Knight in Leather (6 page)

“Oh.” He pulled a fork out of his pocket, wiped the fuzz from it onto his shirt, and handed the utensil to Dasha.

Bemused, she took the fork and said, “Thank you,” but he didn’t seem to have heard her. His gaze was at the parking lot again, and his full lips pulling into a grimace.

She would have asked if something were wrong, but obviously there was, judging by the way Siobhan abandoned her seat and jogged after Simone toward the front of the motel.

“Where are they going?”

Ethan squeezed between the loungers and went after them.

“What the hell?” Dasha turned in her seat, straining to see anything, and was about to get up to investigate for herself when Caryl slid over and said, “Careful, you’re going to drop your salad.”

Dasha looked down at her precariously tilting plate and bowl and righted them. “What’s got them so amped up?”

Caryl’s gaze flitted shiftily. “Uh. Guest checking in, I guess.”

“That doesn’t require three fairies.”

“Maybe not.”

“Okay, you can’t just leave me in suspense like that. Stop trying to shelter me from things that might be interesting in a way you think I’m not going to like. Let me decide if stuff is interesting.” Dasha set her food on the sandy little table between her lounger and the empty one to her left, then stood.

“I
swear
, there’s nothing for you to be concerned about.”

“Bullshit. The last time someone told me that, I ended up having to get a series of rabies shots.”

“Dash!”

Dasha’s gaze was pulled to the opposite corner of the pool area where Zenia had walked through carrying a covered dish and grinning broadly.

Shit
. Dasha looked toward Sully, but she hadn’t needed to. Caryl was already heading toward him. He was at the barbecue holding a bit of steak between his tongs and peering back at Zenia, obviously incited, but for the moment, he was glued in place.

Who the hell invited her?

“Did I miss all the good food? I’m just now getting off work. I brought cookies.” She started toward the buffet table, but Daryn intercepted her and relieved her of her container.

“I’ll fix you up,” Daryn said. “Take a load off.”

Matt absolved Sully of his grilling duties and guided him to the far corner of the courtyard.

Confusion marked on her delicate features, Zenia sank onto the lounger to Dasha’s left. “Okay…I guess. Where’s Simone?”

“She had to run to the office for something. So, uh…did she tell you about this shindig?” Dasha knew for damn sure that Simone was very careful about keeping certain parties separated, and from what Dasha had heard, her friend had done a superb job of knocking Sully out of Zenia’s gravitational pull, despite their very local proximity to each other. Spilling the beans didn’t seem like Simone.

“Oh, no.” Zenia gave her septum piercing a straightening twist and settled more cozily into her seat. “A few of the guests mentioned there was an event when they were at the restaurant for lunch. I figured I’d stop by and be a friendly face before I went home. Jeez, are all those guys living here now?”

“Huh?”

Zenia indicated the gaggle of fairies milling around the empty pool and in the courtyard. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many of the gang at once.” She furrowed her brow. “Are they a gang? Is that what you call motorcycle crews?”

“Gang is as good a word as any, I suppose.”

“They make them tall wherever they’re from, that’s for sure.”

Dasha didn’t think Zenia was all that concerned about “they.” She seemed specifically interested in
one
in particular. Fortunately for that particular fairy, she’d picked the
right
one.

Sully wasn’t even trying not to stare. His gaze was so hot that if there had been water in the pool that separated him from his mate, it would have been boiling.

Zenia twirled an end of her spiky peach hair and gnawed on her lower lip, staring back. “So, uh. What are the plans for tonight?”

“No idea. This place doesn’t exactly have a social director. The best I can tell, Simone plans most activities by the seat of her pants.” And that was one of the things Dasha had scribbled into her motel fixit-list. Planned and
advertised
activities would go a long way in shaping the sort of clientele the motel needed to have. Simone could demand more money per room and actually get it. There were a lot of people who’d cough up the money to be that close to the beach, but only a certain subset of those folks who wouldn’t trash the place while they were there. To say that Simone was getting sick of frat boys would have been a fair statement.

