A Lady of the Realm (16 page)

“Thought my appointment was for this time. By and by, you weren’t about to hurt my allodial were you?” Sasha asked casually.

The one named Derek stood still. The shifter was angry. They stared at each other for a couple of tense seconds, and Derek backed off.

“Lord Malachi … until we meet again. Lord Alek,” he said curtly to Sasha and stepped out the door.

Sasha knelt down over me, brushing my hair from my face. He shook his head slightly as he huffed out something under his breath.

“Help me up, please,” I asked as I extended my hand.

I was up and stretching my arms out painfully in a matter of seconds. It’s a good thing that I was healing faster these days. Malachi poured a round of drinks from a crystal decanter. Sasha drank his in one motion and poured himself another. He didn’t bother saying anything. Malachi resumed speaking as if there hadn’t been a very pissed shifter in the room who had tried to take a chunk out of me.

“What were you saying, duckie, before you were interrupted?” Taking a deep breath for fortification, I took one quick look at Sasha and then focused entirely on Malachi.

“I want to go to the convention. You can get me in can’t you?” Malachi looked at Sasha before answering.

“Yes, I can.”

I sighed in relief. Malachi. He was from the First Ruling House. It was a comment Peaches had made when she first met him. I had confirmed his position in the hierarchy weeks ago. Malachi had broken from his family, forming his own House, but his mother was the leading chair at Court. Sasha didn’t know I knew this, until now. I relaxed; the first hurdle was taken care of. Now it was only getting him to agree.

“Good, will you arrange it for me?”

Sasha’s lips twitched in mirth, yet he didn’t say anything.

“So you can make it all official?” Malachi asked for clarification.

“Yes,” I said.

He turned towards Sasha who was still looking amused. His lips twitched sporadically as he sipped on his drink.

“You owe me fifty,” Malachi said without blinking. Sasha snorted as he poured himself a third drink.

“Sigmund will be thrilled. He called dibs weeks ago,” Sasha said.

“You’ve already claimed her, Sasha; it’s only making it official.” They locked eyes for several seconds before Sasha finished swallowing his drink and slammed the glass down on the desk.

“Pet, what happened last night?” Sasha asked as he stared at me, his violet eyes light.

“An elf by the name of Frederic approached me,” I said as I stared back.

“Frederic came to you. Blimey, old devil is still in the game. I thought Sigmund was shadowing her,
prater
,” Malachi muttered from behind his desk.

Sasha snorted louder as he shook his head. Turning to Malachi, he waved his hands impatiently.

“I’ll be busy for the next few days. Keep her out of mischief, Malachi.” He ran his hands through his hair and turned towards me.

“I swear Bethany; you’ll be the death of me.”

With those parting words, he popped out of the office leaving me with an amused fairy.

“I hope you know what you’re getting into, Beth.”

Chapter Sixteen
:
Cornered

Three days passed without a word from Sasha. He wouldn’t pick up the phone or return my messages. If he was home, he was forever busy. I expected more from him. We always fought, but we always made up also. He never told me outright to leave him alone so I wasn’t going away. Not until he told me to.

I reached out with my mind to assure myself he was still occupied. This was the only way I could corner him. I walked as quietly as I could up the stairs. Good thing I was able to ditch Sig, my tutor, in the parlor. He was amused with my completely silly human antics.

I reached for the doorknob, turning it swiftly, and bursting through. Sasha was industriously slamming himself into someone and had no thought for anything but his own carnal satisfaction. You’d think he’d be more careful given the fact quite a few people weren’t too happy with him now.

My eyes popped open as I took in his female companion. He must have a thing for Barbie replicas. She was a typical bleach blonde bombshell with costly silicone tits by the looks of their perkiness. She was up against the wall, her arms spread eagle and kept in place by tendrils of blue energy. Her lean suntanned legs were wrapped securely around his sinewy waist.

He’d cut his hair for some reason since the last time we’d spoken. I kinda liked it. It was spiky, currently disheveled and sweaty from his exertion, glimmering in the light streaming in from the skylights in the ceiling. The copper blonde streaks in his hair shone brightly, contrasting off his luminescent skin. His muscles tensed with the exertion of his physical exercise. He gleamed hard and edgy. Yum.

