Evander
The column at my back is smooth and cool to the touch, which is a welcome relief. In front of me, the crowded ballroom in the temple writhes with color and noise as the ball takes on a new vibe. There’s a darker edge to the music now compared to the soft, classical music that was playing before. The dancing has changed as well, and couples are glued to each other as they sway and grind to the music.
I exhale deeply, crossing my arms over my chest, my feet firmly planted in place.
A tall, dark haired man dressed similarly to me–all black, wearing a finely made dress shirt and matching trousers–makes his way through the crowd clutching a bottle of what might be beer, his face shadowed and distorted by the strobing light now suffocating the dance floor.
But then I realize who’s walking in my direction.
Flynn huffs out a breath as his back meets the wall behind us. “Fuck, man. This place is getting rowdy. I had to wait twenty minutes to get this warm beer.” He inspects the bottle, frowns, and proceeds to drain the contents in full.
I glance in his direction before locking my gaze on the crowded dance floor again. “It must be nice having the night off.”
“Yeah, well, all the other guys hung back. We were awake all night in the fucking catacombs under the city. Did you know about those? Creepy, man. Anyway, I figured I’d see what the hell you were up to tonight, given you’re on some top secret mission.”
“You wasted a perfectly good opportunity to rest.” I take a step deeper into the shadow currently keeping my body veiled from view. “This is all I’m doing.” Standing here, trying to stay hidden. Trying not to tear into the crowd and pull the man who has his hands on Kenna out of the temple and take him apart piece by piece.
Flynn rolls his eyes and frowns at his empty beer bottle. “Who are you spying on?”
“Confidential.”
“So is everything we do. Don’t leave me hanging. Which Alpha fucked up?”
I sigh, wishing I had a drink to nurse, but I’m on duty. “Not an Alpha.”
“Beta, then?”
“No.”
“Ev, tell me. Everyone back at the warehouse is wondering. It was a shit show not having you around last night while we were taking out that auction.”
I roll my shoulders and wonder if maybe I should tell him, but once he finds out who I’m here for, he’ll have nothing but questions.
Fuck it. “I’m guarding the Princess of Eastonia.”
Flynn grunts in surprise. “Kenna?”
Here we go.
“Dude, Princess Kenna? She’s here?”
“She is, and it’s not that big of a deal.”
“Uh… does she know you’re here?”
“No, and it needs to stay that way.” I swallow hard, keeping my eyes locked on the crowd. I can’t see her right now. She’s short, which makes this vantage point a terrible one, but there’s no upper level overlooking the ball room, so I’m stuck looking at the fucking man touching her right now, looking down at her like she’s a snack.
“Why?”
I finally tear my attention back to Flynn. He knows more about the Kenna situation than anyone because we went to school and then trained in Tarsian together. “I was told it’s because she’s looking for her mate.”
Flynn raises a brow. He doesn’t know that aspect of our relationship, thank the gods.
“How does that make you feel?”
“Are you a therapist now?”
“No, but I remember you coming back to school after visiting home that one time, when you were fifteen or sixteen. You were a fucking wreck, man. You used to talk about her all the time. You used to write her letters, and then it was like she didn’t exist.”
“We were childhood friends. Nothing more. It was hard to avoid that since we were practically raised together.”
“But something happened between you guys?”
I bite my lower lip. Flynn catches the motion before I can stop myself and gasps, then laughs. “No way.”
“No way, what?”
“Oh, don’t do that whole, ‘I’m a big tough super spy with no emotions’ act with me, Ev. You love her.”
“I don’t love her. I don’t feel anything for her. I am here because General Howard demanded it of me. This is just a mission, and right now, you’re distracting me.”
Flynn smirks. “You got it bad, don’t you?”
“Shut. Up.”
Just then, the crowd parts enough that I finally catch a glimpse of Kenna and…,
I’m moving forward, cutting through the crowd, careful to keep my head down. Thankfully, the lights are dimmed, and it’s easy to blend in. Kenna’s back is to me. She can’t see me. She won’t see me.
It takes all of the self-control I’m capable of to not launch myself at this man, this man who’s gripping the back of her dress hard enough his knuckles are turning white as she places a hand on his chest and firmly tries to push him away.
My blood boils.
I’m not supposed to intervene. I’m not supposed to make myself known at all, but I can’t sit back and watch this happen.
Kenna is too polite to tell someone to fuck off. She’s always been that way. I’d been the one, when we were kids, who slammed bullies into the dirt and told them if they ever touched, spoke, or even looked at Kenna again, I would end them, slowly, mercilessly.
Kenna never knew about it, either. I made sure of that.
I’m almost at her side when I notice another man barreling in her direction.
I immediately stop moving, letting the crowd swell around me, but he sees me.
