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I push the chair back and rise, and they quickly scramble to their feet.
“Show them out,” I bark at the guards stationed by the door.
I hope I look regal and not terrified as I sweep from the room.
CHAPTER 38
My phone rings at six in the morning. I answer it, my pulse lodged in the hollow of my throat, choking me. The surgeons from Greater London arrived around midnight, and they were working on Nathan when I went to bed. I’m sure this is the call I’ve been sleeplessly waiting for.
“Bailey? Is this Bailey?”
“Hannah?” I have never been gladder to hear my best friend’s voice. “You’re okay? You’re all okay?”
“We’re fine, we got out!” There are tears in her voice and muffled sniffing as she says, “You’re alive.”
“Of course, I’m alive.” I fumble to turn on the bedside lamp. “Do people not know that?”
“No one knows anything,” Hannah tells me. “There hasn’t been a peep out of Aconitum Hall. Nobody knows if the coup was successful.”
“It wasn’t,” I state firmly. “I made a video addressing the pack last night. It’s going to be distributed through the private network.”
“You made it?” Hannah asks. “Does that mean that the king…”
“Honestly? I have no idea.” I rub my forehead. “He wasn’t dead when I went to bed last night, but they were operating on him. Greater London sent surgeons here to work on him. Since he’s king over there, too.”
“Did you have any idea that was going to happen?” Hannah asks.
“I hope you’re not accusing me of anything,” I snap. I cannot handle it if my best friend decides I’m somehow in on whatever stunt Nathan tried to pull.
I hear Hannah’s hurt across the line. “Of course, I’m not. You just looked so surprised when they said, ‘and Greater London.’”
“Sorry.” My nerves are tighter than the security around here. “I’m so tired and everyone is…really mean to you when you’re the queen.”
“I’m sure almost getting murdered probably isn’t a great stress reliever,” she says, and I know she’s not holding my suspicion against me. She says gently, “I’m always going to be on your side, okay?”
“I know.” I push myself up from the bed and put on a robe before I head down the stairs. I refused to let thralls stand guard over me while I slept, but I know they’ll be all over my sitting room. “But now, I need you to shift gears. I need my assistant.”
“Can I come down there?” She asks doubtfully. “I heard the place is totally locked down.”
“I’m the queen. I can do what I want,” I tell her confidently, because I don’t care what the rules are, I can’t run the entire pack on my own. “But it’s still super early.”
“I’m up with Jo,” she reminds me.
“Okay. Well, here’s a job you can do from home.” I nod to the thralls in the sitting room and note that when I go out the door, two of them follow me. I have my own little retinue. “I need my own office in this place. I’m sure there’s room somewhere in the residence. I need a desk, a computer, I need—”
“You need everything,” Hannah says. “I did notice that there aren’t any spaces set aside for the queen to do anything but sit around and wait between royal engagements.”
“And breed,” I say wryly. Though, if Nathan doesn’t survive, I might not have to worry about that. I press my hand to my abdomen. I’ve still got a few days before pregnancy is even a concern, but stress always messes with my period. I might not be able to tell until symptoms become obvious.
Even then, what would happen if Nathan dies and I am carrying his baby? Do I become queen regent? A baby can’t rule the pack. A baby can’t rule two packs, I revise.
“I don’t know how long Nathan will be out of commission,” I tell Hannah, then stop and turn to one of the thralls, mouthing, “Is the king dead?”
The thrall blanches but shakes her head.
I go back to my phone conversation. “I have no idea how long this situation is going to continue, but I do know that I need a political advisor. Ask Ryan if he wants the position.”
“He can’t retain his council seat and serve as your advisor,” Hannah says.
I chew my lip. “Okay, well, ask him if he wants me to yank him off the council and bring him into my cabinet.”
“Your cabinet now, huh?” Hannah snarks.
But she has no idea what it’s like to be thrust into a situation like the one I’m in. “Yes. I need as many smart people around me as possible. And loyal ones. I know I can trust Ryan, and he’s up on current pack politics.”
The head of security is waiting for me in the study. While he bows, I tell Hannah, “Come to the rear door, I’ll make sure you’re cleared to enter at the gatehouse and the residence. But I’ve got to go.”
