Once we were out of the throne room, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“That guy’s a dick,” I muttered. “Is that Vincent’s dad?”
“He is,” Aurelius said, his jaw still clenched in anger.
“I guess the apple really can fall far from the tree,” I said.
Despite how angry he was, my joke cut through, and he smiled at me. “Indeed it can.”
I’d noticed some of the other staff members around the house giving me similar looks to what Benedictus had, but it had been more worried or uncomfortable glances. I was, after all, the eldest daughter of the family most likely to wish for their entire kingdom’s downfall. It would have been expected. Despite their distrust, though, they still treated me with kindness. There’d been no reason to bring it up and possibly get them in trouble. After seeing the way Aurelius and his father had reacted to Benedictus, I was glad to have followed my gut on that one.
When we reached the door to my room, Aurelius stopped at the threshold.
“If you’d like to gather your things, I’ll wait here to get you home,” he said.
I glanced around the suite, then back at him, grinning. “Umm, I don’t really have anything. You guys kinda just scooped me when I was half asleep.”
Aurelius blinked twice. Rapidly. “Oh.” His cheeks flushed.
I gasped and put a hand to my chest. “Have I embarrassed Aurelius Decimus? I’ll need to put this in my journal.”
Aurelius chuckled. “I’m not embarrassed. I just forgot.” His brow furrowed. “Wait. Are you going to write about me in your journal?”
“You wish, big guy.” I grabbed my phone off the bedside table before scooping up the shirt and jeans I’d had on when Vince and Rasp kidnapped me. “Well, this is it.” I spun in a little circle. “I’m keeping this outfit you got for me, though. I like it.”
Serilia, one of the maids who’d been looking after me, had brought me a summer dress and wedge heels that morning to replace the riding gear I’d been given the day before.
“Of course,” he said. “It’s the least I could give you after all the trouble. Please, consider it a gift.”
“I will.”
Vincent and Rasp were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs in the entryway. They both seemed uncomfortable. From the way they looked at me like I was some broken doll that needed to be fixed, I figured they’d heard. Rumors and news probably moved fast in a place like this, especially when it was much busier than it had been the day before. More people moved about-guests, extra staff. This was probably what it was typically like. This, for all intents and purposes, was the hub of the dragon shifter kingdom. Of course, people would be in and out all the time. Saturdays must have been more relaxed. In that respect, the two good-natured goofballs had chosen a good time to kidnap me.
“Hey, Elle.” Vincent shrugged awkwardly. “I hear you can’t shift. That must suck.”
Rasp swung out and smacked his friend’s arm. “Dude
! Seriously?”
Vincent glared back at him. “What? Was that not true?”
“Well, yeah, it’s just… I mean, it’s bad form.”
“What form should I have said it in? Did I need to shift into a dragon?”
Rasp slapped a hand to his forehead. “No, bro. I don’t mean form like your shape, I mean form as in etiquette.”
“Then why didn’t you say that?” Vincent asked.
“That’ll be enough, boys,” Aurelius said. “Do we have a car ready?”
“Yeah,” Rasp said. “I’ll have the valet bring one from the garage.”
“I’m confused,” Vince said when Rasp had left. “Why would your family not want you because you can’t shift?” His face twisted into the most earnest frown I’d ever seen. “I mean, I’m weird, so I know why my dad doesn’t like me, but you’re cool.”
Recalling what a bastard his father had been back in the throne room, I felt a little twist of anger in my chest.
“Vince, you are not weird. Do you understand me? Blunt? Overly literal? Sure. Weird, you are not,” I said.
He looked embarrassed, but he smiled brightly. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“She’s right, Vince,” Aurelius added. “Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Hell, you’re best friends with the prince. That means that one day, you’ll be best friends with the king. The king wouldn’t be best friends with someone weird.”
Vincent’s brows shot up. “I never thought of that.” He grinned to himself as Rasp came back inside.
“Got a car ready,” he said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
Aurelius offered me his hand. “My lady?”
I took his hand, wanting to soak in all this pomp and circumstance while I could. Soon I’d be back in my boring life again. I hadn’t thought it was boring until I was brought here. I’d pushed my old life out of my mind, and had come to peace with the way things were. Being here, even for only a couple days, had given me a taste of the life I’d once had. It wasn’t the luxury, it was the camaraderie of being around those like you. Sure, they were dragons and I was a wolf, but they still understood what I understood. Not only that, but none of them seemed to care that I couldn’t actually shift. That alone was a miraculous gift I wanted to keep experiencing.
Aurelius led me to a black sedan and opened the back door for me.
“After you,” he said.
“See you later, Elle,” Rasp said.
“Yeah,” Vincent said. “We’re probably never going to see you again. So, goodbye, I guess.”
Rasp’s head snapped around, and he scoffed at his friend. “My guy, we have to work on your tact.”
“See you guys later,” I said, and waved to them as I climbed in.
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