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Kari poked him in the arm. "I saw your intestines, Declan. How would you have felt, had it been me?"
As her words registered, she watched as his eyes melted to a tawny gold color. When his lips pulled back, his canines were peeking out. She raised an eyebrow. He grunted and took even breaths.
"Anyway, yes, I was perturbed by your injury, so I started dismantling Magnus' office."
"Magnus, huh?" Declan asked, referring to her use of the prince's first name. She shrugged. "He gave me permission to use his name; he likes me." Feeling playful, she stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his out at her in retaliation. They both laughed. Declan brought his arms up, with only a slight wince and rested them behind his head. "Do you rip apart the offices of rulers for a living," he asked flippantly.
"Actually, yes I do," she confessed.
"Seriously?"
"Yes. When I was younger, I took work as a secretary at first and then as a personal assistant. The one thing I hated the most was, just as I was learning the system, I would have to change jobs. So I started a company that not only trained personal assistants, but also the men and women who would employ them. They would both be trained in the same methods; that way there was never any miscommunication or differing expectations. More than half the time, bosses had no idea what to ask of their assistants. To them, personal assistants, secretaries, and gophers were the same thing."
"That is brilliant! I'm surprised no on has ever thought of doing things that way before," Declan shook his head in disbelief.
"Needless to say, we were very successful. I started by training my core team of personal assistants in varying methods of organization, deportment, business, economics, communication, language, business law, and foreign policy."
"Is that all?" Declan joked.
She winked. "They became the ones who would go in first and train company presidents and CEOs. While they were busy drumming up business, I took on a group of candidates that were taught mostly the same things, except I added on items like, event planning, fundraisers, charity work, and so on. They were groomed to blend into any professional environment. By the time the CEOs were ready, we had personal assistants waiting for them. The core group then branched out and took on new contracts while a few stayed in our home office to take over training."
"Gods, the prince needs someone like you desperately."
"I know," she shuddered. "You should see his Post-it Note stack."
He dropped his arms and reached over to take her hand. "My poor little general."
She smiled at his endearment. "Am I supposed to call you Simba too?
He grimaced. "I did that to cheer Meryn up. She's been kinda down lately. Did she really have a meltdown?"
"Yes, poor thing."
"She got to you already?" he asked, understanding her sympathy.
"She gets Avery. He lights up around her and is pulled into conversations."
"Why would it be important that she gets him?" Declan asked.
"Because Avery is special. He has a genius level IQ, but the naiveté of a child. I have had to protect him ever since I found him ten years ago."
"Protect him from what?" Declan growled.
"When I first met Avery, he was being pressured, against the wall of an alley in Chicago, into taking a job as a prostitute." Declan began to growl even louder. Kari smiled. "Needless to say he has been with me ever since."
"So you take care of him?"
"Yes and no. He has a photographic memory. There is a reason why I kept him on as my personal assistant. He is a whiz with numbers; he does all my book keeping and payroll. Plus he is like a walking talking Rolodex and Google. He takes care of me just as much as I take care of him.
Declan whistled low. "That's impressive."
Kari smiled. "Yes he is. So, you are second-in-command here?"
"Yes, I help Adriel run the units here in Noctem Falls."
"Magnus told me about your brothers. It must be nice to have such a large family," she commented wistfully.
"It has its moments. Rex is the oldest, then me, then Ari. My father is the elder at Éire Danu, and Ari stayed behind with him to serve as second in command to Brennus, the queen's consort. I came out here to Noct
