by Rachel Jonas
Sentinels.
At the sight of them, my pulse strengthened, pounding a frantic beat at the base of my throat. I lowered my chin to hide it, keeping my eyes trained on my shoes as Julian stepped away, approaching a sentinel that stood guard beside an elevator door.
“I’m certain several cameras will attempt to follow us up, but I trust you’ll make sure that doesn’t happen?” he asked quietly, but not so low that I couldn’t hear. He held the man’s gaze until getting an answer.
“Of course, Your Highness. You won’t be disturbed.”
Julian responded with a firm nod before coming to my side again, placing his hand exactly where it’d been before.
The rhythmic click-clack of my heels on the marbled tile was unnerving in the sudden silence, away from the music and ambient clatter of the gala. Passing the sentinel, I avoided eye contact, holding my breath until the doors of the elevator closed, sealing Julian and I inside.
Alone.
The air felt thicker in the small space, his scent surrounding me in potent waves. My nerves were consuming me in the stillness, so I was grateful when he broke the silence.
“May I ask who your connection is?”
I turned to find his gaze locked on me like I fully expected it to be. I didn’t quite understand what he was asking, and the confusion must have shown on my face.
His lips parted with a grin just as the elevator stopped, the numbers above it revealing that we had only gone to the second floor of Lord Wilford’s palace. It surprised me Julian had free reign of someone else’s home, then I remembered who his father was, and that this entire dynasty was their domain. Literally, every door from one end of the Earth to the other was open to him. Hence the reason the sentinel didn’t even bat an eye at our use of the lord’s private property.
The sound of my tall heels filled the space again as Julian guided me.
“Pardon me if that question was forward, I only ask because these events are rather exclusive. And it’s because of the exclusivity that I tend to see the same faces recycled over and over again. I’m sure you can guess the guestlists don’t change often,” he reasoned. “But … somehow our paths have never crossed, and none of my Dynasty Brothers recognize you either. I suppose I’m curious how that’s possible.”
Now I understood.
When I paused to rifle inside my purse a moment, he watched until I resurfaced with an answer. At the sight of my press pass, a tight smirk accompanied a nod.
“Ah, I see … You’re a reporter.”
“Don’t lose him, Cori,” Felix chimed in. “He’ll clam up if he thinks you’re just there to get a story. Do whatever it takes to convince him that’s not the case.”
“Yeah, but don’t lay it on too thick,” Liv added. “He’ll know if you’re trying too hard.”
I wanted to switch off the earpiece, wanted my headspace all to myself, but I knew that wouldn’t go over well. My best defense was ignoring the team’s frequent interjections.
Julian and I ended our short walk at a pair of French doors that stretched from floor to ceiling. He held one open for me to pass through, and then followed me out onto a broad terrace, one overlooking a beautiful, moonlit garden below.
Turning to Julian, I kept in mind what Felix said, that the prince would shut down if he suspected I had ulterior motives for being here tonight. While that wasn’t entirely untrue, my motives definitely had nothing to do with scooping a story about the Eastern Dynasty’s golden boy.
“Did I scare you off?” I asked as we approached the edge, bracing our hands on a smooth, stone banister as we stared out across the greenery. “You haven’t said one word since you found out what I do for a living.”
The stretch of silence that followed left me wondering if I’d shot myself in the foot.
“It takes a little more than a plastic I.D. card to scare me,” he insisted, and I was hopeful again. “But … I can admit I might be a bit skeptical of the press these days.”
I nodded, understanding how that might be. With what I saw a few floors down—the camera lenses of ambitious reporters aimed his way, hoping for some morsel of gossip to feed their minions—how could I not understand.
A settling breath made its way to my lungs. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I only used my work as an excuse to score the free ticket. It was either that or spend an entire year’s salary on admission. So, I put my thinking cap on, and being rather resourceful, I promised the editor nothing more than a fluff piece documenting Lord Wilford’s party décor and a rundown of the menu. In exchange, I landed a free night out on the paper’s dime,” I embellished. “I know it may seem like a lot of trouble to go through, but I don’t get out much. So, I figured what better time to spread my wings than the most anticipated gala of the century.”
To my surprise, he smiled, seeming to buy the pile of lies I just shoveled toward him.
“Wow … that’s—”
“Sad? Pathetic?” I guessed with a laugh.
His pearly white smile flashed when he glanced over, moonlight swimming in those silver eyes. I couldn’t turn away.
“Actually, the word I was thinking of was ‘fortunate’—for me anyway. If you hadn’t put forth the effort, I wouldn’t have met you.”
I swallowed hard, doing all I could to prevent his words, his presence, from getting to me. However, fighting was futile.
“This cannot be real,” Liv whispered, speaking my thoughts aloud.
It was then that I realized I’d gotten carried away, lost in the fantasy of it all, forgotten the objective. I turned to look out over the garden again. It was easier to clear my head when I wasn’t facing him.
“So, have things been a lot different now that you’ve made your announcement? About accepting your birthright like the others?” I clarified, glancing at him only to make sure I had his attention.
