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When he’d insisted Remi at least stay at home, she’d completely ignored him.
He knew she loved her son, but in her mind, he was safe as long as Jeremiah was next to him. He’d told her—more than once over the last couple of weeks—that while he was willing to sacrifice his life for his protectee, he couldn’t guarantee that nothing would ever happen. Jeremiah could be the very best bodyguard in the world—and he knew he and his men were top-tier—but there was only so much he could do, especially when Remi and his mother refused to fucking listen.
He scanned the crowded street around their small group, instincts crawling with agitation. They were too exposed. The palace guards were doing their best to set up perimeters along the route the queen had said she’d be taking, but people were swarming to get a glimpse at her and her family too fast for them to keep up with.
A young woman, scales along her jaw an alluring mauve, hurried forward suddenly, eyes locked on Remi.
He was moving before Remi could do more than widen his eyes in surprise at her, planting himself between the woman and the prince. Letting his fangs lengthen, he growled lowly.
“Stop.”
She gasped and jerked backward, staring up at him like he was about to rip her throat out.
Which… she wasn’t wrong.
But then Remi was shoving an elbow in his side and stepping around him with a fierce scowl. “What are you doing?” he hissed. “Chill the fuck out before my mom fires your ass for terrifying innocent people.”
Jeremiah didn’t take his eyes off the young woman, noting she had something clutched in her right hand. It was too small for him to see, so probably not a weapon, but he planted a hand on Remi’s chest to hold him back anyway.
“Show me what’s in your hand,” he said, ignoring the people around them staring and whispering.
Her mahogany skin flushed as she looked away in embarrassment, but she held out her hand, palm up. It was a small, decorative box, looking harmless, but Jeremiah jerked his head toward where Jennette and a few other support staff people were bringing up the rear of the group.
“Give it to one of them.”
Nodding quickly, she scurried off and shoved the token into the chest of one of the young men who Jeremiah couldn’t remember the name of, then disappeared back into the crowd. Jeremiah ran his gaze over the massive group of gawkers filling the street and creeping up onto the sidewalk where the queen and her entourage were, having stopped so she could buy a bouquet of flowers from a shop.
Slender fingers gripped at his elbow, bringing his attention back to a furious Remi. “What the hell was that?”
“Me doing my job. You don’t accept anything from anyone you don’t know, Your Highness.”
Remi rolled his eyes, turning his back enough that most of the onlookers couldn’t see his face. “Do you honestly think that girl was some sort of assassin? You’re getting paranoid, Sunshine.”
Narrowing his eyes, Jeremiah leaned down so they were practically nose-to-nose. “I don’t make assumptions about people based on their appearances, little princeling. Anyone can be a threat. That’s not paranoia, that’s experience.”
Remi sucked in a deep breath, his slender chest expanding with the force of it and drawing Jeremiah’s eyes down his body without his permission. Letting it out slowly, Remi said, “This isn’t working. I’m going to talk to my mother, and we’ll figure out another person to run my protection detail.”
Despite the fact that Jeremiah had been trying to do that exact same thing earlier that morning, hearing Remi say the words had his hellfire roaring to life under his skin. Like fucking hell someone else would protect him.
“Your mother was very clear that she wanted me and only me for the job of keeping you safe.”
“Things change,” Remi said through gritted teeth.
Jeremiah noticed the Siren in question watching them out of the corner of her eye, even while she smiled and thanked another person for their kind words and gift that Jennette accepted. He had no doubt she’d rip them both a new one for making a scene if they didn’t finish their conversation later.
Stepping back, Jeremiah scanned the street around them. “Maybe. But I think my chances are pretty damn good, brat.”
The small gasp he got for the insult made him want to grin, but he slipped his impassive face back into place and pretended he didn’t notice.
“Time to go back to smiling, little princeling. People are beginning to notice.”
With his peripheral vision, he saw Remi straighten up, shoulders tensing, then whip around to face the crowd once more, lifting a hand in a wave.
Jeremiah would never really understand how it happened—one moment, their group was on the move again, and the next, he’d somehow lost sight of Remi.
His heart rate picked up, but his training kicked in as well, keeping him calm as he meticulously searched the area around them, ignoring the noise of the swelling crowd. People were shouting and crying, begging the queen to stop and talk to them for a moment, but it all became white noise in his ears as he relied on his other senses.
He pushed through people, heading back the way they’d come. Somehow, Remi must have stopped without anyone noticing. It was the only thing that made sense, but Jeremiah didn’t know how he hadn’t seen it. He always kept the boy in his sightline, even as he checked the crowd.
