Page 2 of Royal Ransom (Princess Procedural #4)

Taliyah

The women across from me looked like the before-and-after photos in the overblown PSAs about drug use in the mid-90s. They both appeared to be in their early-to-mid forties and on the paler side. That was where the similarities ended, and a vast chasm of difference yawned between them.

The blonde on the left had bundled up despite the balmy temperature in the Hollow. She was smaller and had borrowed one of Astrid’s logo tees and a thermal shirt. Only her small, calloused hands poked nervously from the fabric, looking abnormally pale against the dark material. She’d tugged her long hair into a ponytail, leaving her face bare. She was pretty in a wholesome girl-next-door kind of way.

Miss Crazy Pink Hair, as Roland dubbed her, looked like an Amazon in one of the athleisure sets Wanda had donated to the cause. I had to hand it to my friends in the Hollow; there weren’t many people I knew who could adapt readily to the winds of change. I was sure the prickly witch would dismiss the generosity as a reverse psychology marketing ploy to make them customers later, but I knew the truth. Wanda was nowhere near as heartless as she pretended to be.

There was also something about Pink Hair that made my police radar tingle. She had a toughness that the blonde lacked. If it came down to a fight, she was the one I needed to deal with first. Appearances could be deceiving when dealing with monsters, but I trusted my gut when it pointed to the stony-faced woman as the greater threat.

I forced a smile I didn’t feel and spread my arms gingerly, careful not to tip my precarious pile of paperwork. If these two were from the abandoned Hollow down south, they probably knew Fox. Informing them that an enemy had mailed me his body parts wouldn’t endear me to them.

“Hello, ladies.”

Pink Hair grimaced at me, like she didn’t appreciate being called a lady. Blondie just gave me a little smile.

I continued. “I’m Taliyah Morgan, Haven Hollow’s chief of police. I think: We weren’t properly introduced the other day, I believe. How can I help you?”

There. I’d managed not to snarl at them despite the fact that this case was already wearing on my nerves. Having them here was a reminder of the things I was trying desperately not to think about: Fox, tortured and possibly killed; Maverick in a similar position. For all I knew, the ominous warning Janara had issued could have referred to him. He was a prince, after all—my prince, my husband, my...

My what? What were we to each other? I thought we’d crossed into new territory, and then he was gone. He’d seemingly evaporated into thin air like a B-movie Dracula, and I had no idea where he’d gone off to. Had it been my fault? Was something else to blame? Someone else? The witches of Scapegrace couldn’t even scry his location. So, what chance did I have of tracking him down? Could I even afford to do that with so many other problems facing the Hollow?

The blonde stepped forward first, surprising me. I’d suspected the pink-haired one would do all the talking. Maybe she was just there as muscle, trying to back up the blonde. I’d seen that before, but it was usually male visitors who pulled that posturing right out of the gate.

“I’m Charlotte Rose. But my, uh, my friends call me Charlie. This is Marina. We’re from...” Charlie trailed off, her eyes flicking meaningfully to the door. It had recently been warded with some of the same protections as the cells, with a heavy emphasis on noise reduction, but they had no way of knowing that.

“The local coven usually wards vulnerable locations,” I told her. “My office is safe; just be careful talking about anything you wouldn’t want mundanes to hear outside this place. If you need to discuss anything elsewhere, maybe just say you’re from down south.”

“Oh,” Charlie said, her voice muted. She looked on the verge of tears from just that gentle reminder. I continued before she could break down.

“The less specific you are with the police, the better,” I continued. “One of our Council members owns a lot of property—I’m setting all of you up in those properties, so you’ll have a roof over your head. You’re welcome to stay as long as it takes you to get back on your feet. Any longer, and I assume you’ll be able to work out a rental agreement with Lorcan Rowe, the owner.”

I was hoping most of them would decide to move on, but I had a sinking feeling they wouldn’t. I mean, where else would they go? Hollows weren’t exactly commonplace and once you found one, you usually didn’t want to move on. But that was a pain in my ass because more supernaturals translated to more problems for me.

Marina crossed her arms over her chest. I thought I’d been pretty generous thus far, but she was eyeing me like she was figuring out how to shake me down for my last coin. I wasn’t used to getting that look outside of car dealerships. The determined glint in her eye might have been commendable if it weren’t directed at me.

