AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why?” I’d asked.
“So you can have a better look at your dates.”
“What’s there to look at?”
“They’re all good looking!”
“Can good looks fill my belly?”
He’d shaken his head exasperatedly. But now, after taking abuse from two princes, he seemed glad that I was giving them the one-eye treatment.
I wasn’t exactly happy about this speed date chore, since I didn’t get any benefit out of it.
Powerful men and their games! And none of them had brought me a gift!
“I’m sorry about what happened to you, Barbie,” he growled. “But mark my words, I’ll make sure whoever did this to you pays tenfold!”
Would he care if I was still the lowest “shifter” in his house? Would he even have come for me? The princes could show their nice, charming sides all they wanted, but I’d always see the predators beneath, and their predators didn’t respect weakness.
I wasn’t just any chick who could be charmed easily. I was a monster, though I didn’t look it. True monsters seldom did. Adding Sy, we were twin monsters.
Of course, I was grateful that the princes had helped rescue me, but I didn’t need to show it and play into their hands. I’d leave no debts unpaid, but I’d pay them on my terms.
“I appreciate it, sir,” I said flatly, my tone bored.
“You can call me Silas when we’re alone,” he said, as if doing me a huge favor.
“That’d be improper,” I said. “As I recall, you’re very strict on hierarchy, sir.”
“We got off on the wrong foot, Barbie,” he said, a little disappointed at seeing that I wasn’t jumping up and down at having a speed date with him.
“Yeah?”
“We can start over.” He gazed at me boldly, his amber eyes glowing with heat. “Have I ever told you how lovely you are?”
My alarm bells started to ring. I trusted this nicer version of the shifter prince even less.
“No, sir,” I said. “But you once said that my usefulness was limited to shifting to a chihuahua if I ever shifted. You said, I quote, ‘But do we need a house pet who’s more a pest? Everyone in this house must contribute, even a street urchin. You don’t work, you don’t eat!’ After that, you wrinkled your nose and said, ‘Now beat it. You stink, Little Bob! You need to take a bath.’ Before that, you backhanded me. If I hadn’t been nimble, I’d have sprawled on the floor, or even cracked my skull. Oh, you also forced me to carry rocks before Sir Killian got me out of your house.”
After Killian had exposed me as a girl, the shifter prince had been so pissed off at my deception that he used compulsion to make me suck his cock to publicly humiliate me. He’d failed, though, so the joke was on him.
He looked stunned before he blinked hard. Asshole didn’t even remember all that.
“The list is long, sir, if you want me to continue,” I added.
“I didn’t know you were a girl back then,” he said, rubbing his jaw, calculation glinting in his eyes as he pondered how to turn my thoughts in another direction.
Right on cue, Pucker popped up beside us, flicking in and out of sight.
“Why are you still here, poltergeist?” Silas scolded, taking out his frustration on my familiar. “I told you to fuck off, and I meant it! Barbie and I deserve alone time and guaranteed privacy.”
“Nothing is guaranteed in any corner of the universe, Your Highness,” Pucker said, puffing up his ghost chest in outrage. “And I can’t fuck off. I’m the host of this speed-dating show. Only Prince Killian can fire me from the job. Anyway, the show must go on, and we’ve prepared snacks for you, courtesy of the house.”
The house had taken away the glass of chicken blood that was served to Louis. He’d rejected it, though. Now a plate of cubed bread materialized in front of Silas.
“What is this?” He narrowed his eyes as he inspected the bread, then he picked up a cube, squeezing it between his thumb and forefinger, but the bread remained intact. “This is harder than a rock! Does Killian intend to break my teeth?”
“But you have shifter fangs, Prince Silas,” Pucker offered. “I’m sure you can handle it.”
