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“Like, his private phone, or his assistant?” Tristiana pressed, but thankfully, I didn’t have to answer as the gates swung open.
“Go to the front entrance. Someone will meet you there,” the guard informed us flatly.
“Thank you,” I called as Tristiana rolled up the window, saying nothing.
She pressed too heavily on the gas, springing us forward. “You really should be careful, Mare,” she warned again. “Kings don’t fall for faeries like us.”
“I know,” I told her quietly. “It’s not like that. I told you what this is about. It’s just business.”
She steered the vehicle up the long roadway leading to the huge palace at the far end. Animal-shaped shrubs lined the driveway, and I found myself amused by them as we moved, noting the different outlines.
Tristiana curved to the right, the circular driveway taking us past a huge garage, which must have housed a dozen or more cars, before landing us at the front entrance between the columns of the massive entryway.
On the marble steps, a shockingly beautiful redhead stood, her crimson hair like fire against her porcelain skin. But her body language was definitively not attractive. She oozed animus even before opening her pouty, pink mouth.
Her arms sat folded over her huge breasts, modestly covered in a white top, hip jutted out against a too-tight mini skirt. Her heels added four inches to her already stately stature.
“Which one of you is Mary?” she demanded as soon as we climbed out of the car. There were no pleasantries, no introductions.
“I’m Maren,” I offered, stepping forward. “Are you…?”
“Come with me,” she barked, dropping her arms and spinning around without apologizing for getting my name wrong or bothering to introduce herself. Tristiana and I looked at one another, my friend still at the trunk, where our bags were sitting.
“Uh…” I called out, but she didn’t stop.
I looked at Tristiana and then at the clearly annoyed redhead.
“You better go after her,” Tristiana said, slamming the trunk with our duffel bags in her hand.
After grabbing my bag, we both hurried to catch up with the fae who had already disappeared through the huge interior hallways. A guard on each door eyed us skeptically, one licking his lips suggestively at Tristiana’s full rear. I flushed in embarrassment, wanting to flee back to the safety of the car.
“Are you coming or what?” I heard the redhead snap from somewhere through the left corridor.
“Yes!” I called back, quickening my step. “Sorry!”
Rushing along to follow, the pace was brisk, but Tris kept an even stride, her attention captured by the lavish décor around us. Her eyebrows arched high, nearly reaching her hairline in apparent wonder. Relief washed over me when the fae came into view ahead, the click of her heels echoing loudly as she stood a mere ten feet away, her back turned to us.
“You’ll be putting on your little show in here.” She stopped abruptly and threw open a set of doors, purposely avoiding looking at us, before turning around to march in the opposite direction.
“Hang on a second!” Tristiana’s voice piped out when she realized I wasn’t going to argue.
The fae’s grimace was tangible. Slowly, she turned back to face us with naked disgust. “What is it?”
“First of all, who are you?” my friend asked as I paled.
As much as I admired my friend’s no-nonsense personality, I needed her to remember where she was.
The crimson-tressed fae sneered at us. “I guess you wouldn’t know, considering your social strata.”
My eyes narrowed at the thinly veiled insult, and I saw Tristiana bristle. “I’m Odette. The kingdom’s enchantress.”
I inhaled sharply.
“Somehow, I’ve been put in charge of babysitting this… abomination,” she went on. “But I assume you can manage to take off your clothes here the same way you do at that club downtown without any help?”
Her sarcasm stung me, and I blinked back the hurt. But Tristiana was never one to keep her mouth shut.
“Not that I would expect you to know the difference between a stripper and a cabaret dancer, but we don’t get naked. We’re artists. We put on a show?—”
