Page 33 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

“I wouldn’t have picked that outfit,” Germaine put in, studying my clothing critically. “ But I’m feeling it. It says, casual stay at home with my hunky mate, the True Heir , after drama and intrigue filled our night .”

“It would have been nice if you checked with Laura and I first to ascertain we were at one with this plan,” Aleksei said to his dad.

“Your tech was muted,” King Fillion returned.

“It’s nine thirty, Father . The day is hardly wasting,” Aleksei shot back.

“We were curious to meet her,” Timothee put in.

“As she’ll be by my side the rest of my life, you’d have plenty of opportunity,” Aleksei retorted.

“Perhaps there’s somewhere my wife, my girls and I can…relax while you all…discuss,” Mr . Truelock suggested haltingly, but diplomatically.

Aleksei turned his attention to him. “ You asked for the injection before they even mentioned it.”

Wait.

He did?

That was news.

My gaze shot to Mr . Truelock as my heart skipped contentedly.

“So did Freya ,” Aleksei continued. “ Cat and Gayle agreed the minute it was suggested.”

Ah.

My queens.

I sent a grateful smile their way.

Aleksei kept talking.

“Therefore, I’m glad you’re here so I can thank you personally for your sacrifice on behalf of my mate, your show of loyalty and solidarity, and your willingness to go to extremes to prove I can trust you with her.

I’m also glad you’re here because she fretted about all of you last night.

It’s important you know, we disagreed that you should be interrogated.

Laura argued against it. She vehemently didn’t want to put you through it, but more, she knew in her heart it was unnecessary.

Further , she worried what it would say that you had to endure it.

As such, it heartens her to see you here and know you hold no ill-will against her. ”

“Never,” Mrs . Truelock whispered. “ And those shoes are lovely with that outfit, sweetheart. You always have the perfect eye.”

Geez, Mrs . Truelock was the best.

“Thanks, Mrs . Truelock ,” I replied.

“No heartfelt speech for your blood family?” Timothee sniped.

“Did it occur to you that, after what happened, we’d be up most the night and therefore would need to rest this morning?

” Aleksei clapped back. “ But no matter when we woke, it wouldn’t erase the fact that someone nearly killed Laura last night, I was put in the position of having to take his life, so maybe we didn’t want a living room full of bodies Laura feels like she has to curtsy to in what will be, and now is acting as, her own fucking home? ”

Oh yeah.

Way more dysfunction than I expected.

I put my hand on his back.

Aleksei seared his angry gaze from his brother to Germaine .

“And for the three years I’ve lived in this penthouse, I took pains… pains , Germaine , to keep my city address private. And you guided every fucking citizen right to my fucking door. Even the cops took steps to keep that on the downlow.”

Oh boy.

I forgot about that.

And now such a big crowd had gathered, they’d had to close down the street.

“I know you hate it, Lex , but this situation is PR gold,” she replied. “ We can’t miss the opportunity it affords us.”

“The opportunity it affords who?” Aleksei inquired dangerously.

“The royal family. Your family,” she replied.

“Considering the statement you made thoroughly explains my beast’s actions of last night, and the crowd gathered in the street right this very moment is indicative of the joy the realm is apparently experiencing because of it, what opportunity now needs an even bigger statement that includes most of my family appearing before the public in front of my home to make it? ” he pushed.

“No opportunity this good should be squandered, your highness.”

Dang.

She was hedging.

And Aleksei knew it.

“What’d they do? Or alternately, which one did something?” Aleksei demanded.

Germaine’s expression turned openly cagey.

“What’d they do?” he pressed.

She cast her eyes toward the queen.

Queen Calisa sighed delicately before she spoke.

“It’s unsurprising he figured it out. He’s far from dim. Therefore , admit it, Timothee .”

Oh dear.

This was my first time in her presence. I didn’t realize how tense and angry she was.

But regardless of that delicate sigh, I wasn’t missing it now.

“I’m not a child,” Timothee bit back.

“Lilith, even though he’s been on this earth thirty-one years, grant me the day when that’s actually true,” the queen prayed.

“Quiet, Caly , you’re too hard on him,” the king, who’d seated himself again, murmured.

“And you, sir, are not hard enough,” she rejoined.

