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“Oh thank goodness, I was afraid I would have to knock him out," Gerwyn says with a happy sigh. I raise my eyebrows at him and he gives me an unapologetic shrug. My laughter may be inappropriate in the current moment, but I can’t hold it back. My emotions are a swirling mixture of sadness, anger, shock, and happiness, but it’s a perfect outlet.
“Can he hear us?” Bowen asks, approaching the bubble. He reaches out as if to touch it, but stops himself, which is probably wise.
Maddox refuses to relax, instead he turns his anger toward the traitor. “Why did you do it?” Allwyn doesn’t respond, he just keeps raging inside of his bubble. “I guess not," Maddox states, before turning his attention to me. “What happened, Arabella?” He asks, looking concerned. At the reminder of the conversation I overheard, another tear slides down my cheek. He’s got me emotionally unstable and I need to get my shit together. Queens are supposed to be stronger than this.
Maddox walks forward and pulls me into a tight hug. He doesn’t say anything, simply holding me for a moment while I regain my composure. My sadness is soon forgotten in the comforting warmth of his embrace. Just like the feeling I got with Emrick yesterday, a small spark of something dances between us, like our magic knows something we don’t.
“It’s still dark outside, shall we find a more suitable room? He can’t move, can he?” Bowen asks. That’s not an easy question, since I’ve never done this before.
“I don’t think so?” I offer. There’s no way he has enough magic to cancel out mine, I would have felt it before now.
Just to be safe, I concentrate and create a second barrier around him that would give an illusion of darkness around him, making sure he can’t pass through. After a few moments, I see the panic hit him as the darkness settles in. He struggles to his feet and rams his shoulder into the bubble, trying to escape, but it holds strong. We all watch in fascination as the man crumbles into a state of psychotic anger. His face is red and his hands fly at the bubble, pouding against it and yelling his head off. When nothing happens to make the magic falter, I’m finally satisfied it will hold.
“It will be okay, my Queen. I’m sorry he hurt you, but I’m happy you heard it now and we could protect you from him," Gerwyn says softly, wiping the tears from my face. The tenderness in his gaze bolsters my confidence for a moment, and I reach for his hand, giving it a squeeze of reassurance.
“I’m okay, I promise. It’s just that I don’t let people in easily, then the first man I do… this happens,” I say with a self-deprecating laugh.
“He’s no man,” Emrick says firmly. “And you’re not alone, we’re here for you.” The conviction in his tone has me melting a bit more. Why couldn’t I have found them first?
“Well, staying here isn’t going to help our mood. I bet we can find our queen a royal suite," Bowen sings out. A night of luxury in the midst of this chaos? Hell Yeah! He grabs my hand and pulls me with him, a jolt of cheerful energy rushing into me at the contact. It was strange enough to make me pause, but I wasn’t about to question a good thing. Not after tonight. “Test out this fancy magic of
yours, eh? Try and find us a comfortable bed,” he suggests, waving his fingers like he’s performing a spell.
I’m more than happy to oblige, I love the feel of my magic rippling through me and filling me with an inner strength. The moment I picture what I want, I feel a tug leading me upstairs. Pulling Bowen with me, I follow the tug to the right hallway, opposite of where I’d found Allwyn. We had to step around random debris, eventually stopping in front of a set of ornate doors.
Bowen grins and gives a push, both of us tentatively peering inside before I rush forward and let out an excited squeal. Bowen steps in behind me and cheers at my success. He grins and picks me up by the waist, twirling me around as I throw my head back and laugh, losing myself in the moment of celebration and comradery. Fuck, it feels so nice to let out all that negativity, if even for a second.
“Put the queen down, you idiot!” Maddox barks, effectively crushing the moment. Bowen rolls his eyes, but lowers me.
“I wasn’t upset, Maddox,” I reassured him. At least Bowen didn’t seem angry at his outburst.
“You’re a queen and he needs to treat you as such,” he said, refusing to back down. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his redheaded companion. Bowen to his credit, didn’t bother to give him another glance.
“Good job, a bed is better than the floor. And don’t mind Maddox, he thinks you’re a stuffy royal, clearly he hasn’t been paying attention," Bowen says with a sexy smirk.
“Maddox, chill out, I’m not some snotty queen. I hate the bowing, I hate titles, and I hate the special treatment," I complain, hoping it will get him to ease up.
“You are our queen and deserve our respect," he mumbles. Not wanting him to feel embarrassed, I walk up and give him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you for caring,” I whisper, before pulling away. His cheeks tinge pink for a moment, but his answering smile is wide and endearing. I swear these men will be the death of me.
“Where’s my kiss?” Bowen pouts dramatically. I blow him a kiss that he fake swoons over, before he runs to the bed and flops onto it. I have a feeling that if Bowen is around, I’ll never be sad. Between him and Jacob, we’ll likely be driving Maddox crazy.
Not wanting to openly check out the fae around me or think about sleeping surrounded by four sexy men, I take a moment to really look around the room. Everything is ridiculously fancy. The room is filled with ornate golden furniture, a full bathroom, and a sitting area. The bed is even big enough that we can all sleep on it comfortably for the night, if they’re comfortable with it. Clearly the royals were not shy with their spending.
“Look at this, Arabella!” Gerwyn calls from a door I hadn’t noticed. Walking over, I peer inside to find it filled with dresses and clothes fit for a noble.
“Nice find, Wyn! I can change after a bath tomorrow!” I hug him and squeal, causing his cheeks to turn red at the attention. The moonlight isn’t enough to really inspect them, so that would have to wait until morning.
“I wonder if it was my mom’s,” I muse as I kick my shoes off. “Though I know nothing about who would have lived here other than her.”
“She would be the likely explanation,” Bowen agreed.
“Okay, explain the Allwyn situation," Emrick rumbles from his spot on the bed, pulling our attention back to the issue at hand. Glancing over at him, I realize he hasn’t relaxed a bit. His shoulders were tense and his face pulled down into a slight frown.
Stepping on the enormous bed, I walk to the headboard and settle against the pillows in the middle. Maddox and Gerwyn follow suit and find an empty spot to claim. I stretch my feet out after throwing my boots off the side of the bed. The way we are all sprawled out looks like we are about to have a giant sleepover and it almost makes me laugh. Though, I guess we are about to have a sleepover.
With a sharp, purposeful cough, Emrick forces me to speak up. “Well, I woke up needing to find a restroom, and noticed Allwyn was gone. I figured he was on guard duty and I’d be alright finding a bathroom. When I heard some sounds coming from upstairs, I followed them.”
