Royally Entangled

by Catherine Banks

  “Why?” Fox asked Rhys.

  Rhys’s eyes had changed to green and gold, like dragon’s eyes and he grumbled in a deep and rocky voice, “It seems some aren’t happy that she ended the war.”

  “It will be impossible to find out who sent them,” Nico whispered.

  “I could have died,” I whispered and looked up at Deryn. “Thank you.”

  He didn’t smile at me. He wasn’t even looking at me.

  “We need to figure out what we’re going to do,” he said to Rhys.

  Rhys nodded. “Yes.”

  The fire trucks came, and I stepped away from the men to sit on the curb. This was not how I expected today to go at all! I was grateful that they had saved me, but the conversation we had started in the hallway was far from over.

  “Do you think my apartment is okay?” I asked them softly.

  “The bombs weren’t packing much explosive power, but we don’t know how many of those flowers had them. We won’t know the damage until we go inside,” Fox said and knelt beside me. He stroked my hair slowly and it was oddly relaxing.

  “I hope my games are okay,” I whispered and tried really hard not to lean into his hand.

  “If they aren’t, I’m sure we can find replacements,” Deryn assured me. “Your data is all saved under your login, so it won’t matter if you have to get a new console.”

  “Right,” I agreed, feeling a little better.

  Fox shifted into a red fox and climbed into my lap. My brain was on overload from all of the events, so I didn’t even blink at his sudden transformation. Instead, I wrapped my arms around him, moving his head to my shoulder, and buried my face in his fur.

  “Cheater,” Rhys whispered.

  The apartment manager walked over to us and sighed loudly. “Luckily the damage isn’t too bad. The door and hallway wall of Jolie’s apartment are destroyed, but most of your stuff survived. It wasn’t enough to make it through the floor or ceiling of the hallway, so everyone else is good.”

  “Great,” I mumbled into Fox’s fur.

  “The detectives are there now, trying to figure out who did it,” the manager said. “So, you need to stay away from that floor for now.”

  “We can all go to my apartment for now,” Rhys instructed everyone.

  The group started to head across, but I couldn’t move. Someone had tried to kill me. If Deryn hadn’t smelled the explosive and grabbed me, I would be scattered about the hallway. There would be chunks of me with the flowers and dirt. Someone who went so far as to put explosives in flowers didn’t strike me as the kind who would give up easily. What would their next attack be? Where would it be? I was in danger, and I was human. I had no way of protecting myself. There was nothing I could do. I was going to die. This was even more frightening than when Demarcus had been after me. At least with him, I knew the danger and what it looked like. This had no face. This had no warning. I was at a complete loss.

  Fox leapt out of my arms, and Nico picked me up gently, cradling me against his body. “You are safe. You are alive. We are here for you. No one will harm you while you’re with us.”

  How could he be so certain? They weren’t invincible. They could be injured too.

  “You’ll be killed too,” I whispered.

  “Did Demarcus kill us?” he asked.

  “No,” I admitted reluctantly.

  He headed to the apartment building, his head held high as he carried me, the others walked around us in a shield of protection, hiding me from the media as they tried to snap pictures.

  “We will not let you die,” he told me adamantly.

  Something slammed into what appeared to be a translucent shield around the five of us. On closer inspection, I realized that it was a large caliber bullet.

  Rhys stepped back, shifted into his dragon form and took to the sky, disappearing into the smoke.

  “Rhys!” I screamed.

  The three remaining men hurried inside and to an apartment on the first floor that was unlocked. I assumed it belonged to one of them, but didn’t ask.

  “He’ll be fine,” Nico assured me.

  “Bullets can’t penetrate dragon’s scales,” Deryn said with a small smile.

  A dragon’s roar shook the building and I clutched Nico tighter. He sat on the couch, keeping me in his lap, and stroked my back.

  “Food?” Fox asked me.

  My stomach was a knotted mess of anxiety. I shook my head and climbed out of Nico’s lap, sitting on a leather recliner that was unclaimed, and curled my legs up beneath me. My heartbeat quickened and I let my body fall sideways, my head resting on the arm of the chair.

  “Jolie?” Deryn asked, turning to fully face me from behind the couch.

  “Fine,” I lied and closed my eyes.

  Again. People were being put in harm’s way because of me, again. I wasn’t special. I wasn’t gorgeous. Pretty, yes, but not a ten. Why did people keep getting hurt because of me? Maybe I needed to become a hermit. Could I get internet while being a hermit? I needed internet no matter what. There were too many games I wanted to play that required internet.

  The door opened and I flew out of the chair, running to Rhys who had no visible injuries or blood stains anywhere I could see.

  “Rhys!” I yelled and threw my arms around him. He hugged me back, pulling me close to his body.

  “You find him?” Deryn asked.

  “Yes, the police have him now.”

  “Did you get hurt?” I asked after stepping back from him.

  He smiled. “No.”

  Finally, my heart unclenched and I felt the adrenaline leave me, fatigue setting in heavily. I went back to the chair and lay down again. Rhys was safe. All four of them were safe. Everything was okay for now.

  “What’s the plan?” Fox asked. “It’s clear that they are after her and aren’t going to give up.”

