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“No one calls it that.” I squint, narrowing my eyes into daggers as she crosses the clearing, prancing her feet through the field of wildflowers. “And that was different. You ran through a wall of the castle, Luri.”
“Everyone calls it that. And you sounded like you were in distress. How was I supposed to know humans make tortured animal noises when they mate?”
“You could’ve knocked.”
“With what hands!?”She stops her progression to the field to shoot me a glare.“That was me knocking, Alice. Maybe you should just come up with a word. You could scream it–since you’re good at that–and I’ll scamper to your rescue.”
“Pardon me, I thoughthelpwould be sufficient.”
“That’s why,” Kai murmurs to my right, tipping his head back and stopping mid stride. “That’s why you chose the forest. You thought she was going to give you the upper hand.”
“Really? He’s just now catching on to that? Goddess, help us… You better hope that man isn’t horny when you need him.”
“Can you not?” I shout at her.
“No… But since you’re clearly in one piece, I’m going to go back to what I was doing.”
“Which was?” She turns, lazily making her way back to the line of trees she came out of.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
I cross my arms over my chest. That sounds like something I definitelyshouldconcern myself with. “Since when do you keep secrets?”
“Since someone got herself put on castle arrest. Anyway, gotta go!”The cat leaps and bounds off, disappearing into thin air.
“Should I ask?” Kai says, as I continue walking toward Hell Hold.
“Nope. Not at all.” I steal a glance over my shoulder, searching the trees near where she disappeared. Shrugging it off, I continue home.
* * *
The streets of Hell Hold are vacant as we cross through town. On a normal day, there are usually children running amok, playing games and sprinting down the cobblestone paths after a ball. The merchants would’ve set up shop, trying to barter goods and services, and the store doors would be wide open, ready to welcome the next paying customer inside. But today isn’t a normal day. Everything has been sealed up tight, and the open space the pop-up merchants usually use for the market is empty.
The silence has my skin crawling and puts my senses on high alert. There’s only one reason the people evacuate from the town. That’s when the Lords visit. The townsfolk aren’t fans of them and that’s putting it lightly. They have a justified cause, though. The giants have stepped on them, literally. The orcs decide to play bachelor when they come through and scout out young ladies to swoop off their feet. They couldn’t give a shit less if they’re already spoken for or not. Too many husbands have lost their wives, and due to the orc’s magic, a lot of those young women go willingly into the good night.
A few times a year, Lucifer hosts meetings, inviting them all to the castle. Every three months, like clockwork. He’s a stickler for schedules. Except, he’s had his quarterly meeting, and Kai has already met with most of the lords personally in the last two months. So, what could they possibly be convening for now?
“Where is everyone?” I ask, searching over the vacant space.
“Before I came out to see you, Finn told me my dad initiated a kingdom-wide curfew. Everyone, except us, is to be in their homes by sundown.
“Did he say why?” I’m a prier. It’s what I do. I was born this way, and the need to know will always take precedence. Kai shakes his head no.
Both of us stay silent as we tread through the ghost town that is our home. There’s not a soul to be found. That is, until we stumble across Finn leaning against the pillars by the front steps of the castle.
“Well, it’s about fucking time. Clearly you ignored the ‘be home by sundown’ portion of my speech.”
My head swings toward Kai.Didn’t he just say…
“I’m the prince. Whatever the reason for the curfew, I doubt we were at risk.”
My eyes narrow on him. Why would he do that? What if it had been Michael related?
Finn’s gaze finds me. “How did it go?” I don’t speak, letting my eyes linger on the ground near my feet. “What happened?”
“She fell down a rabbit hole,” Kai answers for me, and I’d give my left leg to shrink away from this conversation–maybe avoid it all together. Wouldn’t that be nice?
“Soooo…”
