Page 27 of The Prince of New York

Groaning, I bowed my head, pressed the button to accept the call, and held the blasted device to my ear. “It’s not my fault, Rachel.”

My sister sighed. “Ian, you idiot.”

“Blame Melody. She was supposed to keep the fever from making me do something stupid, but here I am doing something stupid. Please tell me I didn’t do anything stupid with my talent.”

“You did not do anything stupid with your talent. You waited until my babies fell asleep, got up, acted relatively normal, got dressed, and then decided you were going for a stroll. One RPS agent went to fetch Melody, because it was obvious you were on autopilot and running a fever. Then something agitated you, and rather than possibly trip your trigger, Terry ordered the agents to shadow you at a safe distance and only intervene if you did something dangerous to yourself or someone else. Melody backed him, so here we are. You went on a wander, and as you didn’t decide to go swimming in a storm drain, you were left to your devices. After I got up, I was given the job of calling you every five minutes until you got with the program enough to realize your phone is in your pocket. They didn’t bother to wake me when you first started fussing. They did wake Ethan, but he told them to just double your security while you were on your stroll, fetched my babies, and told them I was getting cold and that you were doing things with your agents, so my babies aren’t upset.”

All right. As long as my sister’s tigers were happy, she was happy, which meant everyone in the palace had no reason to be unhappy. I reevaluated my situation, which was better than my initial impression. “Fevered flameweavers are given space?”

“Yep. We haven’t done your evaluations on stuff like this. They know how to handle me because we had to deal with it, like it or not. You’re generally healthy, but you have a history.” My sister let loose a gusty sigh. “I’m far more trouble than you are.”

No kidding. “I just have a history of losing my mind and wandering off.”

“You did try to go out the window once, but one of the agents suggested that you try the door. You had no idea what a door was, Ian. The poor guy had to show you how doors work. You understood the whole idea of a window, but a door?” My sister burst into laughter. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing, but I got to watch the footage from the body cam. You just wanted to go on a walk, and you were trying so hard not to be a bother.”

Goodness. I supposed entertaining the RPS agents for a change beat them quitting due to boredom. “Yet here I am, being a bother.”

“But you’re an amusing bother. The RPS agents are having fun. However, it would be a good time for you to wander back to the palace. You need breakfast, fluids, and Melody wants to check and see how your poor brain is doing. And yes, you do have RPS agents shadowing you. Terry is quite pleased, as you interacted well with the staff in your fevered state, you didn’t view them as a threat, and you even had a very confused conversation with one as you started your stroll. Something about salmon with honey glaze?”

Fuck. Fevered me must have fixated on the limited good experiences with our parents. “You know that was one of my favorite foods growing up.”

“It doesn’t contain alcohol, so when you had it, you didn’t get sick. Our parents never understood your absolute love affair with honeyed salmon. I remember you loved the dish as a kid, I just didn’t realize you were trying to tell the RPS agents about how much you loved it. We haven’t made hardly anything that we had growing up. I’ll ask the kitchen if we can get salmon for tonight and do it. I liked it, too.”

It hadn’t gotten her ill, either. “It appears that in my fevered state, I came out to the woods in search of salmon.”

“Oh, Ian. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Well, unless you ordered me to get out of bed and go look for salmon. If you did, I’m impressed with your ruthlessness.”

My sister giggled. “I’m innocent of that. Still, I feel like we could have done a better job of handling this.”

“Rachel, I got out of bed in the middle of the night, while fevered, put on one of my best suits, and went on a walk in search of salmon. I don’t even know what day of the week it is anymore.” Melody, upon hearing about the salmon, would hug me into submission.

She knew my history with the dish, and whenever I went to Maine, she made certain the chefs made me salmon smothered in honey.

“It’s Friday. You’ve been a mess all week, and every time Melody thought she got your concussion under control, you’d suffer from some sort of setback, she’d use her talent, your fever would come back, and it was an endless cycle of misery. Mostly for you. We’re going to have a flock of Californian RPS agents incoming, as it’s good practice for them to deal with you in this state. I’ve been told, repeatedly, that it’s not my fault you have scrambled eggs for brains. Melody does think you’ll actually recover after this bout. She figured out the primary source of your woes and plans to deal with it.”

“Dare I ask?”

“Melody can explain it to you. She is taking a wander your way with Madelyn in tow. Madelyn is horrified you went on a stroll. Apparently, princes do not go on strolls in the middle of the night. She’s never going to sleep again if you insist on going on fevered strolls.”

I raised a brow at that. “Why can’t princes go on a stroll in the middle of the night?”

“She’s not quite clear on what it means to be an aide, and we started her off keeping an eye on you in your current state. I’ll have Terry get her situated and show her how aides actually live their lives, which does not involve following their royal around all the time.”

“But what if I want her to follow me around all the time?” I complained. “I really do not mind if she follows me around.” If Madelyn followed me everywhere, I could keep an eye out for the asshole who’d abused her. I’d have Terry show me the bastard’s picture until it was burned into my memory. “What about her ex?”

“She has been successfully moved into the palace. You don’t remember this, but you already met her cats, and to her dismay, you ended up taking a nap in the living room of her suite with them. You were introducing yourself and passed out. Her cats like you, and you like them, so as far as Madelyn is concerned, you can’t be that bad. Her cats hated her ex.”

I could work with being liked by her cats. “Is now a good time to confess I actually like cats?”

“Ian, I had that figured out after the first time you got a chance to be with my babies without an audience. The empaths tattled on you. All we have to do to improve your mood is give you some reading or puzzle time with my babies. You even perk up after taking care of my rats. You are busted.”

Damn. My sister must have been upset upon finding out the fever had sent me off on an adventure. As I’d already gotten into trouble, I headed for the stone picnic bench, checked it for dew, and once I determined it was dry, sat on the table. “To make it easier on everyone having to deal with me, I have decided to sit and wait at the picnic table.”

“Good call. Now that you’re back with us, could you try to feel better by Monday? If I can send you off to California on Monday, the RPS will like both of us. They’re edgy about Madelyn. Can your junkyard wait?”

“I have some fairly valuable metals in there right now, but if someone is watching over the place, I don’t mind leaving it until I’m back.”

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