The Pearl Heartstone (9 page)

Her temperature was more normal. It was over. Thank goodness. He needed to get away from her. To think. Right now, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. The feel of her. The smell of her. It was all swirling around him, stealing his focus. Turning him into something he didn’t recognize.

He needed to figure this out. Figure out what she’d done to him. When had she become so important? Things were changing so fast he didn’t know what to make of it. What to make of her.

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Ally awoke to an extremely dry mouth and sore body. She didn’t remember much. A quick look around the room told her that she was alone. She lifted her head and then let it fall back onto the bed. Damn. Her head felt as if it weighed a ton.

There was a knock at the door, and before she could say come in, it opened. If it was another giant rat, or assassin, she was dead.

“So it’s true you did suffer from devilmite fever. Nasty stuff.” Fi’on strode into the room and over to a corner seat. “Don’t know why I didn’t think that they would try something like this. Whoever it is has a lot of access to the palace and royal family.”

“Maybe we should figure out who it is before they try again.” Ally sucked in her breath and sat up in bed. Her vision swam before her eyes, but she refused to show any weakness in front of Fi’on.

There was another knock at the door. The sound made Ally jump and whirl her head toward the sound. Pain stabbed at her eyes.

“The water bearers. I figured you might like a bath.” Fi’on tried to smile at her, but it looked more like a sneer. It would be funny if every muscle in Ally’s body wasn’t screaming at her.

“Thanks.” How the hell she was going to walk over to the tub was

a mystery to her. She wasn’t about to ask for help. That was for damn sure. The water bearers quickly filled the tub then left. Ally bit down on her bottom lip and slowly made her way to the tub. It was by no means elegant or graceful, but she’d done it under her own power.

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“Damn, you are stubborn.” Fi’on laughed.

“Do you mind standing by the door?” Ally smiled as she sank down in the heated water. It felt as if her entire body sighed as she relaxed into the tub. The fact that this was how the first attack happened, and the news of the second attack had no doubt already made it through the palace gossip mills, wasn’t lost on her. She wasn’t taking chances she didn’t need to.

“We need to find this guy quick because the second attack could have taken both you and the prince out. Whoever it is has become truly desperate. The moment you start to breed, they will lose everything.”

Fi’on leaned against the wall. “And with that fool of a doctor bragging that fucking is as good a cure as fighting, I am guessing that the next attack will be the last. They have to know that after the last three days, chances are almost one hundred percent that you are pregnant. But if they kill you before the prince announces it formally, they could still win.”

“Wait a minute. Did you say three days?” Ally shook her head and

sat up in the tub. “I’ve been out of it for three days? And what do you mean fucking?”

“Yeah. Prince Jorel has been with you for every minute of the last seventy‐two hours. He just left with strict instructions that besides the water bearers, I am the only one allowed in this room.” Fi’on shook her head as she repeated the command.

“He’s been with me the entire time? And I am still waiting for you to explain what you mean by fucking.”

“Devilmites are not only vicious animals, they are also poisonous.

If their blood enters your system, it’s a fast moving poison. It is said that only the adrenaline from fighting will combat it. But it seems that it rendered you unconscious, so the only way to save you was for the prince to screw you into several adrenaline‐inducing orgasms.” Fi’on didn’t even bat an eyelash at the words, but Ally was suddenly extremely embarrassed.

“So the whole palace knows about the devilmite?” Ally told herself it didn’t matter. They wanted the Prince to get her pregnant anyway, but 62

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still, this was more than even she was prepared to take.

“Kind of hard not to know with the prince parading around with you naked in his arm that first night. I swear every servant knew about it before the carcass was even moved.”

Okay. So everyone in the palace knew that Jorel had screwed her into some mind‐numbing orgasms. She wasn’t mad about him doing what he had to in order to keep her alive. What she did mind is that she was supposed to have had this intense pleasure and she couldn’t remember one second of it.

“I’m thinking the way to ferret them out is to provide them with a situation they can’t say no to,” Fi’on said, staring up to the ceiling.

“Maybe a fight. Yeah. You start a fight. Steal a ship then pilot it to a predestined place. I will be waiting for them to follow you.”

“Hold on. If we’re going out to the forest, I think we’ll need some re‐enforcements.” Ally wanted to catch these creeps too, but even she knew when to call in backup.

“We don’t know who we can trust, and you can’t honestly tell me

you believe that Prince Jorel will allow you to do this?”

No. She couldn’t say that. Jorel would definitely not agree to this.

Just telling him about this would most likely start a fight.

“So I say we let you rest today and maybe tomorrow while I get things ready. Then I will show you what to do on the ship, and you can do the rest.” Fi’on smiled a genuine smile, as she seemed decided on the plan.

It was a good one. Or as good as Ally could hope for. If she talked Fi’on into sending her to the forest where she’d entered into this crazy world, she could go home. It looked like everything was going to work out.

Then why the hell did she feel so sad?

She waited for Jorel the entire day, but he didn’t come back to their room that night. Was it because he didn’t want her? Was it because he’d had his fill of the black girl? Had the novelty worn off?

The next morning she waited for him to come in and explain why

he hadn’t come to her. But when the door opened, it was just Fi’on.

“Ready for your bath? It’s extra hot this time to help your muscles.

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You need to ready for tomorrow. My sister’s husband overheard plans to kill both you and the prince tomorrow night. He couldn’t be sure who said it, but he didn’t want to spook them. Make them rush. I begged him for one day before he tells Prince Jorel. That moves us up by one day. Will you be ready?” Fi’on didn’t look convinced, but they both knew this was their only shot.

