I needed to find some physical evidence, a connection to a demon that had taken George.
“How are you, Flower? It’s been a year. You disappeared and my heart bled longing for you,” Arthur said when I stopped by the bedside cabinet, hoping to take a closer look at the black powder that was spread over the wooden surface. He looked down at my hands. “You’re still wearing it. That could only mean that you have been thinking about me.”
He was lying to me. He had never tried to find me. I would know if he had. When word in the city was out that I was back, he ignored it.
“I don’t imagine it was too painful for you especially since Natalie was there to console you. I congratulate you on your engagement, Your Highness,” I snapped back, unable to sound anything but bitter about it, ignoring the painful comment about the ring.
The truth was that Arthur had seduced me. He had gone to a lot of effort to make me his and I kept playing his game, stupidly believing that no one would find out, risking everything for him. His engagement to Natalie Morgan was the final nail in the coffin. Once I found out, I stopped stalking him online, stopped reading stuff about him in the papers. We were done and our affair long forgotten.
He shoved his large hands into his jeans pocket and his enigmatic smile faded. I swear to God, I thought I saw a hint of sadness in his eyes, but no. He couldn’t have been torn up by the fact that our affair was history now.
“You know that my hands were tied back then. I searched for you after you left, Flower, but you vanished. No one knew what happened to you. I never meant to—”
“Please stop it. Don’t bring up the past. I was asked to come here to investigate George’s disappearance. If I knew that you would be here, I never would have agreed to it. We have nothing to discuss. I’m just an ex-employee and you’re the future king,” I told him, imagining how it would feel to hold him one last time.
Humans were cruel, but love even more so.
I reached out after taking a small plastic bag from my jeans pocket, hoping to gather some evidence, but then Arthur grabbed my wrist. His tight grip twisted and he forced me to look him in the eye. His touch awakened something inside of me and I thought I felt something that I never thought would come alive again. Absolute Love. The longing for the small life that I left behind, that I had to give up.
I felt everything he was feeling at that moment. Sadness, lust, and disappointment that he hadn’t fought hard enough for me. He had broken the rules, and I was forced to leave my post.
“Oh, Maxine, Flower… I have missed you so much. The Queen Mother and everyone else…they fucking pushed me into this engagement. We had something, and I had—”
“Found anything yet, Flower?” another voice interrupted. Arthur let go of my hand and I stepped away. A tall, good-looking guy was standing next to us. He must have overheard Arthur call me Flower. I hadn’t really had a chance to take a good look at him earlier on when he was talking to Princess Layla.
Now as he was in front of me, I was taken back by his appearance. He was almost as tall as Arthur, with thick black hair that curled over his ears. I suspected that his human mother or father was from the Middle East by his caramel skin and angular features. His deep brown eyes were framed by a row of thick black lashes. His strong jaw was peppered with that sexy day-old stubble that you see on male models, enhancing his good looks, and his mouth, lord have mercy—his mouth was curled up into a sexy smirk displaying his kissable lips to perfection.
I cleared my throat, pretending that I didn’t hear his remark and that his face didn’t just knock me on my ass. Arthur narrowed his eyes at the stranger, looking pissed that we had been interrupted.
“As a matter of fact, yeah, I did find something, but we haven’t been introduced, so you are who exactly?” I said, ignoring the tingling of heat low in my belly, the warmth that turned me on.
Many people learned of my affair with the future king, but nothing had been leaked to the press, so royals were lucky in that respect. My career, my life, everything would have been over then.
Ricky was watching me from the other side of the room, shaking his head. I was having trouble concealing my emotions and he was reading me very openly.
“Detective Zachary Quinton, and you must be Maxine,” he said introducing himself, eyeing me up and down like a predator, with that annoyingly sexy smirk on his face. He was very confident, whip smart and obviously convinced that I was going to slow down his investigation. He wasn’t concerned that he interrupted a royal conversation just a moment ago. A delicious unexpected shiver passed over my spine as his eyes rested on my breasts, longer than was appropriate.
“I don’t think we have been formally introduced. My na—”
“His Royal Highness Prince Arthur,” Zachary cut him off. He used a sarcastic tone of voice that suggested he wasn’t that impressed by the future king that stood right in front of him. Both men shook hands and the tension escalated.
“Arthur is fine. I hate the official titles. I was just updating Maxine on everything that we know happened. She knew George well.” Arthur started blabbing, moving closer to me, like he wanted to mark his territory. I didn’t know what the hell was going on here. Suddenly I felt like the prize steak, ready to be consumed by two hungry predators.
“I’m sure you were, mate, but I doubt very much that you can help. I want to go over some facts with Miss Brodeur, without interruption if you don’t mind,” Zachary shot out. My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe he just called a prince “mate,” at the same time winking at me. This guy needed to learn some manners.
Arthur narrowed his eyes at him, probably ready to come back with some smart remark, but he hesitated.
“Maxine, find me before you leave. I need to speak to you,” he said, only loud enough for me to hear, then muttered, “Detective,” to Zachary and walked away. I stood in the same position completely baffled. I had never witnessed anyone speaking that way to Arthur.
