Page 91 of Night’s Fall (The Four Realms #1)

An hour and a half later, Gayle was still crashed, and Cat and I were huddled at a table by the window that was covered in our used breakfast dishes, and we were having a whispered conversation.

I was filling her in with all that had happened.

She was visibly relieved the Arnaud thing appeared to be at an end, and seeing her relief, it was the first time I realized it was at an end.

He was in custody. He was in deep doo-doo with murder and mayhem to answer for. He was about to lose his throne. And if they could prove he killed that poor young female, and all the rest, he wouldn’t be free, maybe for the rest of his life.

So outside of still being insanely pissed at Prince Cormac for being such a massive dick, I was relieved too.

And maybe, now that the Masque was over, Aleksei and I could go away for a week and chill the heck out before I was thrown into engagement party planning, wedding planning and the movie started shooting.

“Something happened last night with me too,” Cat whispered.

I came out of my thoughts and right back into the room, because her voice was weird.

“What?” I asked.

“Well…” Her eyes slid to the side.

“Cat, really. Things seem to be going our way, finally, but only after more beings died last night. If this is bad, just sock it to me.”

“I got a middle of the night visitor too.”

I stared.

“Tanyn knocked on my door last night,” she finished.

“What?” I whisper-shouted.

“What?” Gayle plain old shouted from the bed.

Cat narrowed her eyes toward the bed. “ Were you pretending to sleep?”

Gayle pushed the covers back. “ Not at first. But I could smell bacon and coffee, and it woke me up.”

That would wake any gal up.

I reached to the pot to pour her a cup when she made her way to us.

I slid the cup and saucer to her at the same time watching her curl, knees to chest, into a chair at the table.

Still assuming a protective position.

Yep.

And I was still pissed at Prince Cormac .

“How are you doing?” I asked her, knowing it was a stupid question.

“I feel like shit,” she replied, giving me the answer I already knew.

I loved her, but unsurprisingly, she looked like it too. She’d be under a spa-visor for an hour to get rid of that redness, swelling and those dark circles.

Totally, when Cormac came back to her (and he would), he’d better beg and crawl.

“Drink caffeine,” I urged.

She reached for the cup but said to Cat , “ Spill .”

Cat drew in a big breath.

“Well, I heard the knock on the door, and I thought it was you with some news,” she said to me.

I nodded and took a sip from my own cup.

“It wasn’t. It was him,” Cat went on.

“And?” Gayle prompted.

“And… I just opened the door and stared up at him, kinda frozen in shock that he was at my door in the middle of the night,” Cat shared.

She was also probably frozen in shock that a ridiculously handsome prince was right there at her door in the middle of the night.

“And?” I pushed when she stopped talking.

“And, he said nothing.”

“What?” Gayle asked.

“Nothing?” I asked.

“Not at first. He just hooked me with his arm, pulled me in for a deep, wet kiss, and when he was done with my mouth, he let me go.”

By Lilith !

“What?” Gayle nearly shouted.

“Oh my gods!” I also nearly shouted.

“And then he said, ‘ Get rid of him. I’ll be in touch.’ And he walked away,” Cat finished.

By the gods, that was hot .

“Holy Hecate ,” Gayle breathed (she thought it was hot too).

“Who acts like that?” Cat asked.

“Was the kiss good?” I inquired.

She didn’t quite meet my eyes.

It was good.

“How good?” I pushed.

She shoved her plate away and flounced back in her chair. “ Who cares? You don’t walk up to a female’s door, kiss her, tell her to dump her male and walk away. What is that?”

As I mentioned, it was hot .

I kept my mouth shut on my opinion since it didn’t seem Cat felt the same way.

Though, she’d said, “when he was done with my mouth.” She hadn’t said, “when I pushed him away.”

“I wish Cormac had done that to me,” Gayle mumbled.

Cat took her hand on the table. “ Oh , honey. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Why not?” Gayle asked. “ He told me to live my life. This is part of my life. Gabbing with my gals.”

Cat gave her a sympathetic look.

Gayle gently disengaged her hand and reached for a rasher of bacon, asking mock casually, “ So , are you going to go there?”

“Be the plaything of a very-soon-to-be king?” Cat shook her head. “ Not a chance.”

If she really wasn’t into Tanyn , then I hoped her dad never found out about his middle-of-the-night visit.

“Where’s Monique ?” Gayle asked.

“She’s at the salon. Clients . Yes , even after all the chaos last night. I can’t believe that female’s work ethic. It’s inspiring,” Cat said.

“I’ve seen the plans for her renos, so I get why she’s going for it. Her flat is going to be mega when it’s done,” Gayle shared.

We lapsed into our normal gabbing.

But I did it watching closely.

I noted Gayle was still wounded, but she was putting a brave face on it, and Cat was holding something back. But I knew from experience you had to let her pick her time to share, or find the right one to push, and that wasn’t now.

After a while, Gayle said she needed a shower, and we all needed to find out what was happening, including if everyone was free to go home, so Cat and I left.

I walked her to her room.

“So, how good was the kiss, exactly ?” I probed.

She sighed. “ It was great. But I mean, really, Laura . Who does he think he is?”

