Kissed by a Dark Prince (Volume 1) (8 page)

Loren frowned. “How is it you know about things I do not?”

Bleu smiled at last. “The benefits of being able to travel freely to the mortal world whenever the mood strikes me. I think I had relations with a doctor once... or a journalist who was writing about cloning. I cannot remember.”

Loren wasn’t surprised. Whenever the ‘mood’ struck him, Bleu took off for a night to the mortal world to satisfy himself with loose women all too willing to give up their bodies, and their blood. The mood struck Bleu often, at least three or four times in a lunar month.

He was probably the most well-versed in human affairs of all of Loren’s staff, yet he was also the one with the lowest opinion of that species. Perhaps spending so much time in the company of females who slept freely with strangers affected Bleu’s opinion of the species in general.

“I am looking forward to discovering more about the advances in science when I spend time with Olivia at Archangel.” Loren banked left, past the statue of his mother, and pushed the first set of arched dark wooden doors on his right open.

“What?” Bleu reached for him, stopping just short of grabbing his arm, the volume of his voice causing the five males in the library to stop their work and stare at him.

Loren looked across his shoulder at Bleu. “I mean to spend time with Olivia in her world. She needs laboratory equipment in order to do her research.”

“Bring it here. We will build her a laboratory.” Bleu had that look again. The one that Loren had often seen in their four thousand years together. He thought Loren crazy.

“I cannot. I brought this upon her—”

“You will be too vulnerable there,” Bleu interjected, shocking the five males in the room and Loren too.

Bleu had never dared to speak over him before.

They were friends, but Loren was still a prince. The flicker of nerves in Bleu’s purple eyes was apology enough for Loren. He knew his friend meant well, but he couldn’t speak to him in such a way in front of others. He didn’t want to have to punish Bleu for such a thing. He valued what they shared and never wanted the difference in their statuses to come between them. If the council heard of Bleu’s disrespectful behaviour, they would demand Loren punish him.

“Forgive me.” Bleu lowered his head and Loren placed his hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed it to let him know that he forgave him. Bleu lifted his head. “You will be vulnerable there... both to your brother and to an attack from the hunters within that place. You know I cannot allow you to venture there, and neither will the council.”

Loren intended to visit them next. The moment he had agreed to Olivia’s plan and had offered to be her escort, he had known he would need to convince the council of elders to agree to it too. They were not going to be happy with him. He was going to pull rank on them.

“I will speak with them and make them see that my mind is made up on this matter and I will not be swayed.” Loren stepped into the expansive double-height room that served as the library. There were two levels, although the upper floor didn’t cover the entire length of the room. There was an open rectangular space above him with a balcony running around it. White oak bookshelves lined every inch of wall space and elegantly carved stacks filled the area to his left on both floors.

Above the open area, rainbow colours swirled across the sheer crystal roof, softly illuminating the room.

“I still believe you should bring the female here.” Bleu wasn’t going to let this one go, was he?

Loren sighed. “Olivia needs her laboratory to conduct her research and I cannot leave her alone and vulnerable.” He held his hand up to silence Bleu when he went to speak. “And I will not bring her here, where she feels afraid and unsafe, or allow any other to protect her in my stead.”

He turned to face his friend, wishing for all of his kingdom that Bleu would see in his eyes that his mind was truly made up and no one was going to change it.

“I disrupted her life, Bleu. I caused this problem for both of us, and I will deal with it.”

“Your brother is to blame here.” Bleu’s frown returned, turning his eyes cold and dark. “Meaning your brother plans to attack her. I cannot allow you to place yourself in danger—”

“What do you suggest then?” Loren shoved his fingers through his black hair, his frustration mounting and getting the better of him.

He was going in circles with Bleu and he wanted to break the cycle almost as much as he wanted to break his bond to Olivia. His heart whispered that was a lie and he knew it. Loren ignored it and stared at Bleu, his gaze narrowed and demanding the male offer a solution that would stop him from constantly harassing Loren about his plans.

Bleu looked deadly serious. “I will go with you.”

Some of Loren’s frustration faded on hearing those words leave Bleu’s lips. Loren appreciated his friend’s support and his desire to protect him. The council would be more likely to allow him to go to the mortal world to assist the female if Bleu were with him and he would be safer from his brother too.

The only downside Loren could see was that Bleu would be hard to control around people he evidently viewed as a threat to Loren, but even that wasn’t dampening Loren’s spirit. He would be glad to have Bleu with him.

If only to keep Loren in check and stop him from fulfilling a desire that had seized him with both hands several times this day.

He wanted to kiss Olivia.

O
livia wasn’t making any progress at all. Mark stared back at her from behind his large black wooden desk, his grey eyes narrowed, causing crow’s feet to form beside them. She had known him for almost ten years now, and he had been caring towards her, taking her under his wing and giving her so much freedom and opportunity within Archangel. That had all changed the night she had royally messed up and her demon boyfriend had gone on a rampage, attempting to bring down Archangel’s headquarters in London. Since then, Mark had held her at arm’s length and rarely agreed to meet with her. He didn’t even acknowledge her if they passed each other in the hallways or were present in the same meeting.

Mark leaned back in his mahogany leather executive chair, the deep red colour setting off his crisp black suit and almost matching his silk tie. He tunnelled his fingers through his sandy hair, a tell that she knew well. He was having difficulty taking in what she was asking him to do, and even more difficulty bringing himself to find a shred of the trust he had once shown to her.

“Please. You’ve read my report on the specimen that the team brought in.” Olivia leaned over the black desk, planting her palms on the surface. She struggled to keep her voice smooth and level, hiding her mounting hurt and frustration from Mark. “He’s a rare fae and when I spoke to him about how I would like to have the opportunity to study him, he offered to come in and willingly subject himself to it. All I’m asking is that you call a meeting with the higher ups and we can come to some agreement about this opportunity and they can issue an order to the hunters stating that he’s not to be touched.”

