Page 68 of Beauty and Her Beasts (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 1)

As I stepped into the lobby of the massive structure, I took stock of my surroundings. I never could be too careful, and there was no telling how far that woman’s reach went. There was no security, which was a good thing and a bad thing. The best part of this whole unexpected side-trip was I would remain unnoticed on that woman’s radar for at least a few days.

I caught a few of the workers glancing at me with a mix of confusion and disgust.

Of course, they would. I couldn’t blame them. After all, I was covered head to toe in blood, dirt, and God knows what else. I frowned as I realized the monstrosity that had just arrived on their doorstep.

Regardless of the questionable glances, I set my eyes on the front desk and made a beeline toward it. I was here and there was nothing that was going to stand in the way of me reconnecting with an old friend.

The concierge glanced at me briefly before his features contorted and he settled his gaze on me again. The name on his badge read Adam.

I nodded in greeting as I stopped on the other side of the counter.

“Can I help you?” he asked, sounding very pubescent which was contrary to his size. The boy was tall for his age. And a little on the scrawny side. A couple more years of growing, and he would fill out.

“I need to speak with King,” I said. “I believe he is the owner of this fine establishment. Could you direct me to his office?”

The boy stammered. He must have been new. “Who are you?”

“An old friend,” I said and left it at that.

He took a final once over of my appearance and visibly forced himself not to shudder. “One moment.”

He disappeared into the hallway. I walked over to the corner and kept a close eye on him. It wasn’t the first time I had come across a similar scenario, and this certainly wasn’t going to be the last. Nevertheless, my senses were on high alert.

Adam ran to an older woman cleaning the walls. I couldn’t hear everything they said, but I got the gist. I raised alarms in the poor chap by my appearance, and now he’s wondering what he should do because King was with the manager.

I have no idea why that was such a big deal.

Anyway, the woman told Adam something and he turned around and headed back for the lobby. I leaned on the counter pretending to have been waiting there the entire time. Adam approached me on my side.

“Follow me,” he said.

I nodded and gave him a few feet of a headstart before I tailed him. Eventually, we arrived at a door. The concierge knocked, and there was some shuffling shortly before the door opened to a man who looked like he had just crawled out of bed.

“Yes?” the man said.

Adam, the concierge, said, “This man is here to speak to Mr. Heller.”

He looked past the door. “It’s for King.”

I let out a breath of relief.

Adam excused himself and I waited for King to show. When he did, the expression on his face was priceless.

“Cal! You’re alive!” he shouted.

I laughed. “It’s good to see you too, brother.”

“Brother?” the man who answered the door said with his arms crossed over his chest and his icy blue eyes staring a hole into King’s head.

King faced him. “Declan, this is Calvin Harrington. We were in the war together.”

Declan nodded his head once toward me. I found it fitting to do the same.

“I would invite you in, but my lady is just getting dressed.” He ducked behind the door for a few moments then reappeared. “Let’s get you squared away.”

King joined me in the hall and we walked through the labyrinth of his family’s castle turned hotel. I almost got dizzy and lost track of all the twists and turns, but thanks to my life as of late, I didn’t let that happen.

“What happened?” King asked. “I thought you died.”

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