| |
In most fairytales, the princess has to find true love—choose her prince.
But every now and again, there comes a princess who makes a different sort of choice...
––––––––
SCREW THE BOYS. I’M doing this for me.
“Rae! I mean—Karen!”
Rae heard footsteps pounding behind her as she bypassed the rows of ambulances and headed to the curb to find a cab. There was a pub that stayed open all night just about fifteen minutes’ drive from where they were having the ball. She’d found it during her recon with Julian. With any luck she could meet Luke, open the box, and get the first real proof that her mom was alive. All within the hour.
That is, if no one tried to stop her.
“Karen!” Devon appeared in front of her, blocking her path. “I can’t let you do this. We have a job to finish. And you’re hurt.” His lovely eyes flickered over her forehead as if he could still see the mark that Charles’ tatù had erased.
“Who’s Karen?” Charles whispered. He and Molly had caught up with them as well and were standing side by side, looking between her and Devon with wide eyes.
“Karen is Rae’s cover name,” Molly whispered loudly and impatiently. “Now shush!”
Rae swept a curl off her shoulder and stared Devon down. A part of her almost felt sorry for him—he was clearly thrown. One second he thought they were headed inside for celebratory drinks; the next, he was chasing her across the lawn as she made her great escape.
“I have to do this.” She kept her voice soft but firm. “The job will never be finished for you, Devon. But for me, there are more important things. I have to find my mom.”
His lips tightened and she could tell she’d hurt him. However, he didn’t move aside, and she refused to relax her position. There was a distinct line between them. One that seemed to be getting wider every day.
“Your mom?” Molly interjected. “You found something about your mom?”
Charles leaned down to her ear. “I thought Rae’s mom was dead...”
Molly tossed her mahogany ponytail in frustration. “Obviously in this case, ‘dead’ implies a bit of wiggle room, Charlie. Keep up!”
Rae closed her eyes painfully before sneaking a glance at Charles. When, when would Molly learn to think before she spoke?
Charles met her gaze with kind eyes and gave Rae a soft smile. “It seems I’m a bit behind the times. I’ll leave you three to it.” He headed up the lawn towards where faint strains of music were still leaking out from the party. “But I’m glad you’re okay...Karen.” Rae could have sworn she saw him wink. He gestured to her tatù. “Hopefully now you can stay that way.”
A warm flush of relief crept up Rae’s arms and she watched as he disappeared, grateful for his discretion. Molly, on the other hand, was a different story. “You know, Molls, I think you’d better head back to Heath Hall.” She tried hard to temper the sharpness in her words; after all, she’d been the first one to mention her mother. “It’s been a long night.” Then a plan flashed through her head and she smiled. “Maybe Devon can drive you?”
“Oh no!” Devon’s eyes flashed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not getting away that easily. I don’t know what Luke told you, but—”
“Why can’t you see how much this means to me?” She threw up her arms in exasperation. How could he miss the significance? She was an orphan with a chance at a mother. There could be no greater motivation than that. “This is way more important than any mission. And I’m not asking for your permission, Devon. I’m telling you I’m going.”
His face tightened once again and he looked like he was going to reach out to her, but he stopped himself. “And I’m telling you I can’t let you do that. Who knows what Luke has up his sleeve? He works for the Xavier Knights, Rae, and you just suffered a major concussion. I can’t just let you go gallivanting around London without—”
“Who wants to go gallivanting around London?”
The three of them jumped in alarm as Carter appeared suddenly beside them. Rae had been so worked up over her argument with Devon, she hadn’t even heard him approach. Automatically, her body switched to the fennec fox tatù. Best not to be surprised again.
“No one’s gallivanting anywhere,” she said through gritted teeth, glaring at Devon. She had been using Charles’ tatù, that’s how Carter sneaked up on her. What was Devon’s excuse? “I just...” Her voice trailed off as she scrambled to come up with a legitimate excuse. It wasn’t like she could just tell Carter that she was meeting with a Xavier Knight to find her long-lost mom.
Carter’s hands rested on his hips as he looked at her expectantly. Devon, standing beside Carter, shifted his weight back and forth on each foot as Molly, right beside him, flitted anxiously in the background.
“You just...?” Carter shook his head blankly, not understanding her restlessness. “Your job here isn’t finished, Rae. Our future queen was attacked tonight; she could very well still be in danger. You and Devon and Molly are to report back to Heath Hall and await further instructions.”
Rae took a breath and tried to steady her jumping nerves. I have the key, damn it! I have to go!
“Sarah’s going straight to the hospital where she’s going to be surrounded by armed guards and undercover PC agents until morning,” she said calmly. “I’d like to go to London tonight; I’ll be back by breakfast and ready for duty.”
Carter frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”
The beat of silence that followed seemed to stretch into an eternity. Rae tried to think of something—anything—to say, but one phrase kept repeating in her mind.
I have the key! I have the key!
“She’s a little shaken up, sir.” To Rae’s great surprise it was Molly, not Devon, who came forward and put her arm around her shoulder. “She wanted to get a little fresh air and clear her head before going back to work tomorrow. She did get attacked tonight,” she finished pointedly.
God bless my chatty little friend. There are times when there’s no one I’d like better in my corner.
“There’s plenty of fresh air at Heath Hall,” Carter replied. “You’re staying in tonight, Miss Kerrigan. You’re not going anywhere.” He turned authoritatively to Devon. “Wardell, drive the girls back to base. Make sure they’re well rested for the morning.”
