Bishop snorted softly. “I wish.”
I yawned, letting my mind finally relax, too.
King Athon muttered with annoyance, “Princess Trixie is fine. She came in drunk and passed out.”
The King of Gorgons snorted. “I suppose the blanket is moving. She’s breathing under there, at least. I wonder what King Traevon will say about this particular stunt…”
Gratefully, sleep lulled me under in the next moment.
But the King of Gorgons’ voice gave me nightmares.
I hated fucking snakes—especially powerful ones.
* * *
A bony finger tapped the top of my head. “It is time to wake up, Princess Trixie.”
My red brows furrowed while I blinked my eyes open to a red material. I curled my fingers into the blanket at that voice, a tone so deep it was barely recognizable—but I did know it. I pulled the cover down from my head and sucked in a sharp breath, my entire frame tensing.
Owlish brown eyes met mine…only an inch away.
I fluttered my eyelashes, trying to wake up. “Louie?”
“It is I.” Blue Louie smirked, staring down on me. “This is not your death day. It is time to rise.”
Quite right. I had almost died.Almost.
“That is good to know.” I squirmed to the side, attempting to move out from underneath his overlarge green head. “Is everyone here?”
“They are,” Gold Louie chirped in his high, childlike voice, standing directly next to the couch—blocking me in. “Well, except King Traevon.”
“The red man will be arriving shortly.” Red Louie tipped his head back and laughed with gusto. He sat on the arm of the couch near my feet, swinging his spindly legs back and forth in the air in his hilarity. “And my, my. He truly isred.”
Black Louie stood next to him, staring at nothing.
“Oh my Fae,” Queen Alora muttered in her shrill tone. “He is always an ass when his soul mate is in heat.”
I cleared my throat loudly and maneuvered myself between four gremlins to stand up straight. I breathed a sigh of relief that my body didn’t fall over as all of my limbs seemed to be working as they should. I started folding the blanket while I stared daggers at the merfolk queen. “I beg your pardon, Your Royal Highness?”
Queen Alora smirked. The sparkles in her solid blue eyes danced in mirth. “I am sure that you know that I did not lie.”
“King Traevon handles the heat better than most.” I tossed the blanket on the couch behind me and lifted my chin into the air. “And I’m sure that you know that I did not lie, either.”
She quirked one eyebrow up, wordlessly mocking.
I raised both of my eyebrows. “Precisely so. You have nothing to say.” I strolled with decorum to a chair within their circle and sat down primly, folding my hands in my lap and crossing my ankles to tuck my feet back. “My apologies to you all for falling asleep while I recovered from too much wine. I may have overdone it a little during the festivity.”
All four Misfits followed at a slower pace, deciding to sit on the edge of the rounded table—the table absent of dishes—between all of us. I believed they were trying to look debonair with tiny, black cravats around their thin necks, apparently for tonight’s celebration, the items mismatched with their usual tattered attire.
Gold Louie pulled on his cravat, looking vastly annoyed.
“You are fast recovered,” King Elon hissed, his green eyes hard on mine, the red vertical slit narrowing.
“I’m made from fine stock.” I nodded once. I answered with truth. “And I have been known to recover fast while I lived in Sugar Cove.” My lips trembled slightly at a memory. “I enjoyed my…vacation…to the fullest.”
King Elon’s nose crinkled. “So you are a boozer heir?”
“Not at all, Your Royal Highness. But I can handle my own well enough.”
