Royal Mate

by Juniper Hart

  “I want you to know something. If you hit me again, I will personally throw you out of that window—to hell with what Reuben says. And I’ll make damn sure you don’t hit the bushes.”

  Adrianna didn’t say anything, but she just narrowed her eyes and stared him down.

  Eddy and Reuben led her to the window. Reuben climbed out the second story room. Cara had asked him why he favored second-story rooms once. He’d said that it was because it was defendable. It was hard for people outside to get into, but easy to get out of if there were ever a problem, or if they had to toss a superhuman assassin out.

  Either way.

  Anyway, Rueben was in charge of catching Adrianna on the ground. Eddy prodded Adrianna towards the window like he was trying to lead a lion somewhere—cautious and far enough away to avoid being bitten if things went south.

  “You ready?” Eddy called. “Do you see anyone in the parking lot?”

  There was a moment of silence.

  “I don’t see anyone,” answered Reuben. “Adrianna, come on down. But slowly. Otherwise we’re both going down.”

  Slowly, using Eddy as a steadying hand, Adrianna put one foot out the window and balanced. Cara got off the bed and walked towards Eddy and Adrianna. She suddenly felt a wave of nausea wash over her and she almost fell. She had to lean up against the other bed to catch her balance before finally stumbling over to the window.

  “You okay?” Eddy asked.

  “I’m feeling a little sick.”

  “It’ll pass,” he guaranteed. “Happens all the time after magic healings, especially ones that were as dire as yours.”

  Adrianna gave him a withering glare like, ‘You done yet?’

  Slowly, they eased her out the window. Adrianna moved quickly. She’d gotten tossed through a wall and crushed a car earlier that week and walked it off. Jumping down eight feet was child’s play.

  She hopped down. Cara wasn’t entirely sure if Reuben caught her or not, but she heard a grunt of exertion from the werewolf down below. Eddy, who had seen the whole thing, didn’t seem panicked. It had evidently gone perfectly.

  “Cara and I will be right down,” Eddy called. “Here are the keys.”

  Her grabbed his car keys off the table and tossed them down to Reuben, then turned to Cara.

  “Ready, dear?”

  “I’m not too confident about this plan,” she replied. “I think I’m going to pass out.”

  “Just an illusion,” he assured. “I’ve done a billion magic healings. You’ll be fine. Just try to avoid puking.”

  “Usually pretty good advice,” she told him.

  Don’t puke. Sounded easy enough, but she struggled with it as she and Eddy went to check out. The hotel guy hesitated when they handed in their cards.

  “Weren’t there two guys earlier?” he asked. “Like a really jacked dude?”

  “What?” Eddy asked with a straight face, like he didn’t know what he was talking about. “Who are you talking about?”

  The guy frowned. “I swear to God… I’m going nuts.” He handed Eddy a receipt. “Okay, you’re all good. Have a good one.”

  “Thanks,” Eddy said, and the two whisked out the front door. As soon as they were out of earshot of the employee, he grinned at Cara. “I forgot what fake name he put it under. I figured it’d be better to just act like he didn’t exist.”

  “I thought we hadn’t had time to get any fake IDs.”

  “I found one from him that I made when he was younger. It still works.”

  They met by Eddy’s car; Cara hadn’t seen it before. She’d been inside it, but she’d been blinking in and out of consciousness on their little trip from Eddy’s presumably destroyed home to their hotel.

  She was impressed. It was a nice, big sports car. It looked slim and sexy and fast, like it could go from zero to sixty in… she didn’t know what par was. Four seconds? Five? Whatever it was, she was sure this car cut that time in half.

  “You like it?” Eddy asked. Reuben clambered out of the driver’s seat to make room for Eddy.

  “Holy cow,” she said. “What is this thing?”

  Eddy listed the name proudly. She recognized the name of the brand, but other than that, she had nothing. It wasn’t like a normal sports car that someone could see every other day in a basic color. But this beast… whatever it was, she had never seen one before. It looked fast, but roomy enough for four people if the people in the back were small enough.