“Do I have a choice?” Ally didn’t see how, but what choice did she have? She would make herself ready. And once her debt was paid, she was out of here. No matter how bad she wanted to feel Jorel’s skin next to hers. Well, she had tonight. Tonight she could do it. Find him if he didn’t come to her. If this was going to be their last night together, she could do it. She had to do it. If she didn’t, she would spend the remainder of her life wondering what if.

“I’ll be ready, but if we move the time frame up, you need to pick a place I know. Can we do this in the forest where Prince Jorel found me?”

Ally tried to keep her voice level, giving nothing of her plans away.

“I guess,” Fi’on said in an evasive tone.

Ally had no doubt the tigress was wondering about her.

Wondering why there, but it didn’t matter. She would do it, and Ally would escape. Either way, Fi’on’s need for revenge outweighed her need to keep the royal family happy.

It didn’t take long for Fi’on to go over the plan three times. She even volunteered to take Ally to the room where Jorel was in council with his father. She needed to remember the way, because this was where she would need to go tomorrow.

“Your Highness.” Fi’on took a slight bow. “Your mate wanted to see you.”

Ally might have gone looking for him later tonight, but for Fi’on to say that right now had her seeing red. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she wanted him, needed him. Her chest burned with the truth of it but no way was she ready to accept it.

“Enough for today. We have a viable list of candidates for now.

Why don’t you show her the market?” The king’s smile was too big and too bright. Obviously, he’d heard about the devilmite fever and his 64

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ingenious cure. Now it looked as if he was hedging his bets.

Jorel looked anything but pleased about the suggestion. He walked

over to her, grabbed her elbow, and led her out of the room. In that instant, she changed her plans for the night. She didn’t go where she wasn’t wanted, and right now, he looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but with her.

“Let me go.” She grunted at him as she pulled her arm out of his grasp. “If you don’t want to take me anywhere, then don’t.”

He raked his hand through the hair on his head. “It’s not like that.”

“Then tell me what it’s like. Because I know when a person doesn’t want the pleasure of my company. A believe me, you look like it’s pure misery to be anywhere near me.” Ally concentrated on keeping her voice down. The last thing she needed was for the palace to be abuzz with the Prince’s sexual rejection of her.

“Why are you acting this way?” he asked, staring intently at her.

“I’m not acting any way. You’re the one who supposedly fucked me six ways from Sunday and then couldn’t be bothered to see me when I came to. Exactly how am I supposed to feel about that? I really need you to tell me.” By the end, she was screaming at him.

He backed her into their room. “I wasn’t avoiding you—”

“Then what were you avoiding, because where I come from what you’re doing is called a brush off. It’s what you do when you don’t want to be bothered with someone.” Ally felt the anger burning just below the surface of her skin. She could smell her pheromones engulfing the room.

“Damn you. I told you it wasn’t like that,” he said, clearly agitated.

“Then tell me what it’s like. Tell me.” She wanted to jump on him.

Pound him into dust. Bring him as low as he’d brought her. Her voice echoed through the room. She sounded shrill and hurt, but she couldn’t keep it from her tone. The rejection she’d been fighting against her entire life roared to life.

“You don’t understand. And how could you? You don’t have the hope and future of the entire kingdom pinned on whether you can father a cub that won’t die. That you rule in a world that is on the brink of destruction.” He advanced on her until there was no room between them.

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“You don’t have a mother who was so devastated by the loss of one cub that she totally ignores the other. You’ve never been alone in a room full of packs. There are no packs of one, or there weren’t until I was born.”

She could hear the suffering in his voice, the same sound that beat at the back of her mind for so many years. “Yes. I do. I know more about loss and loneliness than you ever want to know.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t pretend to know how I feel. I survived. When whole packs died in the birthing rooms, I survived. Me, the only cub born to a king and queen. I survived to watch our people snuffed out by an errant genetic mutation.” His voice had become hard. As if he blamed the entirety of what was happening to his species on the fact that he had lived while others had passed.

Ally bit down on a need to comfort him. It came out of nowhere and hit her between the eyes. She tamped it down before he could see it.

“You think you’re the only one to know loss? Think again, buddy. I was three when I lost everything. And I do mean
everything
.” All the old feelings that she never voiced came rolling to the front. “You say your mother neglected you? I wish they had been there to do that to me. You act like a spoiled child. Who gives a rat’s ass about how anyone else thinks of you? If you’re not happy, then what good is living?”

“My job is to provide for the people. To rule with an even hand and carry on the royal name.” His words were spit out through virtually unmoving lips.

“Spoken like a true puppet. If that’s how you see the rest of your life, then no wonder you’re such an ass. I plan on living my life like I see fit. I
will
be happy. You can do whatever you want. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.” She took a step to the side, intent on reaching the door and getting as far away from him as possible.

“No. Your first promise is to me. You will stay here with me.” His hand snaked out to grab her, but she slipped just out of his reach.

“No. My first promise is to my family. My mother, my father, and

my younger brother, who all died when I was three. I lost everything in one afternoon. I had no one. So standing here listening you sing the ‘poor me’ song just doesn’t fly. You’re a grown man. If you don’t want to be 66

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prince, then don’t. If your mother isn’t close to you, be a big boy, make the first move. If you disagree with your father, tell him. Be a man. Not a scared, lonely kid afraid to make any type of connection.”

When she finished her tirade, her body felt heavy. She hadn’t said a word about her family to anyone in the last twenty years. And all of a sudden, she blurted it out to him. She turned away from him, refusing to look in his eyes. She didn’t need his pity.