Reluctant King (Reluctant Royals Book 1)

by Montana Ash

  Brax shook his head, the depravity of some people knew no bounds. And it had nothing to do with whether they were demons, vampires, elves or humans. Wickedness and a lack of conscience crossed all races and species. Even angels. The corrupted woman sitting in front of him was proof of that. And for that reason, Sabre really should have been the last person to ‘keep’ a traumatised girl. “Let me get this straight, you rescued a young teen from a harem-slash-brothel where she was being held against her will by a filthy paedophile, and you promptly made her your protégé?” He remembered what she said about teaching Jinx self-defence. No doubt that was her way of saying ‘training her to kill people for money’.

  Sabre cocked her head, idly scratching her arm, “I hear the question in your tone but don’t really understand it.”

  “You decided to turn an innocent young girl who had been the victim of a horrendous crime into a criminal and a murderer?” Brax questioned further, feeling more agitated by the minute.

  “Firstly, Jinx is not now, nor has she ever been, a victim. Jinx is a survivor. Secondly, Jinx is not a criminal,” Sabre’s growl gave Brax’s a run for its money.

  Brax scoffed, “You just said you were training her! She seemed like a nice girl – if a little mouthy. Do you really want her to end up like you?”

  Sabre’s wine-coloured eyes narrowed and she stood up slowly, never taking her eyes off Brax. “You’re starting to piss me off, Abraxis. This is why I don’t chat with people. I always end up wanting to garrotte them. Jinx is nothing like me,” she stated.

  Brax stood up as well, slowly as to not cause the deadly, pissed off woman alarm. The last thing he wanted was to be garrotted. Still, he was alpha enough – and stubborn enough – to keep pushing his point. Thinking back to the previous evening, he thought of the lovely young werecreature in question. The white-and-black-haired teen – which now made a lot more sense knowing she was a white tiger shifter – had continued eyeing him and Draven from her position at the bar. Every time he looked back, she had been cleaning under her fingernails with one of the wickedest blades he had ever seen. When he and Draven rose to leave, Jinx, obviously having noticed his regard, gave him a jaunty wave with said blade, flashing a pointy canine for good measure. He regarded Sabre once more; “Uh huh. Yep. Sure. She’s nothing like you at all. I bet she uses that knife I saw of hers to floss her teeth.”

  The assassin thawed a little, regarding him for a moment before surprising him with a question from left field; “What would you have done?”

  “Excuse me?” Brax asked, confused by the sudden shift.

  “What would you have done if you had found an innocent young girl, barely on the cusp of adulthood, beautiful and broken in one of the worst cesspools of humanity?”

  “Notified the authorities. Gotten her help,” was Brax’s immediate reply.

  Sabre nodded, absently patting Styx again who was once more leaning against her side like an overgrown golden Labrador. “Right. Help like killing her tormenters in front of her so she knew she would never be touched by their filthy hands again? Or perhaps teaching her how to defend herself so she no longer felt weak or powerless or like a victim? Perhaps educating her so she could be a confident, capable woman, so that she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could slay her own demons in the future? Is that the kind of help you mean?”

  Brax opened and closed his mouth a few times. Well, fuck, the fallen angel certainly had him there. There was no reply worthy, so he simply moved on; “What about her parents?”

  “Her parents were the ones who sold her to that scum in the first place. Hype addicts,” was Sabre’s bland answer.

  “I’m guessing they are no longer addicts?” Brax inquired, knowing it was because they were most likely no longer breathing rather than having cleaned up their acts.

  “They met a slow and messy demise. Them …” she bent down to pick up Styx’s bone and threw it for him to fetch before turning back to Brax, “… I did for free.”

  They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before Brax cleared his throat. He had no idea what he was going to say. His mind was reeling with all his discoveries from their little chat. From Sabre’s blunt assessment of life and its journeys, to the realisation that she had more depth than anyone he had ever encountered before. She was also fiercely protective and loyal. And righteous, he added, a trait that was a pre-requisite for any angel but one that he thought would be absent in the assassin. If she’s this awesome when doing evil, imagine how magnificent she would be if she used her powers for good? Brax marvelled silently, staring at Sabre’s face like she was the second-coming.