  Reuben looked at Cara, smiled, and came towards her. She felt a bolt of tingling energy shoot through her body as he stopped in front of her and pressed himself up against her with his hand on her lower back. He kissed her on the lips passionately. His lips were warm and gave way slightly to hers. Before she was done, he pulled away with that affectionate, daring smile.

  “I’m glad you feel better. How’d you sleep?”

  “Like crap,” she said.

  She could taste him on her lips. She didn’t want to stop. She wanted him right then, in the parking lot. How he had gotten her under his spell didn’t make sense, but he had a powerful, almost animalistic desire that always hid just under the cloak of humanity.

  “I had nightmares the whole time.”

  He winked at her, stroked her shoulder, and changed the conversation. “Yeah, Eddy here… he’s got some cool toys.”

  “Don’t mean to brag,” Eddy said with a look that seemed to mean he wanted them to keep showering him in compliments.

  Inside the car was even more luxurious than the outside. It smelled new, not like someone had been inside it for even a week. The black seats were already heated from the seat warmers, and the blacked out windows kept everything inside hidden.

  Cara clambered in the back, letting Eddy drive and Reuben take up the more spacious front seat. Based on what she could see from the outside of the car, he could fit either his upper body or his lower body in the back seat, but not both. Even as small as she was, she felt a little claustrophobic.

  Which is why she was so unhappy when she saw her fellow passenger that she’d be seated right next to.

  Adrianna.

  “Really?” Cara said. “Can’t we put her in the trunk or something?”

  “Too small,” Eddy said, revving the engine. “Listen to that baby purr…”

  “Dammit,” Cara muttered, squeezing behind Eddy. The car was luxurious, sure, but there was a box in her seat. She started to move it between her and Adrianna, but Eddy cut her off.

  “Don’t put that near her,” he warned.

  “Why? What’s in here?” She started to pull it open.

  “Don’t open it either. It’s guns. I keep a stash in every one of my cars. Just in case…”

  That explained why it was so heavy and why she shouldn’t put it anywhere near Adrianna. She put it in the seat and scooted over to sit in the middle seat. The benefit of the middle seat meant she could see between the front two seats and have a better view. However, this also meant she was close enough to Adrianna for their hips to touch. She could feel Adrianna glaring at her, but she tried to avoid making eye contact with the assassin.

  “So,” she said in an attempt to break the tension in the car, “What now?”

  “I’m hungry,” Eddy said. “Anyone up for breakfast?”

  2

  Cara had initially thought that Reuben was a bad driver, but Eddy made Reuben look like a safe do-gooder.

  He drove like a bat out of hell. He was not even remotely afraid to spin out in front of traffic or get close enough to a car to almost scratch the paint. Even Reuben was tensing up as Eddy got onto the interstate and headed to whatever restaurant he was driving towards.

  “You can take Adrianna’s gag off now,” Eddy told Cara, looking back at her in the mirror.

  “Focus on the road, you crazy man!” she hissed back. “You’re going to get us all killed.”

  He looked back at the road, though he seemed mildly amused by her outburst. “I know what I’m doing. Reuben, back me up.”r />
  Reuben conceded, though his fingers were digging into the seat anxiously.

  “I hate to say it, but Eddy’s never crashed. He was always our getaway driver back when we worked together.”

  “See?” Eddy huffed. “Told you. Anyway, take her gag off. The car’s basically soundproof.”

  Cara looked at Adrianna, who mockingly lowered her head so Cara could reach it. Cara didn’t appreciate that. Sure, she was shorter than the assassin, but it was rather unprofessional to make such a big deal of it. She untied the enchanted gag and Adrianna spit it out. The moment she could speak, she started yelling.

  “Sons of—” She cursed for probably five minutes. It got to the point where Cara was almost anticipating the next words Adrianna would say because she’d eventually have to get tired of screaming. Eddy and Reuben silently sat until she finally ran out of breath.

  “You done?” Reuben asked.

  “I’m done,” she snapped. “Let me go.”

  “Like hell,” he replied. “Did you forget that you stabbed Cara?”

  “So?”

