Huntress

by Susan Copperfield

  Eva tensed, and her jaw twitched. “Whatever needs to be signed to keep those bastards out of my life, I’ll sign.”

  “And should you have children? What will happen? Custodial rights are a critical factor.”

  “The Averett assholes are far better qualified. My side gets no rights under any circumstances.”

  One day, I’d ask Eva for the full story, and I wondered how long it would take for her to trust me with the truth. Considering how angry the thought of them made her, I expected I’d be waiting a while to hear the full story.

  “That will simplify things. The next thing we need to discuss is the prenuptial agreement.”

  As trust was a two-way street, I had one way of showing Eva I was serious. “No prenup,” I replied. “This isn’t a conditional marriage. She gets the full package, rights, and responsibilities.”

  “Agent Evangeline?”

  “I’m a feminist with a fondness of cursing as often as fucking possible. You tell me.”

  “Equality between the genders it is. The next item on our list: you need to be aware of the consequences of marrying him.”

  “You mean beyond the probable forming of various unbreakable bonds? I branded his scrawny ass from day one and refused to remove it. Once again, you tell me.”

  “He’s a probable leech, Agent Evangeline.”

  Eva clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, no! he might be a leech? How terribly tragic. Is that supposed to be a fucking problem?”

  I laughed until my lungs burned and my sides ached. “Just because I’m not a man-whore doesn’t mean I’m a leech. Magic isn’t required for a man to be loyal to his woman.”

  “There are advantages to being a leech,” Montana’s king replied.

  Eva snickered. “Your ass is branded, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “You didn’t brand my ass.”

  “Side, ass. Close enough. I can brand your ass, too, if I want.”

  I wondered what it said about me that I had no problems if she decided to do as threatened. “I’ll only run when you want me to.”

  “Flirt,” she accused. “You need to be more fit before you make satisfying prey. I want a challenge.”

  “You’re going to be waiting a while for the challenging part.”

  “I’ll survive.”

  Montana’s king cleared his throat. “There’s the issue of your abdication,” he reminded me.

  “It changes little on that front. I’ll resume work as Dr. Hampford allows, and we’ll see what happens in the spring. It’s a safe assumption I’ll be forced back into the role no matter what happens in the spring, but I have no problems with making Congress bite their nails a while.”

  “Well, I’m going to enjoy the spring hunt so much more than usual. Honestly, that’s the only thing I care about right now.”

  I laughed. “You’re going to make me shift even if I learn how to control my talent, aren’t you?”

  “That is the idea, yes. Your relatives can take turns being my prey, too. We should get that in writing. I get to have a yearly trophy hunt of the cats, the bear, and those damned whiney wolves. The wolverine gets off with a free pass; that’s his thanks for covering your hospitalized ass.”

  “That sounds fair to me.”

  “I thought so. Meredith said I should be able to learn a lot about kingdom politics as a trainer playing principal, and on days we’re off shift, she says I can learn a lot working in your office as part of your detail. I’ll be allowed to snoop on you.”

  “You’ll be feigning being a principal most of the time,” I reminded her. “You’ll be a principal in truth, too. That said, I have zero complaints if you are in my office for extended periods of time. She’s right. You’ll learn a lot from watching me work. Playing principal will put you in a position where I can teach you the ropes without anyone suspecting anything. The RPS agents will need to see you working and adapt to their role, so it works perfectly.”

  Eva grunted. “How long are we going to be sitting here? We will be leaving the tarmac sometime tonight, right?”

  Montana’s king chuckled. “As soon as Alfred finishes filling in Mr. Averett, we’ll leave. I’ll expect it’ll take them a little longer to be ready. Next up is your public marriage. With your paperwork being done today, you’ll have options. I recommend a full ceremony. Pull out all the stops and transform your bride into Cinderella. You’ll charm the general public and make it clear you’re serious, not that you’ll have to work hard to prove you’re serious. You might be the only prince I know of you hasn’t gone to town at the charity auctions.”

  “I’m all right with a big wedding if my father pays for it.” I shrugged. “If he’s paying for it, health allowing, the abdication will need to be overturned.”

  Montana’s king chuckled. “A simple and elegant solution to the abdication problem. I like it. It’s a fairly simplistic contract. The abdication is conditional to your health, which is something the Royal States understands and accepts; it shows you’re responsible and have your kingdom’s interests at heart. A sick king can’t do his job well. Your unobstructed courting of Agent Evangeline will be more problematic. We can make the subject of your interest anonymous in the paperwork. However, I’ve been warned about your altercation with your former girlfriend. She’ll talk. They always do.”

  “I’ve already informed her if she talks, I will inform the entirety of the Royal States of the details of how she cheated on me in my own bed, and I’ll have the truth verified.”

  The RPS agent in the driver’s seat grunted. “He’s even more ruthless than you are, Your Majesty.”

  “Don’t mess with shapeshifters when it comes to their women. They make me look insignificant in comparison. That the family of shapeshifters didn’t come to this conclusion disgusts me.”

  “It’s an issue of species,” Eva announced. “They’re predators. They see the world differently than the Your Highness back here does.”

  “I’m presume that’s because you’re a prey species, Your Highness?”