  “Did you just say something was awesome?”

  Sabre’s confused voice broke into his reverie. Fuck! Was I talking out loud? “Huh? No! You must be hearing things.”

  Sabre eyed him warily, as if he were an escapee from an insane asylum. Brax couldn’t blame her. His thoughts were certainly crazy. It was one thing to find the sexy woman attractive. But to find her mind just as enticing? That way madness lay.

  “You know what? I don’t even care. I’m outta here, Your Majesty. Off to find who has been murdering your family and stuff, you know?” Sabre turned and was almost out of sight before she abruptly turned back around, “But good chat!”

  “Wait!” he yelled, not wanting her to have the last word. “I want you to take Draven with you when you make some of your rounds,” he yelled after Sabre’s rapidly retreating form. Her snort of derision could still be heard easily though, as well as her vocal response. She didn’t stop or bother to turn back around as she screamed her reply; “Fuck no! No douches allowed.”

  Brax grinned, feeling somehow lighter than he had in months. Shaking his head over the absurdity of a murderous angel making him feel better about himself, the kingdom, and his grief, he didn’t notice his guardian’s return.

  “Wipe that stupid smile off your face, my boy,” Draven said, right before he slapped Brax up the back of the head. “You look like a love-sick fool.”

  Brax played his part, scoffing scornfully in response as if that was the last thing in all the realms that he was. But inside, where his heart was beating a frantic rhythm against his ribs, he wasn’t so sure.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The first seventy-two hours had predictably yielded sweet fuck-all. Sabre had spent her days – and nights – trolling the seedy underbelly of Purgatory and hassling her contacts in an effort to find some new leads. Unsurprisingly, she had discovered nothing new to further her cause. She had a trusted associate chasing up the whole dead angels angle but knew it would take time to yield any results in that direction. That was one area she couldn’t look into personally because she wasn’t exactly welcome in angelic circles. To say that she was persona non grata was a vast understatement. The only reason those stuck-up, feathered do-gooders didn’t lock her up was because she had never hurt any of their kind. There were some lines even she wouldn’t cross. Although, for Draven, she was sorely tempted.

  She had made some subtle inquiries in the other directions though and had questioned her fellow assassins and mercenaries at the Blue Devil – garnering herself a few more enemies in the process. Sabre snorted into the beer she was currently drinking, like I give a flying fuck. There were two other assassin dens in Purgatory but neither were close enough for her to go in person. Not unless she wanted to cash in some chips with a teleporter at least. It might well come to that and if it did, she figured she’d only get a one-way ticket and she would need at least a week or even more away. She didn’t want to leave Jinx and Gage alone for that long now that she was stirring up trouble. The pair may not be her partners but there were supernaturals around who knew of their association. Knew, and currently respected, because they were more than aware of what Sabre would do to them if Jinx or Gage were touched in any way.

  Her phone dinged and Sabre quickly snatched it up, assuring herself the sigh of disappointment to leave her lips was due to the message’s content and not becau
se it wasn’t from a certain yellow-eyed demon. The message was from Hound – her angel investigator and simply read: sweet FA. “Great, sweet fuck-all,” she murmured.

  Jinx’s sensitive ears picked up her muttered words and she raised a dark brow, “Is that from Hound? How is the sexy beast?”

  Sabre smiled, shaking her head. Jinx had made no secret of the fact that she found the much older demon attractive and she wanted nothing more than to use him as her own personal scratching post. Hound was suitably horrified by the attention and had been dodging Jinx’s wandering hands for two years. Of course, now that Jinx was nineteen and had reached the age of maturity more than eighteen months ago, Sabre and Gage had bets on how much longer the scruffy demon rebel could hide for. If he even wanted to hide, Sabre thought. She had seen his interested gaze following Jinx on more than one occasion. Fortunately, she hadn’t had to kick his arse yet though and he was still a trustworthy tool to use.

  “Yes, it was from Hound. I assume the sexy beast is fine – even though he has nothing of use to tell me.” Jinx shrugged and Sabre knew the tiger wasn’t side-tracked. Tigers were singularly focused when on the hunt.

