Page 39 of House of Mages and Raven

It was time to retreat now that the chaos prince was poised to interrogate me, and he was in a foul mood. Yet I still gave his masculine physique an appreciative look. I liked the way his navy-blue shirt stretched across his muscled chest, and I could tell how strong his legs were wrapped in his designer slacks.

“You should wear leather pants sometime,” I suggested.

He narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“Barbie likes guys in leather pants. Bikers turn her on,” I lied, and bent to gather the jewels back into the shoebox.

“Leave it,” he ordered me, his eyes smoldering.

“No can do,” I said ruefully. “They belong to Barbie, and she’s waiting eagerly for me to bring her these shinies.”

“If she wants them, tell her to fucking come and get them herself.”

He’d once softened for Barbie, but now they’d broken up, he’d returned to being a hard-ass again.

“My, my,” I said. “But Barbie won’t step an inch into your house again. She doesn’t want to be near a certain person, and you have no authority over her, since she’s no longer a member of your house.”

The house magic whined.

It’s not personal, house,I offered.Barbie has no quarrel with you. She loves you, and we’ll protect you with our last breaths when the day comes.

“You aren’t taking anything of hers. You’re lucky that I haven’t thrown you into the dungeon for breaking into my house, and that’s only because you’re her friend.”

“Like how your king father threw Barbie into the dungeon and sent six waves of assassins so he could serve her head to his queen on a silver platter?” I asked viciously, and the chaos prince’s jaw clenched. “And believe me, princeling, you don’t want to throw me into your dungeon. I won’t just shatter the cage; I’ll fuck with whoever cages Barbie and me for eternity, and there’ll be no dignity in death for them.”

“You and what army?” He grinned mercilessly, ready to confine me. The prince didn’t bow to any threat.

“Barbie, is that you?” a voice called cheerfully.

Then two people showed up at the doorway. Cami peeked in first, then Rock followed her. Then they both narrowed their eyes at me.

“Who the hell are you?” Rock demanded.

“Why are you in Barbie’s room?” Cami asked in displeasure, her distrustful gaze darting between her prince, me, and the jewels on Barbie’s bed.

“His Highness caught a thief.” Rock whistled. “Now she’s going nowhere.”

“She’s going somewhere, werewolf.” I smirked. “I’m no thief. I’m Barbie’s bestie. We’re two peas in a pod.”

Rock narrowed his eyes further. “If you’re a pea in Barbie’s pod, then why has she never mentioned you?”

“Barbie is a very private person,” I told him.

Rock snorted.

“She’s made a lot of new friends in the House of Mages,” I protested. “She’s the most popular bride candidate.”

“Tell that to Princess Grace,” Cami said, rolling her eyes at me. “They call her Barbie 2.0.”

“An inferior copy,” I said. “I’ll put her down and eat her, starting from her stupid, boring-colored eyeballs.”

The chaos prince, his cousin, and the werewolf stared at me.

“I have a to-eat list,” I bragged. “Barbie 2.0 is at the top. I’ve eaten a lot of sentient beings, but Barbie won’t let me eat them in this realm.”

Shut up!Barbie barked, but I was holding the reins now, and no one silenced me!

Something flashed in Rock’s eyes. He could relate to my eating habits. We should compare notes.

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