Page 3 of Bound By Honey

"You can't take the book! It is property of the royal family!" she threatened.

The man once again shook his head and laughed.

"That's cute," he said sarcastically, looking down at her with a smirk.

"I won't let you leave with the book. I have to have it back." Her hands went to her hips.

To her surprise, he shrugged, turned on his heels, and left the library. The three other men followed him. As they walked away, Sage was very aware of the crowd’s eyes still surrounding her. Their glares and whispers only made her failure sting even worse.

"Sage?"

Will's voice broke through her thoughts, and she spun to face him.

"What just happened?" he asked, looking just as confused as she felt.

Shaking her head, Sage tried to make sense of it all. "I don't know. They just came in and took the book."

"Did you try to stop them?"

"Of course I did!" she snapped, feeling defensive.

Will held up his hands in surrender.

Sage sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I tried to stop them, but they were too fast. They just took the book and left."

"Did they say anything?"

"The blond fae said he would return it later," she replied bitterly.

Her friend frowned. "Who do they think they are?!"

"They're the Charming Four.” Piper's voice made Sage jump. “The top mage guild in the kingdom. Every guy wants to be like them, and every girl wants to be with them."

"That doesn't give them a right to show up here and act like they own the place," Will replied.

"Technically, it does."

From the look on Piper's face, Sage could tell she wouldn't like this.

"The blond carrying the book is Colby. The oldest son of the Duke of Tishire. The redhead is his cousin, Sawyer. He's the third in line to inherit Brinedin. Both are ice mages who are quite literally as cool as their magic. Asher is the one whose eyes are like melted chocolate you want to sink right into. He has no title but is from a family far richer than the other two as the heir to a collection of gem mines. His earth magic is legendary."

The reality of what she had just done was starting to sink in.

"And the grumpy one?" she whispered.

Piper's grin spread from ear to ear, and her eyes gained a far-off look, "He's the king's third son, Finn. A fire mage. His magic is far more powerful than his older brothers. I heard he wiped out an entire invading army on his own. Just roasted them up like marshmallows."

Will pretended to retch. "Ewww... Thanks for the visual. Thanks to you, I don't know if I can eat marshmallows again."

"You're welcome!” Piper replied with a wink. “I can't believe we got to see them."

"Why's that?"

"Usually, they are out on secret missions for the king, and when they're home, they stick to themselves other than when they're dating only the most beautiful girls in the city."

Sage couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Great, so now I look ridiculous."

Piper shrugged. “You’re cute when you’re ridiculous," she added with a smile that Sage returned weakly. "You'll get over it. Just learn from your mistakes and don't do it again. They're not worth risking your reputation."

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