“We should go do something tonight,” Zenia said evenly. She still wasn’t looking at Dasha. She was giving Sully the same sultry stare he was giving her.

Daryn gave the top of Sully’s head a thump. He finally looked away and Daryn returned to the food table.

Dasha sighed. “Do something like what?”

“Dunno. Bonfire on the beach, maybe, assuming there aren’t any fire restrictions right now. Or go to a movie or something. There’s probably something worth ten dollars playing in Elizabeth City.”

The idea of being crowded into a theater with a bunch of fairy tagalongs didn’t do much to quell Dasha’s heartburn. Apparently, Sully staring at Zenia like he was a starving man and she was a potential meal didn’t seem to bother the woman. She seemed to like the attention.

Lucky for her that she’s so easily able to reciprocate.

Dasha wished she could be so open to connecting. She missed that flirty, adventurous part of herself that was more open to taking risks in life and in love. Lately, the only risks she took were popping in to visit her best friend without notice. Even the quality of her work at the agency had been unremarkable. She’d started wondering if the same anchor that held her in place romantically was dragging down the rest of her life.

She hated that about herself. Growth required taking risks, and she’d let a man scare her off from trying to reach her potential. The mindset she was in was destructive and crippling, and she was sick of holding herself back. She missed being
Dasha
. Simone hadn’t been there to see the change so she didn’t notice how much less interesting Dasha was than she’d been before Simone had taken ownership of the motel and its curse. That she hadn’t was a good thing. Simone hadn’t had to witness the metamorphosis and pity Dasha.

Dasha didn’t need any more pity. She had enough of her own.

Ethan tried to close the room door before Laurel could get a word out, but she stuck her purse into the gap and giggled.

“What’s the hurry, Ethan?”

Rolling his eyes, he backed away and let Princess Simone take the space where he’d been standing.

“Checkout is at eleven tomorrow,” the princess said sweetly.

Princess Simone had had to give the scheming nitwit a room. Due to her curse, the princess couldn’t refuse anyone who came to her for hospitality as long as there was a room available to offer. And Laurel had asked.

There was no possible way she could have known about Simone’s curse unless someone on the crew had told her, and there was no fairy in his acquaintance was that stupid. Besides, everyone on the crew knew Laurel was bad business. They’d been helping Ethan circumvent her advances for years.

Laurel canted her blond head and broadened her already wide grin. “What if I need to stay another night?” she purred.

“That depends on capacity and whether all my bookings show up. This time of year, keeping rooms open is impossible. The only reason I had this one available was because of a last-minute cancellation.”

Laurel pouted. “Rats.”

Hestia, who’d apparently popped in at some point during the transaction, leaned against the corner of the building and gnawed at the corner of her thumbnail.

Princess Simone didn’t turn to acknowledge her—probably so as not to arouse Laurel’s attention to the goddess—but she had to have sensed her patron there.

“If you need anything,” Simone said to the very unwelcome guest, “call the office and leave a message. There’s usually someone in there to answer, but if not, you know what to do.”

“What if I need something you can’t give me?”

“I’m sure there are a lot of things I can’t and won’t give you.”

“Maybe you can find someone who can.” Laurel grinned again and her bright gaze shifted to Ethan.

He growled quietly and folded his arms over his chest. He’d sooner toss her scheming ass off the end of a pier than to do her any favors, and
especially
not the favor she wanted.

Princess Siobhan, standing atop the parking block of the space directly in front of the room, scoffed. “You
are
a trifling wretch, aren’t ya?”

Laurel blinked. “I don’t know what you mean, Princess.”

One good thing Ethan could say about Laurel was that she generally didn’t lie. She probably
didn’t
know what Princess Siobhan meant. She’d never so great at putting puzzle pieces together, but that tended to be the case with most folks with mixed mermaid lineage. Apparently, something about breathing so much oxygen all at once made them stupid.

“Unbelievable,” the princess muttered. She stepped down from the block and nudged Ethan away from the door. “I’m sure you’re aware that there’s no love lost between me and my mother, but I know the rules haven’t changed. You’re not supposed to be outside of the realm, so what are you doing out and about? If we were still working for her, we’d drag your sorry arse back to her.”

