Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(21)
“I’m your guard … which means I need to guard you,” he said, shaking his head at me as I danced around him.
“Dance with me!” I shouted, throwing my hands up before diving toward him and trying to nudge him over to the dance floor.
I could hear chuckles around me. Violet was laughing madly, clearly happy again under the pink drink’s influence. Blaine tried to remain stoic, but eventually I got him to smile.
“One dance, then I need to keep watch,” he said, leaning over so I could hear him better, his deep voice tickling my neck as he spoke into my ear.
“Yes, sir!” I fist pumped, the way we used to as kids when we got our own way. He shook his head at me again, but the smile was bigger this time. Genuine.
The music picked up as Blaine and I ended up in the middle of a hundred dancing bodies. I lifted my arms, spinning around, moving with the beat, brushing against my dominant as we moved to the music. He was watching me with stone-like eyes, far too serious. He needed a pink drink. This was the worst sort of relaxing I’d ever seen.
A flash of white to my left caught my eye. Violet was there dancing around us and giggling. Nothing was funny at all, and yet I felt the need to giggle too. This drink made me feel amazing, not drunk just … relaxed. Loose. Carefree. I laughed harder as Violet leapt with her arms out like she was on Broadway. This was exactly what I needed, a night of living like I was just a normal young shifter in New York City. I was just spinning around to look for Monica and Jen when the floral fae scent hit me, stronger than I’d smelled since stepping into the brownstone. They were close.
“Lovely lilacs,” I said quickly.
Immediately the buzzed carefree feeling was gone and I was focused. Blaine reacted to my hesitation, going into guard mode, scanning the area. Both of us saw her at the same time, near a beautiful purple-flowered bush – the lioness familiar in her full glory. No Labrador illusion for her today.
“It’s okay. She’s a friend … I think,” I said to Blaine as I began to walk toward the lioness.
I wished I had Finn with me now. Maybe he’d be able to communicate with this other familiar, find out what she wanted from me. I heard Violet mutter some words behind me and then she was at my side, eyes clear, ready to throw down if needed. All of my guards had fallen into line. It was a shame my night of fun had come to a halt so soon, but it was far more pertinent that I ask that fae from the park more questions.
Once we were five feet from the lioness, she began to prance away. I walked fast to keep up and we ended up in a high-hedged labyrinth. Baladar was either the best mecca user in existence, or he had, like, a hundred million dollars in property here. This place was beyond huge.
The second I stepped into the entrance of the labyrinth, the music vanished, leaving behind silence. Not a single sound could be heard, not a bird, bug, or bee.
“I don’t like this,” Victor said from behind me.
“It’s okay, there’s no reason to be alarmed at this stage,” I said. My guards knew I had met a fae with a lioness familiar before, but they still didn’t like it.
We wound through the labyrinth, until finally turning a corner to find a tall and striking male. I had a moment’s pause. I’d been expecting that same woman from before. But as the lioness walked to the male, nuzzling into his side, it made perfect sense. The female fae had said she wasn’t very powerful; she couldn’t have been an heir. The lioness was not her familiar. It was this man’s.
He looked to be around my age, but age was probably impossible to judge on a fae. He was well over six feet tall, with a strong, wiry build, and long silky blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, except for a few braided strands that hung at the side of his head. He had deep green eyes, slashed through with gold threads. He was probably one of the most beautiful males I’d ever seen, but there was no mistaking his otherness. His ears were slender and pointed; he wore no illusion to hide his fae heritage.
Crossing his left arm over his chest he gave me the slightest of head nods. “Your Majesty.”
I didn’t know this man, but I didn’t want to offend, so I decided a slight nod in return was appropriate. “Pleasure to meet you,” I said.
My guards were at my back fanned out in an arc and the fae eyed them. “I’m Caspien, one of the princes of the Summer Court, and I would like to speak with you in private.”
“No!” Blaine stepped before me and gestured to the prince’s weapon. “There is no way we’ll let our queen go off alone with an armed fae.”
Prince Caspien nodded and unsheathed his blade, placing it on the ground before his familiar. “You have my word that no harm with befall her at my hand.”
Violet stepped in beside me. “I’ll accompany the queen,” she said, clearly not convinced.
It looked like my best friend didn’t completely trust this person, and I thought that was wise. This could be a ploy to kill me and weaken the mecca, weakening the shifters so they were ripe for the killing.
Caspien did not look worried. “As you wish, magic wielder.”
Violet and I shared a look at this unfamiliar term. Blaine, Victor, Ben, Jen, and Monica looked less than happy as we walked away, leaving them to stand guard over his weapon and familiar. I was calm though. Few beings could rival Violet and I together, and I sensed Baladar would also come to my aid if needed.