Page 46 of Lost Treasure

“Great. Thehousekeeper and cook are playing games. I will be there tomorrow toofficially greet you, and I will straighten things out. Don’tworry, sweetie. We will get it straightened out, but we areforeigners in very tight communities.”

Hearing thatmade things better. A little better. “Well, that makes it lesshorrible.”

“Yeah, Syartried to get me a makeover that turned into a torture session. Hishousekeeper was in charge of that as well. She got her brains blownout during a kidnapping. Of me. I was the one kidnapped.” Vensmiled. “But in my case, the omega was in charge and the local,and his alpha was foreign, like me. Everyone was trying to findReynaldo a breeder.”

“Oh. Well, Iwas just the match for the other side of the alpha. He’s metal. Iam metal. Oh, hey, I can surf!” She laughed. “Naked.”

“Oh, you metthe ocean. Nice.”

“Yeah, and thenI got bodychecked by a dolphin and walked back to the shore.”

Ven giggled,and they chatted for a while, and when they were done, Haravin feltbetter. She also felt hot. “Oh, damn. How long have we beentalking?”

“Two hours.Why?”

“I scorchedmyself. Gotta go. Talk soon.”

She hung up andheaded upstairs. They had changed position but were still tangled.She got under the cool shower spray for a few minutes and thenrelaxed. She would get through the adjustment period, and thingswould be fine.

She headed backto the kitchen and found the housekeeper. “Hello, do you haveanything for sunburns?”

The womanfrowned. “No. I am afraid we don’t have anything on site.”

“Really? Thatisn’t very smart. Even locals can suffer from sun exposure.” Sheturned on her heel and went to the garden, snapping off an aloeleaf and squeezing out the gel.

The housekeepercame toward her. “Assaulting the royal gardens is a criminaloffence.”

“Great.”

She got anotherleaf and put the aloe on her shoulders.

The housekeepergrabbed her arm. “That’s it. You are out of here.”

Amused, Haravinwalked with her. There were men in loose uniforms waiting, whichmeant that they had to have been called earlier.

“Miss, who areyou?”

“The king’sbeta. Haravin Dillard.”

“There are noregistries for the royal house.”

“Of course,there aren’t. If I get deported, where do I go?”

“Emerald Islandand then the mainland.”

“Cool. Cool.Let me grab my passport, and you can kick me off the island.”

The housekeeperheld it up.

The officertook it, verified it, and nodded. “Come with us, Miss Dillard.”

She walked downthe hill with them, and they took her to the docks. “So, as nocharges have been laid and nothing is official, I am guessing oneof you is related to the housekeeper?”

The one who hadspoken to her said, “She is my mother-in-law.”

“Well, when theking and his omega don’t rise from their sleep, please charge herwith poisoning. She fed them royal fowl from Emerald Island, andthe hormone bomb she just gave them has knocked them out.”

“If it was agift, I am sure it was fine.”

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