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“And most of Darwin’s older brothers have the full blood curse,” I say, following the trail of breadcrumbs.
“Nothing is a certainty but death, young Teddy. But it’s much more than a likelihood the throne will go to Darwin at some point in his life—”
Dark breaks off when someone steps close behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. Expecting one of my boys, I look back with a smile.
The eyes that meet mine are blue, but neither deep nor warm. The face around them is model-beautiful, but not Darwin’s. The sandy waves that top that face are fashionably tousled, but not Charlie’s.
“Loyal,” I say flatly.
“Can I cut in?”
“No,” I say.
Dark wheezes but stops dancing and pats my waist. “Duty, my dear. Give the boy a dance to be polite. Step on his toes if he’s not.”
“Are you sure, sir?” I ask since I’m really not interested in dancing with Darwin’s former bezzie.
“Yes. Observe the social niceties. We’ll have time to talk this week.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” I tell him truthfully.
Dark smiles as he hands me off to Loyal. Loyal bows to Dark before he pulls me too close, pinches my waist and hand, and tries to dance off too fast.
I grind the heel of my Docs into his toes.
He’s not wearing Peter Pan boots, but he is wearing soft, shiny lace-ups. He yelps. I step back to a more comfortable distance.
Grimacing, Loyal leads me at a more sedate pace.
“You owe me a car and two new toes.”
I scoff at him. “Anything else?”
“You think you’ve won? You haven’t. Darwin’s a prince. He may slum around with you and Boggy for now but it doesn’t mean shit. He’ll end up with Phoebe or another noble.”
Yawn. Same song, different lyrics.
“If you’re right then there’s nothing for you to worry about and no reason for you to get up my nose. Tatty-bye.”
I catch his toes with my heel again before I pivot out of his hold and walk across the dance floor toward my boys. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Charlie change course smoothly, still twirling Kathleen, heading toward me.
Darwin and Gabe close me into the circle of their arms as soon as I reach them. Instead of looking at me, Darwin keeps his gaze fixed over my shoulder and I realize Loyal’s followed me.
I turn in their arms so I’m facing him.
Loyal really does look like Paul Walker—rest in peace—but here among his people, his fae blood is more obvious. There’s an elfin cast to his features. It’s hard to see, though, when he’s sneering as hard as he is.
“Why did you bring her?” Loyal grits at Darwin. “She doesn’t belong here.”
“My father’s invitation for us to spend reading period at the court included Teddy,” Darwin says.
I can hear the conflict in his voice. I can feel it in the taut chest against my shoulder. Darwin hasn’t cut off his friends since becoming part of our quaternion, but he hasn’t made any effort to spend time with them, either. Hudson came to our Hump Day party and stayed in the man cave all night. I think he played a few games of foosball with Charlie. I never spoke to him and he certainly didn’t seek me out. Neither Loyal nor Phoebe made an appearance. Other than the party, none of them have been to our flat. We haven’t been trampled by visitors, but my friends and the lacrosse lads have certainly been ‘round plenty.
Darwin probably doesn’t want to hurt Loyal or Phoebe, but I don’t see them being part of our lives.
“Stop doing things because youcanand start doing them because youshould,” Loyal snaps at Darwin. “You didn’t have to bring her. You didn’t have to bring any of them. You did it because you wanted to, but it’s not right. It’s disrespectful to this court. It’s disrespectful to your house. And it’s disrespectful to your girlfriend.”
Darwin lifts his chin. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I have three fiancées. I’ve made no promises to anyone but them. I’m sorry if that hurts Phoebe. I’m sorry if that hurts you. But this is my life and they are my choices.”
