Page 22 of Kiss of a Hellish Prince

“How do I make sure she doesn’t outright loathe me?”

“Just don’t hurt me.” I shrugged. “Vivi is the easy one. It’s Sarah that you are going to have a hard time with,” I said, getting into the SUV and sliding in next to Sarah, who was still unusually quiet. “Girl, talk to me.”

“Later. I promise. I think we both have some stuff to tell each other.” She didn’t look at me, her eyes stared straight ahead. There was something else going on with her, I knew I had a lot of explaining to do, but I had no clue what she needed to tell me.

The drive downtown was uneventful. I listened to Vivi pepper Murmur with questions, starting with why Rune had horns when he’d stormed in to why demons lived in Phoenix.

Murmur mostly told Vivi things I already knew; his answers were simple and vague.

What I hadn’t known was Phoenix had over four hundred Elysians—that is people from Heaven, Hell, or Faerie. Their compound the castle, was the only representative of Elysians in Phoenix, but there was an Angelic embassy in Las Vegas and a Faerie one in Beverly Hills.

Any Elysians could come to them for help, not just demons.

But to be honest, I was more worried about Sarah. Quiet and contemplative was always a bit of a scary look for her. I knew and loved how intense her resting bitch face usually was, but this was more. Her eyebrows were pulled into a scowl, her eyes red and puffy from tears, and her lip had small indentations where she had been biting them.

When we pulled onto Central Avenue, I finally got a look at the building from the outside. It was a large brownstone that looked very out of place, surrounded by the southwestern structures around it. It really looked like a castle. I’d always assumed the building was filled with overpriced condos.

It was a suitable cover, though. Most people would assume it was housing and drive right by, but those looking for it would have no problems finding it. Ever. It stuck out and definitely earned the nickname ‘the castle.’

Rune pulled the SUV into an underground parking garage. Murmur hopped out and opened the door for Vivi and Sarah. When I slid out of the driver’s side, Rune offered me a hand to help me jump down. It wasn’t that high, and I am tall, but I took his hand anyway.

“Look, I just wanted to say I am sorry this is happening to you.” Rune rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t say I’m upset about you being back here though, but I would much rather it be under…other circumstances.”

“Other circumstances?” I asked, walking to the back of the SUV to get my bag.

“Yup, other circumstances. Look, I understand why you went down to protect your sisters. I get it. But while you are here, I need you to follow the rules. You know a lot more about us than you should already, but you are a human, so I need you to stay in and keep the other two in the living areas.” He reached around me and grabbed my bag, throwing it over his shoulder.

“You want us to just stay in our room? Are we grounded?”

“No, just the living areas. There are the dorms, the kitchen, library, theater, and even a small gym. There are just areas I can’t have you wandering.”

“Hey, Rune,” Murmur said, “let’s give the grand tour and house rules after we find some food and figure out which rooms they are actually staying in. Yeah?”

* * *

Without waiting for any response, he led everyone into the main building with the unicorn back under his arm. He led us into an area I hadn’t been in this morning, I think. All the halls looked the same.

This area looked like a huge formal living room, complete with a massive fireplace and several seating areas.

In one of the overstuffed wingback chairs was the same girl with red wings I saw this morning. She was curled up in the chair with her legs tucked under her, and her head bent, focused on the phone in her hands.

“Hey, Evie, we have company,” Murmur called out to her.

She held up a finger.

“Annie Gaines?” Vivi said next to me. Her eyes were wide in shock.

Evie put down her phone. Her shocked expression mirrored Vivi’s. “She Nan?” Evie whispered before launching herself off the chair and running towards us.

Vivi ran to meet her in the middle.

I would never understand how two small girls could make so much noise. They were yelling, squealing, jumping, and hugging.

At least everyone else looked as thrown off as I felt.

“Ladies, you want to fill us in?” Murmur said when the ear-piercing screams died down.

“We are partners in a morally ambiguous crew of definitely not assassins for hire,” Vivi explained.

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