“This is not exactly what I had in mind,” I griped, speaking to the Overlords sitting inside my office. I cut into my steak with quick jerks of my hands. Squinty glares for all the bastards here. “I had intended this to be a private meal.”
Lord Otto pointed his fork at my closed door. “The entire stronghold is packed with Cleo’s clan, and the staff is busy with them.” He stuffed mashed potatoes into his mouth. “And we were hungry too. No need to make the servants work even harder.”
I sniffed. “We need to hire more staff.”
Lord Xenon lifted a brow at his companions. “I’ve been saying that for years.”
Lord Belshazzar leaned back in his chair and sipped at a glass full of crimson blood. “And the funds will still go toward our army. That discussion is closed.”
Lord Xenon frowned—slightly—but didn’t argue.
How could he when we’d been attacked yesterday?
Guess Lord Xenon and I had something in common.
We liked to be pampered.
I sighed and attempted to ignore them the best I could while I ate. It wasn’t difficult really. We sat in comfortable silence and relished the feast we were partaking of. I was beginning to think most of them had skipped breakfast too.
Apingfrom Lord Pippin’s phone had him removing it from his pocket. He tapped on his phone and began reading. He appeared to be reading it over again and again. The freckles on his nose and cheeks stood out in stark contrast as his face paled, his teeth clenching so hard the muscles showed on his jaw. He muttered under his breath, “Fuck.”
By now, we were all staring at him.
“What’s happened?” Lord Cato questioned.
The door to my office slammed open.
Harmony entered the room, holding her phone up into the air. “I tried to stop it, but they’d put it on too many of our servers. I couldn’t catch them all.”
I laid my napkin on my desk, appraising the woman who I hadn’t seen in four hundred years. “Hello, Harmony. It’s lovely to see you again.”
The small woman waved off my greeting. “You gave me the assistant job too late, your majesty. Ten minutes faster, and I could have handled this with the full force of the Queen’s name backing me.”
This didn’t sound good.
I steepled my hands on my desk. “Talk to me.”
The once human sat on the edge of my desk, staring down at me. She had everyone’s attention. Harmony was a legend, a whisper on the wind. A spy. A soldier. Her services were coveted by all—if you could find her. All wrapped in a mousy appearance. She even wore fucking glasses. Prescription glasses. She needed the damn things to see, which was unheard of in the vampire race—even for those who had been turned into a vampire.
Harmony handed her phone to me. “It’s all over the vampire news by now.” Our news was private from human sight thanks to a spell used on the Original vampire amulet.
As one, the Overlords grabbed their phones and started tapping on their screens, their eyes rapt on their findings.
I took her phone and started reading.
My mouth turned down at the edges, and my hands started to tremble. I whispered, “Oh, my god.”
Lord Pippin stood from his chair and started pacing the room, rubbing his hands through his hair. His face was still pale and only getting whiter. The Overlord’s gaze was narrowed on the floor as he walked back and forth. Back and forth. His feet kept on moving.
It was quiet for long, tense moments as all of us continued to read the articles online. Lots and lots of articles. All on gossip sites and in forums. Plenty of speculative chatter was already starting in the comments.
Lord Cato stood slowly from his chair and placed his phone in his pocket. He turned and stared at the other man. His voice was quiet. . . Oh, so quiet. “You had a relationship with my daughter?”
Lord Otto snorted, still scrolling and reading on his screen. He mumbled, “For seven years, it looks like. If these are all correct.”
Lord Pippin stopped walking and turned to face my father. His jaw clenched again. He didn’t speak, only glared death daggers at my father.
Lord Cato’s lips curved up at the edges. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Ah. I think you did.” His head tipped to the side. “And you think I’m the reason she’s the Black Widow.”
