Page 63 of Tortured Royals

“What? What’s going on?”Shade chirps.

“We’ve found crates of weapons,”I explain.

“And a fuck ton of ’em,”Nate adds.

“Looks like Ivar is working with the witches after all,”I say grimly.

Mason moves closer to the open crate, peering at the numerous orbs packaged in tightly.

“If the witches are supplying Ivar with weapons, what are they getting in return?”Dante asks, and I feel him beside me.“Ivar has made it clear he wishes to be king. Why would they support that?”

Nate starts to slide the orb into his pocket.

“What are you doing, Nate?”I hiss.“Put it back.”

The shifter’s hand pauses.“Figure it might come in handy.”

I plant my hands on my hips.“Or it could explode against your chest.”

He shrugs, not looking the least bit concerned.“Nine Lives, remember?”

“Put it back,”Alaric growls, coming up on my other side.

Nate grumbles a protest under his breath and carefully places the orb back in the crate.

“Oh, so you listen to him,”I say incredulously.

“That’s because I know he doesn’t have a soft spot for me like you do,”Nate says to me with a grin.

I shake my head at him, smirking, but my attention is pulled away when the faint murmuring of voices sounds from somewhere in the warehouse. Nate quickly replaces the lid on the crate, and we quietly make our way to the other end of the storage room. There’s an open door that looks out onto the main floor of the warehouse, and I crouch to the side, peering out.

A few yards away, Ivar stands talking with a she-demon I recognize from the Fallon Blade clan. The pretty female beams at the clan leader, tossing her silky charcoal hair over one shoulder. “So, how did it go? Did they all agree to support you?”

Ivar smirks and closes the distance between them. Sliding his hands down her back, he cups her ass and yanks her against him.

“That’s Shandi,”I tell the others.“She’s been sleeping with Ivar for the last few years and slowly improving her place in the clan.”I think of the images my crows used to send me of the pair of them. Ivar wasn’t a gentle lover, and I asked her in secret once, whether she’d prefer to move to a different clan. Shandi had simply laughed in my face and said she’d worked too hard to get where she was. I’d tried to point out that the she-demon would be uprooted the very moment if or when Ivar found his actual fated mate, but she wouldn’t hear it.

“Have I ever mentioned that it’s unsettling how much you know about clan business?”Dante drawls.

“It’s my job to know things,”I reply bluntly.

“Let me guess, she’s hopin’ to be queen by his side?”Nate comments dryly.

The idea of Shandi ruling by Ivar’s side makes me scowl.

“Some of the clan leaders were resistant,” Ivar replies to Shandi. “Gloria questioned everything, but I believe they all saw sense in the end.”

“Good,” Shandi beams, a smudge of red lipstick showing on her teeth. “And when the king is taken care of and you reveal you have the witches on your side, they’ll be glad they supported you.” She smiles a creepy smile. “Or they’ll find their true death.”

Ivar’s lips twist into a wicked smile, and the pair start kissing. Shandi makes a show of moaning and rubbing her breasts against his chest, and he squeezes her ass. Just when I think they’re going to fuck right there on the warehouse floor, Ivar pulls back. His dark brows lower. “You’d better go. She’ll be here any minute, and I don’t want you anywhere near her.”

She?I frown, listening intently.

Shandi pouts. “It would be good for her to see you with me. Maybe then she’ll learn her place.”

Ivar gives her a wolfish grin, and he squeezes her ass again. “You’re bold, I’ll give you that. But you don’t have to worry. The witch has no interest in the throne.”

Shandi still looks reluctant to leave, but the moment a spark of green fire appears in mid-air, not far from Ivar, she shrieks and scurries off to hide in a nearby office.

---