On the other hand, Zachary had this domineering, alpha, take charge aura about him. He obviously wanted to come across as someone who wouldn’t be intimidated and focused on the job at hand. Maybe that was his thing.
He wore a heavy leather jacket, with dark trousers and cowboy boots. He didn’t look like a cop and I was ready to hold all the judgment back, but then he opened his mouth again.
“So you and Prince Charming? How very lovely.” He chuckled, curling his lips in a smile. My blood rushed into my ears, and anger rolled over me in a violent way. Okay, so he was a wanker too. It took me only one second to figure it out.
I took a step up towards him, wanting to use my energy to wipe that arrogant smirk off his handsome face.
“Listen to me, Detective, I’m not here to be arm candy and no one is getting into my pants. I was summoned here to investigate the disappearance of Georgie, so I suggest you forget about what you think you may have heard and tell me if you have anything we can go on,” I said, standing way too close to him, but at that point I didn’t care. I could have come across as intimidating if I wanted to. A wave of his cologne brushed over my nostrils. I liked that musky, very masculine and woody smell.
“Flower, I’m here in my official capacity as a copper. Whatever you do with Prince Charming doesn’t concern me. I work best on my own, but this case is unique … so I’ve been told, so much so, that it requires a woman’s magic touch. That’s supposed to be your expertise, Flower.”
I was ready to stick my hand between his legs and twist his balls so he would stop testing my patience. I had no idea if anyone was watching us, but right then I was broadcasting very angry and very twisted demonic vibes.
“My name is Maxine, by the way. Rodriquez called me because I’m the best at what I do, so I suggest you to drop that chauvinistic attitude. We are going to have to work together and if you pay attention you may learn something,” I told him, not backing down.
He didn’t back off like I expected him to, and his proximity felt suddenly intimidating… and someho
w hot. Deep down in my stomach I felt something that I thought I would never again experience standing so close to another man.
No, he is just another human with a cocky attitude.
“I work alone and only alone…but I suppose you can tag along,” he smirked. “The young prince here was taken against his will. There is evidence of a struggle as seen by the pillows on the floor, the upended books and the water glass on the floor. It’s baffling that the intruder managed to pass the guards with the amount of security the palace has. We need to study the CCTV carefully and start interviewing witnesses pronto, Flower.”
“We will see about that, arsehole,” I muttered, exhaling sharply. I made up my mind. I didn’t bloody like Detective Zachary. No— correction—I couldn’t even stand being around him for another next minute.
“What was that, Flower?” he asked, when I was walking away.
“Rodriquez has my number. Call me if you’re ready to cut the crap and work with me on this case; otherwise don’t bother,” I replied. “In the meantime, I’ll be around here, trying to find George on my own.”
I don’t know why I had to flip like that, but this guy made my blood boil. There were other humans in the room, and I had to tone it down. My fiery attitude wasn’t going to get me far.
Zachary was watching me from the same spot where I left him. I didn’t have to glance back to know it. He made me curious and possibly even a little hotter under the collar. Still, his bad boy cop attitude wasn’t impressing me.
“What have you got?” I asked, joining Ricky, who was sweeping the sample of what looked like bits of demonic elixir. The demon that took George was most likely a male. Not many female demons knew anything about potions or elixirs. It had always been a male-dominated industry. I liked learning new things, so I’d started reading books filled with potion recipes so I could brew them. It took me years to master a couple that were very challenging, but eventually I was able to prepare a few without anyone else’s input.
Ricky looked at me first and then diverted his eyes to Quinton.
“Supernatural charms. The prince was hooked on a few various ones. His blood is filled with it,” Ricky stated, looking at the tiny dots of liquid that he managed to put into a flask. “I don’t like how that human is looking at you. What the hell did you just tell him?”
“Nothing really, but I should have told him to stay out of our business. It seems he can’t play nicely and share his toys.” I sighed. “He is our new partner in crime. Detective Zachary Quinton, the arsehole.”
Chapter Six
“Love insists the loved loves back” ― Dante Alighieri
There was a lot of grey powder sprinkled around George’s bed that I didn’t recognise and Ricky had found an unknown potion in young Prince George’s blood. Somehow I couldn’t believe that the intruder was that sloppy leaving all of this evidence for us to find. Something had happened in this room, and I had a feeling that the whole kidnapping might have been staged, that someone knew that the royals would panic and call the police.
I studied elixir books that weren’t available to other demons and mongrels, not on the earth at least. Ricky had quite a collection; some of his titles were stolen from the underworld library. He never told me who owned them, and I didn’t ask. It was safer not to possess that kind of knowledge. The energy in George’s room was still a mystery to me, but it was something to go on. Zachary kept watching me when I walked around assessing the smells, texture, and obvious signs of any demonic encounter. He didn’t try to talk to me again, but he kept that annoying smirk plastered on his face.
There was no time to challenge his ego. I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t missed anything. I was obligated to find George. Lucifer’s head of the faction was on my back and my movements were limited. The supernatural world wouldn’t take too kindly to the fact that I had broken the rules that had been decreed years ago in order to protect humans from the truth.