Mark steepled his fingers in front of himself and frowned at her. “Your report about the male intrigued me, Olivia, and I agree this appears to be a good opportunity, but I don’t need to remind you that having living fae or demons in the building as guests is not allowed.”

He really didn’t need to remind her. He didn’t need to remind her on the rare occasions he did speak to her, but that didn’t stop him. He was still punishing her for her mistake.

“Mark... please? I know the risks and I’ll take full responsibility for him. He isn’t a threat to us. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to record data and study a species hitherto unknown to us.” Olivia dug her fingertips into his desk, her patience slipping.

He dropped his gaze to his laptop and tapped a few keys. “You know that you can’t judge whether he is a threat or not. What you’re asking for is a leap of faith, Olivia. I’m not sure my superiors will agree to it. Not after last time.”

Her shoulders sagged and her hope deflated. If Mark couldn’t get her clearance to work with Loren in her laboratory, perhaps she could go to the prince’s castle and work with him there. He had teleported her there. Could he teleport the equipment she would need too or was his ability limited to living objects within specific parameters?

“I’ll call the meeting... but on one condition.”

Olivia jerked back to the room and stared at Mark through wide eyes. “Name it.”

“You work in a team and you have armed escorts at all times.”

Loren would never go for that. Neither would she. If she had a team working with her on this, they would ask questions about what she was doing and how was she meant to explain that Loren had accidentally bound them and they were really looking for an out clause?

Never mind the fact that they would realise what Loren was. If they realised he was an elf, and a prince of that species, they would kick her off the team and hand it over to those still in Archangel’s good book.

She was damned if she would let someone steal Loren away from her.

Olivia didn’t want to consider how that sounded. She was talking professionally, not romantically. Never romantically.

“We’ll convene in meeting room three in fifteen minutes. I suggest you prepare.” Mark’s tone made it painfully clear that he knew her thoughts and also believed that their superiors would try to hand this over to someone more worthy of the opportunity to study a new species of fae. If she didn’t make a good case, she would be off the team.

Her only choice then would be to have Loren kidnap her again.

If she went back to his castle, separated from her world and everything here that kept her grounded, it would only be a matter of time before she gave up the fight against the sparks that exploded along her nerve endings and heated her blood whenever she was in Loren’s presence.

Olivia straightened and curled her fingers into fists. That wasn’t going to happen. She would find a way to make her case watertight so Archangel couldn’t remove her from the team or make this about a team at all.

“Thank you.” She picked up the scattered papers of her report from his desk and swiftly left the roomy cream office, heading along the pale corridor to the elevators.

She pressed the call button. She would start with her report and her findings, and then she would state her case, embellishing a few things. If she said that Loren had agreed to the tests on the basis that only she would be involved, and they would be left in peace during them, would her bosses go for that? She wasn’t a great liar, but she was sure that Loren had only agreed to come to Archangel and work with her because he thought they would be working alone.

He wouldn’t want others at the facility finding out what he was. He had taken his people away from the mortal world to protect them. If Archangel discovered that elves not only existed but lived in a whole different realm, accessed via teleportation, they would want to go there and investigate it.

Olivia knew that for a fact because it was what she wanted to do.

She headed down to the next floor, found the meeting room and set herself up at one end of the long oval beech table. She opened the folder and spread her report out in front of her, scanning over Loren’s vitals and the transcription of her voice recording. She could do this.

No sooner had she thought that than the doors opposite her opened and several senior staff members filed in, together with four hunters, one of which was Sable, and some of the top medical staff. Mark was the last to enter. He took the seat at the other end of the table.

Olivia glanced at Sable. It was nice to have a friendly face amongst a sea of scowling ones. No one looked happy to be here and Olivia changed her mind.

She couldn’t do this.

All three grey-haired men on her left, the senior members of Archangel based in this facility, looked as though they had already made up their mind about her request and she was going to be off the team. Two male doctors in white coats sat opposite them to her right, a smug look on their faces. They knew the deal. Let her speak, indulge her, and then watch as her superiors crushed her hope and gave the fae to them.

They had probably all scanned her report in the last few minutes, taken a look at her findings, and then her request, and thought she had gone crazy to even think about asking to lead the study.

Olivia’s hands shook as she shifted her papers around and then sharply raised her head and threw herself onto the tracks of the last train for La-La-Land.

It took her less than fifteen minutes to outline her findings and field some very personal questions that she definitely hadn’t anticipated, and a few disdainful remarks, and then all Olivia could do was try to prove that she hadn’t gone insane and that she believed that the test subject wasn’t out to blow up the building.

One of the doctor’s made a very snide comment about it being a male specimen and her report about his body. Olivia’s blood boiled and she pressed her hands against the desk, fighting to keep her anger below their radars. The chatter amongst the hunters, her superiors, and the doctors verged on an argument.

“What she’s suggesting is crazy. A healthy fae male of unknown origin cannot have free run of the facility. At the very least, he should be contained during the study.” The oldest male hunter’s brown eyes had a twinkle in them that looked a touch sadistic to Olivia.

“The male in question will not subject himself to containment. You’re talking about forcibly restraining him. Doing such a thing to a guest of Archangel is not going to help us improve our image.” Olivia’s words fell on deaf ears as the doctor who had remarked on her relationship with a demon spoke over her.

“Of course we would contain the specimen. He should have been contained when he had first come into the lab. Then we could have carried out a full study on him, without this debacle.”

Oh, he didn’t. Olivia almost growled. “He is willing to come in and let us study him. Surely you can’t expect him to agree to being strapped down while that happens? I want him here as a guest, not a prisoner. He must be free to come and go.”