“Will do, sir,” Devon replied automatically. His cheeks flushed as he avoided Rae’s gaze. As Carter headed back off into the night he nervously dug at the dirt with his foot, a habit he’d picked up from Rae herself. “Well, I guess we should pack it in...”
Rae’s blood boiled and she shot him a monstrous look. If it hadn’t been for his interference, she could be halfway to the pub by now. Halfway to meeting Luke and getting the answers she so badly needed.
Luke had quite possibly lost his job trying to help her. Devon had literally stood in the way.
“You two go on ahead,” she instructed, her voice dangerously soft. “I’m taking a cab.”
All the color seemed to drain from Devon’s face as his eyes flitted to the road. “I’m not sure if...” He fell silent, letting the unsaid implication hang in the air between them.
All at once it clicked and Rae brought herself up to her full height. “For Pete’s sake, Devon! Are you afraid I’ll just hightail it to London?! Relax, I won’t. Because of a certain someone, Carter came and ruined all my plans. Destroyed my chance to find out what happened to my mom. Not that I’d expect you to understand, or even to care.” Her own face paled with rage and she bit her lip to calm down. “I’m taking a cab because I can’t stand to look at you for a second longer.”
With that she stormed off across the lawn, her gorgeous dress barely skimming the blades of the grass as she used Devon’s tatù to make a graceful, if furious, escape. She was acutely aware that she was leaving the two of them—two of her best friends—standing in the grass behind her. But at the moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
There were bigger things in her life than the Privy Council. Why couldn’t Devon understand that? Molly understood it, Julian would if he was here; even Charles seemed to give her a free pass based on the only scrap of information he had. But Devon?
She was his heart. His whole heart.
The words played back in her head as she ripped open the door to a waiting taxi.
If he couldn’t support her in this—this most basic, fundamental thing—what did those words even mean?
* * *
RAE BEAT MOLLY AND Devon back to Heath Hall, her taxi racing down the narrow streets before the valets could even pull Devon’s car out of parking. The second the cabbie slowed her feet hit the pavement and she flew up the front steps, slipping automatically into Jennifer’s tatù instead of Devon’s. She suddenly felt she wanted to have as little to do with Devon as possible.
Never before had she found herself in such a rage.
Not even when she found out what Guilder really was—what she really was. Not when she found out that Lanford had betrayed her. Not even when the Privy Council released her homicidal half-brother to terrorize her and the rest of the world.
From the second she set foot on English soil, everyone in her life had lied to her—or at least denied her crucial information. Her past, her present, now even her future seemed to be hanging precariously on little strings. Someone else was always hovering, censoring the things she knew, doling out vital tidbits as they saw fit.
This was her life! She deserved to know what was going on! She wanted answers. Hell, she deserved them!
And now that she had finally gone out and found them on her own, she stood trapped just fifteen minutes away, unable to reach them. A key without a lock. And who had stopped her?
The room tinted red as she waited, almost with eager anticipation, for the fight that was soon to come. She had changed out of her ball gown, but had found herself stymied by the complicated lace straps of the slip underneath. In the end she had settled for a compromise, slipping black leggings under the silky ebony dress. It didn’t matter if the slit was halfway up her thigh as long as there was something beneath. Her hair lay in a similar state of disarray. Half the curls were up, piled gracefully atop her head, while the half she was able to rip free of their million bobby pins cascaded down her bare shoulders—giving her a beautiful, if a bit manic, appearance.
After what seemed like forever, the door clicked and she heard Devon come inside. He was alone, thank goodness. With her superior hearing, she heard Molly tiptoeing to her room upstairs, probably trying her best to eavesdrop on the imminent explosion.
Rae waited with her hands on her hips, leaning against one of the posts on her canopy bed, fidgeting impatiently in her lacy slip. She heard Devon pace for a moment in the living room then stop, as if waiting to see what she would do. Or maybe he didn't even know she had returned already.
Finally, her fragile temper snapped. "So how about it, Devon? Are you going to come in here and face me or what?”
Without so much as a sound, he appeared in the doorway. His bowtie had been clawed nervously to the side and the top few buttons on his dress shirt had been torn open as well. His hair hung similarly disheveled, as if he had run his hands through it many times.
His eyes grew wide when he saw Rae waiting for him. They traveled up and down her body, unable to restrain themselves—from her hair down to the tips of her toes—before coming to rest on her eyes. Her very, very angry eyes.
Then he opened his mouth and said the last thing in the world Rae expected to hear.
“I love you.”
All the anger drained out of Rae at once, leaving her feeling rather deflated. Her heart stuttered in shock and her lips parted as she stared at him in the golden glow of the lamps. He...what? “You what?” She had intended to repeat the phrase but found herself unable to say the words.
Devon’s face paled. His pupils had grown wide, but despite his obvious panic he seemed unable to tear them away from her. “I love you,” he said again, the words pouring out of him in a soft, rapid clip. “I didn’t want you to go to London because you got a concussion tonight, and I was worried...because I love you. I didn’t want you to meet with Luke because I don’t trust him and...because I love you.” In a swish of air he strode across the room, standing right in front of her, baring his soul. “And I couldn’t take my eyes off you tonight...because I love you.” He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I love you, Rae,” he said simply. “I always have. I always will.”
