“At least being a prince will come in handy for once,” Liam said wryly.
“Quite.”
Liam hesitated for a moment before steeling himself to ask the one question that had been eating away at him for the last week. “How is Agent Archer?”
“Slowly but surely coming to terms with the changes he’s gone through.” Chapman reached out to tap a command into the embedded computer on his desk. A single holoscreen popped up, and Liam’s gaze was riveted by the feed. “I know you’re concerned about the status of your former team, as well as Agent Archer. However, I wanted to assure you that I think he will fit in well with them once he gains control of his photon blast power.”
On the screen, Oliver stood in a windowless training room on a lower-level, talking with a UMG trainer. No sound came through, but from the look on Oliver’s face, he seemed frustrated about something. As Liam watched, Oliver turned to face the target and raised his hands. Energy caused his hands and forearms to glow brightly as his power sparked to existence. It didn’t look smooth, and the hesitancy behind it was something Liam remembered from his own early days after being turned into a metahuman.
“Can I see him?” Liam asked.
“No,” Chapman said. “He still doesn’t have full control. It’s all instinct right now.”
“He wouldn’t hurt me.”
“He wouldn’t mean to, but it can still happen. I’m sorry, but that’s not a risk we’re willing to take.”
Liam stared at Oliver, wishing he could be with the other man. Their last interaction had been a hurried affair in a medical room back at the UMG’s London headquarters after Oliver had woken up from the Splice attack. He’d been frightened and in shock, and Liam had only been given a few minutes to talk with him about what had happened before the transfer protocol had been initiated to bring Oliver here.
It was as much for Oliver’s safety as for everyone else’s. Instinctive control wasn’t the same as conscious control of a power, and that took time to learn. Considering the power Oliver had come away with, Liam knew it was best Oliver had absolute control over his photon blasts before he was allowed company. That didn’t stop Liam from wishing he could be with Oliver.
Chapman cleared his throat. “I understand you have a personal relationship with Agent Archer.”
Liam managed to tear his gaze away from the holoscreen to look at Chapman. “We, ah, grew up together. Went to Eton. His father works for my grandmother.”
“If you choose to continue that relationship, fraternization rules mean you will have no direct supervisory position over the Royal Legion.”
“I thought I wouldn’t be given them to begin with?”
“A final decision hadn’t been made. With Agent Archer’s anticipated future assignment, boundaries must be maintained.”
Liam nodded slowly. “I understand, sir.”
It didn’t mean Oliver was completely out of his life. It would just be months before Liam could see him again—but that was better than never. Even if their only communication would be through calls right now, it was more than Liam had ever believed he’d get when he’d thought Oliver was dying in his arms.
“I asked you here today to give you a general overview of your new position as a deputy chief in the intelligence division. We’re starting you off there for at least a year before transferring you laterally to a different division. I think it’s best for you to experience as much of the agency as possible,” Chapman explained.
Working from the ground up wasn’t new to Liam. He took a quiet breath and resolutely pushed all thoughts of Oliver to the side in order to focus on his future.
22
Hold Me While You Wait
The queen heldher last garden party of the year at the end of August to celebrate mentors in education. Liam had been asked at the last minute to join his grandmother, parents, and Aunt Alexandra for the event. Alexandra’s oldest daughter was pregnant and had refused to use an AI-controlled incubator for her pregnancy, which meant morning sickness was something she couldn’t escape.
Liam hadn’t joined any family functions since transitioning off the field and into a supervisory role at the UMG. His years as an officer helped him adapt, but some days the minutiae of forms, conference calls, and meetings made him long for the rush of being in the field. Taking a break from official duties to conduct royal ones offered him a day to clear his head before the glad-handing started at 1500.
He’d dressed in a morning suit and top hat rather than his uniform. The summer heat was bearable only because of the small biodome that had been erected over Buckingham Palace’s gardens in his great-grandfather’s generation. While it was a bright summer day, the artificial weather inside the biodome meant no one was sweating through their finery.
Garden parties weren’t normally his thing. When he’d been active duty with the SAS and the UMG, his deployment had superseded all royal family functions for the most part. Coming back to them as a part-time working royal was a little jarring. The constant smiling hurt his face, he’d lost count of the number of hands he’d shaken, and he’d never been a fan of small talk.
Despite the small annoyances, Liam wasn’t about to disappoint his grandmother. It was three hours of service, and he wasn’t going to shirk that duty, even when it became uncomfortable. Being a metahuman meant sometimes people were hesitant to shake his hand, but protocol managed to smooth things over. Liam was well-versed in putting the public at ease and smiling while doing it, but all that training was no help to him when he rounded a garden path and spotted a familiar figure standing off to the side on the grass up ahead.
Liam nearly tripped over his own two feet, heart crawling up his throat as he stared at Oliver. The other man wasn’t part of any group, and Liam didn’t see any sign of a UMG handler. Not that he was looking very hard—he really only had eyes for Oliver.
For nearly three months, Oliver had only been a voice in his ear and a face on a holoscreen. Seeing him here now was a punch to the gut that left Liam breathless.
Liam took a second to mentally gather his wits before approaching Oliver, because guests weren’t allowed to approach the royal family on their own. Oliver’s expression never changed, but the look in his eyes was one of uncertainty, though Liam couldn’t understand why. If they weren’t surrounded by the public, he’d kiss Oliver breathless.
