Page 92 of Tricky Princess

Ellea didn’t know what to say as she looked between Ros and Devon, who seemed to be trying to say the same thing.

“Are you done?” she asked. “Can we go home now?”

She loved her friends who were now her family, but today was too much. The whole year had been too much.

“Yes, princess,” he said, grabbing her by the back of the neck and kissing her on the forehead. “I have a book I want to give you at my place.”

Ellea blinked up at him. She couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face.

“If you want me to suck your cock again, you don’t need to use a fake book as an excuse,” she said as her friends groaned and covered their ears.

His smile was all dimples and fangs, making her quickly forget why they were fighting in the first place.

34

Rosier

Ros watched the ice crack throughout Ellea. Slowly, she was thawing after all he’d put her through. He would learn to be patient. All day, he’d planned the first step for the rest of their lives. Viatrix had helped him scour the library for a particular book, then his father had helped him search the human territory for its author. Ros smirked as he stormed up his stairs, Ellea shuffling behind him. The book had been in his jacket pocket the whole time, but he wanted to recreate their first night together.

“Seriously, Ros,” she huffed behind him.

He only smiled wider and rushed to his room. He turned in place, pulling the book out of his pocket as she entered the room.

“Oh, you actually—actually have a book.” Her eyes danced between him and the book, and he continued to try to be patient.

“Yes, princess.” He stepped toward her, feeling that pull that he never gave much mind to. “It’s why it took me so long to get here.”

She took it from him, and he saw how her hand trembled a little. She looked at the spine, and her eyes shot up to him.

“How?” He barely heard her say it.

“I had a mean librarian help me.” His heart beat erratically in his chest as he watched her, still holding the book closed. “She had a hard time letting it go. Apparently, Coming in a Crypt is one of her favorites.”

“Viatrix reads C. Clair!” Ellea exclaimed, almost dropping the book.

Please open it.

“She knows C. Clair.”

Ellea’s gaze whipped up to him. “What?” she screeched, practically vibrating.

“Next time we go to Hel, I’ll introduce you.” His voice broke, and he coughed to clear it.

Ellea gasped, clutching the still-closed book to her chest, and he couldn’t take it.

“Calm down and open the fucking book,” he growled.

Ellea gave him a confused look but slowly opened the first page.

“OMG, the details of these papers… Is this gold?” she said, holding it to the light. “How she keeps them in such good condition—”

“The next page,” he growled again, and she rolled her eyes.

“Who was talking about patience earlier?” she scolded.

Slowly, she turned to the title page, where he’d had the author scribble a note for Ellea before signing her name. Ellea let out a sob, and the book shook in her hand.

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