Page 5 of Iron Unicorn

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. They’rebothempaths?”

“Concentrated and locked on each other from what we can tell,” I admitted. “Prince Ian is showing more symptoms, but he’s also near his sister, which makes a difference in cases like his. The woman has also shown some symptoms, but she’s a New Yorker, so she is ignoring the symptoms. There is obviously no one who would possibly be interested inher.” Leaning back, I regarded the Houston skyline with a scowl. “I have no way of addressing her self-esteem issues. As far as I can tell, she’s a typical, waspish New Yorker, and her waspish tendencies are due to having been told precisely what her role is, how she is to behave, and that her appearance is unacceptable for polite society.”

“Ah. She’s like Olivia, then. Beautiful everywhere except her nose.”

I frowned, as I found there was nothing really wrong with Olivia’s noseorface. The woman would never be a conventional beauty, but everything about her was honest—a little crooked, but honest. “What’s wrong with her nose?”

The Texan queen laughed. “Come on, Terry. She’s the first to admit her nose looks like it got into a fight with a baseball bat and lost. The only reason she hasn’t gotten surgery on her nose is because her brother panics when she mentions it.”

That was news to me. “His Majesty does what?”

“Will panics whenever Olivia mentions having her nose fixed. It’s starting to cause her some breathing difficulties, but Will isdetermined.Everyone should love her exactly as she is.”

A chill slithered down my spine. “Her nose is causing her breathing difficulties?”

“She has medications to help her with it until the little scamp can handle the thought of his precious sister chopping at her nose because it doesn’t fit society’s standards. I went with her to the first surgeon appointment myself to do the imaging to see what is needed to open her airways better. It was a few months back. She’ll be much happier with a new nose, but Will’s being unreasonable.”

His Royal Majesty of Montana became unreasonable when health care wasn’t pursued, not when it was. “She hasn’t told him it’s causing her breathing difficulties.”

“She hasn’t,” the queen replied in a quiet voice. “The first time she mentioned it, he became so upset he had to leave the room. She’s afraid he’ll flip if she has any operations done, and she can’t hide she has a new nose. Pat and I have already handled how to deal with the media. One day without her meds and an incident later, and nobody will question why she has a new nose. And that’s what we’re dealing with. She takes special medications to help keep any inflammation in her sinuses and nose down. A cold can suffocate her at this point.”

“And why haven’t the royal physicians treated this?” I asked, careful to keep my tone calm and cool despite my desire to curse and start making phone calls to get a solution hammered out and scheduled.

“They discovered the source of the problem right before the incident in Spain. We’d gone in for the consultation earlier, but they were baffled as to why the deformity was causing breathing difficulties. She’s been subtly breathing out of her mouth every time her nasal passages close up on her. The meds are new. She had been taking ibuprofen prior, which was helping unbeknownst to her, but the royal physicians decreed she would not be taking it for her set of problems.”

Ah. The terrorism event in Spain clarified everything—and the medication being taken while in Spain explained why I hadn’t noticed anything amiss. “And Olivia asked you for help with this?”

“I can be convincing. My current plan is to deal with Will while you deal with his sister. I’m thinking you should kidnap her, take her to the surgeon I’ve selected for the procedure, and keep her until she’s fully recovered. In the meantime, Alfred will whip the New Yorkers into shape while you enjoy some time protecting a royal mess of a woman who won’t be able to protect herself. That also factored into our decision to grab you and not another agent. You are phenomenal at solo work. And yes, Rachel is now aware Olivia needs medical care.”

I needed more than a few minutes to process everything, but I focused on the important thing: a viable path for treatment. “You want me to deal with Olivia?”

“I may have asked someone in my RPS to play kidnapper, sending Olivia a ransom letter with a stern warning of what might happen to you, the poor and helpless agent you are. The picture of you out cold in the back of the van was great for setting the mood. I’ll spare you having to see it. There was still blood all over your face at the time. Maybe we took it a little too far, but I’m sure you can wrangle a Montana princess and take her to her appointment. The surgeon in question is employed by Texas, so when you catch and deliver her, the staff will be ready to do the procedure, especially since it’s a health risk.”

I needed to have my blood pressure checked sooner than later. It was one thing to deal with a sick monarch, but it was another to deal with a princess who could stop breathing at any moment. “How bad is the breathing situation, really?”

“It’s bad enough I kidnapped you, brought you to Texas, made my poor RPS play at being crooks, sent a hostage demand to Olivia, and monitored her position thereafter, coercing one of the many Eds in her family to track her phone on the sly to make sure she went where we wanted. We took your contacts because she has no idea you wear glasses. You should be able to catch her by surprise if you want.”

“If I want? Why would I want to?” I fought my rising temper, kept a firm grip on the phone, and forced myself to breathe. “Let me see if I understand this. You dumped me in Houston to make sure Olivia could come here to get a mandatory medical procedure because her brother is sensitive about her nose.”

“That’s correct,” the Texan queen confirmed.

“Where am I supposed to be taking her following the procedure?”

“Wherever you want. She’ll be your hostage to do with as you please.” She hesitated. “Or you can take her to the hotel three blocks away from the hospital that already has a reservation under your name, fully paid for. It’s a suite, and it has a fancy tub. There’s also on request yams and chicken delivery for the next week.”

I suspected His Royal Majesty of Texas had determined the play had gone on long enough and had put his foot down with his wife, a rarity I normally enjoyed. “Can you please text me with the address of the hotel, and then tell Ed to link me in with the tracking on her phone so I can intercept her?”

“But will you intercept her in a naughty fashion?”

“Before I react, please define what you mean by naughty,” I requested.

“Getting the jump on her and holding her hostage.”

After the nightmare they’d likely put her through, I expected Olivia would appreciate being held hostage by someone still in possession of his general sanity. “I’ll think about it. I’ll get checked into the hotel and make certain the security is acceptable before heading to the hospital and confirming security there.”

Now that I understood the why of the insanity, I could do my job with minimal fuss. The surgery element would drive me to the edge of my sanity, but I’d enjoy keeping an eye on the headstrong princess while her nose healed and she could enjoy breathing without the benefit of medications. If I viewed it as an unusual assignment, everything would be all right.

“I’ll text you with the address. Call me once you’re in your room,” Jessica ordered before hanging up.

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