Page 52 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

Struggling

“S hh.”

“You shh.”

“No, you shh.”

We all giggled.

And yes, we were all tipsy.

My gals had come for a gals’ night in. We’d stuffed our faces.

Poorly played billiards. I lost a fortune in chocolate stars and corn nibbles at poker, because it would seem I seriously sucked at poker.

Though , that might have had something to do with the fact, until that night, I’d never played it.

And we’d drank a lot.

Gayle, Cat and Monique had come to mine, because at the behest of Dr . Fearsome , backed by Aleksei , I was now under quarantine since my beast could emerge at any time.

That night, I’d finally gotten my updates from them ( Cat and Bash were still dating (yay!), Gayle and Sirk were not (boo!) and Monique was still working so hard in order to be able to afford to remodel her flat, she wasn’t doing anything (boo again! but also, good for her)).

I’d given my friends all the news, which was mostly about how I was falling in love with my awesome mate, with only a little bit about the rift and changes in the Royal Family and what I knew about whatever traitorous plot was unfolding.

I didn’t share not because I didn’t trust them.

I didn’t do it because family business like that should stay in the family, and I had a strong feeling that threats to the realm shouldn’t be discussed over bad poker playing and copious imbibing.

Aleksei had been with me when they arrived, and he’d checked in a couple of times during the evening, being his normal charming self, looking his usual gorgeous and making my gals oo and aah at how fantastic he was. But other than that, he’d left us to our gal time.

The night was just what I needed.

We were standing at the lift.

And the gals had been loudly discussing the fact I was imminently going to have tipsy sex with my mate (mm-hmm, I’d shared about how great Aleksei was at that too).

Now that our night was over, my friends were right. Aleksei would soon be giving me more of what I needed.

But the decibel level of our discussion caused me to emit the first “ Shh .”

“This makes me want to quest for my mate,” Gayle said.

“You could quest Sirk , and jump on his big, bear shifter dick,” Cat suggested.

“ Shh ,” Gayle shushed her. “ He’s Aleksei’s best bud, and Aleksei has shifter hearing.”

“I’ve been glad I missed the mayhem at the gallery,” Monique put in. “ But the more I hear of this Sirk , the more I wish I’d risked being trampled in order to get a look at this male.”

Suddenly, my beast shifted in my chest, and it made me turn my head toward the stairs.

“Everything okay, Laura ?” Monique asked me.

I came back to them. “ I’m sorry. I need to?—”

My beast shifted again, and my skin started tingling.

“I need to get to my mate,” I said earnestly.

Suddenly sober eyes lit on me, and I loved them even more because none of them had mates, but they still got it.

I received hugs, cheek kisses, and they loaded into the lift.

I waved at them until the door slid closed and then I hurried to the stairs.

I found Aleksei at the window in the bedroom, fully clothed even if it was late, and staring at the city lights of Nocturn .

Seeing him like that, instantly, I was sober myself.

When I entered, his gaze came to me.

I went right to him.

“Have a good night?” he asked, extending an arm.

I walked into that arm, and he curled it around me, pulling my front to his side.

“It was great,” I replied and tipped my head. “ Are you all right?”

His eyes moved over my face.

Then he looked back to the window.

No.

He wasn’t all right.

“Honey,” I whispered. “ Talk to me.”

“I just got a comm from the lead of the task force. Dr . Buildlore has been found. He’s dead.”

Oh farg.

“Blasted in the face?” I asked.

He shook his head before looking down at me. “ He hung himself. The supposition is, he couldn’t run anymore or feel hunted or both.”

“Did he leave a note?”

“Yes. He apologized to his fiancée for being a weak male.”

“That’s it?”

He nodded.

“Please tell me his fiancée was the nurse he was showing favoritism to,” I begged.

“It’s my understanding she was not.”

Stellar fellow all around, it seemed.

“Laura, he knew Anna ,” Aleksei informed me.

My body lurched at this news.

“Oh my gods,” I breathed.

“They had a short affair a few years ago when they met on Anubis . They were both there for a holiday. It didn’t last longer than that, but they kept in touch.”

Anna certainly did get around to all the fabulous resorts of the Four Realms .

I’d always wanted to go to Anubis Island with its pink beaches, sprawling platinum-crown hotel and bungalows built on stilts in the azure waters of the Dolphin Sea .

