Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79938 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
She shrugged a single shoulder. “Perhaps. I suppose we’ll never know.” Alexis turned and walked out of the room.
Galen pushed away from his spot on the wall. “I’ll be back in an hour. If you can convince her to give you a copy, great. If not, you will damn well wait for me to get back before you go after those records. They know what you want. They’ll be waiting for you.”
A muscle in Theo’s jaw jumped, but he nodded. “Be safe.”
“I’ll do my best.” And then he was gone, leaving them alone.
Theo leaned forward and studied her face. “You need rest.”
The only thing Meg wanted in that moment was to curl up and sleep, but it wasn’t a luxury they had. She started to rub her eyes and realized she was covered in blood. “We both need a shower. We look like victims in—”
“An attack designed to look like a car accident?”
She sighed. “I was going to say that we look like victims in a teen slasher movie, but thank you for taking the wind out of my sails.”
“I’m sorry, princess.” His serious tone said he was apologizing for a whole lot more than cutting her off.
“You couldn’t have known.” She should be pissed. She might be later on, when she wasn’t so bone-crushingly exhausted. Maybe. Meg didn’t know anymore. She really had stepped through a mirror into another world and while the rules and players didn’t make sense, there was one thing she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Theo and Galen would never intentionally put her in harm’s way.
A week ago, their unintentionally doing exactly that would have had her screaming the roof down. But that was before seeing Theo’s despair and his body hanging limp and unconscious in his seatbelt. Before Galen stepped between them and danger again and again without thought to his own safety. Both men carried their own demons.
She wouldn’t add to them. Not when the circumstances were beyond their control.
She squeezed Theo’s hand. “Why don’t you get one of those showers and then you can help me with mine?”
He gave another of those tired half smiles that still managed to warm his eyes a little. “I think my aunt might kill us if I take you in the shower in her house.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter.” She said it with a smile of her own, though. “Go, Theo. We should be ready for Galen when he gets back.”
That got him moving. He nodded and disappeared through the doorway. A couple minutes later, the sound of water running upstairs reached her. Meg tried to relax and counted slowly in her head. Before she made it to sixty, Alexis walked into the room.
Now that she knew the woman was Theo’s aunt, she could see the resemblance. It was there in the proud line of her nose, the way she carried herself, and of course her blue eyes. She sat in the chair he’d vacated and folded her hands in her lap. “What my nephew is doing is foolhardy at best, and suicidal at worst.”
So we’re going to play it like that.
Meg made a noncommittal noise. As suspected, that didn’t slow Alexis down any. “My sister was the same way—impulsive and too inclined to see the glamorous big picture instead of the nitty-gritty details required to create her vision. She died because of that.”
“I was under the impression that the late Queen of Thalania died because of an illness.”
Alexis shook her head slowly, her eyes hard. “Oh, honey, you’re playing in the big leagues now and you have no idea what’s at stake. She died because someone took exception that their queen was a foreign commoner, rich or no, and poisoned her. Just like someone very likely poisoned Teddy last year.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice, every line of her barely concealed fury. “That place might look like a paradise, but it’s a viper’s nest. No sex is good enough to put yourself at those people’s mercy.”
Meg searched her face. She’d known Alexis would come back to make her pitch, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out if the older woman was sincere or if she was playing at a deeper game. “I appreciate the help you gave me today.”
Alexis sighed and sat back. “But you’re going to make your own way regardless of the advice of people who know better. I see.”
“Do you really blame an entire country for your sister’s death?”
“I place blame where blame is deserved. My sister was a good girl with terrible taste in men. Her first husband nearly beat her to death, and she ran straight into the arms of Theodore Fitzcharles II. For all that she thought he was a literal prince charming, he was the one who ended up killing her. It doesn’t matter whether his hand wielded the poison, because he was responsible.” Alexis rose. “Some things are unforgivable. Theo should have taken his exile as the gift it was and started over. He’ll regret his choice before the end of this. You all will.” She walked out of the room.