  “We’re going to take shifts,” Rhys said. “One of us needs to be with her at all times.”

  “That’s a bad idea,” I whispered without opening my eyes.

  “Why?” Rhys asked.

  “I’m bad luck. Maybe I should leave town for a while. I could take a vacation and wait for things to calm down.”

  “Or, they could follow you and kill you,” Nico said bluntly.

  True, but then none of them would be in harm’s way.

  “I’ll watch her tonight,” Rhys said. “Nico, you’ll have to take her to and from work, since you have a shield. Tomorrow, we’ll put the schedule together.”

  Chapter 5

  Warm arms encircled me and a warm body pressed against my back. Nature called, or I would have stayed with him. I slid out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom, staring at my worn reflection. The bathroom was immaculate, not a single thing out of place. I opened the top drawer and found spare toothbrushes, the kind that had toothpaste already on them.

  “Score.”

  Quickly, I brushed my teeth, ran my fingers through my hair, and used the bathroom.

  When I came back to the room, Rhys still lay on his bed, his shirtless torso on display for my viewing pleasure. And it was definitely a pleasure. He had a perfectly shaped chest, one that was all thanks to genetics. His abdominals were so defined, that I could see water getting stuck in the grooves.

  His room was super tidy as well. He had a few pictures, all of them of the four princes, from toddler age all the way to the present day, during outings and events. I envied their friendship. I envied a friendship that had lasted a lifetime. I had one friend that I’d known since junior high, but we weren’t that close anymore.

  I crawled back into bed and lay my head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart, and enjoying his warmth.

  He wrapped his arms around me.

  “Morning,” he murmured.

  “I’m sorry I woke you,” I whispered and tried to get out of bed.

  “Stay,” he begged and held me tight.

  I stilled and then made myself comfortable on his chest again. He was so war
m and I felt incredibly safe lying in bed with him. I knew if someone busted into the room, he would protect me, no matter what the danger was.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. “I should have thanked you all yesterday, but I was a bit shell shocked.”

  “Are you ready to talk about relationships yet?” he asked, opening one eye to look at me.

  “I told you guys, I don’t want to come between you all. You’ve been friends your entire lives. If I did something to ruin that –”

  “We all talked last night,” he said and opened his other eye.

  “Oh?” That was hardly fair. I couldn’t argue with them while I was asleep.

  “After you fell asleep. We all agreed that we felt a connection with you.”

  “A connection?”

  “It’s harder for humans to sense, but we all share a connection with you and with each other.”

  “Wait, you’re bi?”

  Not that I cared what they were. It honestly wouldn’t change anything.

  “No,” he chuckled. “The four of us have a warrior’s bond. However, with you, we all somehow added you to that bond.”

  “Warrior-”

  He sighed.

  “You’re not a warrior. You’re our…”

  “Whore?”

  He scowled at me.

  “Absolutely not. You’re like…our Queen.”

  “Queen?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Don’t give me that scowl,” he teased and tapped the tip of my nose with his finger. “Generations ago, the queen would be assigned guards. The guards would develop a warrior’s bond between themselves to be able to find each other and communicate easier. The Queen and her guards would develop a bond to help her call upon them in times of need and so they could sense her distress.”

  “I’m not a queen,” I pointed out. Not that he didn’t already know that.

  He ran a hand down his face and sat up. “I’m sorry, I’m not very good at explaining things like this. Nico is better at it. I’ll have him explain it to you as you go to work.”

  “My clothes-”

  “I’m going to go with you to your apartment, so you can pack your essentials and clothing.”

  He stood up and stretched, giving me ample time to admire his muscular back and perfect ass.

  “Let me brush my teeth and grab something to eat on the way out the door,” he said around a big yawn.

  He didn’t take as long as I thought he would, but we were still pushing it and I had to rush to pack my things. He had me leave my stuff in his apartment and Nico was there waiting for me when we arrived.

  “You’re going to be late,” he said in a sing-song voice.

  “Apparently, dragons aren’t morning people,” I teased.

  “Mornings would be better if they started after noon,” Rhys said and yawned. “You got her?”

  Nico nodded. “I’ve got it handled.”

  Rhys pecked me on the cheek and walked inside, yawning. “I’m going to go back to sleep now,” he informed us.

  Nico clapped his hands and a bubble appeared around us. A moment later, it disappeared from sight, but I could still sense it because it blocked the wind.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded, and we walked out of the apartment building and towards my job, passing by other males and females of various races going to their jobs as well.

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked.

  “I didn’t even feel Rhys move me,” I admitted. “I just went to sleep in the chair and woke up in his bed.”

  My hand flew to my mouth and I wondered if he would be upset that Rhys had slept in the same bed as me.

  “Nothing happened, I-”

  “Jolie, I know you slept with him already. Plus, this won’t work if we all freak out when someone does something with you. We aren’t like that. We aren’t a bunch of jealous idiots.”

  “Rhys said you would be better at explaining about the bond,” I told him. “He mentioned me being part of your bond, but not the warrior’s one. He said something about Queens, but it didn’t make sense, since I’m just a human.”

