“Seriously. Who told you that?”
“I–” My father swallowed thickly. “I’m not supposed to tell you.”
Wyatt pursed his lips so hard, I knew he was trying not to laugh. How the hell did he think this was funny? My father was stumbling over his words because Skye was being…flirty?!
“Mr. Sombra,” Skye said.
“Alex,” he croaked. “You can call me Alex, Ms. Aria. We’ve met before.”
Skye flashed a smile. “Well, Alex. Whoever gave you that information is a liar. And they should probably be dealt with accordingly.”
Alejandro looked as if his brain stopped working, like having the attention of a pretty young thing like Skye was so overwhelming, he couldn’t possibly react appropriately.
God, I fucking hated him.
“Well, there you have it.” I clapped my hands together, then gave Skye an apologetic look as she jumped. “Anything else? No? Have a good day.”
A shadow pressed the elevator button, and adingsounded before the doors opened.
My father only gave me an indulgent smile while he made no move to leave. He adjusted his tie again before he spoke.
“You know, son,” Alejandro said next, and the shadows began pooling at my feet. “I’m glad you’re here. We can discuss how you’d like to announce Ms. Aria as your Key.”
“I’ll be doing no such thing,” I scoffed. “Ms. Aria does not wish to be announced.”
“Ah, well,” Alejandro gave me a smug grin. More shadows began to seep from the walls, but as usual, his dumbass didn’t notice. “That’ll be a problem. You see, you’ve claimed her publicly, several times.” He pulled out his phone, tapping away before he started reading from a list. “Most recently, you identified her to Marion Holmes, Palace Healer, while in Alaska. And you even claimed her once in the islands. I believe she was getting a ticket? To be retested? How could that have happened if she weren’t leaving campus?”
“That was during break,” Aiden said.
My mind whirled, and I wanted to throw myself off the nearest cliff when I realized.
While wrong about the ticket, Alejandro was right about Alaska.
I’d told Marion that Skye was my Key, but I hadn’t expected her toreport it.
But I’d also told that dickhead Stevens that she was my Key, not thinking it would get around.
Fuck.
“Not only that,” Alejandro went on. “But you, my dear, made yourown public claim. When you had yourself moved to this room, did you not?”
“What does that mean?” Skye asked me, ignoring Alejandro. Her silver eyes darted back and forth between me and Wyatt with well-concealed alarm.
“Why, it means youmustbe officially announced. There’s already talk in the islands, news spreads quickly. The Gulf will be delighted to see one of their own is now the Key to a Royal Chain. Have either of you checked the news lately?”
“No, father, the gossip rags are your cup of tea, not mine.” I replied with a sigh.
“They’re your mother’s, as well, if I remember correctly,” Alejandro said. “I wonder what she’ll have to say when she learns this is where you’ve been spending your time, keeping a partially connected Chain from her. The press can be quite ugly, as you know.”
That…was true. But what was he getting at?
“I’m sure you’ve all heard that the King failed to name a successor,” Alejandro went on conversationally.
“Nope,” Skye said, popping theP. Alejandro looked to her, confused. “From the islands, remember? We don’t care.”
Alejandro gave her what I could only assume was a genuine smile after a beat. “Well, the King failed to name a successor. If the courts cannot come to a decision on whether or not the Princess will ascend the throne, then the title will be passed on to her son.”
Skye’s eyes darted toward mine, clearly confused.
