Chaos Theory

by Susan Harris

  Once the prince had blown all that hot air out of his ass, I tilted my head and began my response. “First, I was exhausted and didn’t wake until you started beating down my door. Second, I had no intention of cozying up to your parents over breakfast—especially not your father, who hates me for some reason. And finally, the next time you barge into my room without invitation, I’ll give you a nice haircut with one of my sai.”

  Folding his arms across his chest, Nickolai scowled. “We have a briefing in ten. Get some food and be on time.”

  I slid off the bed, running my fingers through my hair. “Yes, My Liege.”

  Nickolai growled as I brushed past him, then grabbed my arm and spun me back around. I faced him, snarling. “Let go of my arm, My Liege, or I will break your fingers.”

  “Stop.”

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop with the ‘my liege,’” he said, grinding the honorific out through clenched teeth. “Stop changing the rules on me.”

  I yanked my arm free. “I’m not changing any rules, Nickolai. This isn’t a game. You come barging into my rooms like the entitled prince you are, and I’m changing the rules? Grow up, Your Highness, and get your ass down off that high horse. Close the door behind you on the way out—that is, if you remember how to do shit on your own.”

  I ran out the door and down the stairs, nearly reaching the end of the staircase before I heard my bedroom door close. Skidding to a stop at the bottom, I saw a smiling Jack waiting for me.

  “Déjà vu much?”

  Jack laughed at my comment, lifting his eyes to Nickolai as he descended the stairs.

  “Vampires will talk, kiddo.”

  I huffed, coming down the last step. “Well, I just loudly handed him his ass on a plate, so let them talk. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

  I filed into the meeting room with Jack, sitting in the exact spot I had when I’d first been asked to join the mission. Jack sat down next to me, pouring me a coffee as Nickolai came in, taking his seat at the head of the room without looking at me. Atticus, however, was doing a terrible job of avoiding looking at Jack.

  If someone wrote a soap about vampires, we’d be ideal characters.

  I’d just snagged an apple when the queen strode in and we all stood, her face warm and welcoming as she glanced in my direction. When the queen had taken her seat, we returned to ours. I bit into my apple before realizing the queen was focused on me.

  “Ryan,” she said, “we missed you at breakfast this morning.”

  I swallowed the piece of apple before I answered her, conscious of all eyes in the room seemingly studying our interaction. “Forgive me, My Liege, I overslept. I haven’t had much time for sleep in the last few months. Worry not, however; Nickolai has already voiced his displeasure at my laziness.”

  Katerina pursed her lips and cut her eyes to Nickolai before returning to her warm smile. “There is nothing to forgive. You have been working so hard; it is understandable you are tired. Maybe we can catch up before you and Nickolai head back to college.”

  “Of course.”

  I’d rather pluck my eyes out with chopsticks, but sure.

  “My son, update us on your progress.”

  Nickolai reclined in his chair. “I have been able to integrate into college life, making friends easily and adapting to circumstances. As Ryan said before, the youth are our way to integrate with humans as they have more of a capacity to comprehend the supernatural.”

  “How long before you feel you can reveal yourself to a human to gauge their reaction?” Idris asked.

  Nickolai scratched his forehead. “It is far too soon to predict that. Most of the friends I have gained are acquaintances, not close friends. Instead, it is Ryan who’s made a friend we’ve considered telling, as she is trustworthy and already intrigued by the supernatural.”

  “It is not in Ryan’s job description to make friends, My Liege. It is her job to give her life for yours.”

  Just like her parents.

  I lifted my eyes to Idris and smiled, hearing the unspoken words in his tone. My mouth opened, ready to respond, but the queen beat me to it.

  “Idris, Ryan has already done just that, as you are well aware. She has killed one rogue and injured another. We cannot throw stones around here when we’ve had her fighting with one arm tied behind her back.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I tried not to look smug as Idris’s jaw ticked.

  “Ryan has diverted the attention of the primary rogue from humans to herself. He has been sending her gifts, following and watching her. She has a right to know who the rogue is so she is better equipped to find a weakness.”

