“Oh, yes,” she said, her brogue becoming thicker. “He’s expecting you. Please follow me.”
Ulrik should’ve known Mikkel would have alerted the hostesses of his arrival. Because it never entered his uncle’s mind that he wouldn’t come.
For now, that’s exactly what Ulrik wanted Mikkel to think. But there would come a time when their positions were reversed.
Ulrik followed the blonde, glancing at her ass as he did. His attention was snagged by the alcove he was taken to. He spotted Mikkel sitting comfortably with one arm resting along the back of the curved booth while his other lay next to a stemless glass of wine.
When the hostess stepped aside, Ulrik spotted the woman with his uncle. She was a stunner with her dark hair falling in big curls to the tops of her shoulders. She wore a low-cut shirt that showed off her assets so that Mikkel couldn’t take his eyes off her breasts.
So much for a business meeting. Ulrik was about to turn and leave when the woman’s gaze slid to him. The exact color of her eyes couldn’t be garnered in the dim lights, but it didn’t matter. He recognized her.
Ulrik looked at Mikkel. It was obvious by the way his uncle let his fingers brush her shoulder that he was completely captivated. It was also obvious that Mikkel didn’t have a clue that his companion was a Dark Fae using glamour.
There was a flash of surprise and fear in the Dark’s gaze when Ulrik returned his attention to her. If she was here, that meant she had been sent by Taraeth.
“Ulrik,” Mikkel said when he noticed him. “Glad you could finally join us. Sit,” he ordered as he grabbed the bottle of wine and filled a new glass before topping off the Dark’s.
Ulrik was curious as to why the Dark was there, and even more interested in why Taraeth would send her. That was the only reason he slid into the booth.
Mikkel was across from him, and the Dark sat in the middle but closer to his uncle. Which was fine with Ulrik. He recognized the Dark from being in Taraeth’s court. Unfortunately, that was all he knew.
“I found this beauty sitting alone at the bar,” Mikkel said as he gazed at the Dark. “I couldn’t imagine such a woman being by herself. So, I invited her to my table.”
“Is that so?” Ulrik said and met her gaze once more.
Her hand shook slightly when she brought the wineglass to her lips. She drank deeply before she smiled at Mikkel.
“She’s rather shy, I think,” Mikkel said. “I hope you won’t mind us cutting our meeting short. Why would I want to talk business with her next to me?”
“Why indeed.” Ulrik’s mind was already running through the Dark he knew who he could contact and ask what was going on.
Depending on the reasons for the Dark being sent to Mikkel, Ulrik might not get any answers.
Unless he went to Taraeth himself.
It wasn’t optimal, but Ulrik wasn’t ruling that out as a possibility. He couldn’t care less what happened to Mikkel. If the Dark wanted to take him, then Ulrik wouldn’t stand in their way. It would be one less foe to worry over.
“I called in a favor,” Mikkel said in his British accent. “However, it isn’t going to plan.”
By the tone Mikkel used, the problem was a Dragon King. Which meant this was about Darcy. “I warned you that you were bringing unwanted attention where there shouldna be any.”
“And you know why I had to do it.”
Back to this again. Ulrik rested both hands atop the table, but didn’t bother to reach for the glass of wine. How many times were they going to go over this? “You didna call me all the way here just to tell me of the problem.”
“How perceptive of you.”
Ulrik waited for Mikkel to elaborate. The silence stretched as his uncle leaned closer to the Dark and whispered something in her ear that had them both smiling. By the way the female licked her lips in anticipation, it was about sex.
Ulrik thought he was going to be sick.
If Mikkel wasn’t going to tell him what he wanted, then Ulrik wasn’t going to stay. He started to rise.
“We’re not done.”
Every muscle in Ulrik’s body locked. It went against everything that he was to take orders. It would be so easy to reach across the table and rip out Mikkel’s throat with his bare hands. But that was to come later. For now, Ulrik must hide his anger and strength and pretend once more.
It took every last shred of Ulrik’s control to tamp down the need to kill and relax his muscles. Only then did he return his gaze to Mikkel. He didn’t sit back, but remained on the edge of the booth.
Mikkel smirked. “That’s what I thought.”
Ulrik’s vision went red with fury. How did he ever think he could act the fool and bow down to Mikkel? It was impossible.
Yet he had to think of the end goal. The first step was protecting Darcy. Thanks to the Kings watching over her, that was one problem he didn’t have to worry about.