As for their situation, Layla didn’t like any of it. Dusk was a clear rival for the throne, and Davira was giving him the run-around. Layla wished they’d been able to bring the Adeyemi sisters to heal Dusk in-between Trials, not trusting any members of the court to help her Bound lover. Her only comfort was that Adrian was coming, and contacting the cavalry – getting Reginald and Rhennic involved with all the political clout they held in their own respective clans. As Layla sipped her wine and sat back, still holding Dusk’s hand, she felt a smug satisfaction despite their abduction.
King Markus was going to get a political shitshow unleashed on his ass if he pursued Dusk.
Or if he fucked with the Bind.
“How do we know we can trust anything you say?” Layla asked as she eyeballed Davira, setting down her wine.
“You don’t.” Davira sighed, something about her almost tired from this conversation now. “The proof is in the cordiality you shall receive when you arrive, Dragon Bind. King Markus is not an animal. He is a King, one who rules his people with decisive attention to detail. Those who cross him rue it. But those who are cooperative are often granted many blessings.”
“Tell that to all the Crystal clans around the world missing their Royals.” Layla spoke darkly. “All those clans King Markus has doomed to never flourish, because they don’t have the people they love and need to govern them.”
“Many of which are in attendance at the King’s court as we speak, their talents being put to excellent use.” Davira spoke harshly, giving Layla a severe eyeball. But as Dusk curled his fingers around Layla’s upon the table, pouring a deep rumble of his vicious Dragon into her now through the Bind, Davira suddenly went pale.
Passing a hand over her eyes, she let out a shaky exhalation.
“Please excuse me,” she spoke with a tight voice. “I am feeling the resonance of my King and must go speak with him. Feel free to enjoy his hospitality in one of the sleeping-quarters on the jet, and may I suggest you both dress in something appropriate from the closets. We will arrive in Prague in about an hour, and you will have audience with the King promptly upon landing.”
With that, Davira rose from the table, giving both Dusk and Layla a cordial, albeit frigid nod. Moving with stately grace on her slim black high-heels and not displaying any of her unsteadiness from feeling Dusk’s Dragon earlier, she went towards the front of the jet. Stepping to an area that was clearly an office, she shut the partition.
Glancing at each other, Layla and Dusk rose also.
“Well, that exit was abrupt.” Layla noted.
“Rumors say King Markus can contact his most trusted mind-to-mind over distance, via his resonance. My guess is he told her to shut the fuck up until he speaks with us in person.” Dusk spoke also, glancing at where Davira had gone. Swiping up an unopened bottle of red wine and two fresh glasses from the table, he motioned Layla back to the rear of the plane. They went to one of the opulent suites at the furthermost end of the jet, closing the partition. The bedroom was almost scandalously ornate, reminding Layla of the Red Letter Hotel Paris except everything was done in blue velvet instead of crimson. But crystals were absolutely everywhere, and as Layla settled back on the massive King-sized-plus bed, something about it creeped her out.
As if somehow King Markus could see her and Dusk though all those thousands of facets.
“Can we speak privately here?” Layla asked, glancing around at all the crystals.
“I don’t know.” Dusk frowned, following her gaze as he poured them two glasses of wine and handed one to Layla, setting the bottle aside in a rack on the wall. “I can’t retrieve images or sound from crystals, but I know they do imprint. Computer chips are the modern equivalent. Crystals can store data, but just because I can’t retrieve that kind of information from them doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”
“So there’s a chance King Markus could be listening to us.”
“And watching.” Dusk spoke soberly, sipping his wine. “I really don’t know what he can do, Layla. Everything I’ve ever heard about him is rumor and hearsay, and Davira hasn’t helped my opinion about the things I’ve heard. But Markus and I have never met in person.”
“Never?” Layla blinked.
“I’ve never let him get that close to me.” Dusk responded, his sapphire gaze dark as he leaned back on the blue silk duvet. “Adrian’s met him, in a way – he’s been to the Crystal Palace in disguise, and what he saw of King Markus then wasn’t good. But I’ve stayed away, on purpose. Ever since Adrian’s and my resonance opened in our twenties, I’ve managed my energy like a hawk, Layla. I know King Markus was able to pinpoint me living at the Paris Hotel – he came to the Hotel on a few occasions, asking about me, though I made sure to be halfway around the world when I felt him coming. I’ve not given him a solid reason to summon me to my Trials, careful to burn off all my energy at the Concierge desk, during sex, or dump into crystals in my bedroom at the Hotel. It kept everything under control until I met you.”
“So King Markus probably took you off the threat list when he didn’t sense you being a problem. And heard the same from people at the Hotel.” Layla noted.
“Probably.” Dusk spoke, though there was doubt in his eyes. “A rival who’s fucking his brains out and pissing his energy away all the time living in a fancy bordello never has enough wherewithal to steal a throne. Perhaps King Markus assumed I was only a lover, not a fighter. Until he felt my resonance differently after you and I met. When you Bound me, my energy was suddenly almost impossible to control. And I found I didn’t want to control it anymore.”
“So what do we do when we get to Prague?” Layla asked, smoothing her hand over Dusk’s on the duvet.
“Play his game,” Dusk spoke, pinning Layla with his fierce diamond-sapphire gaze as a dark roll of his Dragon passed through her. “Find out what Markus really wants from me, until ourspecial deliveryarrives and we can face the situation more directly. I thought Markus simply killed Royals that got summoned for their Trials. What Davira asserts, that they’re all still alive and happilyservingMarkus somehow, just rocks my world. We need to see if it’s true.”
“And we need to see if your mother is one of them.” Layla spoke quietly.
“That, too.” A million questions filled Dusk’s eyes as his energy churned through their Bind. But as before, though Layla could feel his power through the Bind, almost all of it was dampened on the jet. As she reflected on that, it suddenly seemed like stepping in front of King Markus was a very bad idea. If he could use crystals to dampen the power of others this much, she didn’t want to even step foot inside his palace. But as an announcement came over the PA system that they would descend into Prague in one hour, Dusk drained his wine and rose. Moving to an ornately gilded walk-in closet, he flipped on a light, illuminating a massive chandelier and row upon row of stunning suits, tuxes, and formal gowns.
“We should get dressed.” He spoke tersely, gazing into all that opulence without his usual gusto for fine things. “No sense arriving before a King looking like desert ruffians.”
“I like you looking like a desert ruffian. It suits you.” Layla spoke as she rose from the bed also, moving to Dusk and corralling him around the waist. His Cuban shirt was filthy with sand-smirch, his dark jeans rubbed with it also, his hiking boots dusty. And yet, he looked sexier than ever, like a diamond in the dirt. Layla was no better, her hair a tousled mess from the past two days, her dress filthy, her sandals chafing her feet. But as she stood there with Dusk, grimy from everything they had been through in the past two days, Layla suddenly saw his eyes light. An amazed smile lifted his lips as he took her in, brushing a hand over her weather-blown curls.
“I like you looking like a desert ruffian, too.” He murmured, his gaze sweetly sexy. “You look so… wild. Untamable. It’s something I love about you, Layla, how fierce you are, just like the desert winds. From the moment I met you, it reminded me of home. I feel home in your arms, no matter where I am.”
“I feel the same.” She spoke softly, reaching up to lace her hands around his neck as she gazed into his incredible sapphire eyes. “I feel that way with both you and Adrian, but it’s different with each of you. He spins me up; you ground me. And I need both to feel safe and at-home in my life.”
