Page 53 of The King's Maiden

But his voice rang out before I could get far.

“That’s right, Princess.”

I glared at him over my shoulder.

“But you came back, didn’t you?” Shoving his hands into his pockets, he stepped backwards and didn’t even try to conceal the wicked gleam in his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders. “Guess you’re not a quitter or crybaby, after all.”

“Yeah, well, too bad for you, I don’t fuck assholes.”

His eyebrows rose. “Noted.” The wide grin on his face made me instantly regret my word choice. “That can be my job, then.”

My mouth gaped at the suggestion before I had the wherewithal to snap it shut and glare.

But of course, Max Dread had to notice. And decided to be a crude assh—dickhead—about it.

“I bet there are a lot of dark places we could explore, Princess.” He walked away, calling out over his shoulder. “When the White Knight leaves you high and dry, come find me.”

Chapter Fifteen

QUINN

“Don’t hold your breath,” I muttered. “Or do. Cocky bastard.”

Shaking off Max’s parting remarks, I refocused. As much as I’d wanted to give Kingston a piece of my mind for kissing and dismissing me without a word, running for my life had given me perspective. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. Lick my wounds in peace, without the looming threat of three hot dicks hanging over my head.

Rounding the corner of the building, I groaned.

The mere thought of the hot dickheads had manifested another, and the next person I laid eyes on was Landon Scott. He’d found my things at the gate. And he was in the process of dragging them inside the building.

“Hey!” I called out, jogging up to him. “That’s my stuff.”

“And you’remyMaiden,” he responded without turning his head, as if the sound of my voice triggered him to be a jerk. “You’re also late.”

Eying me as I hurried up the steps after him, he didn’t stop moving. He was an efficient bastard—I’d give him that—managing to survey my disheveled appearance with an unimpressed sweep of his gaze while dragging my stuff behind him.

Something about my face even provoked a frown, but he pushed through the main doors with his back, going inside without another word.

I chased after him, catching the main doors before they could slam in my face. They swung closed behind me and a boom echoed through the giant foyer.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “That’s just like the table at Winchester.”

The main house opened to a large foyer with high ceilings and doors leading to different areas on my left and right. Straight ahead, a staircase made of dark wood led up to the second floor, and hanging on the wall above it was a replica of the Round Table. It had twelve green and twelve white rays radiating out from the red circle in the center, with an image of King Arthur at the head of the table.

Landon assessed me from the corner of his eye. “You read up on the Knights this week?”

I nodded, my eyes still fixed on the replica. From where we stood, I couldn’t make out the names scribed above each seat, but I wondered if their version had the original names or the corresponding families in their society. A society that was becoming more real and less like a game of make-believe the longer I spent around its members.

“That’s good.”

“It is?” I cocked my head toward him. “Why? Will that help me in The Quest?”

He shrugged. “It depends. It comes down to you more than anything. I’ve heard of Maidens winning in the past because they found a clue using the old lore, but plenty have won without ever picking up a book.”

“Found a clue?”

“You’ll see when you get to the last challenge.”

When—not if.

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