With a sigh of relief, I went to work cutting the ropes.
“Hey, uh, Aurelius, I could untie them for you,” Vince said. “I know ropes really well.”
Brielle’s eyes widened in shock at the sound of my name. God, she didn’t even know who I was.
“You-you’re Aurelius Decimus?”
Gritting my teeth in irritation, I nodded to Vincent. “Thank you, Vince, but I’ve got it.” I lowered my voice again. “I am Aurelius. I would say it’s nice to meet you but, well, this isn’t exactly ideal, is it?”
“Not in the least,” she agreed.
When the ropes fell away, she rubbed at her wrists and winced. I did my best not to look at where the bindings had cut into her wrists and ankles.
Standing, I tucked the knife back into my pocket and held out my hand to help her stand.
“Aurelius,” Rasp said, looking distraught. “What are you doing, man? She’s a wolf. We need her secured, so she doesn’t?-“
“Doesn’t what, Rasp? Break into your house, and kidnap you
? Tie you to a chair? Something like that?”
His cheeks and ears turned red, and he lowered his head. I didn’t like chastising him like that, especially not in front of Vince and a stranger, but goddamn this had been the dumbest move he’d ever made.
“Sorry, Aurey. I only wanted to help.” He looked at me like a scolded puppy. “You were stressed about a possible war. Me and Vince thought this was a great way to stop that from happening.”
“We will discuss this later,” I growled and turned back to Brielle. “Again, I am sorry for this. I’ll contact your family straight away and set up a meeting to hand you back over to them. I hope you can forgive my friends for… Well, for whatever this was. Until then, I’d like you to stay here as my guest.”
Instead of looking relieved, she appeared uncomfortable. She crossed her arms and looked away at the mention of her family. Strange, though she most likely thought I was lying.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “I swear on my name, on my mother’s name, that I’m telling the truth. I will get you back to your family unharmed and without asking for any sort of ransom.”
“Uh, huh.” She chewed on her lower lip anxiously. “You don’t have to call my family. I can go back to my apartment. No harm done.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t think I can do that,” I said. “For all we know, your kidnapping has been reported to your family. We need to do this in a diplomatic way to prevent any type of backlash.”
“No, seriously,” she said, looking somewhat desperate. “It’ll be fine, I can?-“
“I’m sorry, but this is how things have to be. The tensions between your people and mine is high, and I can’t let this go without an official apology. Until then, you will be an honored guest of House Decimus.”
“Okay,” she said, the word coming out in a dejected sigh.
Why did she seem so dead-set against me notifying her family?
“Vince, go get Titus. Tell him to have the maids send up a lady’s robe, fresh bedding, and additional toiletries to the guest suite down the hall. We have a guest, and quarters need to be prepared for her.” I looked at Rasp, who still looked chastened, pressed against a wall to get away from my angry glare. “And you, go to the kitchens and find her some food. And wine. She is an honored guest of House Decimus, and she will be treated like one.”
“Yeah,” Rasp said, hurrying toward the door, followed closely by Vince. “We’re on it, Aurelius.”
Turning back to Brielle, I found her staring into space, an almost dazed look in her eyes.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to summon one of our diplomatic messengers. I hope to have word sent to your family tonight if possible, but by first light at the latest,” I said, backing toward the door. “For now, consider my room and my bath yours to use as you please. You’re free to lock the door if that makes you feel more secure. The others should return shortly to show you to your room.”
“Yup, thanks,” she said, and finally uncrossed her arms. She chuckled ruefully. “Let me know what my parents say. Should be a good one.”
Frowning in confusion at that comment, I bowed to her and hurried from the room. Dad should be informed, but that could wait. Ihad to get word out as soon as possible. The last thing I wanted was for someone to realize the beloved firstborn daughter of House Laurent had been kidnapped by the royal house of dragons. God only knew what they would do if they found out before I could craft a delicate and well-written letter.
It could mean the war I’d been desperate to avert would come even faster.
BRIELLE
Icontinued rubbing at my wrists as I gazed around the luxurious room and tried to figure out how this had happened to me. Just a few hours ago, I’d been eating dinner with Delphine. Now, I was in Aurelius fucking
Decimus’s bedroom. And holy shit, was he way cuter in person. I’d only ever heard about him in passing, and even that had been when I was a kid and still lived with my family.
On the bright side, he seemed really nice. Truth be told, all three of them were kinda nice.
A knock sounded at the door, and I jumped in surprise.
“Uh, hey. Umm, are you, like, naked or anything?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, Vincent, I am not naked.”
“Oh, sweet,” he said, as he opened the door.
Behind him, two women followed, with Rasp on their heels. The ladies, for their part, looked unfazed at finding a strange woman in their prince’s room. Did this happen often? Wouldn’t surprise me. Aurelius had the look of a guy who could have any woman he wanted. With the money and power he had, he could be the world’s biggest playboy for all I knew.
Unbidden, the memory of him entering the room flashed through my mind. His lithe body, powerful and muscular, but not bulky, moved like water over stones. He had a strange grace that was incongruous to his size. He had to be at least six foot four or five. He actually towered over me, which was something I wasn’t used to.
“We brought these ladies to get your room ready,” Vincent said, a placid smile on his face. “They’re maids.”
“I figured as much,” I said.
“This way, ma’am,” one of the women said.
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