Page 11 of Pining for the Prince
He slunk off. He wanted to go home.
CHAPTER SIX
Hyax didn’t spend too many evenings at home. Between Gwil, other friends, and his reconnaissance duties, he usually had an excuse not to. It wasn’t as if he disliked the fae realm, and he loved his family, but sometimes they could get a little claustrophobic.
He stretched out on a recliner on a terrace reserved solely for the family. There was a soiree for a retiring senior politician his mother was hosting as he’d been her private secretary at one point. His presence wasn’t required and, if it had been, he’d have found an excuse to be elsewhere. But there was always something going on, whether an internal celebration or visitors from members of the other tribes. It was exhausting just keeping track of them all. The evening was perfect, warm and peaceful, or it was until Wavel joined him.
“Hello, little brother. I didn’t think you were here this evening?” Wavel took the recliner next to him.
“I could say the same for you. Has Jezi sent you away?”
Wavel’s wife was suffering early onset morning sickness and during one argument Hyax had witnessed, Wavel had been blamed for impregnating her in the first place.
“No, but she’s asleep already. Baby number three is being difficult and she’ll be lucky if she’s not put on bed rest.”
Hyax didn’t like the sound of that. “Is everything all right?”
“Her doctors are being cautious. But as you know, she has never been the type to sit still for too long.”
“I’ve never known a fae who could.”
Wavel snorted. “Not in this family. Which begs the question—what are you doing here?”
“I do live here,” he replied, although it was a fair question given his tendency to avoid being dragged into entertaining guests. “But I have a rare unplanned evening, and I fancied some peace and quiet. It’s not an easy commodity to come by in London.”
“Maybe for you, but I’m sure there are plenty who manage. But it’s good you’re home, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I’m all pointy ears…”
“You’ve been spending too long with your vampire friend. He’s ruining your calibre of jokes.”
Gwil was rubbing off on him in all the ways he wished he wasn’t and none of the ways he wished he was. “You’ll be relieved to know that I’m equally intrusive to him.”
“You don’t say? Something you’re not telling me, Hyax? Got yourself a fang for a fucktoy?”
“There’s a reason why you’re my least favourite sibling. Now fuck off or tell me what you want to speak to me about.”
Wavel gave him a knowing look, and Hyax thought he should not have been so vitriolic in his rebuttal as it would only make Wavel even more suspicious. “Since you ask so nicely. I might be imagining things, but I think there’s something going on.”
“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, Wavel.”
“There’s been three security council meetings, in the last two weeks. Mother has denied that there’s anything going on and Father has insisted there’s nothing to be worried over.”
“Three meetings does sound excessive, unless there’s a big event in the planning. But there’s nothing I know of.” Hyax thought Wavel was right to be concerned. “Saying there’s nothing to worry about, doesn’t mean something isn’t going on. Perhaps they’re changing the membership, it’s not unheard of.”
“I might be willing to accept that if I hadn’t seen Goya, from the human realm’s Metropolitan Police, being escorted in.”
“What?” Goya was rumoured to be one part fae from a different faction to theirs, one part human, and the remaining undisclosed, but he wouldn’t have any jurisdiction in the fae realm.
“Mother wasn’t stupid enough to deny it, but didn’t tell me what he’d come for. I heard there’s been a series of raids in London—I can’t help but think they’re linked to Goya being here.”
None of this made much sense. The fae were never reliant on others. “Since when did we use an outside police force to do our work?”
“It might be the other way around, he could’ve come here to ask for our help.” Wavel didn’t sound convinced.
“I suppose so. Have any of the other tribes’ leaders been here?”
Wavel shook his head. “Not for special meetings—there was a visit of the Hydrai but that was the annual one.”
