Page 88 of Their Promise

“Hello, Liam. I have to say, I am very excited about this date. The last time I was here was over a decade ago.”

“I thought it might be of interest to you. Though, I would have liked to keep it simpler, I did have to reserve the entire parkor it would have been rather difficult for us to experience the rides.”

“Completely understand,” I said with a nod. “We’d become the main attraction if you hadn’t rented it out.”

He chuckled. “Exactly!” Holding out his bent elbow he asked, “Are you ready, milady?”

I slipped my arm through his and said, “Definitely!”

We nodded to an employee at the entrance to the nearest ride, a tall rollercoaster that went really fast and did a few loops. Once securely fastened to the ride, I smiled wide as it started.

“So, I saw the news,” Liam commented as we moved up the first ramp. The clank-clank-clank of the pulleys moving us up the steep incline had my heart beating in excitement.

“Which news?” I asked, wanting to be sure I didn’t give out information not public yet. I knew they would work fast, but wasn’t sure if they had spread the cover story. Yes, Liam was a prince, but that didn’t mean he was included in confidential discussions. Something I was fairly certain of since I was routinely involved in them.

“That you can control the demons and sent one back through the portal,” he said.

“Ah, that’s taken out of context,” I said. “I don’t control demons any more than I can control you.”

He waited for me to elaborate.

Instead, I asked, “So, which is your favorite ride?”

“If we’re going to be partners, you will have to share things with me,” he said as the ride reached the crescendo right before the drop.

Before I could respond, the ride went down and I ignored him to enjoy the ride. Raising my arms over my head, I forgot that I was a twenty-five-year-old princess. I forgot I was courting several alpha males. I was just a person on a rollercoaster enjoying herself.

Smoothing my hair back as we pulled back into the entrance, I waited until we exited and were walking towards the next ride, away from any employees.

“Was this the real motivation to our courting? For you to try to gain ‘insider royal knowledge’ or something? I understand you’re a prince who is left out of a lot of discussions and so you probably find it really unfair that I, as a princess who also won’t take the throne, am involved in those discussions, but I don’t make the decisions.”

“What are you doing with those demons, Lily? Was that pup one sired by Mason with you?” he asked bluntly.

Fury boiled within me and before my mind thought better, I punched him in the face, knocking him flat on his back. “How dare you!” I snapped.

Really, what was it about me that two people thought I’d sired the hellhound pup with someone? Was my pretty princess façade officially broken?

“I have not given birth to anything. And if it had been Mason’s child, one, it wouldn’t have been a hellhound, and two, I wouldn’t have sent it away. Mason is twenty times the alpha you could hope to be.” Laughing bitterly, I said, “I thought you were one of the good ones, but how quickly you showed your true colors. I suppose I should thank you for showing them so quickly. I’m leaving and I don’t want to see you again.”

He climbed to his feet, touching his broken nose. “So, the rumors of your anger issues are true. Good to know I dodged a bullet there. And that you do care about that insane psychopath.”

Stepping up into his face, I said, “Say what you want about me, but stop badmouthing Mason.”

“So, hybrids really will put out for anyone, huh? Good to know. I’ll set my sights on your hybrid friend, Maya instead.”

Why was he acting so differently than before? Was this really him?

“Are you under a spell? Possessed?” I asked. He hadn’t lied when he’d said he’d had a crush on me in high school and thought this was an opportunity for him. Or had he phrased it in such a way to be able to pass my lie detection?

He rolled his eyes. “No, I’m just tired of pretending. That first date was torture. You really are a dull woman.”

As I blinked in stunned silence at him, Kayden leapt from the nearby bushes, shifted, and punched Liam so hard that he spun in a corkscrew through the air and slammed head first into the fence ten feet away.

“Kay!” I gasped.

Several guards ran over to check on Liam and a few came towards us, but Kayden snarled at them.

Setting my hand on his arm, I asked, “How much did you hear?”

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