Page 45 of House of Vampires and Flame

“Me?” I asked tentatively.

“Who else is Little Bob, Louis’s squire?”

“Why me?” I shouted across the room while other patrons stared at me. “I have to leave, sir. I have things to do. Prince Louis needs me to report to him within three minutes. I’m probably late already. If I don’t report for duty in time, he might whip me.”

Bea and I both got to our feet, ready to flee. But two mages positioned themselves to cut off my exit, the light-skinned one at the top of the stairs, the dark-skinned one heading to my table. Even if I got past the dark-skinned mage and shoved the light-skinned one off the stairs, the war mage patrolling outside the café would still round me up.

All the princes had tight security details on them, even in the academy. The houses didn’t take any chance with their heirs.

The dark-skinned mage looked at me and jerked his chin in his prince’s direction, which obviously meant, “You want to do this the easy way or the hard way, boy?”

It was inevitable that I had to face his prince then, and I didn’t think I’d like the hard way.

“You should go,” I told Bea.

She clenched her jaw, her lips pulling down as if they were weighted by anxiety. “I’m with you. Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”

Warmth swam in my chest. But I hadn’t earned her loyalty yet.

I jogged toward the mage prince’s table, hunching my shoulders. His goon escorted me to prevent me from escaping.

“Your Highness,” I greeted him. “I’m here at your summons. But we should make it quick. As I said before, Prince Louis is expecting me to report for duty soon.”

“What duty?” Cade asked, his ankle across his knee, as if he had all the time in the world.

“I’m not at liberty to say,” I said. “It’s a confidential house affair.”

“You’re actually good at lying, Little Bob, but not great,” he said. “Sit.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, sir,” I said.

He gave me a sharp look, and I dropped my ass on the soft bench. Bea stood beside the bench and bowed at the prince. She’d followed me.

“That’s not what I heard,” Cade said. “You picked a fight and did a number on a few model students in the Trailblazer Courtyard. You kicked a noble fae student in the nuts and blued his balls.”

I blinked. “I think I booted a shifter. A coyote? But he said he wasn’t a coyote. People lie these days.”

The mage standing behind the prince gave me a warning look. I shouldn’t have interrupted the prince then. For a servant, the rule was clear: do not speak to your superior unless you’re spoken to.

“Who the fuck cares if he’s a shifter or a fae.” Cade dismissed me with a wave of his hand. He had a gold ring with a large, pure sapphire on top. It must be the priceless house ring, since sapphires and pearls represented the House of Mages. “The more important thing is he won’t even be able to fuck a duck’s ass for a week.” Bea and I shared a look. Then I nodded humbly at the prince to indicate that I acknowledged that was terrible. “And all seven students whom you attacked viciously suffered magical trauma. They haven’t been able to summon their magic since you fled the scene.”

“Your Highness, that isn’t the truth,” Bea started, but I gave her a look to stop her.

Shit always hit the fan around me, but I didn’t want any of it to drop on Bea. Everyone picked on her already. If she displeased the head of her house, he might kick her out. And then where would she go?

“It was self-defense, high sir,” I said. “Those little shits tried to rob me, and I had to protect my interests!”

He arched a brow. “What interests?” he asked, intrigued.

“My ice cream.” I sold my blood to Louis for a dozen of them. “They tried to rob me of my ice cream!”

“Okay then.” He nodded. “You gotta respect anyone who’d do anything to defend his ice cream. In fact, I’m impressed with your fighting ability.”

Bea widened her eyes, but the worry ebbed out of her gray eyes.

“Thank you, sir,” I said, smiling at him. “You seem nicer than the other princes. Now, can I go?”

“Why don’t you come work for me instead?” he said. “There’s something about you that I can’t make out yet.”

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