Page 47 of Tortured Royals

Alaric let’s out a resigned sigh.

“She has a short attention span,”Blake explains.“You’ll get used to it.”

“Okay, I’m not going to pretend I know what’s happening here,” Luna says, staring at Alaric and Mason, and the rest of us like we’ve lost our minds. Her gaze goes to the tattoos on Alaric’s arms, and her brows rise. “Also, is that a Drozac assassin?”

Noah squints, taking a step closer. “Fuck, it is.”

“Relax,” I tell them. “He’s with us.”

“Well, I get that,” Luna replies, “but how did this happen?”

Blake shrugs. “Who the hell knows?” She indicates with her head. “That’s Alaric, and yes, he’s a Drozac assassin. Next to him is Mason, he’s a foreign prince and winged centaur.” Luna opens her mouth, but Blake adds, “Don’t even ask.”

My friend closes her mouth again.

“Then we have Nate, he’s a jaguar shifter,” my mate continues, “Prince Callan from Toralyn, no explanation needed there.” Prince Callan bows, making a show of it. “And of course, Dante,” Blake finishes.

Luna blinks and takes a moment before speaking. “Okay, I think I followed all that.” She fixes her gaze on my mate. “And what can we do for you, your highness? For you to request that we come here, there must be a reason, and I’m guessing it’s not just so we can see Dante is alive.”

I don’t miss the fact that Luna says ‘requested’ rather than ‘ordered,’ even though we all know when the princess makes a ‘request’ of one of her demons, it isn’t to be disobeyed.

My mate crosses her arms. “Some time ago, you used your power to disguise Dante so he could enter the palace without me realizing his true identity,” she says.

Luna sends a worried glance my way and bows, bringing her fist to her chest again as she stares at the ground submissively. “Princess, it was not my intention to deceive?—”

“Dante…” Noah starts to protest, but Blake continues on.

“I didn’t bring you here to punish you,” my mate says quickly. “I brought you here because we need your help.”

Frowning, Luna slowly rises, pulling her fist away from her chest.

“We need you to use your powers to disguise us,” I say.

Luna’s gaze cuts to me before she turns her attention back to Blake. “Disguise you?”

My mate strokes Shade’s feathers. “It’s come to our attention that during Dante’s absence, you’ve been approached, and individuals have requested that you attend a meeting.”

“They’ve been by every day for the past three days,” Noah admits.

“Who has?” I ask.

Noah shifts uncomfortably. “Ivar’s minions. There has already been one gathering since the princess’s ball and King Dalton announced his retirement. I’m sure there are more that we don’t know about.”

“Ivar from the Fallon Blade clan?” Blake asks, her back snapping straight.

“According to the rumors, the Fallon Blade clan has a new house in the city, but we don’t know where it is,” Luna answers.

“What is it?”Alaric growls in our minds, his question clearly directed at Blake.

“About a week before Dad drugged us all for the competition, we found a demon with witch contraband. Weapons,”Blake explains.“He was from the Fallon Blade clan. Our top general was sent to investigate, but apparently the clan house had been cleared out before he got there. The general torched the building to send a message to them.”

Nate curses.

“So this meeting,” I ask Noah. “Is it a gathering of the clan leaders or are there others set to attend?”

Noah looks at me strangely. “Only a few of the clan leaders as far as I’m aware.”

“Let me guess,” Blake says, “the ones who would choose a different ruler for Seral?”

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