Page 22 of The Prince and the Double Shot (Runaway Prince Hotel #2)

ZANE

“ I love this place. In all of Princedelphia, I think this beach may be my favorite. It’s hidden and off the beaten path. I like the way the cliffs cast their shadows on the sand.” I held Phil’s hand tightly. It was nice to share this place with someone else.

“I bet all the boys you’ve brought here have loved it.”

“Stop. You’re the only person I’ve shared this with. It… It’s not something I’ve ever wanted to share.”

“That’s sweet – that you wanted to – with me. Thank you.”

“It’s not Majorca, but I love it.”

“There’s no one here.” Phil grinned. “It’s like we have it all to ourselves.”

“I’ve never seen another person here in all the times I’ve visited. It’s far enough away that the tourists never come, and the locals always go to the other beaches, I guess.”

“Maybe it’s a private beach that belongs to one of the houses on the cliff?”

“Maybe? I’ve never really cared. It feels like it belongs just to me, you know?”

“It’s lovely, Zane.”

“You said that you wanted to get away somewhere that we could talk. This was the first place that I thought of.” I shrugged. “The… uh… ball is coming up. Have you peeked inside? I did the other day. It looks nice.”

Phil laughed. “Why are we being so… not ourselves, right now?”

I cackled. “Right? I could feel it too. It’s not Majorca! I’ve never been to Majorca. I just heard my parents talk about it after they went to some… business thing there.”

“Don’t you think that it’s time that we share a little more about who we actually are, Zane?” He suddenly stopped, and his hand fell out of mine. “I mean, it’s been months. I don’t know what we’re going to do with all these feelings that we have, but I…”

“Soon, ok. I am trying to work through a few things right now, and… I promise. I will tell you, Phil. I think that… I guess what I’m trying to say is I don’t really know where I stand.

” It was something I had been trying to make a decision about.

Maybe it was time to stop hiding in the shadows. Lord knew I had good reasons now.

“Oh.” His face fell. “I thought… differently, I guess.”

“I… What?” My mouth fell open in complete surprise. He was confusing me.

“I thought that you… Never mind. It is what it is, isn’t it? One day soon, I’ll be gone, and I’ll leave you here. Is that it?”

“No.” I laughed, finally understanding. “That wasn’t about…

Sorry. I wasn’t talking about us. I’d help you bury the bodies, Phil.

I was talking about myself. I…” I turned and looked at the beach.

“Our lives are very different. You had parents who cared for you and wanted you to be a part of their lives. You went to school and had friends, I’m sure.

I was hidden away, and I always felt like something was wrong with me because of it. ”

“I’m sorry.” He walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “That had to be hard.”

“It was what they thought necessary. Honestly, I think they hoped for a second child, but… Fate, man.”

“It’s a bitch.”

“Part of me knows that they cared for me in the best way that they could. Our lives were not like… There were a lot of hard times.” I skirted anything that might tell him how broken I was.

In my home country, in my family, I was born the golden son.

Then, when I should have been developing the skills of my forebears – nothing happened.

I was born broken. That’s what they said, over and over again.

“You were homeschooled? You said I had been to school.”

“Yes. I was homeschooled my entire life. I had friends in the village that I played with when I was younger, as long as they came to the… our house. But they stopped coming as they got older. My parents kept me on a short leash. I had many teachers who came, stayed for a year, and were dismissed because they had come up short. I was the one who came up short.”

“That sounds hard. I’m…”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Phil. But thank you. I was so angry for so long that it… It filled everything inside me where I had no room for anything else. So I decided to leave it all behind. I ran away like a thief in the night, and my family is not the kind that you run away from.”

“See, that’s why I always think mafia.”

“We’re not really mafia, I promise. It just felt like it sometimes.”

“So you ran away here?”

“No, not at first. I traveled often, always looking over my shoulder to see if I had been found. It was almost a year of traveling before I came here. It’s…

Layla and Sheena are hard to leave. They make you feel like you’re a part of a family, you know?

I still looked over my shoulder for a while, but I think I’ve been looking in vain. ”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe they were glad that I was gone,” I shrugged, and for the first time in a long time, I felt a swirl of emotions towards my family.

I was mad, sad, angry, and needy all at the same time.

How did people cope with this many conflicting emotions at the same time?

I felt like I was about to explode. My heart raced, and my stomach felt like lead. I slapped the side of the cliff.

Vibrations shook my feet, and rocks fell from the side, sliding down the face of the cliff. I couldn’t move out of the way fast enough! I heard Phil shout behind me, and all I could do was glance his way and throw my arm up to protect my head. He wasn’t far enough away.

An explosion happened. That’s the only way I could describe it, and it came from deep within me. It was like a damn had burst inside, and I reacted in fear. My hands pushed forward, and the rock slowed down and stopped.

I was shocked and jumped backwards.

The rock started to move again. It slid more slowly since I had stopped its momentum, and I ran backward and pulled Phil out of the way. The rocks clashed at the bottom of the cliff.

“What the fuck was that?” Phil had turned a ghastly shade of white. He was in shock.

I was in shock.

I was broken… So I had always thought, anyway.

“You… You did that?” He looked at me dumbfoundedly. “You’re… How?”

“I didn’t think I could. I’ve never been able to before, it… I could feel it. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was…”

“Magic. You’re from a magical people. Where?”

“I… Holy shit. How did that happen? How could I… I was born broken. I shouldn’t have been able to…” I looked at him and wiped a tear from my eye. I was so overwhelmed, and honestly, a little freaked out.

“You have an ability over rock and stone. The way the ground vibrated… I’ve never seen it before, but… I’ve heard of it.”

