didn't want this ‘showmance,’ romance, whatever. He said I should always appear available. He's been furious about it for three years. What if he decided to try and kill you? Worse, what if he knows what we’re really doing?"
I placed my hands on her shoulders and gripped tightly enough for her to pay attention but not tightly enough to hurt her. "Stop. Stop it now. This isn't helping. Right now, I need to be strong for my friend. I understand that you're scared. I’m scared too. I know I don't seem like I am, and I know I make it seem like I'm coolly casual with everything. I'm not. I feel it all. I see it all. I'm just trying to keep my cool. In the end, we only have each other, and we cannot lose our shit. Do you understand?"
She nodded slowly. "I do. I just… I know what Frank meant to you."
"Means... what he means to me."
She flushed a deep shade of red. "Of course. No, that's not what I meant."
"I know. It's just that it's better if I think about how well he's doing, and not what could go wrong."
"Of course. I just want you to use some caution, Tristan. Maybe this is our punishment."
"I don't believe in punishment. Actually, that's a lie. I do believe in punishment. Just not for us, but for everyone who hurt us, for everyone who did us harm. They're going to pay. Every
last one of them."
My phone rang, pausing our conversation. I didn't even check the screen. "Yeah?"
"Tristan?"
I cursed under my breath. I'd been anticipating Sebastian's call. I just thought I would have more time. "Hey, Sebastian."
"You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?"
As if it was my fault. "Well, someone shot at us. It was unpleasant. And, that's about all I have for you right now."
"What are they saying about Frank?"
"Not much. He's critical. It's what we know. I've already called his girlfriend. She'll be here tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll call and offer her the jet."
I ground my teeth. I didn't need him to swoop in and take care of it. I could handle my own affairs. Frank had been my guard. "I already did that, Sebastian."
He sighed. "Look, Tristan, I'm only trying to help."
I scrubbed my hand over my face. "I know. I'm sorry, I just... I know I'm out of the fold on a lot of things. I get it. There's a reason for it. But I could do that much. That one little thing. He's my friend. I can take care of his girlfriend."
"I hear you. And I didn't mean to overstep. I know it's important."
"Yeah. In the meantime, I'm staying close to the hospital. I'll probably grab a cab and go home soon."
"Stay at the hospital as long as you can. I'm sending you Trevor in the meantime. I think we can both agree someone is actually trying to kill you, so it’s better to be prudent."
"Yeah. I won't argue that."
"Okay. I know that the Council had been difficult, but I'm sending you my personal knights."
"Excuse me?" What the fuck was he talking about? We didn't have knights in the Winston Isles.
"Yeah, look, it's a long story, but I found a loophole around the whole civilian thing. I have knights now. I'm sending a few to you."
Shit. He was sending knights, and it was going to be a big public deal. My deal in the works depended on discretion. And everything hinged on this deal. "Sebastian, I don't need knights."
