Page 16 of Royal Rising

“Then no, he has no idea what’s going on in the rest of the world. You’ll be here another day, maybe two.”

She hums under her breath and pulls out her phone. “Looks like you’re right.” She shows me the Weather Network update.

“Did you doubt me?”

“Of course. I’d like to get home.”

“Got a hot date?”

“Now why would that be any of your business?” Fenella asks in a flirtatious voice.

“If you’re around tomorrow, I’ll take you on a hot date,” I offer.

Because—why not?

She purses her lips. “I’ve been here for a week you know.”

“I’ve been busy.”

She looks like she’s mulling it over but I wouldn’t have asked her if I didn’t know what the answer would be. “Fine,” she concedes. “It’s a good a reason as any to stay another day. But I have to tell you, Your Highness, you’ve got horrible timing.”

I glance toward the kitchen and wonder if Edie is still out in the alley. “You’re not the first one to tell me that.”

5

Edie

Mathias kissed me.

I knew he would try; I saw it coming as he walked me home after dinner, holding the gigantic umbrella over us both.

It had been a slow, kind of meandering walk home through the drizzle as the clouds threatened overhead and the wind tangled my hair. The storm was coming and it was coming fast, but we took our time.

He didn’t mention shoes again but asked about what it was like growing up here.

Halfway back to my place, I decided I would allow it if he tried to kiss me.

He didn’t even say anything about the bins in the alley as he paused outside my door, but as his lips touched mine and my eyes closed, I could smell the garbage.

It’s the worst thing about living here, the fact that the door that leads up to my apartment opens in the alley. At least it’s convenient when I park my car in one of the spots off the laneway, but walking in from the street is an obstacle course of trash that doesn’t make it into the dumpster, broken-down cardboard boxes, and mostrecently, cat dishes because soft-hearted Kalle now feeds every stray in the area.

I’ve been living here long enough to get used to it, but it’s never a pleasant smell in the summer. And it puts a little damper on things; but still, a good first kiss. One that might not go in your diary, but you’d still touch your lips the day after it happened.

Unfortunately, the shouting from the bar puts another damper on it. And then there’s the crash.

I pull back, but Mathias’s arm still circles my waist. “What’s that?”

“Sounds like drunk people fighting. What kind of place does my cousin run?”

Mathias leans in again, but I turn my cheek. “I run.” And then I take a step away from him, his hand sliding from my back.

“Are you going inside?” he demands with a sulky twist to the lips I’ve just been kissing.

“It’s my bar,” I tell him as I head for the kitchen door.

I don’t know if it’s a good idea for Mathias to follow me or not. Ducking through the kitchen, I’m reassured at the sight of Chase still at the sink. At the bar, Dillon is in his usual spot—right beside Fenella Carrington—but Kalle is nowhere in sight.

Because he’s in the middle of the fray around the pool table.

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