Page 63 of Tricky Princess
This wasn’t the place to discuss what else she had been up to, and she could hear the castle slowly waking up. Their time alone was coming to an end, and they had a ball to get ready for.
“Is your prince less of an ass now?” Florence asked as she pinned another star into the braid that crowned her head.
Ellea had asked to go without a crown tonight; Florence tried fighting it, but eventually gave in. Instead, Florence adorned her brown locks in diamond-studded moons and stars. Gold and silver glittered across her head, matching the gold and silver chains that crossed the back of her emerald gown. It was almost modest with the long velvet sleeves and cut that stopped at her collarbone, but the long slits up the sides showed off her powerful legs beautifully.
“He is always one hundred percent ass,” Ellea said. “But he’s coming around.”
“We’ve worked so hard, and there is still more to do,” she said sternly.
They had. The spying, the training, all of her research, and those she had saved had all been the hardest, most rewarding things she had ever done. For most of the afternoon, she’d felt the inevitable pause in her plans. Something was coming, and she didn’t like it. If she could, she would spend her days fighting Hel and getting the souls to where they needed to be. But with her friends here… She tried to fight the guilt of what they’d gone through to get to her and how she felt as though they were stopping her from what she’d started.
No, it wasn’t their fault. The clock had always been ticking; she had to decide what to do with the time she had now. Saving the souls would be a lifelong mission, one she was ready for. And her parents needed to be dealt with swiftly and painfully—for them.
Ellea fought her powers that suddenly coiled, ready to attack at the thought of her parents. She damped them down, but a few sparks danced around the two girls.
Dammit.
Azzy had told her this would happen, but it was still annoying. She was overflowing with magic, and it needed someplace to go. She was thankful it wasn’t explosive, but now she needed to find a way to set it free to play instead of destroy things.
“You’ve been at this longer than me,” Ellea continued as though nothing had happened. “Give him a little time; he’s still adjusting and thought you all had me in a dungeon somewhere, strung up by my fingernails.”
Florence huffed, swatting one last spark out.
“We save that for week three,” Duhne said, strolling in unannounced.
He looked handsome in his dark suit, the green of his tie setting off his eyes and freckles perfectly.
“Well, good thing he came when he did,” Ellea said, rolling her eyes.
“Pretty sure it would be the other way, though,” he said, throwing himself into a chair. “We would have been strung up by our fingernails if he didn’t get here in time.”
“I would have never tortured you…physically,” she said with a smirk.
Florence smirked with her as she adjusted her own dress.
“No, you like to torture with anxiety and heart attacks,” he said.
“Now that my keeper has come to rescue me, maybe we can get back to that friendship we were working on.”
“That lasted about two days,” he said. “I don’t even remember why I liked you in the first place.”
“Ouch.” She clutched at her chest from the insult. “I remember you said I reminded you of a bauchan—”
“Horrible small creatures.” Duhne shivered. “And I was one hundred percent right in my assessment.”
Ellea glared at him; Duhne liked her and he knew it. So what if she had made his life a little difficult while she was getting her footing?
“Are you two about ready? Ros is pacing outside,” Duhne said gruffly.
The doors opened on a swirl of midnight shadows, and Ros stood in the hallway. He looked nothing like a prince as he stood in the doorway. The universe and their friends melted away as she took in the shadows restlessly churning around him. Clad in all black, his suit hugged every span of hard muscle, making him look more like a god of death than a prince of Hel. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone, displaying his tanned skin, and his hazel eyes were feral as they took her in. Her poor demon couldn’t even handle an hour away without needing to inspect her. Ellea sauntered up to him, placing her hand over his racing heart.
“Don’t worry, big guy,” she said, smirking up at him and seeing him relax slightly. “I’ll protect you from the beasts and animals tonight.”
Ros didn’t answer, only melted into her, kissing the top of her head. He guided them to meet with their other friends before getting to the ballroom.
Sam and Devon waited for them outside of their suite, and they looked beautiful. She was curious where Sam had gotten his rust-colored suit; he stood in stark contrast to the darkness of Hel. Leaning in, she kissed him on the cheek, and then did the same to Devon, who wore a deep burgundy suit. It was so dark it seemed black, but it still held enough red to match perfectly with his boyfriend.
I have such pretty friends.
