Kane
Kissing Emory was likely a mistake, but as I rush down the hall to the room where my brother, Prince Jacob, all of Opaline’s consorts, and the princess herself are awaiting my arrival, I can’t say that I regret my actions. The warmth of her lips lingers on mine, and I can still taste her on my tongue.
She may regret letting me kiss her, though. It seems she is confused about the relationship I have with the princess from Scarlett Thunder, and I honestly can’t blame Emory for not fully understanding something I can’t comprehend myself. It doesn’t make sense that I would marry someone I hate simply to have a child unless I thought I was going to die and leave my throne to no one, but I plan on living a great deal longer, and my brother can always rule in my stead if I decide this isn’t the life for me.
I will have a child because it is expected of me….
I push those thoughts aside and try to do my best not to think of Emory either as I enter the room off of the library where I asked Rainer and the guards to assemble them.
When I walk in, the three women that go practically everywhere with Opal are sitting on a couch, and at least one of them is crying. Opal is sitting in a chair, looking out the window with an expression on her face that says she’s bored. Her brother has his arms folded as he sits with his feet up on the coffee table, and my brother is pacing back and forth behind the desk near the window. Rainer and five guards are lined up against the wall next to the door, and when I walk in, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone so relieved to see me as my best friend.
“Thank god,” he mutters. “What, did you get trapped in a pit of quick sand?” he whispers to me so as to prevent the others from hearing his consternation.
“Yes, that is exactly what happened,” I say, shaking my head. “I had to check on the victim.”
I see his eyebrow twitch and know what he is thinking, but he will get no answers from me as it is not his business. I see the way he looks at Emory. Rainer is always friendly and kind, but I do believe he has his eye on her.
Who am I to tell him hands off when I’m engaged to the demon in the chair by the window?
“Stay, won’t you?” I say to him, and he glares at me.
“Fine.” That’s all I get from him as he resumes his stance by the wall.
“Guards, wait in the hall.” The five of them move at my command, leaving me alone with the troublemakers and Rainer.
“Who would like to tell me what the fuck was going on in the garden today?” I ask as I stand in the middle of the room, my hands folded behind my back.
“I’ll be happy to tell you, darling,” Opal says, “just as soon as you calm the fuck down. Why the hell are we being held in here like prisoners when it was that goddamn feeder who caused the problem to begin with? I mean, really, look at my face! I’m scared for life! I’ve been brutalized!”
I have excellent eyesight, but I don’t even see a mark on her face from across the room. I step closer to her and look again. “What are you talking about, Opal?”
“See, I told you you couldn’t see anything,” Jacob chimes in. The woman who has been crying is just sniffling now, but it is still annoying, and I wish she would just fucking stop it already!
“Look!” Opal says, dragging her hand across the center of her face. “Can’t you see it? That beast of a woman struck me with her shoe! She threw it at me, hitting me right in the face. Another one hit poor Jasmine, and she just can’t stop crying.”
I look at Jasmine, the blonde, and while her eyes are puffy and red from all of the crying, it isn’t clear to me that she has any sort of mark on her face either.
“Why did Emory feel the need to throw her shoes at you to begin with?” I have to ask, though I already know the answer.
“Because she’s a horrid bitch!” Opal proclaims, turning in her chair to completely face me now. “She’s a monster! We were just walking by, minding our own business, and she leaped up and started taunting us, telling us she was a werewolf, and she was going to rip our throats out.”
I know every word that is coming out of her mouth is a lie, but I am too intrigued to stop her.
“So then, Lex reminds her that it’s against your rules for her to shift, but that doesn’t seem to matter to her. She says, ‘I don’t give a fuck what that asshole King Kane says. I’m a wolf, and I’ll show you my claws!’ So she leaps up off of the bench, but for some stupid reason, she just throws her shoes at us and takes off running in her human form.”
I survey the room and see that her three friends are nodding. Jacob looks confused, and Lex still looks uninterested.
“Well, naturally, I wasn’t going to let her get away with tossing her shoes at me, so I grabbed them up and went after her to give her a piece of my mind, but all of us took off at the same time and tumbled into a big pile on the sidewalk, so by the time we caught her, Rainer just happened to be coming out the door, and he assumed we were the bad guys.” She glares at my friend. “But that is obviously not the case.”
When she is done, Opal drags her fingernails along the sleeve of her dress and resumes her window staring, obviously just assuming that I will accept her story as the truth.
Looking to the others, I ask, “Is that what happened?”
Immediately, the three girls say, “Yes, that’s exactly what happened,” or some variation thereof.
