She gaped at his disclosure. No he didn’t… “You burned down her dollhouse?”
He pointed to his scar. “I was adequately punished.”
“But you burned down her dollhouse? That’s so cold.”
“So’s bashing your little brother in the head with a pry bar. I could have lost an eye that day and I think my recent death warrant while protecting her from her latest bout of supreme stupidity more than makes up for it.”
She scoffed at his indignation. “It was a flesh wound, you big baby.”
Caillen started to respond, then caught himself as he realized he enjoyed her teasing.
She was charming him…
Crap. That he couldn’t allow. Not until he knew what her real loyalties were. She was her mother’s daughter.
And they were framing him.
Desideria saw the veil come down on his face, changing it to a mask of seriousness. For some reason, it felt like a blow to her sternum. Don’t be ridiculous. Yet there was no denying what she felt.
It hurt.
She liked the teasing, fun Caillen a lot more than the serious prince who was guarded.
I’ve lost my mind. He was all kinds of irritating.
He’s all kinds of sexy.
And when he teased and his eyes sparkled, he was all the hotter. Licking her lips, she watched as he returned to the backpack to pull out another item.
This one made her gasp.
It was a subspace link.
Joy exploded through her. “We can call someone?”
“Let’s hope. But if we can, we can’t talk for more than thirty seconds. Any longer and it’ll be traceable. I don’t know how high tech this place is. So for now, I’m erring on the side of not getting disemboweled.” He tried to hail his sister.
Nothing. The call wouldn’t go through.
Growling in irritation, he looked at Desideria. “Either we’re too far inside or it’s jammed. I’ll try again in the morning.”
“What if they kill my mother tonight?”
“What if they kill my father? You’re not the only one taking a risk here. This shit bites both ways.”
She ground her teeth as more frustration burned through her. “I can’t believe there’s nothing we can do.”
“Well we can go out there and let them find us. That is if they don’t already have something that can read through my mirrors. If they have that, we’re screwed.”
She cocked her head at his use of a word that didn’t belong in that sentence. Mirrors. “Is that what you placed at the opening?”
“Yeah. It emits a pulse to anything that scans us saying there’s nothing inside. No heat signature, no signs of life. To my knowledge nothing can breach it. But technology changes faster than the skin on a rodalyn lizard. So the colonists might be able to find us here.” He winked at her. “Let’s hope not, shall we?”
Desideria rubbed her head that was starting to ache as she ran over everything that had happened to them and how much danger they were in. “What a day.”
“Yeah. I have an assassin running loose after my dad and you now have one after your mom. The only reason I agreed to attend that sanctimonious stratiotes was that I’d hoped the assassin would make a move on my father and I’d be able to capture him on the ship where the escape routes would be limited.”
“Strat… what was that word you used?”
“Stratiotes. It means a collection of morons. Is that really all you got out of my tirade?”
“No, it wasn’t. It was just the part I didn’t understand. Just like I don’t understand who’s trying to kill my mother.”
He snorted. “Motive, baby. It’s all motive and that usually leads back to cash flow… Personally, I think it’s my uncle after my father. My father thinks I’m insane. But my uncle is the only one who makes sense.”
“Why would your uncle want your father dead?”
“Only one who has something to gain if both my father and I die. First blood law: follow the money. It always leads you home.”
She considered his words as she remembered meeting his uncle many times since her birth. The man had seemed extremely mild and unassuming. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Yes, I do.” There was no missing the sincerity in that gaze. “So what about your mom? Who stands to inherit the most with you and her out of the way?”
“My sisters.” Her stomach heaved as she rose to her feet. “Oh my God. It’s Narcissa. She’s the one who kill" wy other two sisters in training accidents.”
And she’d tried to kill her just two weeks ago. She’d even made threats against her…
Narcissa had always been ambitious. When I’m queen, you’ll all bow down to me. But don’t worry. You can both serve in my Guard like Kara used to for Mother.
How many times had her sister said that? Yet Desideria had always assumed she was joking or wishing.
What if she hadn’t been?