  “He’ll keep looking. In the meantime, send him a big kiss from me.” When Sabre failed to move, Jinx motioned impatiently with her hand, “Go on: kiss, kiss, kiss, hug, hug, hug. Then add: hump, hump, hump.”

  Sabre laughed and Gage yelled, “Jinx!” before throwing a bottle cap at her from the other side of the table.

  “What?” Jinx asked innocently, blinking her ridiculously long lashes. “Hounds love to hump.”

  Sabre couldn’t argue with that. She had also spent the past three days wondering how another particular hound humped – and she wasn’t referring to Styx. Sabre still didn’t know what to make of her friendly little chat with Brax. It had been strange, basically giving the demon a verbal spanking. But to her eternal surprise, Brax had actually listened to her and seemed to take on board what she said. He was hurting – hurting bad. Sabre knew that to be true. He missed his father and his uncles, and perhaps his brothers the most. The three of them had been triplets, after all. The bond they had shared had no doubt been organic and strong in a way few things ever were these days. He had surprised her even further by sending her a constant stream of text messages – and even a few phone calls since then. Hence, her swift attention to her phone just minutes ago. Hardly any of them were related to her work and she was a little clueless what to do about it – other than reply back stoically and abruptly of course. But one thing Sabre did know; she liked him.

  She had always had a thing for Brax’s face … and his chest … and his arms … and his butt. His butt especially. Those glutes were a thing of beauty. All tight and muscled, they clenched appealingly when he walked. And when he bent over? May all the Gods have mercy. But this interest in Brax’s brain? Yeah, that was new. It was also stupid. And a big fat waste of time and energy. Still, her own brain couldn’t help mustering up a fantasy or two … dozen. Two dozen. Sighing, Sabre picked up her beer and drank it down in one go. She had dropped in on Jinx and Gage just to check in before she set about implementing the next step of her plan. It was a risky move and she had wanted them to be prepared for possible kickbacks. Of course, they had merely rolled their eyes at her and accused her of being a mother hen. Just because she had feathers, didn’t mean she clucked. She –

  “Wait …” Sabre cocked her head to the side. “What is that annoying buzzing sound?”

  Jinx stifled a giggle, using her head to gesture to the side as her mis-matched eyes lit with mirth. Sabre followed Jinx’s directions and turned to her left. Only to promptly scream and automatically reach for one of her many weapons. Thankfully, she was experienced enough and controlled enough not to immediately slice at the throat bared in front of her. “For fuck’s sake, Draven! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to get your throat slit?”

  “I’ve been standing here for two minutes, saying your name over and over again,” Draven replied, sternly. “You have been wilfully ignoring me.”

  “You’ve been lurking there for two minutes?” she asked, surprised. “No wonder I’ve had a chill down my spine. That’s just creepy, man. And was that what that annoying sound was? Your voice?”

  Draven’s look was full of disdain as he looked down his perfect nose at her, “You are maddening!”

  “Yeah? Well so is your face,” Sabre pointed out. She then sucked back her laughter like a champ, knowing the repetitive digs were getting to him. It was funny as fuck.

  Draven yanked at his perfectly styled hair, “You could test the patience of a saint. Do you know that? Has anyone ever told you that?” he asked in quick succession.

  “Yep,” Sabre chirped. “Saint Julian. Right before I shanked him between the third and fourth ribs.”

  Draven’s mouth fell open. “I do hope you’re joking.”

  “I never joke about shanking,” Sabre levelled her gaze on his.

  “Why would you shank a saint? You know what? Don’t answer that. I do not want to know. I do not want to know why you do any of the things you do. I’m only here because Abraxis wants me to go with you.”

  Sabre shook her head, “No.”

  Draven frowned fiercely, “Excuse me? What do you mean, no?”

  Gage wandered over and leaned over the back of Jinx’s chair, “She means there is no way the king wants that.”

  Gage quickly found himself the recipient of the golden angel’s scowl, “And why is that? Not that I was talking to you in the first place,” Draven added.

