The prince was still for a moment, and sort of reminded me of the statues perched on rooftops, made of marble and consisting of no warmth or life. Only his midnight-colored hair moved in the breeze, playing across his chiseled features.
Instinct forced me to take a step back, and it was in that moment when I realized I had no weapons in my hands. I’d been fighting Val, and not once had I pulled a weapon. Her earlier taunts rang true. I couldn’t kill her.
But right now that wasn’t the most pressing issue to focus on.
The prince was back, and something else Val said had surfaced. I just need to delay this. She knew he’d come. “Bitch,” I hissed.
“I knew he’d come,” she confirmed in a low voice.
Anger bubbled up like lava. “I want to punch you again.”
“Girls,” the prince murmured as he straightened to his full, impressive height. “What do humans say? Why fight when you can make love?”
“That is incredibly cliché,” I said, widening my stance.
A smirk formed on the prince’s near-perfect lips as he stepped off the ledge. He was dressed much like yesterday. Wind tousled his shirt, pushing it back against his hard stomach and chest. “And your hair is still obnoxiously bright, even at night.”
I stared at him, brows raised.
He drifted a few feet closer, and his chin rose, nostrils flaring. “I smell your blood.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” I muttered.
The prince cocked his head to the side. “I can think of many ways to make this evening so much better.”
Ew.
Val moved closer to the prince, and I stiffened. “Don’t get near him,” I warned.
She raised a brow. “Babe, I’ve already been near him. Like, really near him if you get my drift.”
I totally got her drift.
And I totally wanted to barf.
I also totally didn’t get why I was trying to protect her at this point.
“Why are you bleeding?” the prince asked. When I didn’t answer, he looked at Val. “Explain.”
“We were fighting,” she immediately answered, her tone timid. I’d never heard her like that before. Val was the opposite of a quiet, little mouse. “She attacked me. I had to defend myself.”
The prince raised an eyebrow. “You were to bring her to me. Not beat her.”
“I wouldn’t say she ‘beat’ me,” I muttered.
They both ignored me, and there was no mistaking the nervousness in the way Val fidgeted with her fingers. “I wasn’t planning for her to see me tonight. You know what I was doing in the Quarter. It was what you asked.”
“What were you doing in the Quarter?” I asked, and was ignored, yet again.
The prince angled his body toward Val, which worked to my benefit. I slowly kneeled and reached under my pant leg.
Val shifted her weight from one foot to another. “I told you we needed to give her time, but I promised—”
I unhooked the thorn stake as the prince said, “You promised to bring her over. I do not see how involving fists would accomplish that.”
I also didn’t understand how Val could promise anything that involved me, but I kept my mouth shut as I stood up.
“I will. I just need time. Ivy is difficult, Drake.” Her eyes were wide. “I just need more time.”
Drake? That was the prince’s name? I stowed away that little piece of knowledge for later, then kicked off, bum-rushing the prince.
He lifted a hand without even looking at me. I hit an invisible wall and was gently shoved back, my booted feet slipping over the pavement as he said, “You do not have permission to address me so directly.”
“I’m sorry,” Val quickly whispered. “You’re right. I overstepped.”
I stopped sliding, and I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Did you just apologize for overstepping? Overstepping? Are you on crack? And she isn’t going to woo me to the dark side. I’m un-woo-able. So I don’t know what she’s been promising you, but it’s a whole lot of nothing.” I started forward, relieved to see I wasn’t blocked again. “You can’t use her to get to me, Drake.”
He turned his head in my direction and smiled. My stomach flipped, and not in a good way. “I didn’t give you permission either.”
I spread my arms wide. “Look at all the fucks I have to give. I give zero. Zero fucks.”
“Ivy,” whispered Val. “You need to stop.”
That cold smile of his increased. “Oh, my little bird doesn’t know when to stop. She’s lucky that she’s necessary, but you . . .” He focused on Val. “You are not so lucky.”
It happened so fast that I didn’t see the prince move. One second Val was standing next to him, and the next, he was by the ledge and Val was gone, and noise was streaming up from the street below.
Horns blew. Tires squealed. The whipping wind sounded like screams as I stood there, frozen for several seconds in panic. “You . . .”