Laurel bobbed her eyebrows. “I got special dispensation to leave.”

“Did you, now?”

“Uh-huh. I asked, and she said yes.”

“Is that so?”

“Uh-huh. I told you that.”

“Just verifying. And you told her you needed
specifically
to leave so you could find Ethan, did you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“To what end?” Princess Simone asked levelly.

Laurel gave her head a slow shake. “She doesn’t take kindly to people abandoning their mates. She let me come out to get him.”

“I am
not
your—
fuck
!”

Simone had given Ethan’s bicep a pinch that shut him up good. He heeded the warning in her quelling glare.

“What, pray tell, makes you think he’s your mate?” Princess Siobhan asked.

Laurel’s eyes took on an unintelligent roundness. “He is. I’m going to have his babies.”

Like hell you are.

There was only one woman he had any interest at all in having babies with, and he wasn’t allowed near her at the moment.

“Let me get this straight,” Princess Simone said. “My mother-in-law gave you special dispensation to leave the realm to drag back your neglectful
mate
, is that what you’re saying?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I bet she told you exactly where you might find him, huh?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Interesting. And who else was with you when she imparted you with this knowledge?”

Ethan admired Princess Simone’s ability to quickly pick up on bullshit. She was very good at asking the right questions. She’d always had the raw material, but Heath had helped her hone her wit into a sharp and deadly skill. The prince and princess had an enviably good match.

Laurel narrowed her eyes and clucked her tongue. She made the sound whenever she was thinking, and in Ethan’s opinion, it was a sound she didn’t make nearly enough. “Oh, my brother was there, and…a couple of guards and, oh, I dunno. I don’t pay attention to those sorts of things.”

“And where’s Quinton now?” Princess Siobhan asked through clenched teeth.

Laurel shrugged. “Oh, he’s probably around somewhere.”

“Around
here
?”

“Uh-huh.” Laurel scrunched her nose. “He couldn’t get closer for some reason, but he’s around if you want to say hi.”

“I’ll track him down and say
hi
, all right. Me and Heath.” Princess Siobhan started away as if she were going to do just that.

Princess Simone pulled Ethan away from the door. “Good night, Miss O’Cuilinn.”

“Uh—well, goodnight, then.” Brow furrowed, Laurel looked to Ethan, who gave his head a hard shake.

“No,” he said.

He pulled her door closed again, and wisely, she got out of the way. He didn’t doubt for a second, though, that she wouldn’t quickly regroup.

He hustled Princess Simone into the office along with Hestia and pulled down the shade on the door after engaging the lock.

He folded his arms over his chest and drummed his fingers along the sides of his arms.

Princess Simone blinked at him several times, then turned to Hestia.

Hestia threw up her hands. “I feel like I should make amends, but this wasn’t completely my fault. Ugh.” She paced in front of the door clucking her tongue for a while. “Look, as you know, there are rules of engagement. Gods and goddesses are restricted in how much they can meddle in the affairs of those who live in this realm, although we are allowed to pick the occasional favorite. We rarely interfere with the curses our peers have cast. What happened in this case is that some nitwit decided interfering in Simone’s curse would be great fun, and
not
so they could help her break it in a magically legal way.”

“Wait.” Princess Simone closed her eyes and leaned against the counter. “Hold on. Someone told Laurel about my curse?”

“No. They wouldn’t be that bold. They simply gave Laurel the impetus to come here, knowing that you couldn’t refuse to give her hospitality.”

Princess Simone dragged her hand down her face and nodded slowly. “And this is the same god or goddess who’s been feeding Rhiannon information, I’m guessing.”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

“But
why
?” Ethan asked. “Why drag me into this?”

“You’re fair game just like everyone else in Heath’s crew,” Hestia said. “Rhiannon will look for any opening to make a crack bigger, and you were the most convenient victim at the moment.”

He looked to the princess. “Should I leave, then? I’m certain she’ll follow. I can get rid of her.”