  Sabre stood up slowly, keeping her eyes on Draven the whole time, “Watch your mouth, Draven. This is Gage’s establishment –”

  “Establishment?” Draven scoffed. “It’s a dilapidated warehouse with dirty, blood-soaked cement floors, three tables, and six chairs. There looks to be a mini fridge over there behind the long table and one very large freezer. Why you require a freezer that big I have no idea, given you have inadequate seating and lighting. But that’s irrelevant. This place –”

  “Is my home,” Gage broke in. “This place is my home. And you’re standing in it. We don’t all get to live in palaces, Guardian. I’d thank you to remember your manners when you’re here.”

  Gage’s softly spoken reprimand worked far better than Sabre’s yelling would have and she was gratified to see shame wash over Draven’s features. Despite the shit she gave him, she knew he wasn’t a bad guy. He couldn’t be. Brax loved him. And if Brax loved him, there must be some hidden, redeemable qualities buried somewhere.

  “I apologise,” Draven said, looking Gage in the eye. “I am not usually so rude. I have no excuse other than this one,” he stabbed a thumb at Sabre, “really gets to me. Please, accept my apologies,” Draven held out a hand to Gage.

  Gage eyed Draven for a moment before he smiled a little, offering his own hand so the two men could shake. “Don’t worry, she has that effect on a lot of people.”

  “Hey!” Sabre yelled. “I’m standing right here.”

  “We know,” all three of them said at the same time.

  Sabre rocked back a step, “Okay. Never do that again. That was creepy and you three will not be bonding in any way, shape, or form. Understand?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. He is kind of cute …” Jinx winked at Draven, causing him to blush.

  Sabre pushed a hand in Jinx’s face. “No. There will be no flirting with the arsehole angel. Back to you coming with me,” Sabre turned quickly to Draven, “I believe Gage’s point was that Brax doesn’t want you going with me because I’m sure he wants his guardian to remain unmaimed.”

  Draven crossed well-muscled arms across his chest, “I can look after myself, I assure you.”

  Sabre’s voice was dry as she explained; “I wasn’t referring to anyone else. I was talking about me. I’d be the one doing the maiming.”

  “Ha! I am not afraid of the likes of you. An angel with no Grace, no wings, and no morals,” the perfect specim
en of an angel in front of her taunted.

  Sabre saw Gage palm his sawn-off shotgun and she quickly shook her head at him. Not only would the lead not kill the angel, it would only serve to piss him off more and convince him how right he was about them. Sabre likewise placed a restraining hand on Jinx’s arm, her protégé’s hackles couldn’t be seen in this shape, but they were well and truly raised. Instead of showing just how much those words cut her to the core – especially the part about her wings – Sabre plastered a practiced bored expression on her face. Spinning a small silver stake between her fingers, Sabre mused idly; “You know, Draven. I’d kick your arse, but I don’t think Brax would appreciate a brain-damaged guardian.”

  It may not have been as satisfying as launching the stake through the air at the angel’s eyeball, but Sabre still relished the thin scream to escape Draven’s lips from her words. There was just something about pushing the other angel’s buttons that really did it for her. It was probably because the man made it so damn easy with his by-the-rules mentality and holier-than-thou attitude. Still, there was a part of her that genuinely resented Draven. He was everything she could have been but was denied to her. She always stayed well away from what-ifs, but that rule was hard to follow when her antitheses kept getting all up in her grill. And flaunting his feathers at her. That shit was just plain unnecessary.

  Draven eyed the three of them for a moment, taking in their dangerous postures before sighing abruptly, “Damnit! I’ve just done it again. I apologise,” he spat out through gritted teeth, “I seem to have no patience today.”

  Sabre could have said any number of things, the first being she was sure Draven didn’t have a lot of patience on any given day. But she kept her mouth shut and let the angel prostrate himself once again. Seeing him apologise twice in as many minutes was giving her a little rush.

  “I am concerned for Brax. He has been on this path for a long time and now that he has hope that there is an end in sight, I just don’t want to see him relapse. I want to help. It has been such a relief to see some of the old him these past few days. He has been more relaxed and smiling more. He even called up some of his old troops last night to catch up with them rather than ordering them to spy for him. It’s a welcome change. I just want to … help,” Draven finished, a little helplessly.