I look at Jacob. He says, “I don’t have a very good memory, but I trust my sister to fill in the details. I do remember her sitting on the bench, yelling at us, throwing her shoes, and running.”
“And she did this without being provoked by any of you?” I clarify.
Jacob’s face splits into a wide grin, and he snickers at me. “Not that I recall.”
I have nothing more to say to the lying asshole. I turn to look at my brother, and I know that expression on his face. He’s not intending to tell me anything right now, not in front of the others. He may have fooled Emory into thinking that he was on her side, but Lex never does anything without an ulterior motive.
All I can say is, “I don’t believe you.”
“Seriously?” Opal whines, slamming her fists down onto the chair next to her legs. “Of course, you will take her side! What is she to you? Some sort of a pet now? Is she a stray you’ve taken in? A little poodle?”
With every question her tone becomes more and more annoying until I finally have to tell her, “Opal, that’s enough!” She is seething as her narrow eyes pierce through my skin. “I saw the way half of you acted at dinner last night, the three of you that were invited.” I know my comment is a slam to the three women on the couch, but I don’t care. “And I know how unbelievably cruel you can be. Why would I believe that you would just pass by her without making a single remark when the possibility of ganging up on her and attacking her presented itself?”
Opal opens her mouth and closes it before she begins to fake cry. No tears are running down her cheeks as she says, “You never believe me! I bet you have already taken her into your bed, and you insist that we wait until we are married!”
“I don’t believe who I sleep with is any of your concern, Opal, as we’ve discussed in our premarital agreement. Otherwise, I would need to be taking stock of everyone you’ve spread your legs for recently.” I fight the urge to look at my brother, but I have a feeling he would give himself away if I did. I don’t want to know. “The bottom line is that I have given an order that the girl, Emory Moonraker, is not to be harmed in anyway. That means no assaulting, teasing, bullying, etc. Do not touch her, do not pretend to touch her, do not think about touching her, and if you see her, do not speak to her. Do you all understand me? My motivation is none of your fucking business!”
“Fine!” Opal stands up in protest, flipping her skirts around wildly. “Is there anything else?”
“No, you may go.” I am calm again, and as she files out, muttering under her breath that it’s not fair that she got in trouble for something that “awful bitch” started, I am rethinking most aspects of my life.
My brother waits until the others are gone, and I stop him.
Lex looks at me with mirth in his eyes as he asks, “Yes, my King?”
I clear my throat and give the others a chance to get away from the open door so that perhaps he’ll be more inclined to tell me the truth. “Emory is under the impression that you may have done something to help her out during this… attack.”
“Oh?” he asks. “That’s… interesting.” I see a twinkle in his eyes and know that Emory is not mistaken after all.
“Listen, brother,” I say, choosing my words carefully. “I know that the only person whose interests are important to you is you. So… whatever motivation you have for assisting Emory, know that I am watching you.”
Lex rests a hand against his chest. “Brother! How could you? Am I completely heartless?”
I choose not to answer that. Instead, I say, “You and I both know they won’t stop. If anything, this will just add more fuel to the flames. So… if you protect her, I will repay you.”
“Why can’t you just protect her yourself?” he asks me.
I shake my head. “I will do my best to keep her safe, but Opal and Jacob trust you. For some reason, they think you like them. Why, just yesterday, you were calling her every name in the book. Now, here you are, all buddy buddy again.”
He shrugs. “I need to have something to do around here.”
“Yes, well, if something else happens, please step in. I will make it worth your while.”
“Oh?” he asks. “How so? Half your kingdom for a wolf?”
I snicker. “No. But… I haven’t forgotten that you have your eye on Chateau de Rouge, that castle of father’s near the ocean.”
“I do love it so, but it’s in disarray.”
With a small shrug, I say, “I’ll fix it for you.”
“Completely?” He can’t believe his ears as he stares at me, his mouth left hanging agape.
“That’s right. But if anything happens to her on your watch… I’ll ship you off to Hell’s Eaves in five seconds flat.”
He shakes his head at me. “All right, dear brother. We have a deal. I’ll keep your new pet wolf safe, and you fix up that house I love.” He offers his hand, and I shake it before he walks out with a grin on his face.
“What are you doing?” Rainer asks. “You know he’s likely to start a problem for Emory now just so he can pretend to solve it.”
Shaking my head, I say, “I don’t think so. He’s too smart for that. And not brave enough.” Rainer heads toward the door, unconvinced, and I tell him, “Besides, you’ll be watching her, too.”
“That I will be,” he agrees. “That I will be.”
I try not to acknowledge the pangs of jealousy coursing through my middle.