“None of it’s her blood,” Lord Belshazzar rumbled, cutting him off. “I didn’t hurt her.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I griped, ire and disbelief blasting through me like an erupting volcano. The tremble in my hands was noticeable. I shoved past my father and his guard. I flicked a glare behind me. “You didn’t give a shit about me for the last thousand years. There’s no need to start now.”
“Gwynnore…” Lord Cato sighed heavily to my retreating back—and the special finger I lifted in his direction at my name falling from his lips. “I was coming down here to find you, sweetling. Now that your Challenges are over, we can sit down and talk—on a personal level.”
“Fuck that,” I muttered as I turned the corner, out of their sight. I kept marching away, my guard silent on my heels. Ruin the mood? Yes, of course, the asshole did.
Lord Belshazzar stayed behind, talking to my father.
I kept on moving. More than peeved.
Once I hit the elevators, a blast of wind hit me.
Lord Belshazzar ran his fingers through his hair.
His guard eventually showed up.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened.
The four of us moved inside.
With our silent guards standing in front of us, and Orin typing in the access code, per normal for protection in tight enclosures, I crossed my arms and tapped my right foot waiting for the elevator to open again on the royal floor.
Lord Belshazzar glanced down at me. Eyed my person for many tense moments. When I didn’t look up at him, he snorted, his tone derisive and blunt. “You’re really going to let him ruin our evening?”
“With respect…fuck off,” I muttered.
But my foot did quit tapping.
A suspicious snort came from my “mute” bodyguard in front of me. Though he didn’t move at all, as if he were in Rest.
And there was my reason the two mute guards were with me right there. I knew I’d figure it out soon. My father had just been crowned king back when they’d requested turning their human lover into a vampire—and he’d denied the request, it never even making it to the Overlords. Their human lover had died many, many years ago. A mere side note in their profiles, not as if it hadn’t devastated them to the point they’d withdrawn from the world. It was two middle fingers lifted in my father’s direction by picking me to protect, a person he’d hurt too.
They were still bitter.
I snapped my brows together. I stared at the back of my bodyguard’s blond head. “Actually, I have something to discuss with my guards.”
Phoenix’s back stiffened.
Lord Belshazzar’s icy gaze met mine.
I should have known. The man did everything with a purpose. Everything. A simple lift of his brow to the right person could mean the end of an empire.
He’d wanted me to be aware, his words spot on.
I stared into his eyes. My lips pinched in aggravation.
Fuck, I really wanted to keep them.
The lord scratched at his black whiskers that were shadowing his jaw this late at night. He studied me for a full two seconds, reading what was in my gaze. With an eyebrow lifted, he inquired bluntly, “Do you want me to handle it or do you want to?”
I uncrossed my arms and rubbed at my forehead.
It had been a long damn day.
Staring at my boots, not wanting to show my relief he’d asked to help with men I knew I couldn’t best, I waved a hand at him.
The elevator suddenly jerked to a stop, and my bodyguard was lifted off his feet and restrained against a wall. A knife was pressed to his throat and the lord’s other forearm held Phoenix in place. All of this materialized before I could even blink, none of how it happened registered in my brain. It just was.
Orin stared in astonishment, having been shoved to the side—now with the lord’s shoes and socks in his possession—blinking the confusion out of his eyes. He quickly recovered with a bored shrug of his shoulders and a scowl down at the footwear in his hands.
My jaw hung open, and my palms gripped the railing behind me from the jar of the elevator’s sudden stop.
Lord Belshazzar placed his face right in front of Phoenix’s, speaking in a normal, peaceful tone, “If you move, you’re dead.”
Phoenix closed his mouth. Glowered.
But he didn’t move to retaliate.
The lord nicked my bodyguard’s throat.
Just a drop of blood on his knife.
He removed the blade from his prey’s throat and dabbed the crimson dot onto his tongue. He rolled it around inside his mouth, keeping his calm gaze on his target. His throat bobbed as he swallowed all the memories down…then he dropped my bodyguard back onto the floor, watching him land agilely onto his feet.
Lord Belshazzar leaned to the side while tucking his knife away inside his suit jacket and pressed the button on the elevator to make it move again. The lord finally glanced at me and shrugged his shoulders. “They’re loyal to you. Your father won’t be an issue in their protection, to you or to him.”
I studied the Overlord as we resumed our previous formation, the elevator continued to its destined path, my eyes tracking his movements. I finally questioned—with ample curiosity, “Is it hard for you to move at normal speed?”
He grunted, his lips curling at the corners. “No.”
“Hmm. Must be nice.” I turned my attention away from him. I pulled my gratitude up, knowing I needed to say it. “Thank you, my lord.”
“You’re welcome, your majesty.” He smirked. The vain ass knew how hard that was for me to say. “It was quick and efficient. You won’t have to talk with them and ignore me tonight.”
Jesus. He was on a fuck-mission.
Not that I would complain. Heck no, I wouldn’t.
“Fine. Plans are on again.”
A simple shrug of one shoulder. “I thought so.”
Arrogant. So damn arrogant.
I eyed the back of my bodyguard’s head, not done with words that needed to be said. “My apologies, Phoenix.”
He shrugged one shoulder, silent.
That would be all I’d get from him.
“Do any of you know how often you use your shoulders to communicate your feelings?” I asked, exasperated.
All three men shrugged around me in answer.
I threw my hands up into the air, done with it.
The elevator dinged. The doors slid open.
And a familiar vampire waited outside.
My gaze narrowed as he moved aside for us to exit onto the royal floor. I dipped my head to him, muttering grudgingly, “Joshua.”
My father’s personal assistant smirked and bowed deeply at the waist. “Your majesty.”
A slow grin graced my lips.
I liked the sound of that coming from his mouth.
He peeked up and fully noticed the others with me, his lips forming a thin line. The vampire stayed lowered, greeting, “Lord Belshazzar. It’s lovely to see you again.” He slowly rose from his bow.
Lord Belshazzar flicked a finger between us, his chilling eyes not missing our interaction. “You two know each other?”
I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes, glaring at the man from my childhood. “Yes, when we were much younger.”
Instant. “How young?”
I held my hand up at waist high. “That young.” I tipped my head in interest. “Why?”
The Overland’s shoulders visibly relaxed at my answer. “He wasn’t in your candidate file.”
I blinked. “And everyone I’ve ever known was?”
Joshua chuckled, backing into the elevator. “Everyone you’ve ever had relations with was.” With a grin at my pinking cheeks and stunned expression, he winked at me and his finger hovered over a button inside the elevator. “Any clue where your father is? He’s not answering my phone calls.”
“Ceremonial room, the last I saw,” I mumbled absently, rubbing at my forehead. Hurriedly, as he pressed the button, I mumbled, “Joshua?”
“Yes, your majesty?” Respect, he was giving it.
“Who created the extensive file on me?”
“Who else? The man who’s kept tabs on you your entire life,” he stated. Right before the doors closed, with my brows furrowing in confusion—and him using a nickname I hadn’t heard in almost a thousand years—he answered softly, “Gwenny, it’s Lord Cato.”