Drawing back the string, I hold my breath. “Goodnight you fucking?—”
“You better have a damned good reason for aiming that bow at my sister, you creep!”
My heart lurches. Whipping around, I drop the bow and reach for my dagger.
But then my lips flatten. There’s no threat.
A short woman with long raven hair and scorching black eyes glares at me. She’s one of Ruby’s sisters – Dahlia, I think. Or at least that’s what they kept screaming at her when she’d start shit. I may have spent a little too much time observing them all during the week I was watching Hugo.
“Well, go on then. Spit it out. Tell me why you’re here or I’ll call for the guards!” She growls at me with way too much confidence for her five-foot frame.
I roll my eyes. “That’s none of your business, Princess. Go back to your flower-picking.” Brushing her off, I return my attention to Orion, but my focus is interrupted when Dahlia lets out a loud gasp.
“Oh my Stars!”
I turn back to see her jaw unhinging as she points at me frantically.
“It’s you! You’re the guy!” she squeals.
“What?”
“The Scorpion! Oh, this is amazing!” Dahlia throws her head back, laughing so loudly I’m worried Orion or Blossom will hear.
“Quiet,” I hiss. Glancing back through the hedgerow, I see Orion still chatting with Ruby, and Blossom watching them eagerly – clearly both oblivious to the cackling maniac I’ve got behind me.
Relieved, I sigh. But when I turn back to Dahlia, I’m met with a cold slap across the face.
“That’s for making my sister cry!” she snarls.
What the actual fuck?
I grasp my cheek. “What are you talking about? When did I make her cry?”
“You’ve just been messing with her head,” Dahlia argues, any humour in her tone long gone. “Ami’s a really good person, you know?”
“I am aware,” I growl.
“Yeah? So you better not break her heart then.” She folds her arms, staring me down. “I don’t know why you’re here, or how serious you are about her, but Ami deserves someone who can love her. She deserves romance, someone to bring her flowers,breakfast in bed. Not just a pretty boy who’ll take her virtue and move onto the next girl.”
“Does it look like I’m moving on?” I bite out. And fuck what she’s saying, I can be romantic. I’ve killed two men for Ruby. What more could a girl ask for?
Dahlia scowls, but before she can argue, a piercing scream sends us both spinning towards the hedgerows.
Prince Orion is down on one knee. In his hands, he holds a velvet ring box containing a huge diamond ring that sparkles blindingly bright in the sunlight. Ruby’s lips fall open just as Blossom lets out another excited scream.
With a grin, Orion whispers something to Ruby while sliding the ring onto her finger. I don’t know what he said, but it’s enough to make her frown soften a little.
“Hey,” I hiss at Dahlia, fixing my gaze on the prince. “You gonna scream if I kill him?”
“Stars, no,” she scoffs. “Ami told me what he did. Orion’s an arse. Do to him what you did to Hugo, for all I care.”
My eyebrows shoot up. Perhaps Princess Dahlia is not so bad.
Reaching for the bow, I aim it at Orion and nock the same arrow.
“Wait, stop,” Dahlia panics, gripping my arm. “You can’t do that here, you might hit Ami.”
“I won’t.” My fingers curl around the bowstring. This is a simple shot. He’s still down on one knee, completely unmoving, and soon, he won’t be breathing either.