I grinned at her. “ A very-soon-to-be king who’s about to move into a kickass castle.”

She rolled her eyes.

I let it go, left her in her room and went back to mine.

Aleksei wasn’t there, of course, so I commed him.

He picked up right away, and the display showed he was outside somewhere, the wind ruffling his hair.

Talk about hot.

“Hey,” I greeted.

“ Bissi , can I comm you back?”

“Sure.”

“Are you in our suite?”

“Yes.”

“Are you staying there?”

Well, I wanted to check on the queen and Aleece , not to mention Monique , and touch base with the Truelocks and Vinestrongs .

But I said, “ Do you want me to?”

“Yes, I’ll be there in half an hour.”

“Okay, see you then.”

“Love you,” he replied.

I’d never get used to that. And I’d never stop melting at getting it.

“Love you too,” I returned, hoping he felt the same way (about the never getting-used-to-it part, I knew my male could catch fire, but I didn’t think he could melt).

We disconnected.

I made some comms.

The Truelocks and Vinestrongs were in the midst of packing in order to move back to their homes.

Aleece wasn’t picking up.

I sent a text comm to Monique so I wouldn’t disturb her at work, and she hadn’t had a chance to text back.

And I chatted with Nata , asking her to get with Dita , the queen’s aide, to ask if I could have some time with her. We further made plans to go through the clothing and accessories that afternoon to see if there was anything I wanted to wear to my upcoming events.

She also confirmed she’d gotten in touch with Dad , and he’d expressed gratitude that she’d commed to let him know I was okay.

I was scrolling through social tapes ( Arnaud was seriously getting torn apart, and I was there for it—and my creature had been nicknamed “ BBB ,” which stood for “ Beautiful Badass Bitch ,” which I was uncertain about—not to mention, Tim’s dragon was getting a lot of positive tape play, and I hoped he saw it) when Aleksei walked in.

I knew the minute I saw his face, something was up, and whatever that something was, it wasn’t good, so I popped out of the sofa.

“Is everything okay?”

He said nothing.

He just walked right to me and gathered me in his arms.

Once there, he held me close.

No.

Everything wasn’t okay.

I gave him some time, then whispered in his ear, “ What’s up?”

He pulled away but replaced his arms around me with holding my head in both hands.

“The comms were traced. The agent who was at the Masque last night, the one who’d insinuated himself with Errol , did report to Arnaud that things were not going as planned.”

Oh farg.

I’d forgotten all about Errol .

How had I forgotten about Errol ?

“The spy has been picked up,” he continued. “ The RIC will deal with him.”

“Okay,” I said.

“And Errol had a number of questions about why he couldn’t transform last night, questions that we’ve answered, including showing him the vid of his interrogation before his memory scrub. He didn’t take it well.”

Oh dang.

“As such, I’ve made the decision that Rol will be quietly admitted as an inpatient at Empathy Sanctuary on Lucius Island ,” he announced.

Empathy Sanctuary was the go-to rehab for the rich and famous.

“We just sent him off,” he finished. “ And we did it against his will. He was restrained.”

“Oh honey,” I murmured. “ That couldn’t have been easy. But this is a good idea. He can get help there.”

He took his hands from my head and put them to my hips. “ Laura , there’s a section of Empathy many people don’t know about.”

Oh boy.

“What’s that?”

“It’s very nice, and he’ll get help, but it’s a lockdown facility.

He can’t leave unless his doctors feel it would be detrimental for him to stay, but with the accommodation he’ll be afforded, this is highly unlikely, considering this is an exclusive, platinum star facility on a tropical island.

The other option is that I release him.”

“So essentially, he’s going to a resort-type mental health and rehab hospital on a beautiful island, he’ll get top-notch counseling there, and he can’t return unless he’s convinced you he’s got himself together.”

“Not essentially. That’s exactly what it is.”

“And you feel bad about it.”

He shook his head.

“He conspired to murder your beast. He nearly got you killed, my beast possibly killed. And his actions, decisions and the beings he allowed himself to spend time with opened our family to peril and took the lives of eleven people. Three of those dedicated their careers to keeping this family safe, and one of them a female I greatly respected. No . I don’t feel bad about sending my brother to a facility where he’ll be living in a luxury suite, waited on hand and foot, and spending his time in isolation aquariums and yoga classes.

I feel bad that my mother and father are wondering where they went wrong.

My sister is heartbroken that one of her brothers is such a fuckwit.

And my other brother feels betrayed, and also feels guilt he shouldn’t feel. ”

“So you’re disappointed you couldn’t kick his behind.”

He gave me a small smile. “ Yes . That .”

I fit myself to him. “ It still was the right choice.”

“Mm.”

I tucked my hands under his suit jacket to explore the muscles of his back over his shirt and asked, “ What can I do to make you feel better?”

His eyes darkened. “ What are my choices?”

“Do you still have that dragon mask?”

His lips hitched. “ I’m sorry, love. I lost track of it when I found myself battling creatures from another age.”

“Bummer,” I muttered.

He turned us and started walking me backward to the bedroom. “ But we can get creative.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“I can promise you, it will be.”

I smiled at him.

He kissed me.

We both got creative.

And it was a lot more than interesting.