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“Yup.”
“So, what you’re saying to me is you’re of the DeLune bloodline, and your mother and father are…”
“The king and queen.”
We were all the way back around to hilarious. Oh, I was enjoying someone else being in the hot seat for once.
“Oh, my gods,oh, my gods!” Finally, her emotions seemed to catch up with her, and she pointed as her eyes shot wide open. “You’re the crown prince!” She was now pacing, and I couldn’t tell if it was with excitement or just plain shock. “Of course, I’ve kept up with all the juicy gossip about our rarely seen, defiant crown prince. But the biggest theories were that you were either assassinated by your own father and had your death covered up,or you were on a long-term diplomatic mission that could turn the tide of war.
“But, nope! You’re right here. Holy shit on a stick, I can’t believe it. I personally thought you’d just fled Camdaria to flee your responsibilities because you couldn’t measure up under the heavy hand of your father.”
She let out a whistle, stopped her pacing to look at Kai, only to laugh and start pacing again. “The crown prince. Here!TheNikolai! This is insane, you gotta realize. Totally insane.” Finally, she seemed to come back to herself a little and realize she was talking to her superior officer. “Uh, no offense. I mean, with all due respect, sir.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t take any offense. I am acutely aware of what my family is and my own reputation. The DeLunes are terrible, and the court is a cesspit, which is why I’d love to have you there with us. Especially considering many in the court won’t have inhibitor bracelets.”
“Won’t they demand them when they find out the flavor of my psychic powers? It’s not like I can pretend to have seer ability. That shit’s uncanny.” Before Kai could answer, she started jumping up and down. “Hold on. This means our wonderful Ayla is in line to be queen, right?” She placed her hands on her cheeks. “Oh my gods, you’re going to be an amazing royal. Well, you know, once you get over pushing people away and complete your guy’s bond fully.”
Kai sent me a heated expression, which I pointedly ignored. I’d often longed to sink my fangs into his mating gland, but I knew better. There was no way I’d ever fully complete our bond while my curse was still active. That was basically signing Kai’s death warrant.
“Darla, I’m going to need you to not mention it again, because it’s not up for discussion right now. If you’re going to come with us, you cannot tell a single soul about our fatedconnection. Otherwise, this defeats the whole purpose of the veiling spell.”
“I promise I won’t utter a word. Scout’s honor.” She gave one of her patented, jaunty salutes before turning her attention back to Kai. “So, should I call you Your Highness now?”
Kai visibly shuddered. “Let’s leave it at Captain until we get back to the capital. At least Iearnedthat title.”
There was a ton of feeling behind his words, and my heart ached for my mate. He really had come so far, and was a brilliant military leader, but once word got out about his identity, plenty of people would say he only got into his position because of his blood. It was sad, really. If we could only get away with keeping his real name a secret.
Maybe I could cast a curse and wipe the idea of a prince from everyone at the fort?
No,no.What did we learn with Kai? Dabbling with memories was difficult, easy to subvert, and a violation of consent…even if it was really tempting.
Before anyone could respond, a knock on the door interrupted us. I wasn’t exactly the type to receive visitors, but a quick sniff told me it was someone familiar.
“What could Oren possibly need?” Kai muttered, going to my door to open it and reveal his second in command. “Something up?”
“Yes, I was told you’d be here and—” The soldier’s gaze happened to fly past our captain, and I watched as it landed squarely on Darla. He was both trailing off and tripping over his words at the same time—something I’d never seen anyone actually do.
It seemed they hadn’t dealt with the fallout of their kiss, and it may have been decidedly pretty high school, but I was enjoying the drama of it all. I’d take kissing colleges over country-ending wars and a maniacal, overpowered sorcerer after my hide.
My gaze went to the psychic, too, and I wasn’t exactly surprised she managed to keep her face in a professional mask.
“Um, did I miss something?” Kai said, looking between his second in command and Darla.
“Actually,” I said, deciding to show a little mercy. Who knew? Maybe it’d be paid forward, and Oren would save me from an awkward situation in the capital in return. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you for a bit. Lieutenant Oren, would you be willing to escort Officer Khan to her quarters at this late hour?”
My words managed to jolt the man back into equilibrium, and he gave a quick nod. Stepping aside, he gestured to the hall.
“After you.”
Darla moved forward so she could exit, and gave me a wink. “Thank you, Oren.”
The two of them headed off, and Kai closed the door once they turned the corner, looking at me with a curious expression.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, going back to cleaning up. “I’m about to work the night shift, so I’m going to call it here for tonight.”
“The night shift?”
“Yeah, it’s the end of the week. Time for our schedules to rotate so no one gets stuck turning nocturnal.”