An hour later Ricky and I had enough to start our investigation. Zachary had disappeared some time ago, and my anxiety shot up reminding me that Arthur wasn’t done with me yet. He was most likely waiting for me somewhere by the entrance, and I couldn’t allow him to drag me back down the path of destruction, especially in front of his aunt, Rodriguez, and Ricky. They all knew that we had been involved, and they all knew the reason why he came.
I had money now, so this evening I could go out on a bender to put off thinking about all the feelings that had been dredged up today by seeing Arthur. After so many losses, I finally had a chance to win back some of the cash I’d lost, and the cards were on my side. Arthur needed to be wiped out of my memory forever, and if that meant I had to get wasted, then so be it. That was for tonight though, right now I had George’s case to work on.
“Miss Brodeur,” Rodriquez shouted after me, when we were leaving. “Have you managed to ascertain anything yet?”
For some reason his attitude was making me nervous. There was something odd about the way he carried himself, the way he looked at me. He was using his own abilities to pass through my wards, and that was extremely worrying. Maybe he was put in charge of this post to make sure that I wouldn’t screw Arthur a second time around. I had no idea if Lucifer knew about my involvement in royal affairs, but whatever was going on I knew I needed to keep on my toes about this demon.
“Strong, unidentified potion was used to knock George out. We also found grey powder all over his bedside table. We are going back to the office to analyse everything further,” I explained. “By the way, I don’t think I can work with Quinton. He has his head farther up his own arse than seems humanly possible.”
Ricky laughed, and I was annoyed that I let Detective Zachary Quinton get under my skin. There was no way we were going to agree on anything, especially how to take this investigation forward.
“I’m afraid that you have no choice, Miss Brodeur. The royal family wants you to work closely with his division. I have been told that he has exceptional contacts on the streets and he is very skilled … even for a human. He will be in touch. I don’t doubt that.”
“A skilled human?” I repeated, shaking my head with disbelief. “He is a stubborn chauvinistic idiot that has the manners of a shit-flinging baboon. And whilst were are talking about this, let’s clear something up—if the royal household hadn’t fired me in the first place, George would still be here.”
I was too angry to wait for Rodriquez’s response, so I started walking away. Rodriguez could easily ruin me, but right now he needed my help, so I could afford to be a little disrespectful. Ricky caught up with me a second later. Anger and fury had boiled my blood. I had to get it together.
“What the fuck was that about, Max?”
“Nothing. You know that I like working alone,” I replied, walking faster than it was necessary.
“What did Arthur want?”
We were only a couple of meters away from the exit, and I wanted to tell Ricky everything, but first I needed to get out of here as quickly as possible.
“Max … hey, Max wait.”
“Crap, crap, crap,” I said, as the wave of emotions forced me to stop. Ricky cursed loudly when Arthur caught up with us, just by the exit. The prince obviously had trouble understanding that I didn’t want to see him, that we had nothing to talk about.
I took a deep breath, dismissing the storm of emotions that suddenly pumped through me, and turned around.
“Yes, Your Highness? What do you want?”
He smiled, and those cute dimples appeared on his cheeks. Why did breakups always have to be so difficult?
“Can we talk alone?” he asked, leaning in like he wanted to kiss me. No… no, he wouldn’t dare, not in front of all his guards and my business partner. “How are you doing Ricky?”
“Ecstatic, Your Highness, but I’m afraid we’re in a hurry. We have pressing matters to attend to,” Ricky stated quite clearly, using his own demonic energy to convince the prince to leave me alone. I couldn’t let Arthur drag me b
ack just because I couldn’t keep my hands off him.
Arthur quite clearly still wanted me. I read his emotions, his desires. He didn’t understand that after a year I was still picking myself up, still trying to forget about the pain that I experienced back then.
“Ricky, give it a rest would you? This shit is starting to irritate me. Max, you owe me a conversation. This will be quick. Please, Flower?” he pleaded, using that tone of voice that cracked my stone cold heart. It wasn’t just the way he was looking at me, it was also the fact that the strong fiery pull was still there. The lust brushed my face, neck and cleavage. I had turned my life upside down for him, almost traded my existence for something that I could never share with anyone.
“Fine, two minutes,” I snapped, pissed off with myself and the fact that Ricky’s magic wasn’t influencing Arthur like it was supposed to. I glanced back at Ricky, who looked frustrated. The guards were watching us, some of them were mongrels. There weren’t many in the palace, but a few that I had trained remained.
Arthur walked to the side, hiding us behind the pillar. My pulse was thrumming so quickly that I couldn’t control it anymore. I had never been lucky with the opposite sex. I always prioritised my work over everything else, but when I started working for the royals things changed.
Arthur’s blond hair fell sexily over his eyes as he glanced around, moving closer to me. The heat of his human body was doing something to my demonic scarred heart.
“What do you want, Arthur?” I asked, blocking the images of us making out in the dark corridors. This wasn’t one of those moments.
“You know that I don’t love, Natalie. After you left I was a wreck. I couldn’t believe that you would disappear on me like that. I have been trying to forget you, to move on, but it’s impossible,” he was saying, using his left hand to caress my cheek. His touch was healing, calming, and I wanted to close my eyes and jump back to the past. I would have made different choices back then.