“It’s not enough,” she said. Her voice was low and a little scratchy, as if she desperately needed a cough drop. But when someone had actually offered her one the other night, she’d turned it down.

My eyes narrowed. “I’d say we’ve done plenty, given the situation.”

Charlie leaned in front of Marina, offering me a nervous and placating smile. Her teeth looked a touch sharper than they should have been, which gave me a clue about what sort of creature I was dealing with. Charlotte Rose was a vampire, which explained why she was bundled up. It was a dreary, overcast day, but the clothes offered coverage, just in case.

“We’re very grateful, Taliyah. Seriously—thank you. You have no idea how grateful we are. We lost everything when we had to flee Misty Hollow. Everyone here has been kind. Marina is just...” Charlie shot that nervous look and smile at her friend, who was giving her the same gimlet glare I was. “Well, she used to be our sheriff.” Okay, that made sense. “And… well, she wants to find the people Janara took. I do too. And, well, we thought you might have more contacts in that arena.”

I was pretty sure Marina hadn’t been about to say anything half that polite, but I thought I understood why they’d been paired together. It was the same reason I brought Maverick along when charm was necessary to solve a case: good cop, bad cop. Well, in our case, it was bad cop, charming bounty hunter, but the point stood. The tidbit about Marina was interesting enough to focus on, so I wouldn’t blow my top at the pair.

“Sheriff?” I repeated, giving her a once-over. She looked to be in good shape. “Were you in law enforcement before?”

Marina shook her head. “Private practice. My partner Mike Stewart was a police detective. He busted a dirty cop, but interdepartmental politics meant he got let go. He found me, and we founded one of the first P.I. offices that advertised to supernatural citizens.”

“Mike?” The name didn’t ring a bell.

Marina swallowed hard. “He was taken during the last stand against Janara’s forces.”

I winced in sympathy. We might not have had exactly the same knowledge and training, but I recognized something of myself and my fellow cops in Marina. She might not have the training, but she had the attitude. It was always hard to lose a partner, whether you had a badge or not.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

The useless platitude escaped me before I could stop it. It had been the wrong thing to say. Marina was on her feet, staring down at me a second later.

“He isn’t dead. Well, no deader than he was when he came to the Hollow.”

“He’s a vampire,” Charlie filled in for me.

Marina nodded. “And Fox said he was pretty sure most of the non-faerie captives were going to survive, possibly as pets and curiosities for the nobles of winter.” She said that last bit with a scowl on her face. “The point is, there’s still time for him. It’s the prince we came to talk to you about.”

Don’t look at the pinkie, Tally. For the love of God, don’t.

I managed to keep my eyes straight ahead with supreme difficulty. There was an angry supernatural leaning her weight against my desk, close enough that I could make out a subtle scale pattern on her arms.

Was she some kind of snake? Were Charlie’s fangs the only ones I’d have to deal with today? I didn’t know, and that pissed me off.

I folded my arms to avoid shoving her off the desk. I didn’t like people looming over me, but after the upheaval Misty Hollow had gone through, I was willing to be a little more understanding. People who’ve lost everything are rarely rational.

“You need to save Fox,” Charlie added in a small voice. To my horror, I realized it was choked with tears. “That evil bitch is hurting him, I just know it.”

I couldn’t help it. I glanced sideways at the paperwork instead of at her face. Thankfully, neither noticed when I edged the bit of bone a little further beneath the pile. Just making contact with the dry, carved appendage made me shudder. I hoped the finger didn’t belong to Fox, but with my luck, it would come back a match.

“I’m going to take it up with the Council,” I said as gently as I could. I did not want an emotional meltdown from the vampire or a lecture from her overprotective whatever the hell she was—giant lizard? “It’s going to be up to them to decide how we handle this. I’m running low on options at the moment. If I rush in without a plan, I’ll be in the same position Fox is. That doesn’t help anyone.”

“When is the meeting?” Marina pressed. “We’d like to have a representative present.”