Sydney, now an Alpha, meets my eyes with the same feral, protective expression I’m sure is on my own face as he slows but doesn’t quite stop. A look of relief mingled with confusion, then understanding, passes behind his eyes. He nods at me before putting himself between the man and Kenna, whispering something in her ear while taking her hand and giving the man who was so roughly clutching her a look that conveys the man overstepped.
But I’m close enough to feel her. To feel that pull… gods. Her scent. Like the lilacs that bloom in the gardens around the castle where we were raised. She smells like home, and it hits me like a punch in the gut.
She looks wildly around as Sydney leads her away, but her cousin doesn’t let her turn around to look at where I’m still standing, unable to snap out of the sudden haze gripping my senses.
When the crowd starts to swallow them again, and Kenna is lost from view, Sydney turns to look at me over his shoulder.
We can’t mind-link, but the look he’s giving me right now is clear enough.
He will find me later, and we will talk.
I pull myself back out of the crowd, and it takes all of my strength not to turn around and go to her, to make sure she’s fine, but another sense is taking over.
“Change of plans,” I tell Flynn as I reach his side.
Flynn raises his brows as I roll up my cuffs.
“See that guy, right there,” I jab my thumb toward the man moving out of the crowd to join a group of men who look roughly our age.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I want to know who he is and what pack he belongs to. You can be seen, I can’t. Go talk to him.”
“Bossy,” Flynn grumbles. “You owe me a drink for this.” He pushes off the wall and makes his way toward the group. Flynn can charm anyone. He can schmooze his way into any crowd, and within twenty minutes, he returns to my side and leans against the wall clutching a glass of whiskey.
I don’t ask where he got it, but he’s smirking at me as he dips into the shadow I've been lurking under.
“Markus Aberfeldy. Twenty-five. Just took over as Alpha of Emerald Shore after his older brother’s… unfortunate accident involving a stairwell.”
“Huh,” I muse, crossing my arms over my chest. “What else?”
“He’s looking for a Luna. I asked about the girl he was just dancing with, and he was smug as hell. He told his buddies he might be selling himself short talking to the daughters of Betas. He made a comment about how an advantageous match might be in his cards.”
I wonder what Kenna said to him. If he’s an Alpha, she was likely introduced to him by her cousins. He would have known she was a princess, but what else?
“Are we kicking this guy's ass?” Flynn asks, smiling.
I lick my lips. “Sure. Why not?”
Flynn grins like mad and hands me his drink. I drain it, catching movement out of the corner of my eye. Sydney is leading Kenna out of the temple, his hand wrapped around her upper arm. Ryan follows close behind. It’s hard to miss the twins, even in a crowded place like this. Tall, imposing, and handsome, all eyes are constantly on their movements. The disappointed looks of the women watching them depart briefly makes the corners of my mouth twitch into a ghost of a smile.
I used to be friends with them. My family sometimes joined Kenna and her parents when they did their yearly trip to Maatua for Winter Solstice. I’d been particularly close with Sydney, but it’s been at least ten years since we last saw each other.
Still, he’d recognized me in the crowd. That brief moment of clarity in his eyes makes me wonder if he knows exactly why I’m here despite General Howard telling me the princes were as in the dark as Kenna.
Kenna is pointing an accusatory finger at Ryan, and he’s laughing, as they cross the threshold onto the veranda and out of sight.
She’s fine. She’s safe with them.
For the first time since I arrived at the ball, I feel like I can breathe.
So, I turn my attention back to Flynn.
“Have you been briefed about the kidnapping threat?” I ask Flynn.
“Not really, but I assumed something was going on the second you said you were here to guard Kenna.”
“It’s a rebel group,” I tell him. “With ties to both here and Eastonia.” I did a little digging today before the ball. It’s not hard to find information about the underground in the neutral zone, where my apartment is strategically located.
Flynn nods. “Yeah, we picked up a few guys from the auction who were from Eastonia. They won’t tell us who they work for, but they have ties to both kingdoms for sure. Something’s brewing.”
We know enough to understand the dissent in some spaces is about the borders opening up between Crescent Falls and Eastonia. Once, a veil of magic prevented the two kingdoms from contacting each other. Now, twenty-one years later, border crossings aren’t nearly as tight. The kings are allies and bonded by shared family.
Not everyone agrees with the way either kingdom is moving, ushering in a new era of unification and peace.
“I’m going to introduce myself to Markus,” I tell Flynn. “Maybe he knows something about this underground network of rebels.”
Flynn snorts. “That guy? Doubt it. He’s as dense as a brick.”
“Everyone is until they’re in a situation where they’re about to be flayed open,” I say and scan the crowd for the Alpha in question. He’s leaving.
But he’s not going to get far.
“Let’s go.”