“Get her out of here,” I said.

Sasha tensed at the sound of my voice, and his head fell upon the woman’s chest. Blondie looked up and gazed towards me in a pleasure-filled haze until she realized that she wasn’t the only woman in the room. She began struggling in Sasha’s arms while I smiled. This was the best entertainment I’d had in weeks.

“Who the fuck are you? Get out.” She screamed as she untangled her legs from around Sasha. He sighed and the tendrils of energy, which held her up, vanished. That made her more upset.

“What are you doing? Who the hell is she?” She was demanding, but he didn’t deign to answer.

I strolled over to the bar, silently opening the fridge to grab a drink enjoying the fact I interrupted Sasha at such a crucial moment. I smiled when I saw the chilled bottle of Grey Goose. Grabbing it in one hand, I plopped on a stool to watch him work his magic.

Sasha grasped the girl’s hands in his, keeping them still in front of her. His voice became soft, and she immediately quieted down.

“Annabelle, it’s time for you to go home now, dear. My best friend, Bethany, just dropped in on me, and we have a lot of catching up to do. You’re not upset. You have a lot of homework to finish, and your boyfriend is expecting you at five for a date.” Sasha said in a singsong cadence.

Mesmerizing humans just didn’t seem fair. Blondie’s eyes had glazed over, and she nodded jerkily. She continued her jerky nods as Sasha led her to the bathroom and presumably helped her with her clothes. When he brought her back out, she passed by without acknowledging anything. Sasha opened the door for her, and she was gone. He stood with his back to me for a full minute before turning around.

“Bethany, where’s Sigmund?” he asked politely, arching his brow in that familiar way of his.

I took a sip from my bottle, savoring the recognizable tension that was always present between us. It hummed pleasantly, warming me from my core and radiating out. I placed the bottle down and brought my eyes to meet his. The tension increased with the action.

“What did
I
do wrong?” Okay maybe that didn’t come out as blasé as I wanted it too.

He tilted his head a fraction before answering, his voice neutral. “You did nothing.”

“That’s why you won’t answer the phone, call me back, or even see me?”

He sighed heavily coming towards me as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.

I tensed. “Get some damn clothes on you freak. No one wants to see your junk hanging about,” I said before he could get any closer.

It was an outright lie. His nakedness was making my pulse race uncontrollably. My mind whirled with visions of me clinging to his strong, chiseled body. My fingers itched with the need to trace the scars across his chest. My mouth watered at the idea of licking his neck, kissing his full lips. I could smell the lust emanating from my body. I could withstand his aphrodisiac smell, but it hurt. It hurt like hell.

He stopped, grinned, turned around and headed towards the bathroom where I heard the shower come on. He knew, it was impossible to miss, how much I wanted him. I wanted his body at least. If he wasn’t so unpredictable, I’d sleep with him to assuage my need. I passed away the time doodling on the margins of the Times Picayune.

He popped before me in the blink of an eye clad in a pair of stone washed jeans and a Hard Rock t-shirt. Placing a tendril of my wayward hair behind my ear, he grabbed a stool with his free hand.

“I’ve been busy,” he whispered as he stared into my eyes.

“That’s a crock. Malachi’s just as busy, and he manages talk to me every day,” I said.

“You must trust me,” he said quietly.

“So you keep reminding me,” I said. I didn’t scream. Screaming was ineffective with him.

He let his hand fall on the counter.

“I apologized for the incident in Lafitte. I promised to help you, and I intended to keep the promise. You didn’t give me a chance to fulfill my end of the bargain. If you don’t get your way when you demand, you become irrational,” he said.

“I didn’t come here to start a fight.”

His words hurt more than they should. I did say I forgave him for the Lafitte incident. It wasn’t fair to bring it up and throw it in his face. As to the accusation of me wanting everything my way, I had no defense. I couldn’t refute it. It had to be my way.

He stood and began pacing about the room. First to the windows, then to me, and back to the windows, back to me; the mood in the air changing with his pacing from hope to trepidation with each revolution. He finally stopped in front of me clasping his hands formally as he bowed low in order to meet me eye to eye.

