Rafe's palm reader buzzed before he could say anything, and when he turned away to take the call, Jordan wrapped his arms around me, his bag hitting the ground at the same time. "Great games today," I said, accepting his kiss. Over his shoulder I noticed that the security had faded away with the reappearance of the princes, and I wondered if they’d be back later.
"I missed it," Jordan said, and my full attention was back on him. "Being out there with my team, playing ball, kicking ass." His face was lit up, eyes brighter than they'd been in a long time. Some of the horror from the extremist camp was fading. He hadn't had a nightmare for two days, so it was looking better all around.
"I kicked ass... you just looked pretty," Nolan said. "And you owe me a thousand bucks. Told you I would manage twenty backflips without getting booted from the field."
Ah, that explained all the weird flips he’d been doing whenever he had a spare moment. Jordan just laughed, lifting his palm reader to hit a few buttons before he slammed it against Nolan's.
Their money switched hands just like that, and I blinked at having so much cash you could make thousand dollar bets and not blink an eye.
Yeah, I was so batting outside my league with these guys.
"Next time I'll find something you're not willing to do," the New America prince said. "Just wait."
Nolan looked positively gleeful at the very prospect.
Rafe returned then, and my attention was all on him. His face gave nothing away, but then again, I never expected it to.
"Felipe?" Jordan asked, and I wondered what made him guess that. Were they expecting a call for some reason?
Rafe nodded. "Yep. Everything has gone ahead for the meeting of the monarchs. It's going to be a one-day event, the Society will present their proposal, and then they will go from there. Monarchs can debate and discuss, then vote."
"When?" Nolan asked, just as his palm reader buzzed. Mattie's did the same, along with Jordan's.
All of them lifted their palm readers.
"Tuesday," Rafe said while the others checked their messages. "It's to be held in the Cayman Islands, since they're still outside of monarchy rule. It's top secret, royals and high-up resistance members only. The vote is for the royals, though; resistance is just there to lay out their plans for a better world."
"We got the invite," Nolan said, speaking for his twin as well.
"Me too," Jordan added.
"We're going to have to leave first thing tomorrow morning if we want to get there before the vote," Rafe said, typing something into his palm reader. "They've not given us much time to get organized. The rule states that if a royal does not show, their vote automatically goes to the majority. So best to be there."
Felipe was probably hoping that some wouldn't make it, hence the short notice. Only helped if the majority present went the way we wanted the vote to go, though. Personally, I was just happy that early next week this would all be over. If the people's courts were introduced, and I really fucking hoped they were, then Uriel would have lost his power. A resistance was useless if there was nothing to resist against.
We were heading for a brighter future, I just knew it.
"Please tell me we're all taking Rafe's plane," Mattie said with a sigh. "You have the best face masks, the water is so fresh, and I really love your staff."
Rafe looked amused. "Yes, my plane is ready and waiting."
"Your parents’ plane," I said, refusing to think I was dating someone that owned their own plane. Yeah, nope. Not going there.
Rafe laughed this time. "Sure, Violence. Whatever you need to believe."
Great, that was settled.
First thing though, I had to speak to Alex. The Australasian prince—uh, king—hadn't been at the game today, and with a bit of luck, had decided not to show up at all. Then again, this was Alex… I doubted he’d just changed his mind. He’d probably been there somewhere, watching from the shadows and rubbing his hands together like an evil, storybook villain.
Why was he even back, though? He was the king of Australasia now, and I seriously doubted his kingdom's monarch council was all just, "Oh cool, go back to Arbon and finish your degree; we got this."
Nor would Alex have been okay with immediately handing power over to someone else. Didn't he have a little sister to care for too? She must be so broken, losing both parents so suddenly like that. Or maybe she wasn't, seeing as King Steve had been a deplorable bastard.
God dammit. Now I was feelingbadfor Alex.
I needed to get this chat with him over with, sooner rather than later. And I knew exactly who could help me out.
Chapter 26