  The entire room of men turned to me, and I shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny.

  “Why would he be interested in her?” Boris sneered.

  Where Natalia had inherited her pleasant disposition from was obvious.

  “I’m a fucking delight, didn’t you know?”

  Jack barked out a laugh, Nickolai joining in with him. Even the queen chuckled softly, trying to hide a smile. Idris and Boris merely stared like I’d just told them I was leaving the court to become a stripper.

  Rolling my eyes as the laughter died down, I leaned forward in my chair and rested my chin in my hands. “Because he thinks I am beautiful and wants to make me his rogue queen. And as long as he’s focused on wooing me, he won’t kill innocent strangers. He’s already tried flowers and diamonds. Then he watched me fight and kill a blood lusted rogue. Finally, he sent me the head of a boy who’d upset me.”

  “And have you been encouraging his weird affection toward you?” Boris asked.

  “Sure,” I answered, sarcasm dripping from every word. “Who wouldn’t want a psychotic, human-murdering vampire hanging around, trying to prove he’s better boyfriend material than a court vampire. I mean, looking at all your sons, I’m starting to think he might have a point.”

  There is a roar of growls and snarls as the council begin to yell and scream in outrage, their raised voices grating on my patience even before the queen called for order. They ignore her, pointing fingers in my direction as they rant and rave, and I finally lose my patience.

  Yanking my sai free, I sent one sailing through the air, shattering an ornate Ming vase, spilling water over the table and silencing the room. Getting to my feet, I retrieved my weapon before speaking.

  “This is why we are dying—this male chauvinistic outlook on our lives. Do you know what I learned about the rogue while you all were keeping his identity from me? This vampire was old court long before he was a rogue. His voice was damaged either when he was born or in an accident that never healed properly. He’s from old Russia, and his accent gets thicker when he’s excited. I’ve never seen his face, but from the way he holds himself, the way he’s tried to sway me, he is handsome and knows it.”

  Pausing as I walked back to my seat, I remained standing, my hands resting on the back of my chair. “He knows females are treated as lesser vampires and knew I was not like the other girls at court. He used that to his advantage. He is smart. Careful. Calculated. He knew that murders, especially with the crown prince on campus, would cause chaos among our ranks. And he was right.”

  I’d saved the best for last, having kept the knowledge to myself for a long time. Flashing my fangs and giving these vampires my most sinister smile, I continue.

  “To know who Nickolai is, he must have a contact at court, or one of his minions was a member of court, but to know us as intimately as he does, the rogue has to be related to one of the royal clans.”

  Boris snapped his head in Nickolai’s direction, and Nickolai shook his head, holding his hands up. “I did not say a thing. Ryan is smart, Boris, and nosy as hell. She’ll figure things out eventually if left to her own devices.”

  My grin deepened as I finally sank back down in my chair, triumphant.

  The queen cleared her throat. “Ryan is right. We spend so much time trapped in a cycle of tradition we assume many things
. Have you an idea to lure out the rogue, Ryan?”

  “I do, My Liege. However, I will not be kept in the dark anymore. Either you tell me the identity of the rogue, or I will have no choice but to ask him myself.”

  “How dare you!” spluttered Boris, slamming his fists down on the table. “Do not think beyond your station, little girl, and speak to the queen in such a manner.”

  “At least I’m not throwing fits like a toddler, Boris. Based on your behavior, one might think you were related to this rogue.”

  As Boris’s face turned purple, I knew I’d guessed correctly. My lips tugged upward into a smile. “Ah, Boris. This wouldn’t happen to be the rogue brother you were supposed to have killed fifty years ago, would it?”

  “He was supposed to be dead. I drove a dagger into his throat and left him in the snow for the sun. I didn’t realize he was still alive until the attempt on the queen’s life.”

  Blood rushed to my head, the monstrous rage in me exploding to the surface as I hissed out a breath and lunged for Boris, my sai in my hands before I knew it.

  Jack snared me around the waist, and I drove my elbow backward, crunching Jack’s nose. He yelped but kept hold of me, the coppery scent of blood filling the air as I tried in vain to get to Boris.

