Smoke and Mirrors : Royal Angels I

Silver spoons and body shots

~Xavier~

"I'm going to be a motherfücking king!"

I didn't look up from the book I was reading, trying to calm myself down before I killed Daniel. My best friend and his whole 'I'm making a grand entry' thing always gave me a heart attack.

How do you calm down again? Something about counting backward?

I heard a scrapping noise and I knew he was sitting in front of me. I sighed in relief. Finally, he must've realized where we were -

"Didn't you hear me?" I'm pretty sure there were only a few people next door who hadn't heard him. "I'm going to be a king."

I started counting, refusing to look at him. Because a) looking at him made him real, and that meant I had to deal with him. And b) you do not just look up from a good book. Did Daniel not know how hard it was to find one -

And just like that my copy of Sports Illustrated was stolen from me.

"Calm. The Fück. Down."

I wasn't entirely sure if I was talking to him or to myself.

"I'm going to be -"

"A king. Yep, got that." I massaged my temple. To say that my best friend was excited was an understatement. "Now. I want you take a deep breath and look around. Where are we, Danny?"

Daniel did as he was told. There was absolute silence in the library. Twenty extremely annoyed heads were turned in his direction.

He had the decency to look sheepish.

"Come on," I shook my head, smiling despite myself.

I got up and led the way outside, Daniel following at my heels like an obedient puppy.

Once we were outside, we went to the cafe across the street. It was a homey little place with potted plants and old school red-checkered tablecloth. The waitress, a twenty something blonde, walked over and I ordered us both some coffee.

"Six minutes and twenty one seconds. I'm impressed." I said, after she left. Not a word had come out of Daniel's mouth in that time. He was actually sweating with the effort. "Go on."

"Your father is stepping down and the coronation is next month and you're going to be king which means I'm going to be king in your place." Daniel said, in one breath.

My brain took a minute to process that. "He's stepping down. Why?"

"Ask him yourself. You're coming with me."

"What?!"

I hadn't seen my father or my home in twelve years. I definitely didn't want to break that record now.

"He needs to see you. He asked me specifically to bring you with me." Daniel hesitated. "He isn't doing well, Xavier."

"He's sick." I thought about it. "Is he dying?"

Daniel glared at me. "Don't you dare talk to me about this like it's the fücking weather. I know you two have your problems but that man is the only reason we're alive and you know it."

It was my turn for a deep breath. I could easily disagree with that. If daddy dearest wanted me alive and well, he didn't have to send a trained professional with a gun as a birthday gift. You'd think a note with some cake would be fine?

Naw, I'll preorder a grave and send you a few bullets to make it extra special.

But I didn't want to ruin my morning talking about my father. The ruining could wait until I had my caffeine.