  “So…” He paused and breathed deeply, trying to contain himself. “The only reason you’re here right now and not dead in Eddy’s pool is because we need information.”

  “So you have replaced me with the human,” Adrianna said sourly.

  Reuben’s eyes were dark and angry.

  “She’s my mate and I will rip your throat out if you say one more word about her. Do you understand?”

  Adrianna seemed mildly entertained. “Oh, the mean guy approach. I like it, I like it. Better than when I first taught you.”

  Eddy veered into another lane dangerously, causing at least two people to honk. He didn’t look or even seem to notice.

  Reuben continued, “Okay, so I’m curious. How much was the bounty?”

  “Two million dracmas,” she replied coolly.

  “Holy shit!”

  Eddy spun around in surprise, but this time, it wasn’t planned. The vehicle started to veer into oncoming traffic before he got them back in their lane again.

  “Eddy…” Reuben’s fingers were firmly attached to the armrests. “Focus. On. The. Road. Let me handle this.”

  Reuben twisted around to get a better look at Adrianna. The assassin leaned back in the seat, still with her hands bound around her chest like an enchanted straightjacket.

  “Adrianna,” Reuben said, very seriously, “Where is Ezekiel? Who else did he hire?”

  She stared him down with a sour expression.

  “Boy, you sure know how to sweet talk a woman.”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “Why, Reubs? Maybe I should tell your little girlfriend about what you told me that night in New Yo—”

  That was about as far as she got before Reuben grabbed the handle on the seat and pushed the back down to a reclining position. The only thing that stopped him from fully reclining was Adrianna’s body. She didn’t see it coming and was promptly squished into the seat.

  “Get up!” she protested. “You weigh a ton!”

  Reuben straightened up the chair. He had a blinking vein in his forehead. He was mad. Very mad.

  “Don’t ever bring that up. Do you understand?”

  “Jeezus,” she muttered. “Fine. I was just kidding…”

  Reuben met Cara’s eyes for just a moment before looking back at the assassin.

  “I’m going to ask you again. Where’s Ezekiel and who’s working with him?”

  “What are you going to do with me if I don’t tell you?”

  “Kill you,” Eddy contributed from the driver’s seat.

  She nodded.

  “And if I do spill the beans? What then? You let me go?”

  “Yes,” Reuben said.

  “No,” Eddy said at the exact same time.

  Reuben looked over at Eddy.

  “Eddy, we can’t just kill her.”

  “Why not?”

  “You’re kind of brutal for a religious guy,” Reuben accused, only half joking. “That’s dark, man.”

  “I do what I have to do to protect my family,” Eddy told him. He wasn’t kidding around; his expression was completely serious. “If that requires her being executed, that’s what I’ll do. I’m your godfather. I take that job seriously.”

  “I’m right here,” Adrianna said. “Since you’re deciding whether or not to kill me and all.”

  Reuben acted like she hadn’t said anything.

  “We can’t just kill her.”

  “I could time freeze her, but it’ll only last a couple of days.”

  “That’ll work. If we go after Ezekiel, we’ll have either died or beaten Ezekiel and taken the bounty by then.”

  Cara didn’t say anything. She had nothing to contribute. If she tried to interrogate Adrianna, she had a sneaking suspicion that the assassin would laugh at her. If she tried to drive like Eddy, they’d all end up in the hospital. It wasn’t like she had another plan.

  ‘Oh, yes, I have an idea. What if instead of freezing her in time, we put her in the blah blah blah.’

  She had no idea what they were talking about, so she just awkwardly hung back. When Reuben had whacked her with the chair, Adrianna’s attitude had gone way down. It was still there, shimmering beneath the surface, but it wasn’t so ‘in your face’ like it had been back at the hotel.

  Cara made the mistake of looking over at her.

  The moment they met eyes, Adrianna pushed the tip of her tongue against the inside of her mouth and simulated sucking sounds. While giving a mock blowjob, she gave Cara a knowing look. Cara’s cheeks colored.

  “Shut up,” she said. “Just shut up.”

  “Oh!” Adrianna cried breathily. “Oh, Reuben! Oh, Reuben! Yes! Yes! Harder! Harder!”