  He nodded. “He always gets frazzled when talking about it. So, he told you about the queen and her guards having a bond, right?”

  I nodded. The light changed, so we had to stop at the crosswalk and wait. There were quite a few people walking about and many were looking at Nico. He didn’t seem to notice, his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the light pole with relaxed shoulders.

  “Normally, there’s a big ceremony and they all make the bond as one. We aren’t exactly sure how it happened, but you became part of our bond. That’s not how it normally works. Normally, our bond is completely separate from the Queen’s bond. I did some research on it, but haven’t turned up anything yet.”

  “So, what you’re saying is that I’m bound to you guys, but not like a queen would be, more like as another warrior, but still different?”

  None of this made any sense to me.

  “Sort of,” he murmured and chewed on the inside of his cheek.

  The light changed and we resumed walking.

  “So, is there a way to remove me from the bond?” I asked and looked up at him.

  His eyes grew wide and he looked at me. “What? You want to break the bond?”

  “Well, if the bond isn’t right, shouldn’t we get rid of it?”

  “It’s not as simple as taking off a ring,” he explained. “It’s painful and it can’t be repaired once broken.”

  “But, if you decided you wanted to bond with me later, couldn’t you do it like the Queen’s bond? Not that I am saying you should bond with me, since I’m not royalty or anything.”

  “Theoretically, yes. However, since I’ve never heard of this type of bond before, I don’t want us to break it without knowing the consequences. For all we know, if you break it, you might die.”

  Nico was very blunt and straight to the point. I liked that about him.

  “So, do you guys, feel me?” I asked and tilted my head to the side as I thought about how weird it must be to sense other people when they weren’t near you.

  “Yes,” he nodded. “We can sense where you are and we can sense your mood.”

  “My mood?”

  “Yep. For instance, right now you’re anxious and confused. Yesterday, you were having an anxiety attack, but you lied to us about it.”

  Heat spread across my cheeks. “Oh.”

  “You don’t have to be embarrassed. Anxiety is a common issue, mainly among humans, but Others are known to experience it as well. Next time though, you could just ask one of us to help you.”

  “How can you help me with an anxiety attack? They don’t make sense most of the time anyway. Sometimes they just come on out of nowhere, for no reason.”

  “Fox is very skilled at helping people with turmoil. That’s why he shifted into his fox form for you when we were outside. He could sense your anxiety spiking and knows that a lot of humans are calmed by furry animals. It did help, until we got into the apartment and Rhys went after the gunman.”

  “I wish you guys would see things from my side,” I muttered.

  We stopped in front of my office building, and he turned to face me. “So, tell me your side. We don’t know anything about what happened between you and Demarcus, or what he meant about a protector before.”

  “I have to go to work,” I said, glad to dodge the topic.

  “I’ll be here to pick you up at five. Please, don’t step outside. Just wait for me.”

  I nodded.

  He opened the door for me, and once I stepped inside, he removed the shield and kissed my cheek. “See you later.”

  I smiled and jogged to the elevator to go to work.

  “You’ve been holding out on me,” Justina accused with hands on her hips next to her cubicle.

  “Uh?” I replied, smartly.

  She pointed out the window. “That’s Nico, prince of the Mages. He walked you to work and kissed you like you w
ere the best of friends. What the fuck? How do you know him? Were you involved in the explosion last night at their apartment building? Are you dating him? Have you slept with him?”

  I stood with my mouth open, prepared to answer her, but she didn’t stop the onslaught of questions. So, I closed my mouth and waited for her to stop venting.

  She took a breath and looked at me expectantly.

  “Oh? Are you done shooting questions at me a mile a minute?” I asked.

  “Spill,” she ordered me.

  “Yes, I live in the apartment building with them. Yes, I was involved in the explosion. I’m fine though, thanks for your concern. We are friends. I have not slept with him. We are dating, I think? Maybe?”

  Were we? Was what I had with these guys considered dating?

  “What happened with the guy you went out to lunch with?”

  “We’re dating too, I think.”

  This was so confusing. I wished I knew more about the bond we had. How could I have joined their bond?

  “You go, girl!” she said and smiled.

  After rolling my eyes at her and sitting down, I got lost in my work. At noon, I realized that I hadn’t made a lunch and I wasn’t supposed to go outside. Justina had brought her lunch, so I didn’t want to ask her to go buy me something.

  People started whispering loudly and I stood up to see what was going on, to find them all looking outside. I walked to join the crowd and smiled when I saw Deryn shift from wolf to man and head into the building.

  “What is he doing here?”

  “He’s so hot.”

  “That’s the second prince I’ve seen at this building today.”

  Justina looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

  I smiled and waited until he entered the office, a backpack in hand. He looked over everyone and then saw me, and smiled.

  “Hey,” he said and maneuvered around the gaping people to me. “Rhys told me he forgot to mention lunch and you were still kind of frazzled. So, I offered to bring you some food.” He opened his backpack and pulled out a plastic lunchbox. It had a kid’s hero character sticker on it.

  “You’re the best,” I told him and kissed his cheek before grabbing the box from him and heading towards the lunchroom where we could sit at a table and eat.