  “You piss-poor excuse of a vampire. Couldn’t even kill him right! If you’d only done your fucking job, we wouldn’t have lost so many vampires. Those deaths are on you! I’ll kill you; I’ll fucking kill you!”

  Boris, who now clung to the wall behind him and stunk of fear and guilt, looked to the queen for assistance when I managed to get free of Jack’s grasp and stalked toward him. I was poised to strike, to rid the world of his stain, my sai already pointing at Boris’s heart, when a familiar form moved to block me from my prey.

  My hand froze as the tip of my weapon kissed the spot just under Nickolai’s heart. I growled, pulling my arm back and moving to slip around him, but he grabbed my arm, holding me firmly.

  “Stand down, Ryan,” he commanded, pouring every ounce of authority he had into his tone.

  “With all due respect, My Liege, go fuck yourself.”

  “Stand down, Guard Callan. That is an order.”

  I sheathed my sai at his words, pointing to Boris. “This isn’t over.”

  Shoving past Nickolai, I walked to the far side of the room, where I inhaled a deep breath and tried to find my calm.

  “Perhaps,” suggested the queen, “this would go more smoothly, Boris, if you excused yourself.”

  “Pardon me, My Liege, but should the trainee not excuse herself and her infantile behavior?”

  The queen gave Boris her most brilliant smile. “Ryan is necessary to this mission, whereas you are not. And it seems my son has already promoted Ryan to a member of his guard, so she is a trainee no longer. Now, get out, Boris.”

  The queen’s words hit me like a sledgehammer. I was a member of the Royal Guard? Nickolai had chosen me? That made me the youngest guard in history. Emotion caught in my throat as I managed to find my seat. Jack’s hand dropped onto my shoulder, a comfort as I tried to steady my breathing. I wondered if my parents would be proud of me, then turned and offered Jack a small smile in apology as he cleaned the blood from his almost certainly broken nose. He gripped his nose and yanked it back into place with a crunch. I cringed.

  The moment the door closed behind Boris; the room was immediately less tense. I listened to Idris as he fleshed out the details of who the rogue was. Maxim Smyrnoi, older brother to Boris, had turned rogue seventy years ago when, after the Guard caught him trying to flee with the love of his life, Mia—Natalia’s mother—his parents had married her off to his younger brother. He’d joined the rebel factions, spreading anti-court and anti-royal propaganda, luring impressionable vampires to his way of thinking.

  Boris had tracked him down and thought he’d killed his brother, but Maxim’s followers found and cared for him for days as his wounds healed. He remained hidden for decades, mounting support until they attempted an assassination in Russia… and the rest was history.

  When Idris finished speaking, I realized the plan I’d already formulated would likely work even better, now that I understood his history. The room was drenched in silence as I lifted my gaze, all eyes watching me as the queen asked how I planned to lure Maxim out.

  Leaning back in my chair, I folded my arms across my chest. “Maxim thinks he was wronged when Mia was given to Boris. We can play on that. He assumes I’ll fall for his charms, so now I will—almost. I’ll make him think he came so close to having a mate, but once again, it’s being taken away from him.”

  The entire room acted as if I were speaking a foreign language, and, to them, I supposed I was. I share a look of understanding, however, with the queen, who nodded her approval despite her eyes filling with a little bit of terror as she glanced to Nickolai. She assumed I would use Nickolai to make Boris jealous, but that was never my intention. The crown prince had to stay safe at all costs.

  Swallowing hard, I let my eyes roam over Nickolai and then shift to Atticus. “Let’s make Maxim think that, like Mia, I’ve been given to someone else.” Smiling, I looked at Atticus. “Fancy being my pretend boyfriend?”

  22

  As I stood outside the apartment complex waiting for my date to arrive, I rolled my eyes, thinking about the absolute eruption that had happened after I’d asked Atticus to play my boyfriend. Nickolai had stood up so fast he knocked his chair over, and it hit the ground with such a loud bang the queen had jumped in her seat.

  “Out!” Nickolai roared, and the room began to scatter.

