He didn’t appear to find anything he’d said amusing. “But now I know how important you are.”
My fingers curled around my knees as a breeze lifted a curl and tossed it across my face. A strange scent surrounded the prince. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it reminded of something. Beaches? No. I frowned.
His gaze flickered over my face. “You will open those gates for me.”
I laughed again. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
“I figured you would say that,” he replied, casting his gaze back to the street. “Let me impregnate you and you will want for nothing.”
My brows snapped together. “Yeah, that’s probably the most unappealing offer for sex in the history of mankind.”
He stared at me. “You are not afraid of me, are you?” Then he leaned over and inhaled deeply. “No. I smell fear on you, and yet you speak to me as if you have no concern for your well-being.”
“Did . . . did you just smell me again?” I asked, my pulse pounding in my throat. The truth was, I was scared. Terrified, honestly, but I couldn’t show that.
The side of his lips curled up. “You are confident because of your importance to me, or you are foolish. Either way, you will bear my child.”
All I could do was stare at him, because this was by far the most bizarre conversation I’d ever had with anyone or anything, and I’d had a lot of strange convos with Tink.
“You can make this easy and come with me now or—”
“I can make this hard? I know how this works. You can’t force me to have sex with you,” I said, voice low. “And if you threaten the lives of others to get me to go with you, you’re still forcing me.” I met his stare, calling up every ounce of bravery I had. “You can make me sit here and talk to you. You can even expose what I am to the entire world—”
“Why would I out what you are? Your kind, your Order, would kill you before you took your next breath. No one who wishes to not incite my wrath will betray you.”
Well, that was . . . kind of good to know. At least I could mark that one thing to freak out over off the list. “Anyway, you can make me do a lot of things, but you cannot make me do that. Ever.”
His head cocked to the side. “Is it because you’re in love with the human male?”
I blinked, jerking back. He said the word love like he was utterly unfamiliar with the term. “What?”
“The man who rushed to your side when you were injured. The one who has been spending every night at your place.”
Oh no. I started to stand but my legs were weak.
The smile reappeared. “How much do you value his—?”
“Don’t,” I warned, voice barely audible. “Don’t threaten him.”
He chuckled then, and it almost sounded real.
“Loving someone else has nothing to do with it. Even if I were single, I wouldn’t have sex with you.”
“I would,” a man said as he stopped in front of the bench. He grinned at the prince. “Just saying.”
The prince winked in return.
I waited until the other man had roamed off before I continued. I made sure my voice was low. “I am not having your child and ensuring that your kind takes over the world. Sorry. That’s not going to happen.”
“Are you a wagering type, little bird?”
I stared at him a moment. “This is insane. You nearly killed me. You’re a fae that wants to take over the human realm. There is literally nothing you can say or do that will—”
The prince moved fast, too fast for me to track. He was suddenly directly in my space and his cool hand was curved around the nape of my neck, smashing my curls. I tried to pull back, but yep, I was getting nowhere without breaking my own neck.
“Let go of me,” I ordered, moving my hand to my left side. If I had to stab him, even if the only thing it did was piss him off, I would.
“You can fight this all you want, but I know the game and the rules,” he said, and my stomach roiled as his icy breath coasted over my cheek. “I know how this ends, little bird. And trust me, you will be consenting sooner than you realize.”
Chapter Six
The prince just got up and walked away. Walked on down Decatur like he was out sightseeing wearing leather pants in seventy-degree weather. I think he might’ve walked into Jackson Square. Maybe he was going to check out the statue of Andrew Jackson? Or maybe he’d cross the street again and try some beignets or coffee mixed with chicory?
And I just sat there, sort of stunned and kind of wanting to laugh. Not the good kind of laugh. I was back to the slightly crazed kind.
What had just happened?
I was trying to comprehend the entire conversation, but the prince getting up and walking away was perhaps the most unexpected part. He didn’t try to force me to go with him. Oh God, was Tink right? Was the prince going to attempt to woo me? Nausea hit me in the stomach, and I might’ve puked a little in my mouth. Was that why he had only creeped me out but didn’t try anything else?
