Page 57 of Iron Unicorn

“I absolutely will attempt to kill that bastard. He helped bloody your face.”

“It was just a little blood and a minor concussion.”

“And pneumonia?” Daphne asked, and she shoved Montana’s king out of the way so she could come into the bedroom. “What’s this I heard about pneumonia, Terry?”

“Olivia nursed me back to health. The official cause was stress. I’ll have to take steps once I’m allowed to return to duty, but I think I’ll be able to make the appropriate changes. I will also be more careful when I eat, as it seems I inhaled my food rather than swallowing it properly.”

“You’re an idiot,” she informed me in a solemn tone.

After a moment, we both laughed. I accepted her decree with a nod. “Thank you for revealing the gap in security, but please don’t use my head as target practice in the future.”

“Well, if there hadn’t been a gap in your security, I wouldn’t have been able to get the jump on you. I took you out with one hit. I’m quite proud of that.”

“As you should be. I’d applaud you, but if I let Olivia go, she might try to kill her brother. I think we’ve had enough excitement for a week.”

Daphne raised a brow and engaged me in a staring competition. Despite her status as the Heir of Montana, I refused to back down. She wrinkled her nose before saying, “Or several weeks for you.”

“Does it count if I don’t remember a few of the weeks?”

Olivia sighed. “Terry.”

“If I release you, are you going to kill your brother?”

“Probably.”

I suspected the woman enjoyed being held hostage. Rather than call her out on it, I maintained my hold. “He genuinely had no idea your nose was causing you breathing difficulties, and had he, he would have hauled you to the surgeon himself,” I informed her. “And since Daphne is here, she can verify the truth of that statement.”

“He’s telling the truth,” His Royal Majesty of Montana said. “And Daphne can verify that if she’d like, but I absolutely would have herded you to the surgeon myself. I would have hovered and been a pain in the ass, too, so it’s better that you ran away from home and almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I only ran away from home because you had kidnapped Terry!”

Daphne snickered, flung herself onto the bed, and wiggled over to join us. She wrapped her arms around us both, and she squirmed until her head rested on Olivia’s lap. “She’s got a point, Will. If we hadn’t kidnapped Terry, she would have stayed home. You’ll forgive me, won’t you, Terry?”

I rolled my eyes over the request. “Just know if I get a chance to take you out, I will. Without remorse or apology. I will kidnap you for the satisfaction of doing it.”

Olivia giggled. “He really will, Daphne.”

“It’s a burden I can handle. At least it would be Terry taking me out. There’s no damage to my pride when it’s the Iron Unicorn coming at me like he means it. Will, we should give him an olive branch. The next time he’s in Montana, he can take pot shots at the entire royal family. Your kids will love it. Edward will be overwhelmed with curiosity and beg to be kidnapped.”

Daphne’s consort leaned into the bedroom. “I apologize for them, Terry. I won’t beg to be kidnapped, but I will admit to being curious.”

“I’m fairly certain being the kidnapper is far more entertaining than being the kidnapped. But if I were to kidnap you, I’d probably have to cart you off to go horseback riding to show you what sensible company is. You’re not getting sensible with the Montana royals.”

Edward blinked, and he regarded the Montana royals with wide eyes. “He didn’t even hesitate, Daphne.”

“That’s Terry for you. When we’ve done something stupid, he lets us know it. Olivia usually gets off lightly, but it seems she’s been fussing about her pretty little nose, so she’s on the shit list until she adjusts her attitude.”

“Up to two hundred clicks was acceptable, but now it’s time for an attitude adjustment, Olivia,” I confirmed. “I have chosen my weapons of attitude adjustment: your brother and your cousin.”

“Terry!”

“I can’t sleep when you’re that upset,” I complained. To make certain she wouldn’t turn her wrath on me, I tightened my hold on her. “Daphne, tell her I’m right.”

“He’s right, Olivia. And Terry becomes a rat bastard rather than the Rat Guy when he’s that tired. You’re going to have to believe we love you as much with your new nose as we did when you had your old nose. Your new nose is a lovely nose. How do you like breathing?”

“It’s nice,” Olivia mumbled.

“So, there you have it. You can breathe, Terry won’t stress himself sick again, and your brother won’t have to adjust your attitude. Everyone’s happy. And since Terry’s looking more tired than is healthy, you have to tuck him into bed, let him get some rest, and talk with Will. Edward and I will investigate these new horses of yours so we’re out of the way. I’ll make sure the RPS agents stay out in the hall so you can have some privacy. But Terry does need sleep or he’ll get sick again. If he gets sick again, we’ll all have simultaneous meltdowns. And Will and I just found out he’d gotten sick, so our meltdowns will be particularly spectacular.”

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