Page 77 of Searching for the Prince
Oliver appeared genuinely surprised by the question. “Why would I? We spent long enough together already. I’m more than happy with the young gentleman I keep around for the odd bit of relief.”
“Still dating the model then?” It came out sounding more bitter than he intended.
“I wouldn’t call it dating. I wouldn’t even say friends with benefits, just when we’re in the same place it makes sense. And only if I’m not busy. Some of my experiments cannot be interrupted.”
Gwil had grown tired of coming second to a cauldron, and while Hyax was a keen brewer in his own right, he’d never felt he was less important than freshly diced lizard spleen. “So, you didn’t tell Queen Vaness of the Elementa tribe that you didn’t care who Hyax married as long as it wasn’t me, and so her son would be the perfect option?”
Oliver puffed out his cheeks and screwed up his nose, which was a sure sign he was being asked something he didn’t want to answer. “I might have used words in a roundabout fashion, but it was more that I needed to find a way to get to the golashe without them figuring out why. So, for them, the marriage is the real reason and the golashe was sort of thrown in for good measure to cover my tracks.”
If the bastard wasn’t already dead, Gwil would have killed him. He had a machete in a cupboard, he could lop off his head, but then someone would be bound to come looking for him. “You sold me out for a load of chalk. What the fuck are you playing at?”
“It’s not chalk. Its value isn’t obvious to a mere layman like yourself.”
“Oliver, I’m about to fucking blow my top. As it stands, you’ve sold my happiness down the river for fae chalk, so you spluttering and being all indignant ain’t gonna cut it. I want the truth.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
“No, but Sebastian Hewel and Liam Cartwright both owe me personal favours and I’m not above calling them in for petty revenge.”
He knew they were big names to throw around, but Oliver was too rich and influential to threaten him with someone of less significance.
“How did you get so friendly with two Heads of House?”
At least he’d not dismissed him outright. “I did some work for the Flints, the nature of which is covered by client confidentiality. Now stop being an arsehole and tell me what you did.”
His reputation was growing, and Oliver would know it wasn’t beyond Gwil’s sphere of influence, especially considering his sister, that he might be able to help Vampire Council members.
“I’d heard that Queen Talia wasn’t too keen on you and your precious Hyax’s relationship… not surprising really, but I didn’t care until I heard Queen Vaness had put her son on the suitor list for Prince Hyax.”
Oliver had the sort of money that he could find out information, and if he was keeping track of Gwil this would be something he’d collect. “What of it?”
“Like I said, I didn’t have a horse in the race until I realised I’d cracked a missing piece of my new blood-batching process that will elevate the operation exponentially. Trouble was it was a fae mineral that I didn’t have ready access to.”
Oliver’s research decades before had led the way for the whole bottled blood industry. He’d tinkered for years before he’d perfected the process, and he wasn’t the sort to stop playing. Knowing Oliver, the improvements would create a new stepwise change, and he wasn’t going to let something as insignificant as his ex-boyfriend’s happiness get in the way. “The golashe?”
“It’s an extract from golashe, but yes.”
“And you couldn’t just buy this from the Elementa without involving me and Hyax?”
“I couldn’t let them know the truth, they’d start asking a fortune for the stuff. I found out they were on shaky ground financially but that just meant they’d want as much as they could get, so I came up with the idea that I would give them the money if Hyax married Metra to stop Hyax marrying you, and golashe was the cover.”
The bastard was fucking proud of his thinking. “I can’t believe you’d do that to me! Actually, I can. You don’t care about anything, do you? You’re not capable of it.”
“That’s not fair. You’ve not suffered and give it a little while and Hyax can divorce Metra.”
“But I bet you’re paying the Elementa a monthly fee for them to remain married, and they ship you your rocks as if that’s what you’re paying for.”
“Gwil, you were always cleverer than you looked. It’s why we lasted so long.” Oliver smiled, the fucker thinking he was paying Gwil a compliment.
“You need to stop.”
“No, not yet. I will, but I need a few more months. Then I’ll have found a way to synthesize the extract and I won’t need the raw golashe.” He shrugged. “I have a contract through to the end of the year. It’s magically binding, I couldn’t break it if I wanted to.”
“I’m sure Hyax could help.”
“I’m not sure the two tribes are going to want to admit they were manipulated by an outside influence when all they need to do is wait it out a few months.”
Gwil knew Oliver was a selfish cunt, deep down he’d always been a bit of a shit, and once they’d broken up, Gwil hadn’t missed the fucker and had considered himself well out of long-term relationships until Hyax had come along and blindsided him.
