Page 11 of Searching for the Prince
“Yeah, I’ve always stuff to do but nothing that can’t wait.”
“Give me half an hour, there’s somewhere I want to take you, but I need to arrange a couple of things.”
Gwil seemed bemused. “What are you playing at?”
“I assure you I’m not playing. Take a shower, put on something nice, I’m going to show you off at home, but I need to call in a couple of favours.”
“Hyax?”
He opened a portal. “Make yourself pretty, I’m going to show the fae world that you’re my beloved. I might have to call Metra my husband, but there’ll be no doubt where my real affections lie.”
Gwil bit his lip. “You don’t have to do anything.”
“Yes, I do.”
He stepped through the portal into a reception area for La Pian. The fae behind the desk squeaked as she recognised him. “Your Highness! How can I be of assistance?”
He felt sorry for her, she was young, and while La Pian catered for the elite of fae society, she wouldn’t have expected him to arrive unannounced.
“I want a table on the mound, first press ambrosia and a viewing suite for two.”
“Of course, Prince Hyax. When would you like it?”
“Now.”
He saw her wings vibrate and he guessed his request wouldn’t be easy. “We are fully booked at the moment.”
“Right. How soon?”
She frantically checked the list in front of her, and while Hyax didn’t like to throw his rank around, he wasn’t above doing so today.
“If you could give me an hour, I can make it happen.”
He smiled. “Thank you, I’ll be very appreciative.”
Hyax stepped through a portal into his rooms at the palace. He sent Gwil a text that he’d collect him in an hour and set about getting ready. Removing his jacket, he remembered the spark from Queen Hylei.
He laid the small glowing ball in the palm of his hand and spoke his birth date. Often, these were tuned to the recipient’s magic, but they had only met once, at the wedding, and she wouldn’t have been able to lock onto him.
“Prince Hyax,” the message began, “you will have been contacted via your partner’s sire. I apologise for using that channel but official communication opportunities between our tribes are limited, and I am beyond desperate. I hope you can help me. My son was kidnapped, we can’t trace him, and we have used every avenue we can think of apart from one… you have a vampire lover, and I believe there is an alternative branch of magic you can access, or you may already have. This spark is encoded with a signature that will allow us to correspond with each other, if you are willing to help, please contact me. I will be forever grateful.”
Hyax would have thought that with James being a vampire-fae he’d have been able to utilise the magic Hylei had mentioned, but it sounded as if that wasn’t the case. He sent back a spark message of his own, confirming he would be happy to help but would need more details.
For now, he would need to wait for her reply, and he had a date with his favourite sexy vampire.
CHAPTER FIVE
Over the last few months, Hyax had taken Gwil to several swanky places in London, but they’d not visited the fae realm apart from a soiree at the palace where Queen Talia had thanked him for helping with the recovery of the stone. Gwil hadn’t expected to be invited for a regular family dinner, but it would have been nice for his future in-laws to have shown a little interest in him. Although that wasn’t fair, theywereinterested in him, they just didn’t want him marrying their son, and he wasn’t convinced they were that happy about him being Hyax’s walking sex toy either, which meant calling them his future in-laws was technically incorrect.
Hyax had told him to make himself pretty, but that was a daunting task given the default setting for fae was drop-dead gorgeous, and no matter how much he tried he wouldn’t be able to pass muster with creatures who had iridescent wings and were set to auto-sparkle. He’d showered and selected jeans and a designer shirt, both of which were Hyax-approved, plus a leather jacket. He hesitated, wondering if he should suit up, but his best one was at the dry cleaners and Hyax wouldn’t be impressed by the off-the-peg offerings he could wrangle up instead.
A portal opened and Hyax stepped through, stunning as ever in fae clothing he wouldn’t describe as formal but made Gwil look like he’d be there to open doors and not get in the way.
“Oh, you know I love that shirt,” Hyax said, claiming a kiss.
He didn’t give Gwil time to answer and pulled him through the portal. For some reason, travelling direct to the fae realm didn’t cause the issues as moving between two points in his own world. Hyax had said he thought it something to do with the way magic drained in a particular direction, but he hadn’t been able to figure it out completely, which he was still pissed off about.
Fae sunlight wasn’t a problem, but Gwil thought it would have been worth a few crispy patches for the view. They’d emerged onto a terrace overlooking the fae meadowland, long grass swaying and a blanket of tiny lights stretching out miles in front of them. The sky was a mix of blue with heavy clouds tinged with pink and purple.