I knew I needed to say something. It was my duty to inform David that the prince was out and about.
Pushing up from the bench, I drew in a deep breath and slid my sunglasses back onto my face. What could I say though? How could I explain to anyone that I’d seen the prince but he hadn’t attempted to harm me? It might be believable if I was any other Order member and not the one who’d chased the prince down and spent one-on-one time with him, getting my ass handed to me. I could say that the prince hadn’t seen me. That wasn’t entirely impossible.
Nervous energy filled me as I waited for the traffic to clear on Decatur. The best thing for me to do was keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t. I had to warn other members that the prince was out and moving around the city. It was a safety concern. But it was more than that. It was my duty—a duty ingrained in me since birth and I couldn’t deny it.
The Ivy before the whole halfling business would’ve done the right thing, and I was still her.
As I crossed the street, I thought about texting Ren, but I didn’t. Not yet. There was something I needed to take care of first, the reason why I was out in the first place, and that had nothing to do with getting beignets.
I headed northeast on Decatur then turned left on St. Phillips, making my way toward the headquarters of the New Orleans branch of the Order. The twenty minute walk helped slow down my heart rate, but it did nothing to ease the anxiety building within me.
When Mama Lousy’s gift shop came into view, I noticed right off the bat that things had changed. The shop was closed, and since it was Sunday, that was unheard of. The gift shop was really just a front for the Order, selling fake voodoo stuff and yummy pralines. Jerome, a grouchy retired Order member, usually ran the place. I hoped nothing had happened to him. He could be a real dick, but he was kind of a lovable dick.
Dylan was standing outside, leaning against the deep burgundy wall next to the door that led upstairs. To the average passerby, he looked like some strange dude loitering, which meant he blended right in with his dark denim jeans and gray Henley shoved up to his elbows. He was wearing sunglasses and his built arms were crossed over his chest.
My steps slowed as he turned his head in my direction and said, “Oh look, she
is
alive.”
I arched an eyebrow as I stopped in front of him. Order members weren’t exactly a warm and friendly bunch. Probably had a lot to do with our high turnover rate. Most of us died before you could even get to know someone. Val had been different, though. From the first moment I’d met her, she’d welcomed me while everyone else was standoffish. Another reason why her betrayal cut so deep.
Ren had been different, too.
He was friendly and warm, but he also had wanted to get in my pants from the moment he saw me, and that was straight from the horse’s mouth, so . . .
“Why is the gift shop closed?” I asked.
“Jerome came down with a cold and David didn’t see the point of bringing anyone down for this,” Dylan explained. That made sense. There weren’t a lot of retired Order members around these parts who would want to come in and deal with the public.
“Glad to hear he’s otherwise okay.” I glanced into the dim shop. A few fake skulls sat on a stack of praline boxes.
“You were worried about that old coot?” Dylan laughed. “He’s going to outlive a nuclear war.”
My lips twitched. “Probably. So, what are you doing out here?”
“Fae know our location now since that bitch led the prince here.” Dylan propped a booted foot against the wall. “The door has to be guarded.”
I wanted to point out that one Order member probably wouldn’t be able to stop an ancient, but figured that wouldn’t win me any friends. “Makes sense,” I murmured, reaching for the door.
“Hey.” Dylan stopped me halfway in. “Glad you’re doing okay.”
Surprised, I looked over my shoulder at him. All I saw was my reflection in his sunglasses.
“And sorry about that shit with Val,” he continued. “I know you were close to her. That isn’t easy to deal with.”
My fingers tightened on the handle. “No, it’s not,” I admitted, angling my body toward him. “Did you suspect something?”
“Not until David had me watching her, but I didn’t see shit that would’ve made me suspect anything.”
And David had put Dylan on Val-duty because Ren told him that he suspected she was the halfling.
“Strange thing is, Ivy, I saw her kill fae.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Like, how fucked up is that? She was working for them and still killing them?”
“She had to keep up appearances, I guess.” Saddened by that fact, I turned back to the stairwell. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yep,” he said.
