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"Was I?"

Bastard Prick Arrogant, insufferableWarlord Prince

When she raceful dancer’s move to fall into step beside her She took a couple of steps, then grabbed his ar around to put herself on his left, which was the subordinate position

"Surreal"

She was just a witch and he was a Warlord Prince, but her Jewels outranked his, so he wasn’t co in the dominant position

Good He deserved to squirht," she said "Puddles Carriages Splashing Whether you create a shield or decide to take your chances, you being on the street side ht between Protocol and the desire to protect He didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue about it and he didn’t try to switch positions

They walked in silence for a couple of blocks Then Rainier said, "Have you heard from your cousins lately?"

"No" Thank the Darkness

"Then you haven’t heard about the spooky house?"

"Spooky house? What’s a spooky house?"

Rainier just smiled

It took several blocks and a few rash promises she shouldn’t have made before Rainier told her about Jaenelle’s little project

"You’re not serious," Surreal said as Rainier opened the bookshop’s door for her "You made this up"

He shook his head

She stepped into the shop, then waited for her eyes to adjust to the diht "Does Daemon know about this?"

"Uh-huh"

"Lucivar? Uncle Saetan?"

"I would think so"

"Hell’s fire, Mother Night, and eneral reaction"

Surreal sniffed She hadn’t wanted Dae up to fuss over her, butone of them could have stopped by to tell her about the spooky house After all, shewas faht made her scowl at Rainier "When did you hear about this?"

"I was at the Hall early this "

Why?

Her expression ave her a puzzled look "I stop in a couple of times a week Ido work for Prince Sadi, reh she’d ned a contract with Daeht give an unattached Warlord Prince

"Anment, Prince Rainier?"

She saw the insult in his eyes, saw the way his jaw tensed with the effort to keep his anger leashed

"You’re a friend," he snapped "At least,I thought ere friends Picking up the books is an assignment"

"I’m sorry" And she was "I just…" Oh, that particular wound was still more raw than she wanted to ad "You just wanted to spend time with someone who liked you for who you are and didn’t see you as a way to advance his standing in a court?"

A light touch of his hand on her elbow, shifting the man entered the shop

"I’ve had sex with a lot ofwith a man when it wasn’t business of one kind or another Maybe if we’d had a roone our separate ways--Falonar to Ebon Rih and ood-bye You know ‘Thanks for the hot ride in bed’ sort of thing But I ended up going to Ebon Rih too, and so a hot ride turned into soht it had But toward the end, instead of having a lover, I felt like I was being serviced by someone asn’t enthusiastic about the work" That wasn’t the only bone still stuck in her throat where Prince Falonar was concerned, but that was all she illing to share at the moment

Rainier smiled wryly "Your introduction to the courts in Kaeleer was the Dark Court The men who served in Jaenelle’s First Circle were the exceptions, Surreal, not the rule The Consort of a Territory Queen is one of the three most influentialuntil he has credentials"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>