The island was small, the resort the only thing on it, and there was nothing to do there but sit in the sun, eat, drink, go to one of their many spas, yoga or meditation sessions, hit one of their nightclubs, or browse through their exclusive boutiques.

I’d even researched it (and as such, found there was no way I could afford it).

Seven restaurants, three of them fine dining.

Ten boutiques. Four spas. Two clubs. Oh , and a dinner theater.

This was where my mind turned, because it needed to have that brief respite rather than allowing what he was telling me to settle.

But then, what he was telling me settled.

Which was why I was feeling what I was feeling coming off of Aleksei .

He was reacting to the fact an old friend, a former lover, and his ex-fiancée put a hit out on me, and maybe him.

“That isn’t concrete proof she’s behind this,” I tried.

“I’m telling myself that,” he replied. “ It’s becoming hard to believe.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

He moved us to a seating area I’d yet to use.

A charcoal velvet couch with an oval curve back elegantly edged in silvered wood, flanked by two blue velvet club chairs.

These were situated around a silver and black marble table about ten feet from the foot of the bed, close to the wall that closed the room off from the downstairs.

“Activate fireplace,” he called, and I stood in stunned silence as I watched the entire wall fold into itself, exposing a window with more of a view of Nocturn , but also the living area of the level below.

In the lower portion of the wall, purple and blue flames sprang up, and when they did, they danced high across the entire wall. Which meant, the wall was a fireplace.

Freaking mega .

I was sensing I should ask Aleksei to give me the full tour, rather than relying on the one I took with Comet , because I’d been missing things.

I decided against this because discovering them like I just did was a whole lot more fun.

“Service engage. Deliver whisky, three fingers,” he went on as he seated us cozied together on the couch.

I curled my legs under me.

Aleksei looked down at me and lifted his brows.

“I’m on almondine sours,” I told him.

“And an almondine sour,” Aleksei said to the room.

“Um…” I hummed rather than asking the question about why he was talking to the room.

“I don’t use the bots for personal service unless I can’t be arsed to go get myself a fucking drink. And right now, I can’t be arsed.”

I nodded, noting his mood seemed to be worsening.

Aleksei brooded at the fire.

I let him.

A bot arrived with our drinks on a tray.

Once we took them, its mechanical voice asked, “ Anything else for now, your royal highness?”

“No, but stand ready.”

“Yes, sire,” the bot replied, and walked out.

Aleksei drank.

I drank.

He launched in. “ As I told you, Anna and I were friends. We became lovers. I should have taken pains to keep it a secret. I fear this wouldn’t have worked, because Anna had no intention of doing so.

My mother heard of it. She told Germaine .

Germaine told Rytalf , the political advisor to the royal family.

Rytalf brought my father into it. My father spoke to Dagsbrun .

He spoke to their political advisor. And all of them decided, in the current climate, an alliance between realms would be a good thing. ”

“My first question is the easier one,” I said. “ And it is, why was that?”

“The magisterial system of Sky’s Edge is a quagmire.

A panel can make a decision, and if a barrister can poke a big enough hole in the reasoning behind their decree, it will go to another panel for a new decision.

I honestly have no idea how they get anything done with this kind of setup, but demons love nothing more than to argue and pit themselves against things.

So maybe it’s that. In the years since King Riland’s death, Tanyn has had six panels rule in favor of his question of succession.

And Arnaud’s barristers have found big enough issues behind the reasoning to call another panel. ”

I wasn’t sure why we were talking about Sky’s Edge , but I didn’t ask.

I sipped my drink and listened.

“Now, Tanyn has jumped through enough hoops, his case is being prepared to go in front of the Premier Magistrate , and their decision will be final,” Aleksei shared.

“ Arnaud will have no choice but to accept it, and it is in no doubt the decision will be his immediate abdication, and Tanyn will take the throne.”

“This is good, isn’t it?” I asked.

“It would be good, if our intelligence wasn’t telling us there’s an alarming rift in their military.

There are those who back Arnaud . There are those who back Tanyn .

But right now, Arnaud is king. So those who are found to back Tanyn have been disciplined, ousted, or even tried on trumped up charges and imprisoned. ”

Dear Lilith !

“This for sure is not in the media or on the tapes,” I stated.