  Damn it. I shot a glare at Eva, who answered with her sweetest smile.

  One day, I’d have to reveal the truth, and she’d nudge me towards doing so in a way I couldn’t fight. “Yes, I’m a prey species.”

  “But he’s a mean prey species. Honestly, he’d classify as a predator to anyone with a grain of sense, but his official categorization is prey. I can testify from personal experience that this Your Highness here has no scruples about going straight for the face. Because he’s an ass. Who goes straight for the face. You went after my face twice.”

  Had I been sporting feathers, I would’ve fluffed them and showed off my tail in satisfaction over her complaint. “You started it.”

  “Then you dared to run off on me. Twice. You skipped dinner on me, too. You owe me dinner, a dinner where I get to plot various methods of torturing you for skipping dinner and going for my face.”

  “As I said. That’s a whole lot of woman to handle. Are you really sure you’re up for the challenge?”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t up for the challenge.”

  “Point. All right. Your relationship with an RPS agent will inevitably be revealed. If Gail doesn’t do it, someone in your kingdom will expose it. Her being in a principal role handling day-to-day work for Illinois will help mitigate the damage. Her duties will be viewed as a partnership developed through close sharing of space in a position that isn’t just about your security.”

  “I don’t care what anyone thinks, Your Majesty.”

  “I guessed as much. I suspected you’d run out of patience with the politics of marriage around the time your abdication reached my desk along with Agent Scarson’s account of the situation. Still, you have all the qualities of a good king. Your current successor doesn’t. This is common public knowledge. That’s no fault of his; he’s just not the type. It happens. Kingdoms reliant on birth order typically overcome the shortcomings of their rulers through the congress and oth
er legislative branches of their government. Once you impress upon your congress you have limits, they’ll learn to compromise with you. That’s important, but you have an advantage. They understand you had a valid reason to abdicate, and they’ll see you’re serious about your new wife at the same time. With the succession at much better odds of being secured, they’ll negotiate.”

  “I was planning to go the asshole dictator route,” I admitted. “I won’t tolerate anyone interfering with my relationship with Eva. I’d rather not, but I’ll fight if I must.”

  “Trust me when I say you don’t want him fighting. He really likes going right for the face. After he’s gotten some training, he’ll be dangerous enough. He has a temper when provoked. He’s just better at hiding it than his relatives.”

  I couldn’t tell if she was criticizing me or tossing compliments my way. “Guilty as charged.”

  “And your thoughts on becoming a queen, Evangeline?”

  “He’s going to rule. I’m going to browbeat people who get in his way. I figure being the mother of a bunch of royal hooligans will be time consuming. I need to make sure they don’t become hopelessly defenseless like their father.”

  “No matter what anyone tells you, your duties as a queen do not require you to become a royal baby maker. Ignore my wife’s example. She’s obsessed with babies. She tried to take home Alaska’s heir the last time we visited. Don’t pay attention to North Dakota, either.”

  “I’d correct anyone stupid enough to suggest such a thing.”

  Eva would, too. I’d love watching her do it.

  “Considering Evangeline’s talents, I recommend you propose alterations to how Illinois chooses its successor. That should help prevent future problems and create a better line of succession, one founded on the heir’s qualities and not birth order and gender.”

  “But Montana is by birth order and gender,” I reminded him.

  Montana’s king sighed. “And my talent is passed from father to son. I had some talents I was born with, but the important ones I only inherited when my father died. The entire family is required to carry suppressors in case the dangerous one jumps to a woman. It never has. The talent picks the ruler upon the king’s death. If you strip the royal talent, I’m not nearly as powerful as people like to think. I have many abilities, but most of them aren’t that strong.”

  “You found out your father died because you inherited his talent, didn’t you?” I whispered.

  “Yes. That’s how I knew. How everyone found out. My talent is a dangerous one. When Mackenzie and I have a son, we’ll be preparing him from birth to handle it. He’ll be aware of the weight of responsibility from his first breath. He will be able to kill with a word. If I could cut out this talent and ensure it was never passed on, I would. But it will. And if I don’t have a son, it’ll find someone else to hit. No, it’s better to prepare my future son for the worse than to allow this untamed beast to kill through someone unprepared.”

  “At least your talent isn’t trying to kill you.”

  “Yes, that’s something I’m grateful for. As long as I’m careful, no one is at risk from me, but I do have to prepare my children for the reality of hosting my talent. It’s unavoidable.”

  Agent Geoff coughed. “At the risk of being fired, but Your Highness? While His Majesty does have a strong talent, he’s a pussycat. He won’t use that part of his power. He has other ways to kill people. That’s just one element of his talent. Nothing is as it seems with him, so don’t let him trick you.”

  “Thanks, Geoff,” Montana’s king grumbled.

  “He’s also wearing enough suppressors he could order you to fall over dead and all you’d do is faint and be unconscious for a few minutes. It’s untested if he can actually command someone to die. Honestly, I think anyone who heard such a command would fall unconscious for a while, and the duration of unconsciousness would be the primary display of his strength.”

  “My grandfather killed with a word, Geoff.”

