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Dazed, I stared at them both. “Why?” I whispered. “I screwed up! I was so nervous!”
“Oh, Mare,” Tristiana groaned as Jergin glowered at me.
“Are you refusing?” he demanded, stepping closer to us. “Do you really expect me to go back to the Alpha King of Steelshire and tell him a burlesque dancer refused his request?”
“NO!” I countered, holding up my hands. “No, of course not! Yes, I’ll meet the King. Please tell him that it will be my honor.”
Naked relief shone on Jergin’s face, and he spun on his heel. “Good. For a minute there, I thought I was going to need to find myself a new dancer.”
He stalked away, and Tristiana made an obscene gesture behind his back.
“He’s such an asshole,” she sighed, turning to me. But then she smiled brightly. “But if you play your cards right, maybe you can get the king to be your sugar daddy. Then you can buy this club and put Jergin out of work and send him to the gutter where he belongs! Then I can go piss in that gutter every day on the way to work.”
I couldn’t even laugh, my stomach in my throat as nervousness overtook me entirely.
What did the king want from me? There was only so much a fae like me could offer.
Chapter 3
Nyx
Icouldn’t recall the last time I had been so nervous, and I had no idea why.
Perhaps it was the night that my mother and brother had lost their lives in that random car accident when I was young, returning from the airport after a leisure trip to Silverhold. Or maybe it was when the Royal Guards had returned from their search to inform me that my father could not be found. It was as if my father, King Lucius, had simply vanished into thin air one night without a trace.
There had been hints, of course, the pressure getting too much for my father to handle. His erratic ways had started becoming notorious throughout the kingdom.
It didn’t feel like a fair comparison, meeting a dancer and learning that my father had gone missing, but truly, my sweating palms and racing pulse were comparable to the feelings I’d had that day.
I poured myself another drink to steady my nerves, trying to understand what it was about this particular dancer that was making me feel so outside of myself.
Maren.
Where had she come from?
I hadn’t asked Jergin about her, partially because I didn’t want to encourage conversation with the manager, whom I didn’t much care for. If I’d had my way, he would have been replaced long ago, but instead, I chose to trust the faeries I put in place to manage my businesses. I kept my hands off my owned properties. I had overseers for those tedious tasks, keeping me at a distance.
But I didn’t ask about Maren, mostly because I wanted to hear it from her lips myself.
You’re getting all worked up for nothing. She’s going to open her mouth and disappoint you like they all do,a little voice mocked me.
I didn’t have time to contemplate this for long as a gentle rap on the door spun me around. I drew in a deep breath to steady my wayward heart rate.
“Enter!”
Jergin’s leering face appeared, much to my chagrin. It killed my mood to see him and not Maren.
“Where is she?” I demanded in annoyance, relishing the way his grin faded.
“Here, Alpha,” he replied, stepping aside to reveal Maren standing behind him. Instantly, my annoyance disappeared, and I was overcome by a feeling of peace so strong, it was as if someone had put a spell on me.
Her aura flooded with grace and kindness, the sort of soul that could immediately put anyone at ease. The sensation took me aback. I had not been expecting to be so taken with her beyond the physicality of her.
Again, I wasn’t sure how to feel about this.
She didn’t meet my eyes, even when I invited her further into the box. “Come in,” I offered cordially.
Jergin lingered at the threshold as she ambled forward, her wariness palpable.
