Page 122 of Heartbreak Prince

I relax against his body, my cheek pressed to his cloaked chest, and he keeps both gloved hands on my ass.

“We’ll fly back in the morning,” he murmurs. “You won’t leave me again.”

“Never. Unless it’s a temporary absence and we both agree to it.”

He lets out a swift exhale of relief. “You’re the first person to ever promise me that.”

“I probably shouldn’t,” I say. “Fate might still try to separate us. Let’s hope your betrothed partners have a soft spot in their hearts for forbidden love. If anyone can understand the concept, it should be them.”

Vawn shivers. “I don’t think what they have is love, not even in its most twisted form. It’s co-dependent misery, a serpent that feeds on itself. I don’t think we ever want to know what happened in that family to birth such a perverted pair.”

“The girl won’t give you up easily,” I tell him. “She’s unhinged. Half of her is desperate to escape her life, and the other half pretends that she’s perfectly happy in her rotting treasure trove. But I think the desperate part is screaming loudly right now, and she views you as her last chance. Her way out.”

“Her brother is very interested in me as well.” Vawn clears his throat. “He made that abundantly clear. And there’s the contract to consider.”

“Who will enforce it, really? The Twins don’t have the power to do so.”

“I gave my word, and I’d like that to mean something.” He rubs his forehead and groans. “All we can do is appeal to them and see if we can work something out. Maybe an addendum of sorts. If not… we may have to run. Would you do that, Syth my darling? Would you run away with me?”

“I suppose I’d have to.” I snuggle against him, patting his chest. “You wouldn’t get very far without me… since I’m the one linked to the magic carpet.”

24

“Look, I like waiting around aimlessly as much as the next royal,” Vawn drawls to Stewardess Inaya. “But we’ve been standing in this throne room for nearly three hours now, and the Twin Lieges haven’t appeared. You seem like a woman of keen insight, so tell me—are they punishing me for leaving their presence last night?”

The Stewardess’s arched braid is higher and tighter than it was yesterday, and the black liner along her eyelids is drawn with bolder slashes. Her lips are painted a deep blood-red. It’s a marked difference that I noticed the moment we got back to the palace.

I’m not sure Vawn perceived it as notable, since he changes elements of his own style regularly. But I notice. This woman is very precise with her appearance, as a measure of control in her chaotic environment. She’s been assigned to govern this building, and yet the hoarding propensities of the two rulers have kept her from doing her job properly for years.

A woman like her, one who has worn her makeup and hair in precisely the same way since we arrived, does not alter her routine without reason. There’s a defiance in her aspect today that sets my nerves on edge.

“My lord and lady are still in their chamber,” she says. The same reply she’s been giving us since we returned with the carpet.

“Is the Heim Cordall still here?” I ask her.

“He is.”

“May we see him?”

“Of course, if the prince wishes.” She glances at Vawn, who nods. “Then I will fetch him for you.”

The instant she steps out of the room, I grab Vawn’s hand and drag him off the pile of objects where he’s been lounging. “Take me to the Twins’ room.”

“What? Why? It couldn’t possibly be that you’re weary from sitting in this stifling, god-awful, rat-infested, putrefied excuse for a throne room,” he mutters, stumbling over the items on the floor as he follows me.

“Something strange is going on, and the Stewardess is trying to hide it from us. You know where they sleep—take me there.”

“I will, if you’ll let me get ahead of you so I can lead.”

I press myself against the wall of belongings stacked in the corridor, and he squeezes past. But he pauses, face to face with me, and delivers a devastating smile. “Well, isn’t this cozy.”

“Bastard.” I poke him lightly in the side. “No flirting. We have investigating to do.”

“A little flirting. One small kiss.”

“Fine. A quick one, and then—”

His warm lips cut off my sentence, and his arm snakes around my waist to pull my body tightly against his. He breathes deeply during the kiss, like it’s a soothing relief just to have me close. A wave of dizzying happiness rushes through my head, trickling along my limbs and tingling in my toes.