Page 54 of Death God

My heart sank.

Neither Shade nor his men could leave. Who would get the message to Marlowe?

“Sounds good,” Shade said. “Happy to help, Your Majesty.”

I could no longer deal with the horseman or any more bad news, so I slipped out of his reach before he could wrap his arm around my shoulder.

“Excuse us, please,” I said as I jogged away from him and his group, not looking back. “I need to get my family settled in. My nephew is tired. He needs to take a nap.”

“I’m not tired,” Jacob protested. “I don’t want to take a nap.”

“Oh, you will,” Sam said sternly. “And you’ll take a bath before that.”

CHAPTER 14

I took Jacob from Dylan’s hands and kept heading toward our van. My family quickly followed, as did the guards.

Freckles and one of Shade’s guards stuck closely to my family as their new guards. A group of four mages and witches also trailed after us.

I couldn’t ditch them altogether, but I’d decreed that they weren’t allowed to enter my room or my family’s suite. Any mage or witch trespassers would be dealt with brutally, and that was my message to them.

We were at war, though they dared not harm me before their dark lord decided to dispose of me.

Duck Shit eyed Freckles in suspicion. “I know all of the prince’s guards, but I’ve never seen you before. Where did you come from?”

I snorted before Freckles could answer. “Think you’re the most popular guy so you just know everyone, Duck Shit? You’re as nosy as a fishwife.”

He scowled at me.

“James Hodge here got a promotion,” the shifter who was with Freckles said. “You probably never saw him in the ranks of the regular soldiers before. By the way, I’m Bruce.”

Freckles had a fake name.

“What made the prince lift you out of oblivion, Hodge?” Duck Shit asked.

“I’m good at tracking,” Freckles said. “I’m a tracker.”

“Interesting,” Duck Shit said.

We reached our silver van; the honey badger remained behind the wheel.

“You two get in the second van.” Duck Shit jerked his chin toward Freckles and Bruce.

“You don’t get to order them, DS,” I said. “They’re my family’s guards, so they’re under my sister Sam’s command. They’ll be with my family at all times. You, however, can get in the second van.”

“Sorry, DS,” Freckles said as he gave the inside of the van a scan before getting in. “She outranks you.”

“Don’t call me that,” Duck Shit growled. “The commander ordered me to stick to you like glue, so I’m staying in this van too. The front passenger seat will always be mine.”

In the end, the honey badger shifter, DS, Freckles, Bruce, my family, and I packed into the van, and the rest of the guards had to take the second van.

As our van cruised ahead, I turned to look back through the rear window. The Alpha King stared right at me as if he’d caught a goldfish in a net.

I controlled a shiver and turned back to stare ahead into empty space, yet an ominous feeling haunted me and coated my skin like slime that I couldn’t shake off.

We got my family settled in the suite next to my room in the west wing. The maids brought food and drinks for us.

I waited for a few minutes before I opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. Duck Shit had taken off. Two guards from Going-gray’s security detail stayed with Bruce and Freckles outside the door to the suite. Two witches strolled along the hallway, probably trying to figure out a way to cast nasty spells on the outside wall of my room.

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