Page 32 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

Circus

O n my ever-lengthening mental Discuss with Aleksei as We Get to Know One Another list, I added sharing how I felt about him changing me from my satin gown into one of his T -shirts while I was dead out of it.

Of course, it was far more comfortable than sleeping in a halter-neck gown.

But still.

I really wanted to take a bath in his tub, or a shower. I hadn’t had either since I stayed in that old hotel during the filming of Sheets , and they were both way better than any bath pod.

But a bath pod could have you clean and dry in five minutes, top to toe.

And we had exalted company.

So I needed to get my rear in gear.

After I lay for those five minutes, letting the light diodes cleanse my skin and hair, I pulled myself out of the pod.

I slapped the cosme-mask on for a natural day look that took two minutes.

The mane-mate I programed for casual at home, and that took another three.

And I had to block out huge portions of the “female closet” (door four off his bedroom) as I programmed in the outfit I wanted to wear, because the closet was just that awesome, and if I paid too much attention to it, I could be lost in it for hours.

I might not be sure about how I felt about the fact that, for all intents and purposes, I’d been moved into Aleksei’s penthouse without a word exchanged between us before this happened.

But I was sure I’d move into that closet.

All said and done, I had soft, wide-leg, silvery-cream, drawstring pants on the bottom, a horizontal stripe semi-oversized shirt up top (stripes in silver and cream).

My hair was half up and half down, the down part having bouncy waves.

And a pair of silver, flat mules were on my feet.

They had notched-side uppers featuring intricate embroidery in greens, pinks, silvers and blues.

It wasn’t a meet-the-king-and-queen outfit, as such.

But they were just his parents here.

Right?

I hit the living area feeling vaguely nauseous because I was not so vaguely nervous and was greeted not only by a loud meow from Comet , even if he was still licking his chops after consuming breakfast, I was also greeted with the knowledge that Allain had not lied.

King Fillion , Queen Calisa , Princes Timothee and Errol were there. As were Gayle , Cat and Mr . and Mrs Truelock .

And Sirk .

They were all assembled in the luxurious built-in couches and freestanding armchairs that were positioned with a talented designer’s eye in the sunken living room.

Good news: none of my beings looked like they wanted to launch themselves at me in order to throttle me.

They didn’t appear entirely comfortable (save Mr . Truelock ), but they also didn’t seem homicidal.

I further noted, somewhere along the line, Aleksei had donned a white, long-sleeved T -shirt and another pair of jeans, these less faded than the ones he wore last night.

Last, Germaine was in attendance, pacing the landing close to the bottom of the steps.

And the instant she saw me, she took all my attention, because she announced, “ Oh my gods, she is just so perfect… I could die .”

“Uh…hey,” I said to her.

“Stunning, natural, casually stylish, relatable. Dead Winter came early to me this year,” Germaine went on rhapsodizing about me.

What she didn’t do was greet me.

I wasn’t sure about this female.

She was making me uncomfortable, and I was already feeling mightily uncomfortable, so I turned my attention to the seating area and began to do my thing for the king and queen.

“If you curtsy, I’m throwing their asses out,” Aleksei warned.

Seemed the grouch was back.

“Over here, with me,” he ordered.

Since he was holding a coffee mug, I went over there, to him.

He poured me a cup, manually, from a glass carafe that was set inside some kind of shiny, black electronic unit.

He then dolloped cream in it from a little pitcher (likewise shiny black), doing this also manually.

He stirred it (manually).

And he handed it to me.

“Um…” I said.

“I don’t have a Bev - Buddy either,” he replied to my unasked question.

Righty ho.

I sipped and found it was better than Bev - Buddy coffee, or at least the brand I supplied my Bev - Buddy with.

By a lot.

He positioned me at his side and made sure I knew to stay there by wrapping his arm around my waist.

I didn’t want to catch certain eyes.

But I had to catch certain eyes.

Sweeping through my beings, I took in the fact that Mr . Truelock looked cool as usual, lounged casually in an armchair like he owned this penthouse, his long legs crossed.

Mrs. Truelock sat in a chair next to him wearing one of her signature elegantly feminine dresses, her coppery-blonde hair perfectly coifed, and Jupiter was in her lap (she was the only one Jupiter liked, which told you all you needed to know about the lovely Mrs . Truelock ).

Gayle and Cat shared a couch, and they, unsurprisingly, considering where we all were and who we were with, appeared alert, but also surprisingly rested considering the night they’d had.

