Page 40 of Orange Spell
Chapter Ten
Curran wasn’t quiterunning down the hallway, but it was a close thing.He had to be careful because he didn’t have the same balance as he did before, but this couldn’t wait.
He wanted to scream.He’d gone straight to Marlin’s room the way he was supposed to, but Marlin hadn’t been there, which hadn’t been a surprise.It was the middle of the day, so Marlin had to be at work, which meant going to Killian’s office.It wasn’t one of Curran’s favorite places in the palace, but he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now because it was the safest place in the palace.
He rushed past a group of three dragons who gave him dirty looks that he ignored as he turned the corner.He was going too fast, and he almost toppled over when the weight of his stomach unbalanced him.He managed to catch himself on a small table that held a vase full of flowers, but unfortunately for the vase, it didn’t survive.It crashed to the floor by Curran’s feet, getting water and petals everywhere.
That was how Birch found him when he peeked out of Tito’s office.His eyes widened, and he rushed to Curran’s side while Curran was trying really hard not to cry for breaking the vase, almost hurting himself and everything else.
“What happened?”Birch asked, reaching for Curran.
“I was moving too fast.I’m sorry.This wasn’t one of Killian’s favorite vases or something, right?He’s not going to hate me because I broke it?”A thought passed through Curran’s mind.“Wait, it wasn’t thequeen’sfavorite vase, right?”That would be even worse.Curran was familiar enough with Killian that he knew everything would be okay with him, but the queen?
“Breathe,” Birch ordered.“No, it wasn’t Killian’s favorite vase, or the queen’s.I don’t think either of them has looked at it twice.”
Curran nodded and leaned against the wall.“Good.”
“I’m going to call someone to clean this up and bring a towel.What were you doing running down the hallway?You need to be more careful.”
Curran glared at his brother, but Birch was right.He did need to be more careful.He couldn’t let anything happen to the baby, especially not because of Pearl.
“What’s going on?”Birch asked as he grabbed both of Curran’s shoulders and turned him so they could look each other in the eyes.
Curran sucked in a breath.“Someone pushed this under the front door,” he said, holding up a piece of paper.It was a miracle he hadn’t dropped it somewhere along the way.
Birch frowned and grabbed the paper.The note written on it was short, so it was only a moment before he grabbed Curran’s arm and dragged him toward Killian’s office.Curran went willingly.He wanted the king to know what had happened.He wanted Marlin, too.He needed his presence so he’d hopefully feel a bit calmer about all of this.
They marched through Tito’s office and straight through Killian’s door.Killian was behind his desk, as always, and he looked up, blinking.He smiled when he saw Curran, but it didn’t last long.Birch raised the note, and his words were enough for Killian to stop smiling.
“Pearl contacted Curran.”
Movement to the right made Curran turn.He wasn’t sure what Marlin had been doing by the window, but now, he was coming toward him.Just like Birch had done earlier, he grabbed Curran’s shoulders.He looked him up and down as if making sure that Curran was okay.Curran wanted nothing more than to step closer and hug him, but he wasn’t sure it was something he should do right now.
Marlin took the decision out of Curran’s hands when he pulled him into a tight hug.Curran released a breath.He was safe.He and his baby both were.
“What does she want?”Killian asked as he held out his hand for the piece of paper.
“To meet me,” Curran told him.“She says she wants to check in on me.”
“We all know that’s a lie,” Marlin said.“She doesn’t care about Curran.She’s just trying to get to Killian.”
Killian raised a hand and read the few words on the piece of paper.He handed it back to Birch, who looked like he wanted to burn it.Curran kind of wished he would.Just thinking about the note made his skin crawl.
“We can all agree on that,” Killian said.“But it doesn’t mean we should dismiss this.”
Marlin went rigid against Curran.“You can’t seriously be thinking of letting him go,” he snapped.
Curran hadn’t even thought about that being a possibility.He didn’t want to see Pearl.At the same time, what if this was the only way to get rid of her?Curran might not be as close to the king as his brother and Marlin were, but it didn’t mean he wanted something to happen to him.The clan was finally in a good place.Having Pearl on the throne would ruin that.More selfishly, having her as their queen would put Birch and Marlin in danger, and that wasn’t something Curran wanted to happen.
“She wants to meet him in one of the gardens,” Killian said.“There’ll be people around.She won’t hurt him.”
Marlin shook his head.“This is ridiculous.He’s pregnant.”
“We’re not putting Curran or the baby in danger.”
