She blinked. And then burst out laughing.
“Goddammit!” I shouted.
Every single button had been pushed, the numbers glowing red.
Like multiple vampire eyes staring at us, fully powered.
Adelie murmured, “Well, you get to see every floor. Reacquaint yourself.”
I slumped back against the wall. And relaxed myself.
I couldn’t make a scene on my first day here. Too many vampires about. Vampires who would be my people if I became queen.
I sighed after we stopped for the sixth time. “Tell me they gave me a room that’s halfway decent. Please.”
“If they didn’t, I’ll give you mine,” she reassured. “The last thing you need to be worrying about is your room. I won’t have that. You have—we have—worked too hard to prepare you for this. Keep your head on straight, and you’ll be fine.”
Easier said than done. But I would give it my all.
Finally, when we entered my room first, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was a full apartment. Separate rooms for entertaining—personal and business.
“See?” Adelie stated with a smile on her face. “This is nice.”
“It is,” I conceded. I dropped my bags and luggage onto the plush carpeting. “I can do this, Adelie. I can. I know it.”
That crown would be mine. My throne. My people.
I would be queen.
CHAPTERSIX
~ GWYNNORE ~
I stuck my head out my door and glanced left and right. No one was in sight…not even my best friend.Perfect.I slipped outside my room, done unpacking my many new belongings. I had one person I wanted to see in this rock castle. I just needed to figure out how to find him without alerting anyone else I was looking for him.
I walked with purpose down hallways.
This was the royal section of the castle.
That much I remembered.
Oddly enough, I didn’t have to look long.
I stopped dead in my tracks at a small alcove carved into the rock. The man I was searching for was sitting on a curved bench cut into the mountain. A plush, crimson cushion rested on top of the bench for comfort. And the bench was made for two people, enough room for me to sit down next to him.
The overlord didn’t look up from his book as I walked forward with hesitant steps—even though he damn well knew I was staring at the top of his head. His red hair had grown since I last saw him over two hundred years ago. His locks were unruly around his lowered rugged face— too damn good looking for his own good. I knew a spattering of freckles dotted his nose and the curve of his cheeks.
My last lover. Who had left me for the crown.
I sat down silently next to him.
Only then, did he place his book on his lap and stop reading. He waited silently, neither one of us looking at one another. We both sat face forward with our hands in our laps, quiet in our own thoughts.
Eventually, I stated softly, “You saved a spot for me.”
He hummed under his breath. “I knew you would come. We left a lot unsaid.”
I fidgeted with my fingers in my lap and peered down to them, picking at my fingernails. “I only have one question I want answered by you, Lord Pippin.”
