“That’s all right.” She smiled, walking into my room to take the clothing from me. I liked having her in there. I’d imagined it quite a few times. Of course, in my fantasies she wasn’t coming in to get more clothing, she was taking hers off.
I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted her to spend the night in my bed, but I knew that wasn’t an option. “Do you need anything else? I’m pretty sure there’s toothpaste and an extra toothbrush and stuff in your bathroom.”
“Pretty sure? You didn’t stock the place yourself?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly. One of my assistants did it.”
“What else do your assistants do for you?” she mumbled, probably assuming I couldn’t hear.
I decided to spare her the embarrassment of answering that no, I don’t screw my employees.
“Well, thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.” She half waved before disappearing through the doorway.
I slumped down on the end of the bed, trying to ignore the urge to beg her to come back.
Chapter Nine
Jared
“Come on, you can do better than that!” Yelling at the queen would get most people in trouble, but it was the only way to get her ass moving when we worked out together. I’d been training Allie for months, and she was doing incredibly well, but she was still human.
She groaned. “I’m exhausted.”
“Suck it up. We’ve got another thirty minutes to go.”
“I’m taking a break.” She picked up her blue water bottle and started to drink.
I tried to hide my grin. She was doing amazing, but I couldn’t tell her that. The harder I pushed her, the better she did.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I picked up immediately when Levi’s office number showed up on my screen. He spent as little time in that basement room as possible. “Hey, man.”
Levi’s voice replied immediately. “We’ve got problems. Get down here now.”
“Gotcha.” Levi rarely ordered me around. If he did, it was for a good reason.
“Drop Allie off at the house and get Owen.”
“I’m on it.” I hung up, knowing that he’d just get pissed if I wasted more time. Having your best friend turn into your boss and the king complicates things, but I wouldn’t have traded my position for anything. I always thought it would go to my brother, but he f**ked up big time and was currently rotting away in a prison cell.
“Looks like you get off easy today, Princess.” She may have been queen, but I still called her princess. It fit better and she always got annoyed when I called her it.
“Was that Levi?” Her face seemed to light up now when she asked about him. Those two were seriously in love.
“Yeah. I’ll take you home.”
After dropping Allie off at their ridiculously huge house, I ran by my place to get Owen. He’d just returned from his own workout.
“Sounds like shit’s hit the fan. Let’s go.” I pulled off my t-shirt and headed to the porch. The quickest way to travel at night was flying. I didn’t look behind me to check that Owen was following. He’d get there eventually.
Flying was like a breath of fresh air to me. I couldn’t go a day without it. Some Pterons resist the urge, trying to blend in, but I didn’t bother. I usually only flew during night time hours, but with our limited need for sleep, that still gave me plenty of airtime. I reluctantly landed all too soon and pulled on my t-shirt. Owen did the same next to me.
We walked into the lobby of the Crescent City Hotel. The same punk bell boy kid who always worked stepped out of the way as we walked through. I wondered if he had any clue what the basement housed. Probably not. Otherwise, he’d be a hell of a lot more afraid of me.
I slid the security card into the elevator. That little card would allow us access to the basement level. Most people had no clue about the existence of the lower level considering basements were rare in a city built below sea level. We preferred to keep it that way. The fewer people who knew our secrets, the better.
A human wouldn’t have been able to see anything when they stepped off the elevator car, but Owen and I could see perfectly. One of the perks of being a Pteron was near perfect night vision.
We walked down the marble hallway. As a kid, I always imagined I’d be coming down on official business. The reality wasn’t quite as awesome as I imagined, mostly because there weren’t any girls involved, but it still felt good.
I knocked on Levi’s office, more out of habit from when it belonged to his father than for any real attempt at respect. Levi and I went too far back as friends for that.
“Come in.” Levi sounded stressed. That wasn’t a good sign. He could usually hold it together pretty well. I already had an idea what the call was about, but I wasn’t positive.
Owen pushed open the door. Levi was seated in his chair behind the heavy wooden desk that took up half the room. For a king’s office, it wasn’t particularly large or fancy. Maybe the idea was to make the office unappealing so you spent as little time inside as possible.
“All hell is breaking out in New York.” Levi didn’t wait a beat.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning the body count is rising, the human powers that be want us to fix it—fast.”
“Didn’t you put Allie’s ex in charge there? Isn’t this his problem?” I didn’t really know Toby, but anyone who got in Levi’s way was on my shit list. Call it protective instinct.
“He answers to me, but New York is still my territory.” The look he gave me made it clear he was still annoyed that Allie had given away California in a desperate and stupid attempt to save her friends. He acted like he didn’t care, but giving up power—no matter how small—sucks.
“Do you need me to go up there?” Maybe I’d get my vacation after all. I hadn’t been to New York City in ages.
“Yes. Can you head up tonight? I told Toby we’re stepping in.”
“Does Allie know?”
“Not yet. I’ll have to tell her though. She’s been glued to the news.”
“Her parents are okay?” Surprisingly enough, I actually cared.
“Yeah. They’re always under watch.”
“Does she know that?” Allie had a short fuse when it came to Levi withholding information from her. He tended to do that a lot.
“Yes. It was actually her idea.” He straightened up in his seat.
“Nice. Maybe she is learning.”