Page 37 of Bros Come Before Hordes
"I don't believe you,” Rio spat, standing too. Her light blue dress and frizzy blonde curls had a lot more movement to them, and they kept blowing into Petra who batted them away. “I don't believe anything you say. You're a liar. You’re a thief and a murderer. That...woman with a knife at your throat doesn't prove a damn thing. The fae aren't here. You just want us to believe that."
"Why the fuck would I want to go to war with the fae, Rio?” The words were sharp and biting, and I imagined them chomping off her head. “Will you listen to yourself?"
Petra arched her eyebrow and crossed her arms. "For the same reason you wanted the crown on top of your head. You want to rule usandthe fae, and probably your shitty species too."
I didn't want to rule anyone, but I wasn't about to tell them that.
Rio jabbed a finger at me, her face contorted with rage. "You are fucking crazy, you know that? You’re not going to say a word about your harem? Not one?" She faced the rest of the shifters. "For their protection, we took them from her this morning. She tried to kill Calhoun right in front of us.This menace doesn’t deserve her harem or the crown."
For their protection... They were safe, then. Right now, at least.
But if I took Rio and Petra to the dungeon, someone might retaliate against my harem. I had to make it look like I didn't care. With them away from me, locked somewhere out of sight from the fae, that was where they'd be safest until I could somehow make everything right. If that meant every shifter thought I was a psycho bitch, then so be it.
I looked right at Rio and told her the biggest lie of my life. "I got what I wanted from them."
Both of their jaws fell to their heels as their anger bubbled over. The rest of the shifters squirmed in their seats uneasily.
"Go home and be wary of anyone without a tattoo on the back of their neck,” I said, facing the rest of the crowd again. “You can either believe me...or you can be the faes’ next victim. Your choice." My stomach sank at the fearful looks they were throwing me. Me, and not what they should be scared of. "We're done here."
I climbed down the steps, my crown feeling much too heavy. The dragon shifters glared and gnashed their teeth, but they were smart enough not to stop me. They knew they weren't supposed to touch the crown or they'd get zapped to death. They stayed well away from the rest of me, too, and I wondered just how psychotic I looked right then with my mottled skin, bedhead hair, and the painful twist in my heart from the lie I’d told them. Besides, without their shifter power, they couldn’t do a lot to stop me. We were on as even a level as we’d ever been.
As I walked toward the front castle doors, I kept an eye out for this Belle Harrison lady, but I had no idea what she looked like, or how she'd even get here. If she wasn't here in ten, I'd go to the fae land myself by car.
I had the map and I had my will. That was enough.
Once inside the castle, I checked in on Asa in the art room. "Good job, buddy."
"No prob." He turned, and his eyes just about popped out when he saw my crown. "Sweet!"
"Thanks.” I managed a smile for his benefit. “Hey, I'm going to take a short trip today to help get back Tavis, Calhoun, and Vance, okay? You'll be all right in here?"
I knew he would be, at least physically. But if my harem died, the magic protecting him would too. I needed to hurry.
He nodded, his face falling a little.
"I'll get them back," I promised. "And then we'll do rock painting, the five of us."
His mouth twisted into a skeptical frown. "Calhoun will never go for that."
"Good point," I said, my chest tightening at how much I missed him. How much I missedallof them. They’d been a constant source of support, and now to have that gone made me feel even more like I didn’t know what I was doing. "I'll be back before you know it."
When I opened the door to my bedroom, I stopped short, my pulse erupting in triple time. A very pretty woman, maybe a few years older than me, sat on my bed, but she was unlike anyone I'd ever seen before. Her eyes were like the deep orange of a sunset, and her long blonde curls had been tucked into a bun on the top of her head and speared through with a curved white thing that looked suspiciously like some weird bone. She wore a shirt with a yellow sponge on it, jeans, and black leather boots she swung over the wooden floor below.
"Belle Harrison," I guessed.
Her curious expression while she stared at me sagged some before she smiled with a little too much teeth. "Just Belle, please. I take it you're Queen Yara?"
I nodded. "Just Yara."
She smiled, a real one this time."Are you not human? Because you look human."
"I was, but now I have a touch of dragon fire. Are...you human?"
She hopped off the tall bed and landed gracefully. "Vampire slash slayer slash fae slash pirate. It's a bit of a long story."
"Fae?" My muscles coiled, the broken Queen’s Cross and Titanosaur taped to my thighs flashing through my head. My only weapons.
She raised her hands as if to ward me off. "Hold up. Relax. I'm the sunshine kind of fae, not the dark kind you're dealing with."
