We weren’t too far away from the back door. It seed that quite a few people were in the hallway. They were checking out, maybe?
“It’s getting late,” Warren said. “We should probably go back inside and prepare for our journey. We have a long trip ahead of us tomorrow.”
He was right. If we continued to walk to my pack lands, it would take a while. We’d discussed the possibility of taking public transportation, now that we were in a village, but I thought it might still be a bit risky until we were farther away from the capital. He could be recognized, and then word could get back to Prince Theo of where we were.
Just the thought of Theo discovering what we were up to made my stomach ache. I didn’t want to think about how terrifying his reaction would be when he found out I’d escaped.
Without a word, I stood and took Warren’s offered arm. He carried the wine and the glasses but disposed of the empty bottle in a trash can outside of the building. I hadn’t drunk that much, which ant that he had consud most of the bottle, but he didn’t seem drunk at all. I figured a man of his size could probably handle his liquor.
When we walked inside, the sweet older woman who ran the hostel was standing behind the desk.
“Let return those glasses to the front desk. I’ll ask whether they have another room available.” I looked at Warren gratefully. He was always so considerate.
It was obvious that the receptionist was chard by Warren. Who wouldn’t be? The mont she saw us, she had a big smile on her face.
“Mr. Travel! Good evening! This must be Mrs. Travel! So good to see you’re getting better. Aww... you two are so adorable!” she said, causing to stop and look at her, not quite understanding what she was saying. “It’s so sweet the way that your husband took care of you when you were ill!” she said to .
My mouth hung open as I turned to look at Warren. He was chuckling, but he didn’t correct her. He must have made up a na when checking us in...
My face was burning, and I was so embarrassed. anwhile, Warren just nodded at her like a gentleman.
“Such a beautiful, gentle little wife, and a handso, masculine, but tender man. You are both very lucky to have found one another,” she continued. “Very few people are so lucky as to find their perfect match in a spouse!”
“Uhm, actually—” I began, no longer wishing to live the lie, especially since we were about to ask for another room. But before I could say a word, I felt a cold chill go down my spine and realized we were no longer alone in the reception area.
“Actually,” a deep, dangerous male voice said behind , “she is not my brother’s wife, not even a little bit.”
I turned around to see the dark eyes of an irate prince and felt my knees cave in on themselves. If Warren hadn’t been holding my arm, I might’ve fallen.
“Prince Theo!” I gasped. Then seeing his angry face, I forced a smile and lowered my head, “Greetings, Your Highness...”
“Cut that. Where do you think you’re going?” His tone was cold as he quickly closed the space between us.
“I...” I swallowed hard. “I just wanted to go ho.”
As soon as I said the word “ho,” I turned around and ran for the door, but I wasn’t fast enough. Next thing I knew, I was already pulled into Theo’s strong arms.
“Let go!” I protested loudly.
But his arms were even tighter. I felt I needed to work hard to suck in air.
“Like I said, where do you think you’re going?” Theo’s refreshing scent surrounded , and it slled... alluring. Who would know that it belonged to such a devil?!
I was grateful to Warren when he stepped in. “Theo, please don’t do this—”
“It’s none of your business,” Theo warned Warren. His tone was icy.
“But—”
“Last ti I checked, she is my luna candidate, not yours!”
The receptionist gasped loudly and slowly backed away from us, disappearing out a side door. I couldn’t bla her. I wouldn’t want to be mixed up in the royals’ problems either if I didn’t have to be.
Warren didn’t give up. “Listen, Theo, there was a misunderstanding here. Ciana isn’t a spy. If you just allow us to explain—”
Theo certainly wasn’t going to listen to either Warren or . He had a habit of forming his own opinions about situations and refusing to listen to anyone who might be able to tell him that he was mistaken.
“Stay out of this,” he said, and I could tell that was all the patience Theo was willing to give, “or I’ll throw you in the dungeon for releasing my prisoner!”
“No,” Warren said, his hand on my arm. “She is not a criminal, and I will not let you hurt her again!”
Rather than acknowledging anything that Warren had just said to him, Theo took a step forward and deepened his glare. “Step. Aside.”
