Strike at Midnight(59)

“Yes, but you didn’t know he was the prince who owned all this shit when you came before. It’s different now.”

“No,” I replied. “It isn’t. We are just visiting for the weekend, getting the information we need, and then getting our asses out of here.”

“So you say.”

The words piss off were on the cusp of my lips when someone knocked on the door again.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” I snapped. “Who now?”

“Just me, ladies,” Mia said as she entered the room and shut the door behind her. “I thought I heard voices.”

“You’re two rooms down,” I said, and she just smiled and pulled a bottle of wine from behind her back.

“Where are the glasses?” Rapunzel asked, and even Mia raised her eyebrows as if to say What the hell?

“We have a bottle,” I said, wiggling my fingers for her to bring the wine over. “That’s all we need.”

“Rella already drinks too much,” Melody said. “You’re the worst kind of enabler, Mia.”

“Oh, nonsense,” she replied. “I know why Rella drinks, and I also know that she is starting to realize that her void is no longer being filled with alcohol. This is just to keep the party going until she realizes that.”

Oh, not her, too! Was I not allowed to get a break from do-gooders and matchmakers? I leaned over and snatched the wine out of her hands to remove the cork.

“This is exactly why I don’t like hanging out with women,” I said, popping the cork with the attention of an expert. I took a large gulp. “You always have to analyze shit or look for things that aren’t there. Give me a bunch of guys to drink with any day.”

“You couldn’t talk about the prince’s handsome eyes with men,” Melody said, snatching the drink out of my hand and taking a sip. “And you know you want to.”

“Or his beautiful smile,” Rapunzel said with a whimsical look on her face. She took the bottle and sipped a drink from it.

“He seems to be a lovely man,” Mia said to add insult to injury as she dragged the chair away from the dresser to bring it closer to the bed. She took the bottle of wine and had a drink. I really needed to keep a close eye on her and her motives. “And he is the perfect match for you.”

Yep. A very close eye on her, seeing as she was deluded.

“Don’t be stupid,” I said over the murmurs of assent from Rapunzel and Melody. Traitors. “How the hell can you agree with that? We’re like…two very different people. I would eat him alive.”

“You would want to eat him alive,” Melody said with a waggle of her eyebrows. She leaned towards Mia and took the bottle.

“I think Mia means that you would complement each other very well,” Rapunzel said, “because you are so different.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” I said, snatching the bottle from Melody and taking a much-needed drink.

“Of course it does,” she said, her overthinking brain kicking into gear again. “If the prince were with someone like himself, then they would be so nice and soft with one another that neither would ever take a step out of line in fear of hurting the other.”

“And if Rella got with someone who was like her,” Melody said, “then we would all get cuts and bruises from the collision of her hard head against that of another.”

“Exactly,” Rapunzel said, taking the bottle from me and letting out a little hiccup. “You would be a fine balance for one another.”

“Equal parts of a scale,” Mia said. “A perfect match.”

“I give up,” I said, falling back down onto the pillows. “If you lot need to fantasize about me getting it on with the prince because you aren’t getting laid, then who am I to judge?”

“I really wish I could disagree with you on that score,” Melody said, falling back onto the bed with me.

“Me too,” Rapunzel said with a sigh.

“Oh, ladies, this is just too much,” Mia said, clapping her hands. “Now, when I said I wanted fun, I meant it.”

She started to whisper a few words and I quickly sat up, wondering what the hell she was doing. Melody did the same, and we were all instantly on guard when we felt the pulse of energy spin around the room.

Magic.

We had to stop her was my first thought, but then I watched dumbstruck as the drapes closed and the candles flared to life. Then oh my goodness me…

Three sultan-looking near-naked guys had appeared in my bedroom, dancing to some weird music while rubbing themselves up and down.

One of them winked, and Mia cheered and clapped her hands.

“You’ve got to love magic. Right?” she asked, bouncing up and down to the music, and my mouth gaped open in shock.

“Damn straight!” Melody practically screeched with excitement, and she started to bounce up and down on the bed.

Rapunzel soon perked up and turned so she could give the guys her full attention, and one of them winked at her. She blushed, and even I almost did when I saw what one of them was doing with a piece of material.

I carefully took the bottle from Rapunzel’s hands and settled into the bed.

Oh well. If you can’t beat them…





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN