The sound engineer remains professional but the grin on his face tells me he buys everything about this fake romance.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Elliot knows something I don’t. We meet gazes over Piper and Kellen, and he flicks his eyes pointedly back toward the entrance to the studio.
There must be a crowd outside. My jaw locks tight. I pull out my phone and start swiping through security camera footage.
“We left early,” Kellen says. He’s soft-spoken in a way that’s certainly more prince than alpha, I’d argue, but I like that about him. He doesn’t have to throw his weight around to be heard or seen.
The security camera footage loads and, sure enough, there’s a massive crowd outside. Some of them are in costume. Several are holding up poster boards with Piper’s face taped over royalty wedding memes. I flip through the available views and see the record label security staff trying to corral them away.
My phone pings. This one’s a notification from the Hale PR account about a photo of Piper and Kellen holding hands going viral.
Fuel to the fucking fire.
Piper brings Kellen into the actual recording booth and shows him around.
The sound engineer working with Piper all morning just smiles and shakes his head. “They’re really in it, huh?”
“Yeah,” I reply while reading the full Hale PR message.
Piper starts to sing some of what she’s already written this morning. Elliot and I watch as in awe as Kellen of Piper at work. But it’s quickly dissipated by a second ping from Hale PR. This one is a viral live-stream from someone outside Reverie Rest with the title “Prince Kellen visits his girlfriend while she records new album!”
Piper’s entire career boiled down to being the prince’s girlfriend.
Heat spreads up my neck, and I grip my phone until the case creaks in protest. I stand from the chair. “Are they here for an autograph or do we need to call in riot shields?”
Elliot pushes off the wall at the same time. “Undetermined. But they’re not leaving.”
“Why force this then?”
Elliot’s jaw turns to stone. “Not my call.”
The queen’s.And Raelynn’s, probably. This entire fucking fate-dating situation is their call.
I pocket my phone. “We need to move them.” That’s the only real conclusion.
“Agreed.” Elliot moves to grab Kellen, but there’s suddenly a commotion in the hallway, followed by a low rumble, like distant thunder. Elliot’s hand goes to his earpiece, then to his hip.
I move my hand toward my own gun holster as the studio doors burst open at the end of the hallway. The security desk is a minor barrier to fans hell-bent on meeting their idols. Twenty superfans charge forward and all them look like they’ve been training for this exact moment their entire lives. Phones whip out and flashes start.
Kellen is caught off guard for half a second, but then his royal training kicks in—he ushers Piper behind him, already waving and smiling like this is just another day in the palace. Piper grabs his hand, but her gaze seeks out mine. Wild crowds aren’t new, but crowds here at Reverie Rest are.
I break for Piper, but one of the fans grabs my shirt, shrieking, “Is it TRUE? Are they MATES?!”
I shoulder them away as another tries to get past me to Piper. I muscle my way through the mass, plant myself between her and the onslaught.
“Show’s over,” I snarl. “Everyone back up.”
They do not back up.
The next sixty seconds is a blur of bodies and camera flashes. Kellen disappears from my view and the crowd cuts me off from Piper.
I feel Piper’s hand slip from mine and my heart spikes into my throat.
I’ve never lost Piper.
Ever.
Reverie Rest is such a small space that the crowd’s overwhelming number is impossible to maneuver around without seriously injuring people.