“I don’t think I can explain this. Not yet. I… I’ve never done anything like that in my life.”

“It must run in your bloodline. There is a kingdom where some are born with this ability. I’ve never been there.”

“I know it. Few have. Few would have any reason to.”

“They're a difficult people, or so I’ve always heard.”

Phil walked over to a boulder that had a vine growing over it. He waved me over. “Come here. Let me show you something. Hold out your arm.”

I did as I was told. Phil touched the vine and whispered. The vine grew rapidly in front of my eyes as it reached up and wrapped around my arm. My skin went cold. I knew what kingdom he was from.

“My people have the ability to communicate with the greenery. Anything that grows, really. Not all my people have the ability, but it runs through a few bloodlines.”

“You're from Grandir?” I tried to hide my shock.

“Yes. Phillipe of Grandir.” He bowed and frowned as he stared at the look I could not hide on my face.

“There is a history taught to all the children of Grandir. This happened many years ago. More than three hundred, actually. A story about how two brothers from our kingdom had a falling out. NO one really knows, at least not any longer, the reasons why. But the kingdom was split in half. One brother disappeared with part of our people up into the Brumeux Mountain Range. We called it the Misty Mountains because the mist or fog always hung out at the top. Those people were not seen again by the kingdom of Grandir. Most people thought they had died. Then one day they came back. A horrible war happened between the two kingdoms. Many died on each side. The Tranquilles, the people of Grandir, used their abilities with the plants and trees to keep our people safe. But the Montagnes, the mountain people, had acquired a new ability. Their magic had evolved to the land they now lived in. An ability over the Earth itself. The rock, stone, and soil. That must be your bloodline. You’ve never had this ability before? ”

“No,” I replied colder than I intended.

“We had a person in our family whose magic came to them late in life. It was assumed that the gift hadn’t been bestowed on them, which was odd since it had been passed on to every other member of the family.

An old family that had always been one of our strongest families when it came to their magic.

It took an accident for him to unlock the power within him.

He fell from a building, and in an instant, a bush grew to catch his fall. Maybe that’s what happened to you?”

“No… It was… something else. I felt it building within me as I… My emotions overwhelmed me for a second. It started before I ever touched the rock.”

“I told you where I’m from and who I really am, Zane. I think it’s your turn.” He sounded as if he were trying to be calm.

“I heard that story differently than you did. The tale of the kingdoms that split in two. I know why the prince left Grandir and his family all those years ago.”

“That means…”

“Do you want me to tell you? It may or may not be the truth. Like all truths, they can sometimes become twisted and unsure. Lionel, the Crown Prince of Grandir, and his younger brother Louis were in love with the same woman. She was supposedly the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, and both brothers wanted her. She chose the youngest brother in the end. But winning the fair Blanca wasn’t enough for the younger brother.

He wanted more. He wanted to ascend the throne instead of his brother, and he orchestrated a plot to kill him with some of the younger men that served him.

Their plans were discovered by some guards in the palace, and they told Lionel of what was to happen.

He didn’t want to believe it. But he also knew his brother’s ambition. ”

“He played along and created his own trap to ensnare the would-be assassins. The men loyal to Lionel followed his plan and were able to spring into action and prevent the others from assassinating the crown prince. Louis was angry, of course. Not just at his plans being discovered, but that he now had to deal with his older brother, whose claim to the throne was spotless. Lionel subdued Louis and led him before their parents, the king and queen, with his hands bound. The parents insisted that he had to be wrong. Their little angel could never do something like that. If he had it, it was because someone had poisoned him against the family.”

“Blanca was chosen to be the scapegoat, and they imprisoned for a treachery she had nothing to do with. Her only crime was in choosing the wrong brother. Louis was to have no punishment for trying to kill Lionel, and sadly, Lionel could not live with that. He didn’t want to live in fear of it happening all over again.

So instead of living in a place where he was a marked man, he chose a new life.

Many of the guards and their families followed him to a place where he would be safe.

He knew what he was giving up, but he also knew what it was he could have. Freedom. A life without fear.”

“You’re from Montagne? This wasn’t just a distant relation, a bloodline. Did you know who I was? Is that why you wouldn’t tell me the truth?”

“No. I really didn’t know.”

“How can I believe that?”

“Because what reason do I have to lie?”

“I don’t know. I… I have to think… this is…”

“A lot. I just unlocked the magic that had been hidden away after all these years. I’m freaking out too.”

“My people would… They would never understand.”

“Understand what? What are you talking about?”

“Our people hate each other, Zane! Even after all these centuries.”

“My people are too worried to hate anyone. The people of the mountain are not sitting in their homes and thinking about how to destroy Grandir. They’re trying to survive.”

“That’s… not the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“How can I trust you when I can’t be sure that this wasn’t a…” He stopped, and his head dropped.

“Say it.”

“A setup.”

“I never lied to you.”

“I wish I could believe that. But even if I did, Zane… Even if I could. I can’t have you as my… God! I don’t know what to do.”

“You're what? Consort? I don’t want to be your consort, Phillipe of Grandir. I’m not the kind of person who can share someone they love.”

“And you're saying I am?” He gasped.

“I don’t know what I’m saying, ok. You are the one that…”

“It’s all you could ever be! Ok! I have to live by the laws of my people, but I’m not sure that they would ever accept you, Zane. It’s too much.”

“Phil, I…”

“Listen. I’m going to find my own way back to the hotel. I need time to think and… Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I’ve never told anyone.”

“I… I can’t right now, Zane. I’m… I’m sorry.”

He didn’t even look back as he walked away. I had no idea how he got home, but when I found the strength to go back to my car, he was nowhere to be found.

I knew what it was I had to do.