Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 60 - The First Prince

Eleven months later.

"Can this wait?" I asked her.

"I suppose so," she muttered. "But he's going tomorrow, so don't leave it too long."

I nodded absently, already counting out the twenties from my wallet. The information trade was a costly one — I could have used another few million pounds, in all honesty — but it was well worthwhile. She held out a hand, and I pressed them into her palm beneath the table, and then we finished our meals in silence.

When her plate was clear, she got up from the canteen table, and I stayed put. Lee was making his way over with a tray now. We'd arrived together, but he'd had to queue for his lunch, which was a choice between last night's leftover Bolognese and chicken sandwiches. Lee had chosen both.

He scooted into the space Kaitlyn had left on the bench and cast a wary glance at her retreating back. I'd long since stopped bothering to hide my spies from him. He was too damn loyal to breathe a word to anyone, and I needed someone to talk to them while I was off raiding, anyway.

"What did Kaitlyn want?" he asked through a mouthful of pasta.

I braced my elbows on the table and grinned at him. "Nothing."

"Well, that's bullshit if I ever smelt it," Lee muttered. "Was it about me?"

"Do you actually have any secrets?" I retorted.

He took a sudden interest in his sandwich. The Bolognese was gone already — vanished into the bottomless void that was a raider's stomach. They ate like bloody tigers, and I was having to raid on a weekly basis to keep my savings account from dipping into the negatives.

It wasn't difficult to guess what he was hiding. There was only one person in the world for whom he would lie to me. "You and Eira again, huh? I can't say I'm surprised."

Lee looked over his shoulder, checking for a particular head of tawny hair, and then he grimaced at me. "She didn't want you to know."

"She never does," I said dryly. "As if I give a shit what you two get up to after dark."

In all honesty, my sister was the least of my problems right now. This was our last week at Lle o Dristwch. The field was a wasteland of mud, the woods were empty of animals and the latrine pits were overflowing — staying here wasn't sustainable. We were leaving for the summer, but we'd be back again when the leaves started falling to weather the colder months behind these nice big walls.

Packing was a nightmare. Convincing my raiders that we needed to give the castle a rest had been downright apocalyptic. And then there was the slightly more pressing issue of—

"Where are you?" Jess demanded through the link. "I need to pee again, and I know you can eat lunch in ten seconds flat when you're really trying."

—my heavily pregnant mate. She was six months along, and that was full term for a shifter, so it would be any day now.

"Sorry, I got distracted," I replied, wincing. Even the briefest dip into her mind was a whirlpool of pain and discomfort, so we were trying to separate ourselves as much as possible. "I'll be there in a minute."

I stood up abruptly, and Lee craned his neck to peer at me.

"Duty calls," I said by way of explanation. "Enjoy your—"

But, of course, he'd already finished it. I slid my dirty plate towards him, because Jess wasn't going to wait for me to wash up, and then I headed for the canteen door. Mort passed me by with a muttered greeting and half a smile.