  “And there were circumstances in that case. We’ve done some extensive studying. The person who died was already dying from heart failure. The command triggered a heart attack. In a healthy person, I doubt it would lead to death.”

  Montana’s king stilled in the front seat. “He had a failing heart?”

  “Indeed. But it makes for a good story that helps keep people in line. No one denies or questions your family’s talent has killed, but there were circumstances. We in the RPS just opt to not inform anyone of those circumstances.”

  “Huh. I had no idea.”

  “Entirely on purpose, I assure you. How better to ensure the inheritor takes no risks when he believes he can kill with a word? You’ll never stop taking care with your words and your actions, so the truth isn’t dangerous to tell you. But perhaps you’ll stop driving us all insane when you have a panic attack because you forget you’re wearing a bracelet instead of a mask.”

  I raised my brows, keeping quiet while the RPS agent did the one thing I’d thought impossible, scolding Montana’s king without any care of the consequences.

  “Mackenzie put you up to this, didn’t she?”

  “When isn’t she putting me up to something?”

  “A very good point.”

  “Perhaps you should focus on the issue of Agent Evangeline’s lineage rather than yours,” Geoff suggested.

  “He’s not even the head of my detail, but he never cuts me any slack.”

  I chuckled, understanding full well after having been managed by Christian most of my life. Then I sobered, my worries over Eva’s situation strengthening. “What’s wrong with Eva’s lineage?”

  “That’s a very good question,” she grumbled.

  “Were you not offered the opportunity to select a family name?”

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  “I’d like your permission to investigate the matter. It’s possible the disowning paperwork was not filed properly. As far as you know, you are officially disowned, correct?”

  “As far as I know, yes.”

  “And you were fifteen at the time?”

  “Correct.”

  “That’s young for most kingdoms within the Royal States. It might not be legal. The typical age for an official disowning is eighteen, which is the age most can be expected to realistically live without parental support of any sort. Prior to eighteen, there are rights you wouldn’t have that would make life difficult for you at best.”

  “I’m aware.”

  I cringed at the coldness of Eva’s tone. “Is putting her through this necessary?”

  “Unfortunately. It’s to protect you as well, Your Highness. I’m sorry. I’d like your permission to look into the matter, Evangeline.”

  Eva scowled. “If they pulled any shit about this, please light them on fire on my behalf.”

  “It’s a safe assumption you’re uninterested in a resolution?”

  “Not a chance in hell. They try, you feed them to the teddy bear.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement. There’s finally the matter of adjusting the public records for your reinstatement as Illinois’s heir, Prince Kelvin. If you set a wedding date officially as part of your reinstatement documentation, it’ll reassure the public. And yes, that’s despite your bride’s identity remaining a secret. If anything, her identity being a secret will create some excellent publicity for Illinois. There’s nothing gossips love more than speculating about royal weddings. It’ll drive the court crazy if they can’t figure it out.”

  “I like that. Two days before the first day of spring,” Eva suggested. “That’ll give us a day together before I get to hunt your scrawny ass. After I’m done with you, I want to work through the cats.”

  “You’re not going to have any mercy on him, are you?”

  “I treat beasts as beasts and men as men. Men who insist on acting like beasts are hunted for my amusement and photographed in compromised positions.”

  “Even if I learn to control my talent, you really are g
oing to hunt me, aren’t you?”

  “Duh. You’re glorious. I couldn’t catch you cheating, and that’s infuriating. I haven’t figured out how you did it.”

  I laughed, pleased my ploy had worked so well. “I watched you clean your swords and cuddle with your bow. I’m prepared to sleep with your weapons as necessary.”

  “You were right under my nose the entire time?”

  “Your tirade was magnificent, and I’m recruiting Dr. Hampford to check into your snore.”

  Montana’s king snickered. “The issue of Evangeline’s snore has already made it to my desk, courtesy of Agent Scarson. Dr. Hampford is aware and will start looking into the issue as soon as you’re progressing through physical therapy. She thought it wise to have one patient on the mend before adding a second patient to her load. That said, it’s probably easily resolved. It’ll involve a few sleep tests. I’ve been through them a few times. If I snort in my sleep, the RPS busybodies want to make sure I’m not going to die.”

  Geoff sighed. “Your Majesty, please don’t exaggerate.”

  “It was just a few snorts!”

  “You had minor surgery to deal with a sinus problem. It was not just a few snorts. Be grateful we neglected to inform Mackenzie and did the procedure while she was in Texas.”

  I recognized good blackmail material when I heard it. “Just how did you manage to hide this from Her Majesty?”

  “Sedatives slipped into her dinner and a late-night operation with a doctor who could handle healing the incision. By the time she returned to Montana, he no longer snored, was fully healed, and everyone was much happier. Except for him; he continues to complain we overreacted to the situation.”

  “I want his doctor,” Eva announced.

  “You have her already,” the RPS agent replied. “Dr. Hampford oversaw the operation. There’s a reason His Majesty sent her to Illinois. He trusts her with his life in surgery, and he doesn’t send anyone he doesn’t trust without question.”

  “We’re going to up the timetable on that snore. It’s bad. She was right next to a waterfall and drowned it out.”