Part 8 (1/2)

”This is ridiculous.”

”I'll tell you what is ridiculous-Guardians kidnapping you under our very nose.”

”Enough!” Lord Valafar's voice thundered and I jumped. I hadn't seen him teleport into the room. ”Leave us.”

Lady Nemea bowed and then disappeared. I was so p.i.s.sed I couldn't think straight. He moved closer. I glared. ”Let me guess,” I said. ”You are furious, too.”

”No, daughter. This is your home.” He stopped in the middle of my bedroom and gripped his hands behind him. ”You can come and go as you please now that the people have met you.”

I laughed with relief. ”Maybe you need to send Lady Nemea a memo.”

”I'll ping her with instructions.”

”Good.”

”On the other hand-”

I groaned.

”You scared her,” he said firmly. ”She helped your mother take care of you when you were a baby and was devastated when we couldn't find you. She blamed herself for a long time. When you disappeared tonight, she panicked.”

That explained her behavior, but it didn't excuse it. ”Can you tell her to ease up on me a little? I'm going to have a tutor and bodyguards twenty-four-seven, and I can't see Katia and Lottie.”

He shook his head, a frown flattening his eyebrows. ”Of course, you can see your friends. Invite them here any time. You are fairly safe here on the island.”

I frowned. ”Fairly?”

”We do have the occasional breach in security. Guardians attempting to infiltrate us, humans lost in their boats. Promise me one thing.”

”Sure.”

”Take a guard with you whenever you want to explore or visit anywhere. It will ease my worries.”

That seemed reasonable. ”Can I have guards close to my age? Most of them are old and serious and they never smile.”

His frown deepened. ”I'll order them to smile more.”

Was he serious? He couldn't possibly order... I saw a twinkle flash in his eyes and grinned. He was joking. I played along. ”Please do.”

He inclined his head. ”Anything for you, daughter. I heard you healed some of our people.”

I nodded. ”That's okay, right? I mean, everyone acted like it was a big deal, but they were just children.”

”You are their princess. Feel free to spend time with them. Get to know them and let them get to know you.”

I was confused. ”So it's okay to heal them?”

”Yes. Heal them. Bond with them. Let them see you as one of them, but...” He peered into my eyes. ”Be careful not to overuse your powers. Psi energy is not limitless, and you've been in a coma for months and need to replenish yours.” He angled his arm and I put mine around his. ”Come on. The fireworks are about to start. You don't want to miss it. Sir Malax promised it would be spectacular.”

I still had the crystal from Lord Gavyn. Pretending to straighten the pillow, I slipped it under one of my pillows and left with my father. I'd find a better hiding place later.

The guests were waiting by the doors to the terrace when we arrived on the second floor. The crowd parted for us as someone opened the doors. The guests fell behind us as Father and I led the way.

I didn't see Katia or Lottius. Since I couldn't detect people's energies, I couldn't tell whether they were back in the castle or they'd been sent home. My eyes connected with Solange. She winked. Beside her, Gavyn Llyr stared straight ahead. Below, a crowd had gathered and I found myself searching for Green Eyes.

I didn't see him.

The fireworks show was spectacular, but I was eager to go back to my room and see the message from Gavyn. I kept glancing at him to see if he was looking my way. He didn't until after Solange disappeared. His expression was hard to read, but the feeling that he didn't like me persisted. Then why would he give me a CC when he didn't like me?

As soon as I could, I faked fatigue and excused myself. Back in my bedroom, the first thing I noticed was my bed. The covers were turned down. I ran to check under the pillow.

The CC was gone.

I flung the pillows aside, yanked the covers back. Nothing. My heart pounding, I searched under the bed.

”What are you doing?” Solange asked from behind me.

I glanced at her over my shoulder. ”What do you think? Looking for something.” I went back to searching under the bed.

”You do know we have minions to find missing things and do that kind of stuff.”

I got to my feet. ”Who turned down our beds?”

”Probably Lady Nemea, since she decided to be your personal maid.” Solange's eyes narrowed. ”Are you okay?”

”No. I left a crystal one of the kids gave me under my pillow, and now it's gone.”

Solange shrugged, walked to my dresser, and carefully touched a petal of one of the flowers the minion kids had given me.

”Probably a non-clairvoyant crystal she picked up from the gutter. Totally useless and crawling with bugs like these.” She grabbed the flowers I'd left on my dresser, which someone had put in a vase, and dumped them in the garbage can. ”Which reminds me-you shouldn't have taken off without guards like you did or treated minions. Some of them have weird diseases.”

”You're a sn.o.b.” I fished the flowers from the can and put them back in the vase. ”Are you telling you've never broken rules? Taken off without a guard?”

She laughed. ”All the time, but I'm older and wiser, and my guards are also my two best friends. Are you sure you're okay? You look a little pale. Was Father furious? He can be scary when he's angry.”

”He wasn't. Not really.” I sat, still ticked off that I'd lost the crystal. ”He seemed nicer tonight.”

A look I couldn't define flashed in Solange's eyes. She was so hard to read sometimes. ”Don't try to be too friendly with minions, little sis,” she said. ”It can be seen as a sign of weakness. When I rule, I will do it with an iron hand. I'd rather be feared than liked.”

”Then it's a good thing I have no intention of being a ruler.” I glanced at her. ”Look, I'm tired. I just want to go to bed.”

”Good idea.” She blew me a kiss and started out of the room. ”See you in the morning. We're going to a club. We might even leave the island and go to a human one.”

”Why?” I asked, even though I didn't really care where she went, and humans didn't interest me.

”Because it's fun to mess with them. Sleep tight, little sis. Be good.” What mischief could I possibly get into now? ”Could you do me a favor?”

”As long as it's not sneaking you out of the castle or taking you with us.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Very funny. I have no interest in clubbing or hanging out with humans. Could you send Lady Nemea upstairs?”