Page 61 of The Tracker's Revenge

I took a step forward and intervened before all the male hormones mixed into a Molotov cocktail that would singe my eyebrows.

“Jake, this is Kalyll Adanorin, Crown Prince of the Seelie Fae. Your Majesty, it is great to see you again.”

I glanced pointedly at Jake’s claws and nodded, encouraging him to put them away. He did, rolling his shoulders in an effort to relax. Still, what he said next was as far away from friendly as a pissed-off dragon.

“The Prince, huh? And is it his habit to appear unexpectedly in dark places?”

“Jake,” I chided him under my breath.

“I make it a habit to appear anywhere I am supposed to protect,” Kalyll said in a stern voice.

Oh, shit!

This was totally going in the wrong direction, and I might soon need cover from the impending testosterone explosion. Why, oh why, were women always caught in the middle of dick-measuring contests? Would it help if we carried a ruler around to help settle matters? Of course, my thoughts then dived straight into the gutter, wondering who would win.Damn!I had no business thinking of the Prince’s... package. I shook my head. Cheeks flaming with heat, I took it upon myself to let some estrogen do the talking.

“Oh, yes, and what a protector he is. You should see him wield his sword, Jake. It’s like watching Luke Skywalker with his lightsaber.” I mimicked using a sword and made buzzing sounds by blowing air through my clenched teeth.

Both Prince Kalyll and Jake looked at me as if I’d gone crazy.

“Oh, but you probably have no idea who I’m talking about.” I glanced apologetically at the Prince.

“I know who Luke Skywalker is,” he said, surprising me.

“You do?” Both Jake and I asked in unison.

“Yes, I’ve watched many popular human films.”

Who would have figured? I scratched my head, thinking this rather odd and wondering exactly which movies he’d watched and why. I opened my mouth to ask something along those lines because what could be more intriguing than finding out what movies a Fae prince was interested in, but Kalyll had something else in mind, something that I should’ve suspected the moment he stepped into our path.

“How have you come to be in our realm without your mage friend?” he asked, his expression full of suspicion.

Crap!

I tensed.

Was I breaking the rules? Was no one else supposed to use the token? If so, why did Damien give it to me?Oh, God!Someone was alerted the moment it was used, but the Prince? It seemed the token was more important than I could’ve imagined.

For a moment, I thought of spinning some kind of lie, but in the end, I was too frazzled to come up with something convincing on the spot, so I decided that the truth was the best option.

“I’m sorry to say that my friend... is dead.”

Kalyll’s beautiful arched eyebrows dipped in consternation.

“The token belonged to him,” I went on. “He gave it to me as a parting gift, I suppose. I guess I shouldn’t have used it. I apologize if I’ve broken any of your laws.”

The Prince shook his head. “Not at all.” He pressed a fist to his heart. “My condolences about your friend. I owed him my gratitude for his help with the reapgrubs. I hate to think that I didn’t repay his kindness. I do hope that,” his eyes flashed to Jake, cautiously, “our exchange was fair and served to settle my debt with him as his untimely death makes it impossible for me to do more.”

I was touched by the Prince’s thoughtful words and didn’t know what to say.

Jake, recognizing that we were dealing with a decent person, spoke with the same level of care as the Prince. “I assure you that your debt was repaid. Damien was very grateful for the bitterthorn you shared with him. It allowed him to create the elixir he required.”

For his part, Kalyll seemed to do his own reassessment of Jake. Behind his cobalt-blue eyes, a thousand little judgments and conclusions seemed to hurry past. In the end, he seemed to also readjust his first impression in a positive way.

“Then his daughter was saved,” Kalyll said.

At this, Jake and I hung our heads.

“Unfortunately, she wasn’t,” I said. “But, Damien never knew. He died before he had a chance to get the elixir to her, and when I tried to deliver it... I was too late.”