The Silver Eyed Prince (Highest Royal Coven of Europe) (43 page)

“Do I have your word?” she persisted, pushing his arm away.

“Hmm . . .” He reached for her and captured her mouth, effectively s
ilencing her, until she had forgotten what they were talking about.

Elizabeth washed her face and combed her hair to make herself presentable, before she headed downstairs to look for her mom. She found her sitting in the kitchen with a drink in her hand, staring into empty space.

“Mom?” She slid on the chair on the opposite side of the table.

Her mom's eyes darted to her, but she didn't smile. “How are you feeling?”

“I'll be okay.” Elizabeth noted the weary expression on her face.

“We need to talk about you and Colonel Gunter.” Her mom's voice was calm, but her eyes looked troubled.

“There's nothing to talk about.” Elizabeth sighed. “We're just friends.”

“Are you sure?” Mom shifted in her chair. “It seems to me, you are quite fond of him and it's obvious he's into you.”

“Yes.” Elizabeth felt her cheeks redden. I do love him, but . . .” She paused and peered at her mom.

“Not like the way you love Prince William,” Mom supplied for her.

She glanced away and didn't a
nswer.

“I need to know what you want to do, Elizabeth.” Mom reached for her hands across the table. “I have more than interfered with your life to suit the choices I've made. It's your turn to make your own decisions now. Wha
tever you elect to do, I'll be here to support you.”

Elizabeth dropped her gaze to their joined hands. “Mom, about this destiny thing . . .” She swallowed and raised her eyes to look at her. “I don't think I want to be part of it.”

Mom's brow wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean—I lived my life as Eliz
abeth Hamilton for the past seventeen years and I just want to pick up where I left off. I want to go back and finish high school. All this—,” she sighed heavily, “everything you've told me, is not who I am. I could never be a Princess and be happy locked up in a palace in some foreign country. I am not ready for the responsibility. All I want is to be a normal teenager. I miss Bryan and my friends.”

“But—” Mom's frown deepened, “what about Prince William? Will you be ha
ppy without him?”

Elizabeth ignored the sudden pang of sadness in her heart at the sound of his name. “You saw what happened earlier. It's over between us.”

“Is it?” Mom squeezed her hands.

Elizabeth withdrew her hands from her grasp and stood up, smothering the image of the Prince from her mind. With each passing minute since he'd left, the ag
ony of losing him had gradually taken over her, until the pain had become permanently ingrained in her heart. She turned and walked away on shaky legs, to hide the endless tears that seem to flood her eyes every time her thoughts strayed to a meaningless existence without him.

“Where are you going?” Mom called after her.

“Mansfield High,” she replied over her shoulder. “It's time for me to snap out of this bad dream and return to my real life.”

The parking lot at Mansfield High was just as she remembered: busy, chaotic, and noisy. Elizabeth slowed her car to a crawl, scanning for a parking spot. She glanced at her side mirror to check on the black SUV that had followed her from home. Major Greer, the officer-in-charge of her security, had expressed his disapproval of her destination and didn't hide the fact that Colonel Gunter would be very displeased.

Elizabeth had been unnerved by the large, brawny, officer. Unlike Chad, who was handsome and charming as an angel, Major Greer was stern-looking, every inch a battle hardened assassin who could probably swallow her in one gulp. But she couldn't let him intim
idate her. She was, after all, a Princess, no matter how ridiculous that might seem. So, to make a long story short, she had pasted on her most superior, snooty, a-la-Jessica Myers expression, and ended up getting her way. However, that didn't mean the Major intended to let her out of his sight.

She frowned as the black SUV parked near the parking space she'd pulled into, but her mood changed when she spotted Bryan's white BMW parked some three rows ahead. She hurriedly got out of her car and dashed towards the familiar tall, blond, broad-shouldered figure with his back to her.

“Guess who?” she asked in a disguised voice as she cupped her palms over his eyes from behind.

“Hmm. Let's see.” Bryan reached backwards and clamped his fingers on her waist, tickling playfully until she squealed and released him.

“Lizzie Bee!” He turned around and gave her a big hug.

“Surprise!” She laughed.

“When did you get back?” He pulled away just enough to look at her. “Wow, cool aviators. Can you actually see through them?”

She shrugged and adjusted the u
ltra-dark sunglasses on her nose that Prince William had given her in one of his visits. “I just got in last night. Did you miss me?”

“God, yes!” He grinned and urged her to walk with him towards the building with his arm around her shou
lders.

“So—, how've you been?” Elizabeth stole a quick glance at the black SUV as they passed by. One could never tell if there were occupants inside with the blac
kened windows.  

“Well, since you disappeared, Jessica made it her mission to take your place as my new B.F.E. She has been buzzing around me like a queen bee. It's downright annoying.” He grimaced.

“Yikes! I'll get the brunt of her stinger for sure, now that I'm back to boot her off.” She made a funny face and Bryan chuckled. “How's everybody? Anything new?”

“Everyone's excited about the Mardi Gras dance.” Bryan led her down the crowded corridor. “Ann and Charlie are super busy with all the prep, Vanessa is ma
king a monstrous cake for the contest, and Sue is rehearsing her speech for the awards ceremony.” He glanced down at her. “You didn't forget that it's tonight, did you? Are you coming with me?”

“Oh shit!” She slapped a hand on her forehead. “I forgot! We're su
pposed to wear a costume, right? I don't have one!”

“What about that purple dress I got for you last Christmas? Do you still have it? I have an extra mask you can wear with it.”