Warren stood to his full height, the scowl on his face more outraged than I’d ever seen him look before. “Make ,” he said.
It felt as if the temperature around us had dropped. A chill coursed down my spine. I could sense that Theo was getting angry.
Most of the ti, the dangerous prince didn’t have strong emotions. He was just cold and distant. However, at this mont, I could tell he was really getting angry.
Then I rembered all of the stories I’d heard about the Dark Prince. He was ruthless, and he probably wouldn’t mind beating up his own brother if Warren continued to stay in his way.
I’d already gotten Warren in a lot of trouble, but I would never allow Warren to get hard because of !
“Prince Warren!” I shouted, successfully drawing both of their attention to . “Stop, please.”
Warren turned and looked at , his eyes wide with surprise. “No, I can’t just let him take you.”
“It’s okay,” I assured him. “You should just go. Prince Theo won’t hurt ....” At least not until he got his stupid dreamberry.
“Ciana!” Warren said, his eyes pleading as he leaned close to . “How do you know that? What if—”
“Trust ,” I urged. I took a deep breath and told him, “Leave now. I promise I’ll be okay!”
His eyes locked on mine, and for the first ti since I’d t him in the woods all of those years ago, I wanted to kiss him, to raise up on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.
I’d been a fool for ever hesitating when he’d asked on a date. And for what? The monster wrapped around ?
Warren was hesitant. I continued to beg him, “Warren, I know what I’m doing. I’ll be fine, and I don’t want to see anything happen to you. Please, listen to , just this once. Please!”
Theo let out a displeased humph. For so reason, he always had a problem whenever I tried to do sothing or say sothing for Warren’s sake.
“You heard her,” Theo said to his brother impatiently. “Move or else you will get hurt.”
“I don’t care about ! But if you ever hurt her,” Warren began, turning to point at his brother as he glared at Prince Theo, “I swear it will be the very last thing that you ever do, brother.”
Theo smirked coldly, but he didn’t reply to Warren’s comnt.
My heart swelled at Warren’s words. He was standing up for to the most fearso man in all the land. A thousand thoughts filtered through my mind, but there was no way that I could express my gratitude to him in re words, so my tear-filled gaze had to do.
I had no idea what would beco of now, and I didn’t really care.
I had been attempting to save my people by escaping the palace, and I had failed.
I’d also managed to get the kindest, most gentle man in the world in trouble....
I hoped that Theo would at least spare the people who owned the hostel.
The warmth from Warren’s gaze slowly traced my face before he turned and walked out through the main entrance, leaving alone with the Dark Prince.
Relieved at the fact that Theo didn’t plan on punishing Warren, I turned my full attention to dealing with the devil.
Theo’s arms loosened a little, and his tone softened slightly. “Now tell , why did you run away?”
Was this guy serious?! He threw in jail and starved for days for no reason, and now he felt I was in the wrong to run away from the hell called the royal palace?
He must be joking, right?
Well, thank goodness I still had my wits about .
“Because... I was playing a ga of hide-and-seek,” I told him, glaring right back at him. “I guess you won that round. Let’s try again.”
He scoffed, and one side of his mouth actually turned up in a slight grin before he caught himself. “Let’s go,” he said, motioning for the door. “Walk with , or I can drag you along. Your choice.”
“How generous!” I couldn’t help but bite back sarcastically. “The Dark Prince was willing to let soone choose to walk or to be dragged to their death!”
His dark stare fell on my face, and I felt the need to swallow back the lump of terror in my throat, but I didn’t. I kept my eyes locked on his, doing my best to show him that I wasn’t afraid.
I announced my decision before he said anything else. “I’ll walk.”
The farther away from him, the better.
I knew my escape attempt had co to an end, and the wise thing to do was to obey him at the mont. There was no point in fighting against him. I didn’t stand a chance to win, especially since I knew that Theo’s n were around us sowhere, providing protection for their prince, even though I couldn’t see them.
He released from his arms as he took a few deep breaths in. Then he said in his usual cold tone, “Take to your room.”
#
Reviews
All reviews (0)