That was a mistake—I definitely had it.
He nodded before I turned again. “There have been a handful of cameras pointed in my face since the day I was born, there are now twice as many,” he sighed.
I imagined that to be true for him and all the princes. The emperors’ collective decision to commence with producing heirs two decades ago—give or take a couple years—had been the focus of the media from the start and had held their attention ever since.
In a way, Julian’s birth paralleled that of human children. His, like theirs, had only come to be out of convenience. Human children were produced to keep up with the Ianite’s need for blood, while the princes were conceived out of necessity, because their political system said it should be so.
“Is the unwanted attention what took you so long to choose this path?” I asked when I broke free from my thoughts.
Those broad shoulders of his lifted with a shrug. “Maybe in part.”
“Why else?” I asked, surprised by how easily the question flew from my mouth. The pretentiousness and vanity I expected from him were nowhere in sight.
“There are a few charities I’ve invested in, and I hoped to get a bit more hands on. Now, I’m not sure that will be possible,” he shared.
Charities … I wouldn’t have guessed that about him.
“So, to answer your question,” he went on, “I honestly haven’t noticed much of a change yet, because I mostly keep to myself—aside from Levi, Silas, and Roman, that is. I suppose you and I are alike in that neither of us venture outdoors much.”
“That’ll change for you, though, right? I’m sure you’ll all be doing quite a bit of travel in the coming months.”
It took him a moment to answer and I wondered why that was. Turning to gauge his expression might have told me more, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.
“We’ll be expected to schmooze foreign leaders, get them accustomed to seeing our faces instead of our fathers’, but I, personally, hope to keep social events to a minimum if possible,” he shared. “In a way, I suppose I’ve gotten to be a bit … selfish with my time. Too many years of deciding for myself
how to spend it,” he added with a smile.
“Interesting … A prince adored by the public, avoids them every chance he gets.”
In my peripheral vision, I caught the glint of white teeth when he smiled.
“Will that be the headline for your next article?”
My mouth curved up despite my best efforts to stop it. “I suppose if I had any interest in writing about you, it could be.”
“Ouch.” He chuffed a short laugh as his hands left the banister and slipped inside his pockets.
“I meant what I said about my being here having nothing to do with you,” I reminded him. “Your Highness,” I added coyly, hearing the flirty undertones I hadn’t meant to let slip.
A breath hitched in my throat when he turned, facing me fully. I refused to do the same.
“Is it bad I wish that weren’t true? That I wish you had come here for me?”
The question left me speechless. To keep from letting him see how he affected me, I tried distracting myself by naming the different flowers I could spot from there.
Hydrangeas.
Lilacs.
“I’m not usually so forward, but … you’re beautiful in this light, with the moon high and clear,” he stated boldly. “Although, I imagine I’d say the same even if we were standing in a storm.”
Roses.
Lilies.
I was suddenly aware of soft music floating to this terrace through the open doors of the one below, from the gala where Julian had just whisked me away. His formidable body moved closer and I stared when a hand was extended toward me.
“May I have this dance?”
I sucked in air, imagining what giving in would feel like. My heart was belting the word ‘YES!’ from a mountaintop, but then my mouth opened and said the opposite.
“I don’t know if … if that’s a good idea.”
Julian’s brow quirked with surprise, maybe because the signs were all there. Signs that I was open to this, signs that he wasn’t the only one who felt what steeped between us.
And yet, I rejected his offer.
Or maybe that’s what the look was about, not getting his way.
Whatever the case, that hand still lingered, waiting, and the man attached to it clearly hoped I’d change my mind.
“I know this isn’t easy, Cori,” Felix’s voice rang into my ear. It was gentler than before, maybe understanding half the reason I resisted.
“I know letting one of those things touch you is about as terrifying as our work can get, but … remember the mission. If letting him think you’re into him can lead to him sharing their secrets, then … you have to go for it.”
The things Felix said were real and never far from my mind, but what the team couldn’t have possibly guessed was that getting closer, pretending to let him in, scared me for a very different reason.
As I stared at Julian, acknowledging my undeniable attraction to him, I realized what a fine line I was treading.
“Take one for the team, Cori,” Felix added.
Brisk air filled my lungs just before nodding, just before giving in to what my team wanted.
What I secretly wanted.
“…Okay.”
Julian’s expression told me all I needed to know; he was thrilled that I finally caved.
My waist was taken by large hands, and I was brought dangerously close to a massive body. One that was all height corded in muscle, pure masculinity swathed in a pleasing scent. His heightened strength was otherworldly, moving me toward him as if I weighed nothing. And as my hands drifted up the hills and crags of his biceps, I noted one of my human tells I’d been concerned about was now a non-issue.
Julian wouldn’t notice my warmth, because his temperature soared, too.
His body heated like a furnace, and Liv had made the cause of this phenomena clear. Ianites only produced heat when in a heightened emotional state or … situations of extreme stimulus. Whether being near me made him feel something emotionally or physically … I was at least certain he did feel something.