  Jack and Atticus froze as Nickolai growled at them to stay, and the queen arched her brow in amusement as I prayed to Eve that Nickolai would remain professional about things.

  I mean, yeah, male vampires were possessive, but it wasn’t like there was anything going on, really.

  “Liar!” Nickolai’s voice sounded huskily in my mind.

  When the room was clear of all but Jack, Atticus, and the queen, Nickolai clenched and unclenched his fists. “It should be me.”

  “Why’s that?” I retorted with a snort.

  “Because.”

  “Whoa there, Shakespeare. Stop with all of the words.” I chuckled at my own joke even as Atticus turned a horrid shade of white, even for a vampire.

  “You want this to be believable, right? You and Atticus have no chemistry.”

  “Neither do you and I.” The words slipped from my lips before I could reign them in.

  A snarl curled Nickolai’s lips as he stalked forward, backing me against the wall as he leaned his face into the curve of my neck and inhaled, the sheer possessiveness in his stance sending a shiver along my spine.

  I dropped my gaze, my face heating as Nickolai wrapped his hand around my throat and forced my eyes back to his.

  Suddenly, I forgot we were not alone in the room. There was only Nickolai, and I was powerless to the way my body was reacting to him. It screamed to loosen the hold I had on myself, to indulge this aching need I had for him, and screw the consequences.

  Nickolai released me and stepped away as suddenly as he’d approached, and I stumbled forward, blinking as I turned away from my embarrassment. How dare he do this to me in front of his mother, in front of my friends?

  “I don’t care.”

  “Excuse me?” Nickolai pivoted in my direction as I steeled my resolve. I wanted to hurt him, to wipe that smug smile off his face.

  “I don’t care how my body reacts to you. I’m touch-starved and lonely, but that doesn’t mean we can convince Maxim that I’m being given to you as a prize. Atticus is the safer bet; we are the safer bet.”

  I said the words to convince myself more than anyone, even as Nickolai gave me a murderous look.

  “I cannot stand by and watch you play house with Atticus. It will turn my stomach.”

  “Then don’t watch. Stay up on that high horse and pretend I wasn’t sick every time you cozied up to Nattie.”
>
  Nickolai blinked in surprise, and the queen cleared her throat.

  “What my son should have said, Ryan, was how unrealistic it would be to have Atticus play the part of a boyfriend. Maxim is smart—smarter than most—and it would be easy for him to spot Atticus does not lean toward the female of our species.”

  A hushed, stunned silence followed the queen’s words.

  Inclining her head, she continued. “It matters not to me, gentlemen. I merely find it amazing what us women see when men disregard our intellects. Let us do them the courtesy, Ryan, of not disregarding theirs. Besides, who better than the crown prince to compete with for your hand? It will… how do you usually put it? Piss him off to no end?”

  And that was how I ended up going on a date with Nickolai.

  I made sure not to dress up too much, knowing the rogue would smell a rat if we overdid it, and left my hair loose, curling softly against my shoulders. Once ready, I stood outside, tapping my foot against the pavement as I waited.

  We had hatched this plan under the assumption Maxim would be watching me, waiting to get me alone, but if his fascination with me had dwindled, then the rogue could slip away and we’d likely never catch him.

  With my back to the entrance, I felt Nickolai appear before I saw him, my entire being more attuned to him than ever before. He wore a pair of basketball shorts and a loose red T-shirt stretched tight across his muscled chest. In his hands, he carried a picnic basket.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I mumbled as I started forward, then freezing as Nickolai slipped his hand into mine and grinned down at me.

  “Make it believable, Ryan. If you look constipated the entire time, Maxim will smell the trap a mile off.”

  Knowing he was right, I flashed him a smile, stretching on my toes to press a quick peck to his cheek that I swear had the prince purring. Hand in hand, we meandered through the quad, weaving through the throngs of people wandering campus, trying to get things done before curfew kicked in.

  We deviated from the path, heading toward the bridge where I’d first encountered the rogue. I froze as it came into sight, my eyes wide at the array of fairy lights twined through the bridge’s railings, a checked blanket already spread in the middle of the bridge.