“I only know what I saw with my own eyes,” she cut him off. “You’re confused, that’s all. Once we’re home and he’s been dealt with, you’ll see that I’m right. This is partly my fault. I should never have agreed to give you until graduation. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t have gotten the chance to—”
“Okay, look, let’s just talk this out,” Zane implored. “Tell the guards to let him go and back off. We can talk about this like rational adults.”
“I don’t think anyone in here is rational, gorgeous,” Pavel couldn’t help but quip, which earned him that searing glare. Which was exactly what he wanted.
He hated when Zane’s attention was given to someone else, even if it was in an effort to save them from a shitty situation.
“Could you please shut up and let me handle this,” Zane growled.
“As you wish.”
“Enough!” Lyra snapped. “Take him away and bring him straight to the ocular cells.”
Oh.
Well, that was going to suck.
“The—” Zane gasped. “You can’t be serious?! That’s for war criminals, Lyra! He’s a member of the Retinue!”
“He’s the scumbag who kidnapped my Royal Consort, actually,” she snidely disagreed.
“I amnotyour Royal Consort!”
“Not yet, but after tonight—”
Zane held up his hand so everyone could get a good look at it. “I’m already married.”
Pavel hadn’t noticed him taking the box off the counter, but the gold ring on Zane’s finger meant that at some point he had.
That was his bashert. Always one step ahead. Always getting under everyone’s skin the way he knew best.
Mercilessly, and without batting an eye.
“It’s too late, Lyra,” Zane continued. “We got married yesterday and all of the proper paperwork has been submitted to the Intergalactic Conference.”
He was buying them time. Obviously none of that was true, but it could take up to seventy-two hours for a marriage license to appear in I.C. databases, which meant there was no way for Lyra to confirm if he was telling the truth or not until then. Two days was more than enough time to get Kelevra involved and them out of her greedy clutches.
“That can’t be.” Her brow furrowed as she stared at the ring as if it had personally offended her. “Say that isn’t true, Zane.”
“I’m sorry,” he so wasn’t, “but I can’t. Let my husband go, Lyra. Let’s not destroy our friendship on top of everything else.”
“Friendship?” She laughed mockingly, the sound cruel even to Pavel’s ears.
“I was trying to be kind. You’ve never really cared about me,” Zane continued. “I was just around and easy. That’s all. When you think about it, this isn’t a loss for you. I’ll move out of the Little Palace, and you can—”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” she disagreed, pulling a blaster from one of her men’s holsters. She turned the gun on Pavel. “You’re only still married if you’re both still alive.”
“Don’t!” Zane shot forward, fighting the three guards now and taking them down with an ease that would have been laughable if not for their situation.
Clearly, Pavel hadn’t been the only one holding himself in a last-ditch attempt to keep the peace.
Pavel reacted as well, tossing the guy on his left forward so he took the bullet when it was fired instead of him, then he twisted around the other one, using him as a shield as Lyra let off round after round, her furious cries ringing in his ears.
He turned as he waited her out, slipping into Zane’s visage with ease, grateful for the matching pajama sets more than ever. The second he heard the empty clicking sound indicating she’d emptied the round, he threw the dead man in his hold forward.
Two other guards blocked it, protecting her, but she still stepped back, giving Zane enough time to slip between her and the kitchen counter and join Pavel.
He cupped Pavel’s cheek and tugged on his arm, scanning him from head to toe, not the least bit put off by the fact they now appeared identical. “Are you all right? Are you injured? Did she hit you anywhere?”
