The pressure on my hand released. Kayson was unconscious.
Shit. Not entirely according to plan.
Mal closed the comm, blinked slowly and took a step toward me. I was up and checking on Gale and Amok. Didn’t want any fake dead guys springing up to attack me. Never turn your back on an enemy, remember?
I took a step back, keeping my distance. If he touched me right now, I’d crumble like a dry cookie.
His words were like a punch in my gut—or a knife in my heart. “You are, indeed, the highest quality of female I have ever encountered. You saved us today.”
“No. This was a team effort.”
“You are hurt.”
“I’m not.”
“The blood on your lip and cheek would suggest otherwise.” His tone dropped deeper as if the small amount of blood dribbling into my mouth was of great concern. I’d been hurt worse on the elementary school playground.
I wiped the blood away and shrugged. “Seriously. It’s no big deal.”
“Mal?” Geros’s voice came through the comm unit, saving me a longer, more painfully awkward conversation.
“Here.”
Geros’s reply was short and to the point. “Four minutes until the swarm of guards arrive. The royal family has been notified as well. We are expected back at the palace immediately.”
“Kayson requires a ReGen pod,” Mal insisted.
“I told the queen. They are sending a medical transfer unit to pick him up. Best pods on the planet are in the palace.”
The comm went dead. I walked to the cabinet where I’d found the tablet containing the digital images of the queen and princess and lifted the damning device from its resting place in its box. Once again, the movement activated the screen, an image of Princess Allayna in her ReGen pod prominently displayed. I held it up so Mal could see it.
“Here is the evidence of Master Gee’s involvement in the attempt on the princess’s life.”
Mal was watching me. I ignored him, walking toward Master Gee, who had recovered enough to lift his head. He had watched me as I removed the device from its hiding place.
I stood over him. I wanted to crush his balls under my boot, but my feet were bare and I didn’t want to feel the squishy little fuckers withanypart of my body. “We know there is a traitor in the palace. If you tell us who it is, the kings might spare your life.”
He spit a mouthful of blood on the floor and stared at me. No luck. “I’m a dead man already. You won’t get anything out of me.”
12
Smith, Viken United, Four Days Later
We'd been backon Viken United for four days. The royal guards had stormed the room, taken our prisoner and removed the corpses of Gale and Amok. Once that was done, we ransacked the place. Everything Master Gee had in those rooms—except the tablet, which I had handed to Queen Leah myself—were now in boxes that had been taken somewhere to be combed through and inspected. Turned out Gee had another property outside of the city. They'd torn that one apart as well.
So far, Master Gee had not given them any information.
Which should have frustrated me, but hope was ruining everything. The queen didn't want me to leave until the insider at the palace had been caught. Which was fine with me. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. I wanted Geros and Kayson and Mal to be mine for real. Not just this painful charade we were putting on for everyone in the palace.
I'd been so sure I'd be able to play this part without falling in love with them. I’d been so wrong. I wanted to stay with them for the rest of my life.
I should have known better. I had karma to keep me on my toes. It was all I could do to keep myself from crying, because I didn't want to leave, and I didn't want anyone to know how much I was hurting. I couldn't bear the thought of any of them looking at me like I was weak. Or asking me to stay out of pity.
Kayson had healed in three days and we’d all celebrated together with a feast and wine and the little princesses dancing around the room in fancy gowns. Allayna was healed and had no memory of what had happened to her. She was a happy, rambunctious four-year-old with three big daddies that spoiled her rotten.
But it was the little one that had truly stolen my heart. She was quiet but cuddly. She went from one daddy to the next and snuggled into their arms like it was the best place in the world to be.
I’d sipped wine and watched the royal family smile and touch and love one another.