  Cara wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but she had to do something. She couldn’t just sit there and let Adrianna bully her. Adrianna saw her defensive expression and straightened, giving Cara a clean shot if she actually tried to hit her. A taunt.

  “Go ahead, humie. Hit me. Or are you going to shoot me again?” Adrianna said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “Go screw yourself,” Cara said. “At least I’m not the one tied up.”

  Adrianna laughed. It seemed genuine.

  “You got a sparky little human, huh, Reubs? Not bad.”

  “You’re making a great case for us killing you,” Reuben replied.

  That shut her up.

  That’s about when they pulled off the road into a restaurant. Cara couldn’t see it at first, but she smelled it—greasy unhealthy, delicious food. The smell penetrated her nose and made her stomach grumble. It had been a while since she’d eaten a good meal. I mean, it was unhealthy as could be and it would go straight to her thighs, but she’d reached a point of simply not caring. The restaurant itself was a run-down fast food joint with concrete walls that had red and orange paint stripes, and a spinning sign way up on a pole that looked like a huge, car-sized plastic French fry.

  Adrianna sniffed. “Seriously, Eddy? You took us to Al’s?”

  “What’s so special about this place?” Cara asked, looking out the window.

  It looked old, like the whole place had been around since the 1950s and hadn’t undergone too many changes since then. It was fashioned to look like an old diner, with the same fonts and advertisements. It was cute in an entertaining, nostalgic sort of way.

  Reuben looked as surprised as Adrianna.

  “Eddy, Adrianna and I used to come here all the time when we worked down here.”

  Eddy pulled into the drive-through.

  “Brings back some memories, no? What do you guys want?”

  Both Reuben and Eddy listed off very particular choices that sounded complicated and specialized. Cara just ordered a veggie burger, which she was grateful they had. She didn’t like experimenting at new restaurants. It took her at least four times of going to really look at the menu and see if there was anything else that sounded tasty. She was a cre
ature of habit to the truest extreme. Adrianna didn’t speak.

  “You want something?” Eddy asked. “Now or never.”

  “You’re going to buy me breakfast?” She appeared skeptical.

  “If you tell us about Ezekiel, yeah. And we’ll just time freeze you. We won’t even kill you… probably. How does that sound?”

  She nodded slowly, wary. Like the other two mercs, she ordered something with a lot of specifications, including a drink that she could sip without being freed. They went through the drive-through like they were a normal group of friends hanging out instead of a werewolf, a mage, a superhuman assassin, and Cara. She was by far the most normal person there, which made her just slightly uncomfortable.

  She’d expected Adrianna to yell or scream or something when Eddy rolled down the window, but the assassin kept her lips sealed. She probably knew she’d gotten off lucky with the whole ‘time freeze’ thing instead of execution. Cara had no clue what that was, but based off the name, it sounded like she’d be frozen for a little while, like Han Solo in Star Wars. She felt a tad nerdy for making that reference so quickly, but then again… she embraced her inner nerd. She’d always been a writer, and with that came a love for all forms of media. She’d watch any movie and read any book as long as it told a good story and wasn’t too violent.

  Ten minutes later, Eddy had pulled up in the parking lot of some obscure, broken down old building where nobody could see them. He passed the bags of food to Reuben, who distributed heaping plates of oily, cheaply made meals out to everyone.

  Cara felt guilty about eating the food.

  Looking at it, she knew her stomach would likely hurt later. French fries. Onion rings. The bun. All kinds of condiments. Even the veggie burger was fried, so that didn’t constitute healthy. It only took a moment or two until her stomach won out over her self-control and she bit in.

  In a word, it was delightful.

  She understood why they had apparently stopped there so often. Despite it’s obvious calorie challenges, the burger was delicious. It didn’t stand a chance. Usually, Cara was always the last one to finish eating. She picked at food and it took her forever to eat a full meal. It wasn’t like she tried to take a long time. She just… did. She was, in many ways, the queen of picky eaters. But right then, she tossed all reservations out the window and chowed down. She finished her last onion ring first.