“No!” Derek coughs. Takes a breath. Resets to his usual calm self. I do not believe his acting for a second, and I am getting tired of him thinking he can hide from me. Something is wrong, and I need to know what it is. “They were pretty tame, all things considered,” he says with false nonchalance, “but you should focus on the election instead of paying attention to tabloid writers who don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Well now Ihaveto see what they said about me. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I begin looking up the tabloid, but Derek grabs my phone out of my hands. “Hey!”
He holds my phone over his head, and the man is so tall that I do not even try to reach it. “It’s a bad idea, Peach.”
“Derek Riley, you give me my phone this instant!” Out of the corner of my eye, I see the palace guards step forward to come to my aid, but I hold up a hand to stop them. Derek is being incredibly frustrating, but he is no danger to me.
Unfortunately, I probably should let them intervene because it is clear Derek has no intention of returning my phone. “Will you trust me?” he asks, a hint of desperation in his voice. “No good is going to come from readingHot Scooparticles.”
“I’d like to think I am beyond being affected by that nonsense.”
“It’s not you I’m worried about.” Derek frowns, finally letting his face relax. It seems he was already acting when I first arrived because he looks far more tired now than he did when I walked into the room. He looks positively worn down in a way I have never seen him before.
My stomach twists. With the election to worry about and the proposal from Markham to decide on and a bone-deep need to be close to Elliot whenever possible, I am at my maximum. But something is botheringDerek, and Derek Riley is not the sort of person who lets himself be bothered. If he cannot fix something on his own, he usually knows someone who can fix it for him.
What has frightened him so thoroughly?
“Derek, what is going on?” I whisper.
He swallows and looks at my phone in his hand like it might hold the answers. Or maybe it holds the problem. “I really need to talk to Elliot, Freya.Please.”
Derek was already acting strange, but this is something worse. I haveneverseen my friend like this, not in the seven years we have been friends. “Okay.” I take his hand, waiting until he looks at me before I say, “Whatever this is, I am here for you, Derek. Just as you are always here for all of us. We can fix it.”
“Thanks, Peach, but I don’t think there’s anything to fix. Not yet, anyway.”
“What does that mean?”
Sighing, he squeezes my hand and pulls me in for a tight embrace. “I’ll tell you when I can. I promise.”
I wish Cole were here. Or Liam or Bonnie. Cole has known Derek longer than anyone, and he can always get Derek to let his guard down. Liam is so lovable that it is impossible to keep secrets from him, and Bonnie has spent the most time with Derek because of the relationship they feigned a while back. I thoughtIhad a strong enough relationship with Derek for him to tell me his woes and worries, but apparently I was wrong.
All I can do now is help him as best I can and hope he is just having an off day.
Still holding Derek’s hand, I lead him out into the corridor and toward the family wing, since Elliot has been staying in the room next to mine, and we are both quiet as we walk. That is not unusual for us, but the tension between us is. I dislike it immensely.
When we come across Hex and a woman I do not recognize, I am more than grateful for the momentary reprieve. “Hex!” I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. “You remember Derek, yes?” Thank goodness I encountered the brother who dislikes Derek the least.
Still, Hex’s expression hardens as soon as he makes eye contact with my friend, and he glances at the woman beside him as if calculating how he wants to act around her. “Sure,” he mutters and holds his head high. “I remember he has a hard time bowing to royalty.”
I whack my hand across Derek’s chest right as he starts bending down. “Don’t do that, Derek. Hex, do not be a pain. Derek is a friend.”
“Of yours,” Hex replies.
Did I mix up my brothers and mistake Sander for Hex? I thought Hex liked Derek, at least a little bit. “Derek, I am so sorry. He should not be—”
“I think it’s my fault, Your Highness,” the woman says, dipping her head toward me. “I’m afraid I’ve put your brother in a bad mood.”
Hex grunts in response. “This is Astrid Storme,” he tells me without looking at the woman.
“AgentStorme,” she corrects, snickering at the way Hex is behaving like a petulant child. “RIA.”
Oh, she is an intelligence agent? But she looks so…nice. Sweet. There is a sharpness in her gaze, but if I had not been told, I would never have guessed her occupation. “It is lovely to meet you.”
“I would like to speak to you when you have a free moment, Your Highness,” Agent Storme says. “About what happened in Skalridge. As the palace guards suspected, we’re finding evidence that there were more than two people involved in the attempt on your life, and any details you can give me would be most appreciated.”
“For the record,” Hex says roughly, “I’ve told her everything about that afternoon, but she is refusing to go back to Invem until she talksto everyone involved.” With the way he glares at her, I am certain he has been trying all morning to rid himself of the RIA operative.
I should spare my brother, after all he has done for me these last few weeks. I am not keen to leave Derek with whatever is troubling him, but maybe Elliot will be able to help him where I cannot. Assuming Derek even lets him.