It was a fair request. They might not be citizens now, but at least a few would stay. Besides, they’d trespassed on winter land. Janara might view that as a killing offense. It was better if they stayed here for now, until the battle royale coming for us all quieted down.

“Meet us at the Half-Moon Bar and Grill after last call,” I said. “If there’s Hollow business to discuss, we usually do it there. I’ll be visiting the coven house shortly after work, so I’ll have Wanda put out the call to the others. She’s better at that kind of thing than I am.”

Charlie dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve, waiting silently as Marina tried to bargain with me. Charlie looked the way I felt—miserable. Out of all our new arrivals, she was the one I was most curious about. Her reaction to Fox had been... odd, to say the least. Learning she was a vampire hadn’t been illuminating. It was just another piece in the jumbled puzzle that Fox had emptied onto my lap shortly before he disappeared.

Charlie blinked in surprise when I offered her a Kleenex.

“Thanks,” she muttered, blowing her nose.

“Were you and Fox... close?” I asked and I was surprised I had because I usually wasn’t the nosy type.

“Dating,” she said absently. “I think.” Then she paused and shook her head. “It was complicated.”

Which just went to show that there was someone out there for everybody. Fox Aspen had struck me as an arrogant son of a bitch the first time we met, which automatically rubbed me the wrong way. Then he had the gall to announce we were getting hitched without asking me first. That had clinched it for me. There was no way I’d ever be romantically inclined toward the man, even if he was technically on my side in a fight. There was too much history there. Even if he hadn’t demanded my hand in marriage, we wouldn’t have worked out. Fox was used to being in charge, and I didn’t take orders well. If we had married, I probably would have murdered him in his sleep some dark night.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, and this time there was real feeling in the words.

I understood exactly how it felt to wait at the window, wondering if your partner would come home alive. I had been stuck in that particular hell for a week while I sorted out the humanitarian crisis that had arrived unexpectedly on my doorstep. It had at least distracted me from Maverick’s disappearance. If I had time to worry, I’d end up blanketing the town in an unseasonable snowstorm. And that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“Get him back for us, please,” Charlie whispered. “Fox trusted you. He said… well, he said you’d help us.”

And there he went again, volunteering me for things I had no desire to sign up for. Before, I’d managed to put off this decision. Janara had been busy consolidating her power, purging anyone who might be loyal to my family from her guard so that the monsters who descended on our Hollow would have no qualms about killing my entire family. Now, she had her enemies exactly where she wanted them. It meant we had to find an answer to her ransom demand soon.

I’d never done well with ultimatums. I was going to make Janara pay for this. The question was, how?

“I will,” I said, unable to keep the bite of winter out of my voice. Charlie reacted as if it were a physical blow, flinching away from the cold in the air and my tone. “But I can’t just run in. It’s suicide. I’ll talk tactics with you all tonight. Right now, I have a job to do and mundanes to protect.”

“Mundanes?” Charlie repeated.

I nodded. “After I clock off, I have two little human boys who need food, baths, and a bedtime routine.”

Marina’s face softened, which surprised me. She had definitely seemed to be the hardass of the pair, so I had to wonder: did she have kids? I’d only seen a handful of children from Misty Hollow while I’d busily placed them into their new homes. I couldn’t recall if Marina had had someone clinging to her leg.

“Little boys,” she repeated. “What are their names?”

“Sean and Charlie,” I said, smiling for the first time since the package had arrived for me this morning.

“That’s a good name,” Charlie said, smiling at me.

A little laugh escaped me, and soon I was explaining more. “I adopted them from foster care. I was also adopted, so it was a pay-it-forward gesture. Everyone deserves a family.”

Marina finally cracked a smile. It transformed her already pretty face into something truly lovely. “Yes, they do. I think we got the answers we came for, Chief Morgan. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

“Not a problem,” I replied automatically. Anything to get them out of the office and away from the bone. “I’ll see you tonight?”

“Tonight,” Charlie agreed. “We’ll make a plan and then we’re going to kick Janara’s ass. And… well, we’re going to get him back.”

She said the words more to herself than to me, as though they were crucial. If she was as in love with Fox as I thought, I almost felt sorry for her. At least I knew Maverick was alive, even if he wasn’t right here with me.

“Yes, we will.”