“What can I do for you?” I asked Queen Yarrow.She folded her hands primly on top of the desk and stared me straight in the eyes. “The first thing I need you to do is to believe me,” she said.“I’m listening,” I replied.She sighed and sat back, still upright but leaning onto the back of her chair. “Very well, then. I have a question for you before I begin rambling.”“What questions exactly did you need me to answer?” I pressed my lips
The Queen stopped speaking for a few long minutes, clearly composing herself. I waited patiently for her to be ready to speak again because I could only imagine how overwhelming reliving all of this had been for her.No matter what the king wanted me to believe, the evidence in the Alpha Archives completely corroborated Queen Yarrow’s story about abuse and poisoning. And if she was living in secret in the home of a disgraced alpha, then she was hardly living the sort of high life that would come from the money the sort of crimes I had uncovered would have built for her.She had no wealth, just her life.
“Can you do me a favor?” I asked Theo. We were still driving through the countryside on the way back from Queen Yarrow’s. “Rather than taking me straight back to the hotel since Charles isn’t even there, can we find a temple for the moon goddess? I’d like to pray for guidance.”“Sure,” he said. “You know? It’s funny. When I first took the job, I didn’t pick you as the devout sort. But you really seem connected with the moon goddess.”“Maybe it seems silly, but she speaks to me,” I admitted. “Not just in a feeling but in dreams and such. Like real conversations.”
“I have come to have the conversations with you that you so long to have,” the moon goddess confirmed. “For the time being, no one will bother us. So, you need to worry about that.”“Thank you. Oh, goddess—”“Please,” she said, “call me by my name.”“Your name?” I asked.“Feray.“I couldn’t possibly. That’s too informal
Charles crossed the small room and gripped my hands. “This is not the way I wanted to announce our engagement. I wanted to do it when the focus could be on you and our upcoming nuptials. I don’t want our union to be a sideshow to everything else that you’ve been accomplishing.”“That’s sweet,” I soothed. “But I’m okay with this. Anyway, you look at it, the public will be celebrating what’s going on in my…our lives. Besides, the sudden announcement might not be a bad thing on a personal level either.”I turned to David and Theo. “Do you think it would help my case with the king if I were
“But probably the hardest thing for me to believe is the whole scent thing.” This time, my laugh was more honest and less nerves. “How stupid is that? The only people who could love me the most smell me?”Charles let out a growl. “How can you doubt the goddess?” He scowled. “If you weren’t going to take anything she said seriously, then why even go there and get her advice? You wanted her to give you information. Then you got it, and now you don’t believe it.”“And you do?” I arched an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms. “That’s so ridiculous. How can a smell bring peace to everybo
A few minutes later, the door opened, and Charles came into the hotel suite’s bedroom. I hadn’t opened my eyes, but I could smell his vetiver.He shut the door behind him, and the bed jiggled when he sat on the corner of it. “Are you all right, Elena?”I nodded but didn’t open my eyes.He lay down next to me and pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “Are you sure you’re all right?”“I haven’t figured anything out yet. If that’s what yo
We returned to our apartment in Packhaven uneventfully. I’d have expected someone from the palace to be waiting at the airport to bring me home, but then again, I hadn’t told them I’d be back yet. So, in order to find me, they’d have to be tracking my flights.I only needed a short time at the house, just long enough to figure out where the stalker lived, and then I would be on another plane out of there. I had done what the mousy little man from the palace had asked and checked in the two days previous.I was positive they were tracking that phone, so they knew exactly where I was at. I assumed that if I wasn’t being bothered, I must