Time to face the music, so I asked quietly, “ Are you all mad at me?”

“Hells no,” Gayle answered, then said to the king and queen. “ No disrespect.”

“Be yourself in my home ,” Aleksei put in before the king or queen could say anything.

Oh dear.

I wasn’t having good thoughts about this unplanned, post-assassination-attempt, inter-family mingling, and I was already not having good thoughts.

“Anyway, truth serum is a trip, sister,” Gayle told me. “ A killer one. I’m feeling a whole lot better about law and order in our realm after dealing with those RMI guys. They’re like… whoa . Totally on it .”

Sirk grunted unhappily.

Gayle darted a glance at him and then her face flushed prettily.

“He almost got arrested when the constables took Gayle into custody,” Cat educated me.

Gayle’s cheeks got even pinker.

Sirk’s pecs popped when he crossed his arms irritably over his chest.

Interesting.

I filed that in my Make Cat and/or Gayle Tell Me the Story Later folder.

Not catching the vibe, someone rudely wanted the story now.

“What did you do?” Prince Errol asked Sirk .

“Nothing smart,” Sirk replied sharply.

Denied the goods on a misadventure by Sirk , who was adult enough to know whatever it was, it was a misadventure and not be proud of it, Errol sneered at Sirk .

I studied another prince of my realm.

Aleksei’s youngest brother was the picture of a morph of his mother and father, except he got the more feminine traits of his mother, including her hair, and the weaker traits of his father.

In other words, he wasn’t unattractive, but he wasn’t handsome.

He was pretty.

I returned to Cat . “ Is Terrinton okay?”

“He’s ecstatic,” she shockingly shared. “ He said all the pieces were better after Aleksei was done demolishing them. He wants to refund all the money, hike up the prices, and sell them all again.”

From what little I knew of the old guy, that tracked.

“And before you worry,” Cat went on. “ Aleksei’s people have already been hard at work.

Everything’s boarded up. Terrinton could sell a sandcastle he kicked over for a million marks and pretty much any being would buy something the True Heir wrecked.

So once we get the front repaired, which insurance covers.

” She shot a look at Aleksei . “ In other words, your offer to pay is declined.” She came back to me.

“ We’ll do what Terrinton says. Double our take.

And right now, I’m sitting on the hottest gallery in all Four Realms .

” She returned to Aleksei . “ So thanks for the drama, my prince. I feel a big, fat bonus coming on.”

That was a weird way for all that to work out.

But it was good to know it all worked out.

“Although your concern for us is not surprising, as you are our Laura ,” Mr . Truelock’s dry voice cut in. “ I believe we’re all more interested in how you’re doing, my lovely.”

Aleksei pulled me closer to his side.

“I’ve been really worried about you,” I admitted.

“Again, unsurprising,” Mr . Truelock replied. “ But something like what happened would mean I’d be disappointed if any stone went unturned in discovering what was behind it. It was a minor inconvenience, and expeditious in moving on to discovering what’s really going on.”

It wasn’t a minor inconvenience.

It was just how much they cared about me.

Aleksei had been right about how they’d react to interrogation under truth serum.

In my instruction, Madam Garwah also hadn’t gotten into whether you could burst out crying in front of the king and queen, even if you were in your mate’s house.

I was saved this possible breach of etiquette by the intervention of another royal.

“Are we going to be introduced to your mate?” Timothee cut in to demand of Aleksei .

I turned my attention to him.

Conversely, Timothee looked a lot like Aleksei , just a shorter, thinner, watered-down version.

And I felt upon laying eyes on him there was just something… off .

“Tim, Rol , this is my mate, Laura . Laura , Tim and Rol ,” Aleksei said in an offhand and insulting manner.

Hearing that, I shot Cat a look. She returned it and then shot Gayle a look. Gayle aimed one at her then at me.

Annnnnnnd…yeah.

There was perhaps more dysfunction here than I thought, and I was thinking there was some serious dysfunction here.

King Fillion rose, and obviously, I wasn’t the only one to get Aleksei’s memo, because everyone remained seated when he did.

“We’re all here to form a united front after what happened last night, and to indicate our support of the match of Aleksei and his mate,” he declared. “ As such, in a few minutes, we’ll appear at the front of the building for a photo op and a short speech from the king.”

Oh, gods, no.

I tensed.

When I did, the pads of Aleksei’s fingers dug into my waist and the heat of his displeasure beat into my side.