Page 72 of The Prince of New York

“We’ll have our snack in the dining room once I finish warming it,” I told the girls, making sure to take the time to smile at them. “After we have our snack, we’ll go to May’s room, and I’ll read a story to you.”

My sister wouldn’t mind me stealing a few of the picture books from her tigers until I had a chance to raid a local bookstore for a stash just for them from me.

Storybooks had been provided, but I wanted to share the ones I enjoyed.

Judging from the puzzlement on their faces, they had no idea what I meant. They’d find out soon enough—and in a few days, I expected to have a pile of little girls and tigers to read to, and I’d ask the RPS agents to take pictures for me.

“A story?” Danielle asked between sips of her drink.

“You’ll see,” I promised. “If my sister’s kitties are awake, I’ll read to them as well.”

Monty snickered, turned to one of the new Hawaiian agents, and said, “I’m off set. Can you relay that Amisha and Endah will be needed? Sneak in and wake them up. It’s a good time to do the introduction, and Ian could use some quality time with them, especially as he isn’t getting to work Thunder as much as he’d like. Also, request they block out an hour for him to work with his horse. We need to cultivate their bond better before we load them up, else we’ll be stalling Ian to keep everybody happy.”

I snickered at the thought of riding in the plane with the horses. “I’ve always wanted to ride cargo in one of those planes.”

“There’s no reason he can’t ride in the cargo bay with the horses,” the elder of the two women replied. The hints of gray in her hair put her as one of the more senior agents. I peeked at her tag to discover she shared her name with my sister. “His Royal Majesty of Montana insists on riding in cargo if he has an injured horse on board. It’s troublesome. We do have some protocol changes for landing if we have a royal in the cargo bay, though. We have emergency crews on the ground and ready to roll in case of any issues. If the crews are in place, if thereisan issue, location on the plane makes little difference. The cargo bay is made tough, as most of the horses on board are priceless.”

“I love your name, but if I say it while my sister’s around, I’m going to confuse everyone.”

The RPS agent grinned. “Call me Misty. That’s my middle name. Actually, I’ll get a new name tag for this, as you present a good point. We try to be first name in cases like this. Monty?”

“Make the request, and tell them I’ll update your notes after ten, else the queen will get mad I’m doing work unsuitable for when I’m in my pajamas.”

I doubted May or Danielle understood why they laughed along with everyone else, but it beat flinching any day of the week. Within ten minutes, I had the soup warmed, and Misty and her partner, Marjorie, handled wrangling the girls while Monty and I took care of ferrying the meal into the family dining room.

All I could do was hope I did all the right things to break the cycle of abuse plaguing New York and infecting every level of its twisted society.

* * *

Within twenty seconds of introduction,my sister’s tigers stole my children, and the quartet took over May’s bed. Fortunately for my sanity, all beds in the royal wing had been replaced with frames capable of withstanding a minimum of two tigers and two adults.

We’d learned early on that the therapy felines did as they wished.

Then, to add complexity to the situation, my sister’s demonic therapy dog discovered I existed, and Angel wanted me to know he loved me the best. As such, I held the fluffy pooch with one arm while reading a story to everyone with the other.

Rather than read one of the old favorites, someone had picked a story about a little pony with butterfly wings who went on adventures, and I had a collection of thirty of them to start with. Apparently, the complete collection had over three hundred titles, and the palace had purchased the entire set for my girls.

Amisha loved the little pony with butterfly wings, and she enjoyed admiring the pictures.

Fortunately for my sanity, the girls, the tigers, and even the dog were willing to listen to the story being read without spending much time staring at the pictures. I assumed the late hour had something to do with it. Danielle crashed out first, making use of Endah as a pillow. As I couldn’t read to May and keep Angel containedandtuck Danielle in, Barb and Celeste handled the work, making sure the toddler stayed warm.

May didn’t last much longer, nor did the tigers, which freed me to attend to Angel.

As the husky would wake the entire palace if he thought I didn’t love him, I handed the book over to Celeste and went for the route of least resistance. I tossed the dog over my shoulders in a fireman’s carry, tiptoeing from the room while the RPS agents took care of tucking May in, checking the tigers, and turning off the lights.

The dog beat me with his tail, and as he liked when people hauled him around, he opted against vocalizing.

With a little luck, the husky would take mercy on me, although I doubted it. Angel ran around like a maniac after hours. He indulged in lapdog behaviors while working. As I had no idea what Angel’s signals actually were, I waited for the Hawaiians to join me in the hall before asking, “He’s not signaling, is he?”

“He is not alerting,” Celeste promised, and she reached up to give the husky a hearty scratching behind his ears. “He will bark, paw, and go to anyone in a suit that looks like an RPS agent if he is wanting to alert us. If he smells alcohol, he will forcibly interpose between the source of alcohol and the queen. If she tries to go near the alcohol, he will take her wrist in his mouth and guide her away. As we were briefed on his behaviors, he would like to have quiet time with someone, and you have been chosen. Sometimes, he will sleep on the foot of the monarch’s bed with the tigers. Other times, he just wants to be nearby his selected human.”

“All right. Good. I’ll just take him to bed, then. If my sister wonders why her service dog is late for work, just blame me.” I checked the hall to find it devoid of any of the empaths I recognized as part of my rebuilding team. “Do I even have a detail right now?”

“Actually, no. You don’t. We’re keeping an eye on you for the moment, as your detail is doing some foundational work tonight. Monty will get out of bed if you head out of the family wing, but we’re on hallway duty and general observation duty while your detail is being reformed. We’re helping with the assignments and making recommendations. You are also receiving at least one agent from North Dakota, so we’re in a waiting pattern until arrival.”

“Right. Zach and possibly Peter.” I went to my suite, managed to open the door without dropping the dog, and sighed. “Please try to wake me up by eight. If I let my schedule go now, I’ll regret it next week.”

“Of course. Sleep well.” Celeste waited for me to clear the doorway before closing the door behind me. She locked it from the outside, something they only did when they felt the principal in question needed some privacy. If she followed protocol, she’d notify the other agents she had sent me to bed, locked the door, and wanted me to be conscious for eight.

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