For a moment, I worried I’d pushed too far, even though he’d initiated the kiss. But Wyatt only held my face, his eyes bouncing back and forth between mine.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m scared,” I blurted out.
Wyatt nodded. “Me, too. I’m afraid of what we’re going to find. I’m…I have faith in you, Skye. I know you can protect me, I’m just…”
“I’ll protect you, Wyatt. You won’t be hurt again, not if I’m breathing.”
Wyatt kissed me again, and I practically pouted when he pulled away. “I can’t wait to watch you sass the uptight bitches.”
I snorted, then giggled when Wyatt grinned.
“It’s not easy for me to be rude to people. I’m just some girl from the Gulf, what–”
Wyatt pulled me close, running a hand over my hair as he murmured, “You’re in a Royal Chain now, Skye. You be rude to any-fucking-one you want.”
Chapter 51
Aiden
I swallowed thickly,wishing I could be anywhere-fucking-else but here.
We’d been here for maybe twenty minutes and my mother had made her appearance. Across the room, she sat in a chair that’d been pulled out from a table. She looked like a queen holding court, men and women gathered around her as if she had something interesting to say.
She wore a blue, silk gown, one of her favorites. It matched her massive sapphire jewelry set, another one of her favorites. She even had a matching tiara that she used to wear while getting ready. When I was young, she’d once told me that the tiara was given to her by a Royal, though she never specified who or why. The fact that she never wore it out made me feel like maybe it’d been stolen.
I almost rolled my eyes. So many things from my childhood were making sense to me now that I’d been aroundnormalpeople. Even having lost their parents, Skye and Zephyr were still more normal than anyone else I’d been around while growing up.
Lucille’s dress was like a cheap imitation of Skye’s. I didn’t know how Rafe had known what she’d wear, but he’d really nailed it. Lucille hadn’t seen us, yet, but she was starting to notice the people whisperingand gesturing. The moment she spotted Skye wearing a similar outfit, she’d be storming over to us.
I was currently trying to prepare myself for that moment while also looking over my shoulder constantly, making sure my mother’s favorite henchman Jones wasn’t around. If I saw him, I’d probably start a firestorm like Landon.
Skye went still as a statue beside me, and then a white-hot burst of fiery rage unlike anything I’d ever felt licked down my spine. It was gone a moment later, but I turned in surprise, my eyes wide as I took in my Key, staring at my mother with murder in her eyes.
Skye wanted to set this entire building on fire, with all these people locked inside.
It wasn’t a bad idea, really, but her anger would only add to my fear.
And because Skye was wonderful, she realized that, and quickly relaxed. She squeezed my bicep gently, tugging on me slightly to draw my attention. Some of her perfume wafted to me from her hair, and I breathed it in, feeling more relaxed.
“What do you want to do?” She asked the question as if I were about to tell her to kill Lucille in front of everyone, and she was more than ready to do it.
Actually…Skye was probably the only person in the world who could get away with killing her. Even if people somehow realized it’d been Skye, Rafe would protect us. The Royals could get away with anything.
“Fuck, is that Marion?” I hissed.
Skye turned, following my gaze and then groaning softly.
Sure enough, there was Marion Holmes, the old Healer we’d met in Alaska. She was dressed for a funeral, in a shapeless black dress with some matching black flats. She was speaking to some pompous asshole wearing a white dress shirt with an actual ruffle down the front like a pirate. Marion glanced away from him for just a moment, then froze as she caught sight of me and Skye.
“Here she comes,” Skye said with a grin.
“Yep,” I said, popping theP. Marion politely ended her conversationbefore making her way over to us. I looked for Rafe for exactly two seconds before he stepped out of a shadow near the wall.
Marion came to a stop at the sight of the Prince, then curtsied along with several other women who noticed him. Rafe cringed as Marion rose back up to offer him a polite smile.
“Marion, what a delight.” Rafe said, his tone a little flat.
