AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ryker adjusted himself so he could sit up straight, as well. “No one knew to look for a Vesper child. They didn’t talk about you, I guess. They didn’t want you to accidentally be hurt.”
It made sense to her, suddenly. Why she was never allowed downstairs whenever her dad’s friends came over. The only one she was allowed to see was Chance… because he was the one who was supposed to take her in, if anything went wrong.
“But what about my mom? What mom doesn’t talk about her only child?” she asked.
He shook his head, clearly frustrated. "I don't know, Mykie. I only know the things I found out when you caught my eye. I asked around about your mother, but people were tight-lipped about her. Like she wasn't liked around the Pit, but was tolerated because of your dad. Kind of how a lot of Adam's guys talked about you."
She nodded. He was right. How was he supposed to know the logic of people who died a long time ago?
Mykie took his hand in hers, pulling his attention back to her. "If you want me to, I'll come to the funeral with you. Do you think Renly will mind?"
"I'll keep you away from him," he murmured, squeezing her hand. "He's being entirely irrational, blaming you for something you didn't do."
She lifted her head and frowned. "Do you know what really happened?"
"It was that Vulture that was after you before, wasn't it?" he asked. "That one just seems to get his rocks off following you around and bothering you."
She tilted her head to the side. "I never told you that he was following me. Did I?"
Ryker froze. If this was a movie instead of real life, she would have thought she hit the 'pause' button by mistake, as he seemed to be barely breathing as he stared at her. Within a few seconds, however, he laughed and plastered a sweet smile on his face.
"You must have told me about it. How would I know otherwise?" He brushed her hair back behind her ear. "I think today has just made you a little paranoid."
She nodded slowly. "You're...you're right. I'm probably just a little high-strung right now."
"Why don't you take a nap for now? I'll wake you for dinner, or if something important happens."
Before she could respond, he wrapped an arm around her back and under her knees as he stood up. Mykie quickly wrapped her arms around his neck in fear of being dropped.
"Ryker!" she squealed, hitting his chest.
"I can tell you're drained, so I don't mind carrying you, Princess." He murmured. "Imagine I'm you're Prince Charming carrying you to safety."
He set her down on her bed before taking a few steps back to sit in her desk chair. "I'll watch over you and keep you safe, just like a prince."
He winked at her.
"I thought you said you weren't my Prince Charming before? That you were the villain that's corrupting me?"
"Oh, now you pay attention," he said in a low, wiry voice. "Since the rest of your Prince Charmings are nowhere to be found when you actually need them, this is the part where the villain, if he’s to lure the princess to his side, is supposed to step up his game.”
She leaned her head back and laughed. “I’ve never heard that one before.”
“Maybe you need to start reading more interesting stories.”
She smiled tiredly at him and let a small giggle escape her lips. "You know, if Chance didn't trust you so much, I'd think you were a stalker, too. You came into my life at just the right time, and now I can’t see myself without you.”
She let her eyes droop closed and her head sink into the pillow as she let the exhaustion from the day catch up to her. She knew, subconsciously, that Ryker would be fine to watch out for her while she slept. He would never let something happen to her.
She remembered just as she fell asleep that she needed to ask why he wasn’t at the meeting. She just hoped she would remember when she woke up.
Her nap felt like only a blink in time, however, one minute her room was dimly lit from the sun shining through her curtains, and the next she woke up in darkness. The only difference between when she went to sleep and woke up was the loud talking just outside her room.
She got up and stumbled over to her door so she could flick her light switch on. She half-expected that Ryker would be sitting in her desk chair still, even though her room was cast in nothing but darkness only a few minutes before. She was sorely disappointed to find that she was alone. However, on the chair seat sat her cellphone, which she thought she left in her bag when she came in the door.
She picked it up and turned on the screen. There were a few messages from Renly that she swiped off her screen without looking at them. There were two other notifications other than that, one being a text and the other a voicemail. The text caught her eye first.
Ryker: Sorry to leave. Something vital came up. Siren and your soldier showed up, however, so you won't be completely alone.
