Page 38 of Iron Unicorn

“And her father’s determination,” Carl stated. “It’s a problem.”

I could see how the stress test would force the princess’s hand.

Like father, like daughter. Like mother, like daughter.

I exhaled long and slow. “The Texan RPS is killing numerous birds with one stone.”

“I view it as helping the birds, personally. You will not enjoy the next day of your life, but we feel it is necessary for Princess Olivia’s mental health. Eddie is a good guy, and he deserves a chance to stretch his wings. We just haven’t had a detail we could put him on until you came to Texas. There was too much risk to Princess Deidre.”

“And King Patrick’s trauma from his father’s death,” I muttered. “I’m surprised he openly calls King Patrick his dad.”

“That is something the Texan RPS has cultivated. Eddie is our direct funnel to the king. The king seeks out Eddie when something is going wrong with the RPS. We pay for that through Eddie’s casual relationship with his fathers, of which he has six who have worked within the RPS, including Geoff and Randy.”

I grimaced, as Randy’s impending retirement would turn the Texan RPS upside down. “How is Randy doing?”

“He’s getting tired and slowing down, and King Patrick knows it. We’re working on transitioning him, but we’re just not sure who can take Randy’s place. Everyone who tries falls short—not because of King Patrick, but because of their own insecurities. It’s a high standard to match. Randy has the king’s ear.”

“Have Eddie pick the next head of the king’s detail—and the next head of the queen’s detail. There is no one else in the RPS who would take more care with the selection than him. They’re his parents, and he knows precisely what his parents need to thrive. He grew up seeing it—and he has a different view than most of us, who entered the RPS for entirely different reasons. We don’t have Eddie’s legacy.”

Carl considered me through narrowed eyes. “That is not something we had considered. And if Eddie is making the selection, the agent’s confidence will be boosted. Eddie isnotoriousabout his parents. I’ll pitch it to Randy. That might just work.”

“I could set people straight if they keep screwing around.”

“The agents would cry. I don’t want to deal with a bunch of crying, Terry.”

“Yet you want to kidnap meagain.”

“Yes. Your princess deserves a chance to shine. Of course, she’ll get to shine in an empty building while you’re drugged straight into a stupor. Well, depending. We might just leave you helpless but coherent. We’ll see. But she’ll have the fright of her life. She’s a smart woman, and she clued in she was being lured, probably by the RPS, by the time she made it to Texas. This is not something she’ll expect. We are putting our more reactionary agents on the wire when you’re grabbed. And as the people performing the grab are not in the Texan RPS, the reaction will be appropriate.”

“I hope those poor bastards are being paid well for this.”

Carl nodded. “They’re being compensated fairly. You’ll be safe the entire time, although you won’t like being drugged should we go that route. Ideally, you’ll be scared, which should ripple through your bond with Princess Olivia.”

“I have a significantly strong dislike for scorpions,” I muttered.

“We had noticed your disdain for them, which is why we cleared the campsite of them and will continue to do so. What other things are you afraid of?”

“My pride demands that I do not divulge this information.” Scorpions were bad enough; they legitimately frightened me although I could handle them with some grace. If I saw a centipede, all bets were off. Anything with more than eight legs, including crabs, were a candidate for sending me straight into a blind panic.

Fortunately for everyone around me, blind panic did not equate to talent usage.

However, if they decided to find out what scared me, I would suggest a locking suppressor just in case. Bracing for the fact I’d be telling Carl something freaked me out that much, I said, “If you’re doing a phobia test, you better have a locking suppressor on hand.”

“We have a maximum security suppressor with an empathy leak. Empathy leaks are the standard on them now. Yes, we’ll have to take you to a hospital to remove it, but we’ve already begun the work on that. We’ll be making certain our agents are sharp on protocols for stolen maximum security suppressors. It’s your lucky day, Terry.”

“Does my Montana record list any phobias?”

“No, but they have a line that your archnemesis is native to our kingdom. We are assuming they didn’t list the precise species as a protection method. We’ve determined that it has to be some form of insect with many legs, but it’s not a spider. You’re flagged as being able to handle incidents with spiders. They do not faze you in the slightest. Scorpions have eight legs, and your reaction is borderline. That leaves us with our friend the centipede.”

Fuck. I eyed Carl, debating if I could make my escape, steal a horse, and head for the general safety of home.

“Yep. It’s centipedes. I watched the blood rush right out of your head. You paled several shades.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Carl.”

“You can pick something else you’re afraid of if you’d prefer.”

“Maybe you should be the head of the king’s detail. This is appropriately ruthless, cruel, and unusual.”

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