“That's a great idea! Colors are purple, green, and gold, right? I think I have a thick gold belt somewhere.”

“Good! Problem solved then.” He beamed and they did a high five. “I'll pick you up at seven.”

John Drake’s Hidden Agenda

       I
n the woods surrounding John's building, Catherine dropped the wild flowers she'd been collecting and hid behind the trunk of a large tree. Up ahead, shrouded in the darkness of the night, she spied a Battalion of armed men in black and red uniforms, assembling in a clearing.

Uneasiness settled in her gut.
What was John up to? Why was he organizing such a large army?
She faded back into the thick woods and made her way to the building through another path, determined to find out.

Once inside, she immediately noticed the urgency and tension in the faces of the men who were manning the computers. Others were efficiently packing up do
cuments and equipment in large crates. Several Officers were busily examining a digital atlas and hardly paid any attention when she peered over their shoulders to investigate.

She studied the highlighted areas on the map.

Mansfield.
What could they possibly want from there that could justify the amount of soldiers being deployed?

She followed the route that had been charted
and highlighted in yellow with her eyes, which didn't make sense to her. It seemed that from their base camp, they were to travel partly by water and partly by land to Mansfield. She found it odd that they didn't have a return-to-base route. Instead, they mapped a partial land trail that led to a river channel, which eventually ended in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Captain Rogers will meet us here.” The Officer to her right poin
ted at an area marked in red, miles from the coast. “We'll board his ship at sea and then sail back to central headquarters in Cape York, Peninsula.”

“Australia?” Catherine blurted in surprise, before she could stop he
rself.

Seven pairs of scarlet eyes turned to her.

“Hello.” She smiled innocently, fluttering her lashes at the men.

The Officer with the most stars cleared his throat. “My Lady, General Robinson at your service.” He ga
llantly bowed over her hand and regarded her with sharp eyes.

“General, everyone seems awfully occupied. What's going on?” She glanced around the bustling room, igno
ring the evident displeasure in his expression. He was startlingly handsome, with dark hair and the finely chiseled features of an Alpha Deimon. John must have offered extremely generous compensation to get the General to work for him.

“I'm afraid I'm not at a liberty to tell,” General Ro
binson said with politeness, though she could detect the underlying authoritativeness in his voice. “If you have any concerns, the Duke would be more in a position to address them.”

Catherine felt her cheeks burn. Most men would have turned into pudding in her company, but apparen
tly, not the austere General Robinson. “I'll find out from him then,” she said curtly, and turned towards the escalators.

In the privacy of his library, John Drake rested his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers together as he regarded Colonel Reynolds. “Are you saying that Colonel Gunter was having an affair with Elizabeth?”

“Yes, Your Grace.” The Colonel nodded. “My men saw everything. The Prince almost killed Colonel Gunter.”

“Almost?” John tapped his fingers together.

“Yes, but the Prince eventually let him go. Our men were too far to listen in on what went on.”

“Where is Colonel Gunter now?”

“He was last seen boarding his limousine with enough luggage for the men to assume he's leaving the country.”

“And the Prince?”

“He hasn't left The Palladian since the altercation with Colonel Gunter.”

“Not even to see Elizabeth?”

“No, Your Grace. According to the men, it looked like the Prince had broken off their relationship.”

“Interesting.” John rested his chin on his fingertips. “But nevertheless to our advantage. With both Col
onel Gunter and Prince William absent, our job had just become easier. We must take this opportunity to abduct Elizabeth before one or the other decides to come back to her.”

“Your Grace, Elizabeth was seen leaving the house earlier with a male human friend. Our spies followed them to a school party. However, I i
nstructed the men to refrain from unnecessary confrontation with humans. We don't need the nuisance of dealing with them.”

“Smart thinking, Colonel Rey
nolds.” John sat back in his chair. “We need to be as discreet as possible. We wouldn't want the local authorities to get in the way. The European Royal Army will intensify their campaign against us if human casualties are involved.”

“Precisely, Your Grace. Likewise, we still have the issue of the other assassins. They have been guarding Elizabeth closely since Colonel Gunter left.”

“Ah, but our three hundred men should take care of them, Colonel Reynolds. General Robinson will oversee Elizabeth's capture while the assassins are distracted.”

Colonel Reynolds inclined his head. “Our mission is coming along better than planned. The battalion had already mobilized a half hour ago. Our scouts should inform us of the rendezvous as soon as a suitable loc
ation is established for an ambush.”

“Excellent. Then let's carry out our part of the plan.” John stood up. “I'll meet you outside. Prepare to d
epart in fifteen minutes.”

On the other side of the door, Catherine released her grip on the doorknob and darted to the nearest room, hastily flopping on the sofa and switching on the TV. She had barely put the remote down when John strolled in.

“There you are,” he said, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “I was just going to tell you that I must go to an u
rgent meeting tonight.”

“In your combat suit, fully armed?” Her gaze slid to the daggers on his waist and the sword peeking from its scabbard on his back.

“Safety reasons,” he smiled too readily.

“Can I come?”

“Er ... why don't you just wait for me here? I won’t be long, I promise.” He squeezed her shoulder and started for the door.

“John?” She twisted from her seat to look at him.

“Yes?” He paused in his tracks and glanced at her.

“You're not doing anything ... dangerous, are you?” She deliberately gave him the opening, hoping he'd share what she'd just overheard from his conversation with Colonel Reynolds.
Why did he intentionally hide his plans from her? And, why was he still interested in Elizabeth when she'd specifically asked him to let the matter go?