Page 23 of Glass Hearts
“You are cursed,” I state. This gets all my brothers looking at Arabella.
“Ahh, yes. It seems none of my secrets are safe.”
I glare at her. Stop hiding from me, Vixen.
“You’re cursed? How?” Archer inquires.
Arabella sighs. “It is of no consequence to you all, so I am not sure why you care. But yes, I am attached to my stepfamily. I need to get married to break the curse.”
“Is that why you went to the masquerade ball? To find a husband while also stealing?” Koi asks.
She snorts. “Definitely not. What I said was true. I do not want to get married. It was just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
“Oh yes, an opportunity to steal from innocent people,” Archer snarls, not looking at her. Arabella rolls her eyes. As much as I don’t enjoy the tension in the carriage, it is nice seeing Arabella’s fire once more.
“She is also forgetting to mention that if she isn’t close to her stepmother for over twenty-four hours, she suffers extreme pain. No need to be tight-lipped about it, little thief,” I add, since we seem to be straying from the problem at hand.
“Motherfucker.” Koi puts his big hand on her other knee. I clench my fists even harder. They really need to stop touching her, but again, she doesn’t remove their hands.
“Yes, well, there isn’t much I can do about that, for now. So. Will I be heading straight to the dungeon? I imagine you wouldn’t want me actually serving you all.”
“Oh, Duchess, I would love to have you serve me.” Gray winks.
“Clearly, I am not a duchess, Prince Grayer.”
“Just Gray or Grayer to you… Or husband. Either works.”
She looks at Gray as if he had grown another head. Koi laughs.
“We aren’t sure what to do with you, Sunshine,” I catch him squeezing her thigh, bringing her attention back to him. “You will not be going to the dungeon. But I also don’t want you in the servants’ quarters. Those rooms are quite close to your stepfamily and where the other ladies will be staying.”
“I think we should put her in my room,”Grayer says in our bond.
“No,”I reply, “I think she should go into the room that is down the hall from us. That way we can monitor her and intercept her if she tries to leave.”
“The one that holds all our weapons at the moment? We will have to remove those.I don’t trust her,”Archer says.
“And we want to keep watch on you. We don’t want you stealing more things that don’t belong to you,” Archer sneers out loud.
“This all seems like a lot of trouble for a thief, no? I am really of little importance. I will steal nothing; that would be stupid since you all know about the shadow. Just put me in the servants’ quarters. It’s where I belong.”
“My future queen does not sleep in servants’ quarters, Duchess.”
“Why do you keep saying that?!” she replies exasperated.
Grayer shrugs. “Because you’re mine. Just waiting for you to catch up, love.” I don’t miss the sharp intake of her breath and the heat in her eyes.
“We also need to have you close so we can intercept Gray. Do not listen to him, little thief, he just wants to fuck you. You are not on the list, like your stepmother said, don’t get any ideas.” Archer curls his lip.
Grayer’s knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists, his gaze alone a weapon sharp enough to sever Archer’s neck.
“Stand down, Gray, we will need to have a chat later. All of us.”
Mercifully, the carriage creaked to a halt, leaving a hollow echo where bitter words had hung only moments before.
The sisters seem to be getting out of the carriage already and ordering our staff about as we arrive behind them. This is going to be a long few weeks.
Koi offers his hand to her for the dismount, but she shakes her head and whispers to him, “They will see, and I don’t need to give them more ammo for their dislike of me.”
