Page 14 of The Desert Prince's Jewel
My pride may actually be the death of me.
“Let’s go. I… I will meet Mateo tonight. Can you cover for me for a while so I can slip out?” I ask, turning and smiling as Rohan jogs up the hallway, his belt askew and uniform wrinkled.
Ah, so Kunal decided to teach him a lesson and refused to wake him tonight or prepare his clothing. Good for him. The oldest among us needs to grow up already and stop relying on his mate for everything.
“Of course I can cover for you,” Kunal says, as I turn back to face him.
He beams at me with a smile so unguarded that it causes me to freeze. He hasn’t been that friendly with me since I was a child confined to the inner nest. He reaches up and pats my shoulder before clutching it again.
“Of course…Ranbir,” he says, working his mouth as if my name is sour on his tongue, “Ranbir, my prince, you can trust us to keep Layla in the dark. So go and make amends with Mateo before it’s too late. You can’t stay up all day and all night anymore than we can risk never finding the stone.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nod again, knowing my words will fail me if I try to speak. We all pretend to be on duty afterward, creeping towards the first floor’s back entrance so I can slip across the courtyard to Cafe Magnifique.
No, I should check the parking lot first. Sometimes, Mateo spends an unreasonable amount of time in his car before and after his shift. Not that I’m stalking him or anything creepy like that! I mean, it is my job to surveil the grounds. It’s most certainly not because I get concerned when I see him slapping his head and muttering to himself like a madman.
My mind flashes back to Mateo’s trembling body pinned against the bricks. I wanted information back then, maybe to even cut a deal with Mateo to prevent the bloodshed within my clan. Oh, who am I kidding? I wanted his head. I wanted him pinned. And the fact that I wanted to fuck my enemy sent me over the edge.
Even then, I became uncertain about my assumptions regarding Mateo Torres. Yet I watched him, because I pretended to know he certainly had information about the heist of the stone, so I didn’t have to admit I was wrong. Instead of finding clarity, I talked to him like some belligerent bastard and paid the price, only to mope around his place of work, licking my wounds.
I rub my chin. The bruise there has already faded, but it feels fresh, a reminder of my misdeeds. As I consider my next steps, my flashlight absently roves the quiet hotel corridor.
He looked fierce in that moment, and I smile. Mateo isn’t one to start a fight, but I made a mental note back then that he isn’t afraid to end one. He treated me like a parasite, not a prince, and it… It ignited something in me that’s not wholly disgust. It never was.
I was worried all night that Mateo wouldn’t heed my warning. I wouldn’t have, if our roles were reversed. We’ve been too busy tracking the stone during our off time to tail him, but Mateo is stubborn. Rather than walk away, I wish I’d sent Rohan or Kunal after him. He might get himself tangled up with a real criminal. And that unnerves me.
Why do I care?
The thought momentarily stops me in my tracks as Kunal and Rohan walk ahead. Debating why I care doesn’t change the fact that I do. But how much I do unnerves me. How much I want to share more than three angry words with him a day.
But I don’t even know where to begin to make amends. To start, Mateo hates me. Visibly. Spiritually. I can feel it in theintensity of his animosity, which rolls from him in waves and pierces me like daggers from his glare. But more than his hate, I don’t know how to feel about my lust for the brass-knuckled barista.
I break off from my guards and make a beeline for the door, running away from my thoughts and straight into the danger of being in Mateo’s presence. However, once outside, I pause because I don’t spot Mateo’s car. Which means he’s not working tonight.
“Right. I should’ve confirmed he’d even be working tonight,” I whisper, my heart twisting into knots at the thought of Mateo being in Dimitri’s house.
That’sifhe returned there for a second night. I don’t even know which catering company he’s working for. Without many options, all I could do was place a small protective spell to ward away evil and keep Mateo somewhat safe. But Dimitri is human. The people he associates with? Largely anything but. And that could include powerful mages.
“Shit!” I grunt. “Where are you, Mateo?”
“Now why are you slithering in the shadows so late at night, Ranbir, so deep in thought?”
I jump, spinning only for my light to land on Layla’s perky face. She tugs her curls back into a bun, then crosses her arms across her chest. I cross mine once I realize she’s not a threat.
How the hell did she sneak up on me? And past my guards? It heightens my suspicion that Layla is a witch, or not entirely human, and I’m sure of it in the next heartbeat when she speaks.
“A little birdy told me you bothered a barista and got suckerpunched. Is that true?” Layla chirps, and I tense up. “And another little birdy told me you’ve been scowling up a storm at the cafe ever since.”
“Is that little birdy’s name, Sheena, your wife?” I quip, not in the mood to play along. And how does she know!? Everyone else thinks I tripped.
Layla chuckles, but it holds no mirth.
“You’ll have to get your attitude in check around here,formercrown prince Ranbir.” She stresses the former, to my immense annoyance, wagging her finger. “This runaway prince program doesn’t explicitly state not to harass other hotel employees and cafe staff. But I can make that a stipulation, if I need to.”
My chest puffs out in rage, but cools into dying embers just as quickly. She’s my only lifeline, and my life is currently falling apart. And she’s right. Damn this woman, but she’s right. Besides, despite not being that old and a human woman, I feel as though Layla is much more worldly than she lets on.
I drag my claws through my hair, losing control of my magic, and whisper, “I apologize. I’m thankful to you, Layla, and I did not mean to cause trouble. I intend to make amends with him, the barista I unintentionally harassed.”
Ah! I said I’m sorry and didn’t die on the spot. Maybe I can do the same to Mateo in the morning.