“We have company,” the king retorted.

“As I understand, they’re not that, but instead, they’re Laura’s family, and she is now ours,” the queen returned.

His chest puffed out. “ But they are not mine, nor are they Tim’s . He doesn’t have to confess in front of strangers just because of some masculine peccadillo he got up to. He’s a male! He’s a prince! He’s young. Males have oats to sew.”

“If I hear one more metaphor that absolutely does not in any way excuse bad behavior, but instead, is an indictment of it, because a male who is a male should know better, I’ll scream,” the queen declared.

“Bloody hell, enough!” Aleksei clipped loudly. “ What the fuck did he do?”

It was Errol who told on his brother, and he did this gleefully.

“He got a human female pregnant, and when she refused to get rid of it, he doused her drink.” He grinned slyly. “ And that sure did the trick. But it made her sick. She hit a clinic. They ran tests. And she knows what he did.”

The entire room grew preternaturally still.

For my part, I thought it would be me who got sick at hearing Aleksei’s brother was capable of this level of vileness.

“Get out.”

The skin all over my body got cold at the terrifyingly murderous tone of Aleksei’s voice.

And this was aimed at Timothee .

I shifted closer to him and started to stroke his back, hopefully soothingly. But at the feel of how tense his muscles were, I knew I was doomed at offering any solace.

Then again, regrettably, I was seeing where he was coming from when it came to his brothers.

And it was a very dark place.

I was also seeing why the queen had been so anti-male last night.

So seeing it.

“Lex—” Germaine started.

He swung his fury at her.

“Do not ‘ Lex ,’ me, Maine . And mark this. Laura , nor I , are available for you to trot out to cover for his juvenile, and now criminal bullshit.”

“Says the male who murdered another male last night,” Timothee said under his breath.

Aleksei swung back to Timothee .

“The PR60s those assholes were carrying were modified. If he’d hit me with the beam, even with me as my creature, there’s a very good chance he would have stopped my heart.”

I gasped.

That was news too!

Boy, it had been a really bad idea to conk out during the briefing last night, that much was certain.

But this wasn’t really a surprise, considering I thought the same weapon had killed my beast.

I told him that last night, but once I learned she was with me, it didn’t occur to me to discuss how that same weapon actually would have been able not only to kill my beast, but to kill his .

Which made me wonder, did they not have that same laserpower when they attacked me? Or did they not intend to kill my beast?

“He was there to kill Laura , and/or me, but I killed him first,” Aleksei clipped.

“ So do not equate what befell my mate and I last night with dipping your wick into yet another female who you conned into bed with bullshit promises and total lies, did so wrong by her, you didn’t protect her from pregnancy, and then you drugged her without her knowledge.

All your shit descends to worse shit every time we have a family meeting, and I’m not covering for you anymore, Tim .

Find a gods-damned moral compass, for all of our sakes, but mostly the beings whose lives you tear through, so you’ll stop tearing through them.

If you don’t, there will be nothing Germaine can do for you.

The beings of the Fall will call for your head.

And these days, that means being stripped of your titles, your accommodation, and your allowance.

Dad might throw you a few marks, but the life you know will be gone.

Take this as the final wakeup call. And grow. The fuck. Up .”

Back to Germaine , and with just an intake of breath, he carried on.

“You are very good at what you do. Release a statement. Get them to back off. Explain that the prince and his mate need time to recover from their ordeal. We thank everyone for their well-wishes, and to assuage their concerns about us, we’ll appear what?

” He looked down at me. “ Tomorrow ? The next day?”

“Whichever you feel comfortable with, drahko ,” I said gently.

“Tomorrow,” he decided, aiming that Germaine’s way.

“ No questions. Photo op only. West garden at the Palace . Fifteen minutes. And find someone you trust to do an interview for next week. Just me. Not Laura . I’ll speak very briefly on what happened at the gallery last night.

Book it. Then book another photo op for the unveiling of the engagement ring the week after, and one interview, the both of us.

If they don’t back off from my door today, none of that is happening, and the media freezeout that will ensue will be very fucking cold for a very fucking long time. ”

“Seems he’s covering your ass anyway, bro,” Errol noted toward Timothee .