Sloane cleared her throat loudly. “Okay, so. Caelan. Australia. What brings you to Lysmont specifically?”
Caelan turned to Sloane, and I took the opportunity to gulp more wine. My hand was still shaking slightly. I set the glass down before anyone noticed.
“Traveling,” he said smoothly. “My sister and I are exploring the country.”
“Backpacking?” Margo asked, her spider senses clearly tingling. “You don’t look like backpackers.”
She had a point. He looked like he stepped out of a luxury travel magazine. The kind where people drink champagne on yachts and wear cashmere while hiking.
“We prefer comfortable travel.”
“Rich backpacking,” Jade translated. “Bougie wandering. I get it.”
“Where are you from originally?” Sloane pressed.
“A small country. Remote. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”
“Try us,” Sloane said. Her tone suggested she would google whatever he said immediately and call out any inconsistencies.
Thessa jumped in. “It’s called Dusk…Land. Tiny little place in Europe, very isolated. It’s only been a country for a few years so there’s almost nothing about it on the internet. We prefer…Solitude. And secrecy.”
That was odd.
“Duskland,” Margo repeated flatly. “That’s not a real country.”
“It’s very small. More of a principality.TerribleWi-Fi. Basically medieval. We still use carrier pigeons for important messages.”
“Thessa,” Caelan said, his voice strained.
“What? I’m adding color.”
I watched Caelan’s expression flicker, somewhere between grateful for the save and pained at the terrible lie. He caught me watching, and amusement passed between us. A shared moment. I bit my lip to keep from smiling.
I didn’t know where the hell he was from, but what did I care? It wasn’t as if there was a country awful enough to grant you enemies wherever you went…Though I could think ofone…
“So what do you do in Duskland?” Jade asked, interrupting my thoughts and clearly buying the story entirely. “For work, I mean.”
“I’m in management,” Caelan said carefully. “Family business.”
“What kind of business?”
“Real estate. Land. We have significant holdings.”
“He’s rich,” Thessa stage-whispered to Jade. “Don’t tell him I said that. It goes to his head.”
“Thessa,” Caelan said, his voice carrying a warning.
“What? It’s true. Our family has land going back centuries. He’s basically royalty. There’s a crown involved. It’s a whole thing.”
“There is no crown, andweare rich, not just me.”
“There’s definitely a crown. I’ve seen it. Ceremonial crowns are still crowns, Ky. And you’re richer than me, because of…You know.”
Margo was watching this exchange with narrowed eyes, probably mentally drafting subpoenas. Sloane looked like shewas cataloging every word for later analysis, her phone suspiciously close to her hand. Even Jade seemed intrigued, leaning forward with her chin in her hand. The twins were whispering to each other, and Patricia was giving Caelan an approving once-over that made Ellen elbow her.
Marcus just looked like he wished he’d brought popcorn. Gossipy little man.
“So,” Sloane said slowly, “a rich real estate prince from a fake European country shows up at a romance book club in Lysmont. Forgive me for asking, butwhy?”
