Page 32 of Tricky Princess

“Garren?” Ros asked loudly. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face even after their journey.

Garren was one of his oldest friends, regardless of his hatred for the kingdom. They used to spar, drink, and revel in any way young males would in the court.

“Rosier D—”

“Don’t even start with that,” Ros cut him off, grabbing him by the forearm.

“It’s been ages, prince,” he said. “And you’ve brought friends?”

“Yes. This is Billy, Devon, Sam, and you know Garm.”

“Fenrir,” Garren said with a deep bow. “Welcome home, Garm of hounds. Nice to see you on two legs; you know I like my men tall.”

Billy smirked devilishly, catching his attention.

“Wilhelmina?” he exclaimed. “You little fox, how long has it been?”

Garm growled before she could answer, and Garren stepped back with a chuckle. Ros really needed to figure out their story.

“Well, this has been fun. If you could open the gates, we will be on our way,” Ros said, stepping toward them.

“It’s been almost fifty years since I’ve had a visitor, and even more since I’ve had someone come through the front door,” he said with a nod toward Billy.

“Open the gates, Garren.”

“All right,” he said with his hands up. “It gets lonely out here, I’m sorry I wanted to talk with some old and new friends. Especially Wilhelmina—”

Garm and Ros growled again.

Was he stalling?

No, he had known him for ages and remembered him to be quite chatty.

“Please open the gates, and I’ll make sure my father invites you to the feast I’m sure he will throw once I get home,” Ros said, gritting out the last word.

“Oh, that would be grand,” he said, turning toward the gates. With a wave of his hand, they opened on a silent wind.

“I’ll see you soon, Garren,” Ros said with a pat on his shoulder.

“See you then!” he called after their retreating forms, waving enthusiastically.

13

Ellea

SEVENTH DAY IN HEL

“Pay up, bastards,” Ellea said, slamming her cards down on the rickety table.

The three demons around her cursed, throwing their losing hands down. Ellea smirked over her cup, eyeing all of them to make sure they didn’t cheat her out of her money. They mumbled words in languages she couldn’t understand. A lot of it sounded close to “bitch” or “cheater,” but Ellea didn’t mind. She had been wiping the dusty floor with their beastly faces for the past two hours. It had only taken her a few games to pick up on the rules and on how to cheat them out of money and answers.

Mythis, the general to her left, was rubbing the back of his neck. He mumbled, “I owe you.” She liked him; she liked all of them, even though they’d tried stabbing her yesterday. Well, only Kas and Midgy had tried pulling a fast one on her. They’d quickly scrambled away when Ellea threw a dagger at Midgy, landing in his scaled thigh, and held another under Kas’ chin. Kas wasn’t actually ugly like Mythis said. He had a pudgy face, pointed ears, and the eyes of a goat. Midgy, on the other hand, looked like an ancient male whose body was half-shifted into some scaled beast. “Now that’s over, can we play cards?” Mythis had said, yanking the dagger out of Midgy’s thigh and handing it back to Ellea, who let it disappear with a whisper of her powers. The demons had gawked at her in wonder. By the end of their game, they’d all been laughing and heavily buzzed. Well, they had been while Ellea kept turning her wine to juice. Yesterday had been a day for stabbing, it seemed. And today was one for winning and answers. Mythis was a high-ranked general, and after about two drinks, he would answer any question she asked.

“I was thinking about your question about getting in and out of Hel, the one you asked yesterday,” Mythis said, leaning in to whisper.

Ellea cocked a brow at him while she gathered her prize. Before she could ask for more, Duhne barreled through the locked door, splitting wood and stone. She could have sworn lightning crackled behind his eyes as the males jumped around her.

She leaned back in her chair. “Couldn’t you have teleported in?” Ellea asked him with a bored tone.