I pushed my sunglasses up onto my head and started climbing the steps—steps that I had almost bled out on when an ancient had shot me with a gun he’d manifested out of thin air. An ancient that David had refused to believe was around.
The stairwell always smelled like sugar and feet, a gross combination. I hesitated on the second-floor landing. Irrational dread formed like a lead ball in my gut. The last time I’d stepped through this doorway, I’d found Doc Harris dead on the floor, his gaze blank and fixed on the ceiling.
Taking a deep breath, I hit the buzzer and looked up at the small camera. I had no idea who was monitoring the door. If there wasn’t anyone, I had a key and could—
The door opened suddenly. Ren stood there. I so was not expecting to see him already. “Uh . . .”
He leaned against the doorframe. “I thought you were going to think about what I said, Ivy?”
My lips pursed.
“I can see that you didn’t.”
“I did,” I insisted.
“And I also thought you weren’t coming out to do anything work related, and yet you’re here.”
Um . . .”Are you going to let me in?”
Ren sighed as he stepped aside. I shot him a look as I walked in. The first place my gaze went to was the floor. The beige carpet had been pulled up. It made sense considering Harris’s blood had most likely bled straight through the to the boards below.
“Huh.” My throat felt oddly hoarse as I stared at the floor. “Who knew there was hardwood under there? Like, why would they have covered that up with crap carpet?”
Ren curled his hand around the nape of my neck. The touch was so different from how the prince had done it. He turned me toward him, and I opened my mouth to speak, but he lowered his face to mine and kissed me.
It wasn’t a soft kiss, but it was sweet and long. My lips parted, and I tasted chocolate on his tongue, which made me start to grin as his arm circled my waist. He drew me against him. Out of instinct, I looped my arms around his neck. When he moved his mouth to the side, he kissed the corner of my lip.
I was a little breathless when he settled me back on my feet.
“You looked like you could use the distraction.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
He slid his hand up through the mass of my curls. “I’m not in your head, sweetness, but I know what you were seeing when you were staring at the floor.”
I closed my eyes as I rested my forehead against his chest.
“It’s the same damn thing I saw when I first walked in here and every time since then, but it’s not the doc I see on the floor.” He lowered his head as I dropped my hands to his waist. I knew he was talking about me. “I keep telling myself it’ll get easier.”
“Has it?”
“Not really.”
“That’s motivational,” I murmured.
Ren drew back, and I lifted my gaze to his. “What’ve you been up to?”
“Nothing really. Went to get beignets, but . . .” The truth rose to the tip of my tongue.
Tell him,
ordered Good Ivy.
Keep your mouth shut
, ordered the voice that sounded strangely like Tink.
“What?”
I lowered my gaze. “The place was packed.”
Tink would be so happy.
“And that stopped you?” he asked.
A door opened and a heavy, irritated-sounding sigh forced us apart. I turned around. I was kind of relieved to see Miles Daily, the
de facto
second-in-command. The reason I was “kind of” relieved to see him was because I was pretty sure Miles didn’t like me and also had thought I was the traitor.
Miles raised his dark eyebrows as he glanced between us. “Am I interrupting?”
“You going to get pissed if I say yes?” Ren said.
I bit down on my lip to hide my grin.
Miles rolled his eyes and turned back to the room he’d just been in, which was probably the most emotion I’d ever seen from him. I could never get a read on the guy. He was worse than David when it came to figuring out how he felt and what he was thinking.
There were daggers and files on the oval desk inside the room. One of them had Denver, Colorado, written on the tab. Huh. That was where Ren was from. Was someone that he knew coming down? That could be interesting.
TV monitors lined one side of the room. Obviously Ren had been in here with Miles. I stared at the files. “What were you guys doing?”
“Looking over prospects.” Ren slid his hand down my back before stepping away and heading back into the office. “Well, that’s what Miles was doing. I was just being annoying.”
“Truer words have never been spoken,” Miles muttered. He stopped in front of the monitors. There were more out in the main room. The Order had cameras randomly placed throughout the Quarter and surrounding neighborhoods.