Being held this way, it felt like the dangers of the world didn’t exist, like my being among ‘them’ was of no consequence. I braced myself against his shoulders and tried with everything in me not to get rapt in his stare, but like so many other times tonight, I failed. I was trapped, gravitating toward him like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake. I was sure countless other women had experienced the same during his twenty-two years on this planet.
We swayed to the gentle tones of the alto saxophone and trumpet. The jazz drum throbbed slow and even beneath it. Julian’s cheek pressed to my hair and, without thinking, my hands eased from his shoulders until both locked behind his neck.
As the silk of my dress gathered beneath his palms, I worried a little, questioned whether this was the result of compulsion, before remembering that was impossible. Not only would the device implanted beneath my hair have protected me, but Julian being from the East Quadrant mattered, too. Fortunately, only Ianites from the North could toy with your mind.
So, this had nothing to do with manipulation.
It took a moment before I finally admitted it. This was all me, my true response to being near someone so handsome, so charming. There was no excuse for the truth.
We had chemistry.
A set of lengthy fingers pressed into my flesh, greedily bringing me closer where we had already erased the space between us. My heart went wild and I was certain he felt it pick up speed, beating where the unyielding mass of his chest met the softness of mine.
However, he said nothing, freeing me from the pressure of finding a way to explain it.
Below us, in the garden, a flash of shimmering silver caught my eye—a young woman running toward the hydrangeas wearing an elaborate ballgown. Behind her, a man dressed in a svelte, black tux, indistinguishable from all the others who donned similar attire—all except four handsome princes who couldn’t have hidden among the crowd even if they tried.
I turned when the two met in the maze of bushes and fountains that adorned the palace yard. Julian turned to see what had my attention. Right then, the man took his date into his arms, holding her close, nuzzling his mouth to her neck as she whimpered with pleasure.
Julian smiled. “Looks like we aren’t the only ones who thought to get away.”
My cheeks warmed just a bit more as we spied on them, the couple so eager to steal away from the crowd for what they thought would be a private moment.
“I can’t look away. Is that terrible?” I laughed with a whisper.
Julian, on the other hand, had no problem shifting his focus back to me.
“There’s something … different about you,” he breathed, and with what he said, my attention quickly returned to him.
There were a million ways I could have interpreted those words. I could have assumed he figured me out, knew I didn’t belong here, but my thoughts didn’t even veer in that direction.
My shoulders lifted and fell slightly with the small shrug, but I didn’t speak.
“I’m so used to being handled by people, never really being seen, you know?” He leaned away a few inches when I nodded. “Most only want to be near me for the status boost, the photo ops. It’s rare that I feel connected to someone in the outside world, someone outside my circle,” he shared.
I imagined it would be easy to feel that way, considering his position.
He breathed deep when his gaze synced with mine, hooking me just like before when a question fell from his lips.
“So … am I crazy for feeling that with you? A connection?”
My mouth opened and closed again. I knew it was impolite not to answer when he’d said so much, but I honestly didn’t know what to say. He had that effect on me so many times tonight.
“Cori, he’s … you have to speak,” Liv said softly, reminding me others were listening. I’d all but forgotten about anyone not standing right on this terrace. She sounded just as hypnotized by this encounter as I did, but I wasn’t surpr
ised. Of all the members of our team, she was the sap.
The romantic.
“I … No, you’re not crazy,” I stammered.
Julian gave a slow nod, an aimless one as his concentrated stare landed directly on me, drifting to my lips when I wet them.
He heated even more.
I felt it everywhere my body met his—where my arms draped around his neck, where his hands formed to my waist.
Time and space evaporated as he came closer. I knew I should stop him, should demand that he back away, but it was like an out-of-body experience. All traces of reason turned a blind eye to what my flesh craved.
Him.
A gentle breath passed over my lips as they parted, all too willing to submit to his. There was no contact yet, but I wanted there to be.
I’d gotten so lost in him, so absorbed I nearly missed it—the sound of a muffled cry creeping up the terrace. Julian was a breath away when I turned suddenly, halting what was almost a kiss as I listened harder, focusing my hazy vision on the couple we’d stolen a glimpse of only a moment ago. His face was still buried in his lover’s neck, but … there was blood.
So much of it, it had stained her expensive dress beyond recognition.
It took a moment to comprehend what I was witnessing, but reality came rushing in like a mighty wind.
“She’s human,” I gasped, suddenly aware of this twisted universe once again.
This woman—or girl who couldn’t have been much older than me—was being torn apart right before my eyes. A mouthful of veins, tissue, and tendons were torn from the side of her neck as the one I guessed to be her owner chomped and swallowed down hunks of her flesh like … like she was nothing.
Shock.
I was in shock.
I could only assume he owned her, could only guess this was punishment for something. Perhaps she’d disobeyed him tonight, or had forgotten her place, or simply said the wrong thing at the wrong time and embarrassed him in front of the wrong crowd. It didn’t have to be anything major or earthshattering … it just had to be major enough to him.