“What do you want from me?” he asked with a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“What kind of question is that,” I said cautiously.

How could I tell him what I wanted? I didn’t trust him enough to tell him what I really wanted. I might be witch, but I still had some feelings.

“One only you could answer.”

“I don’t want anything from
you
,” I said.

He eyed me seriously, his eyes darkening.

“I believe this is the first time you’ve lied to me,” he said. There was such fury emanating from him that I shut my walls down against the savage onslaught.

“Fine, I want to talk about the convention.”

His mood lightened instantly. “What can I do for you?”

I looked into his eyes gathering my nerve before I chickened out. “Why can’t I come with you on the trip?”

He shrugged his shoulders carelessly. “I’ve to travel first for preparations since I gain control of Region Two this year. You need to arrive as late as possible, and Malachi isn't needed early; you’ll get there two or three days later. It’ll give me time to arrange your quarters for you,” he said matter-of-factly. I wasn’t pacified.

“I’m tired of all those people you’ve arranged to follow me around night and day. I’d rather be with you, you know, at least I can tolerate you for the most part.”

For the last three days, since Derek the shapeshifter had attacked me at Malachi’s office, I had a retinue of bodyguards underfoot. I didn’t mind Caleb, Sasha’s vamp butler. He was cool and made me laugh, a lot. We watched B-rated horror movies as he made me the best cocktails on this side of the Mason Dixie Line.

Sig was a damn demon. The same shimmer dude that had beheaded Lilith for Sasha. I was under orders not to reveal that bit of information. If that wasn’t creepy enough, his personality added to it. Sig didn’t know how to have a good time.

At about 5’5” in height with light golden blond wavy hair that came to his shoulders, pale crystal blue eyes rimmed in red and alabaster skin with a sprinkle of light freckles, he was simply weird. He looked like an angel who dressed for GQ. His only redeeming quality was that he didn’t talk much, unless it was to tell me how much I was fucking up. He was my appointed ‘tutor’ on law matters. Lucky me.

Sasha laughed. “I think that’s a compliment. You’d rather be with me than enjoy Caleb’s drinks?” He chortled clearly having a good time at my expense.

“I actually like Caleb, but Sig…,” I didn’t finish the sentence.

“Demons … not your thing are they, but you’ll need Sigmund so there’s no escaping him. Beth, I must leave early,” he said.

“Then can you cut the bodyguard detail. I’ll stay here with Malachi and won’t leave his sight. I promise, he said he wouldn’t mind.”

I’d spent a lot of time with Malachi the last few days. He was restful and considerate, and I liked him. Plus, Sasha was unavailable.

Sasha smiled. “I’m sure he did,” he said glibly.

I couldn’t tell what he was actually feeling as he gave few cues. His gaze remained on me, and I fervently wished he would agree. I was tired of doing nothing in the company of strangers.

“Pet, I want to be friends. I’ve missed you.” There was no humor in his tone.

I shook my head. “You’re high maintenance, Sasha. I don’t like putting in so much effort for a piece of ass.”

He exhaled and walked away. I resumed my doodling and mantra of patience. He hadn't agreed, but he hadn't disagreed outright so I was optimistic. If it were a definite no, he would’ve told me so by now. He came back with a satchel slung over his shoulder. Dark sunglasses hid his eyes from me as he spoke.

“Hell, pet, have you any idea how difficult you are at times? Meet me halfway.” He vanished as he popped out of the room, hopefully to organize my new schedule.

Chapter Seventeen
:
Drone for your Life

I was back downstairs, in the main library. The staff, namely Caleb, was out for the day. Sig had disappeared, and Sasha had been gone for several hours. I was bored. I opened and closed books randomly not caring or noticing what I was doing.

I dropped a heavy volume on medicinal herbs when the loud rap on the front door started. As far as I knew, most of the boy’s cohorts popped in and out at their whim. I walked to the door straining to hear anything besides the persistent knock, knock, knock that was quickly becoming a pounding. I stepped onto my tiptoes to look through the peephole. It was some guy I’d never seen.

“Are you going to answer the door?”

I jumped and twirled around to find Sig behind me smoking a cigarette. I placed my hands on my hips.