Princess Simone grimaced, then walked around the counter. She sank into her desk chair and let her lips sputter. “Heath would probably say that strategy would be too obvious. You puttering around here may suit Laurel, but people waiting outside this warded zone would be happier if you left. You going anywhere on your own would be an ambush waiting to happen.”

“I can handle myself in a fight.”

“I know you can. You can take on three or four men no problem, but Rhiannon’s going to change her tactics each time she sends her guards out. She might send more, or she might send some with abilities that you’re not immune to. For the time being, you’re safer here.”

“But what am I going to
do
with her?”

“Ignore her.”

“Good luck,” Hestia muttered.

Ethan glared at her. “Can you not lift the princess’s curse? There seem to be extenuating circumstances, do you not agree?”

“I agree that there are, but I’ve never reneged on a curse. I have a reputation for doing what I promise, and I can’t break my own rules even for a favorite. You’ll find some other way to break the curse,” she said to Princess Simone. “I’m certain you’ll think creatively.”

Princess Simone narrowed her eyes. “You also said I’d find someplace to put all those fairies who need to be evacuated from the realm that we can’t even easily access at the moment.”

“Yes. How
is
that going, dear?”

“Been too busy to think about making plans, much less to take a piss in peace. That’s how it’s going.”

“You should work on that.”

“Yeah?” Princess Simone cracked her knuckles.

As always, Hestia seemed completely unbothered by the princess’s distress.

At the moment, Ethan wasn’t so concerned with the fairies in the realm. He was concerned about one pseudo-psychotic mer-fairy being in very close proximity to his true mate.

“I could kill her,” he mused quietly.

Both Hestia and Princess Simone turned to look at him.

The princess tipped her head over the back of the chair and sighed. “Oh, boy.”

“He’s a fairy, is he not?” Hestia asked. “Your ilk does tend to be practical in that way.”

“Perhaps so, but I was raised human,” the princess said. “Humans don’t generally go around murdering people who annoy us, even when they deserve the killing.” She stabbed a finger toward Ethan. “Hey. Just to be clear, you’re not allowed to kill Laurel. If you get a good night’s sleep, I’m certain you’ll wake up understanding that would be a regretful move.”

He doubted he would, but being the loyal and true sort, he’d likely heed Simone’s warning. The last thing he wanted was to be the very next test subject of her “scary fairy rage.”

“As you wish, Princess. Do tell me, however, what I
am
allowed to do.”

She shrugged. “Just stay away from her. You see her coming? Walk the other way. Maybe if we’re lucky, we can get her to check out and not come back.”

“Luck’s never been on my side, Princess.”

“Oh, you do
fine
,” Hestia said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You have no idea how many people have tried to kill you and failed.”

“Excuse me?”

Hestia plucked invisible lint off her robe, frustratingly tightlipped at the worst possible time, as always.

He
hated
when she did that—tossed out bait, and then snatched it back before he could consume it. He understood that there were rules of conduct for the gods, but Hestia seemed, to him, especially sadistic.

He growled. “If she goes near Dasha—”

“We’re not going to let her get near Dasha,” Princess Simone interjected. “We’re going to do everything we can to obscure what the nature of your relationship is for as long as we can or until Laurel goes away. No one outside this complex—beyond Thom—knows who your mate is or even that you have one.”

“At the rate we’re going, I’ll never be able to court the woman properly.”

Hestia buffed her nails on her robe and emitted the most ladylike grunt he’d ever heard. “Think outside the box, fairy. You rely on antiquated modes of courtship, but these are modern times and you’re dealing with a woman who would prefer you not get close at the moment. So what’s that tell you?”

“That I’m fucking screwed.”

Hestia sighed, and as she vanished, pled, “Oh, Mielikki, deal with him.”

Mielikki didn’t appear, and Ethan was pleased that she didn’t. One exasperating goddess per day was about his limit.

He leaned his elbows onto the counter and stared at the princess. “Well?”

She shrugged. “Hestia had a point.”

“Maybe you could tell me what it was.”

“Think, E. If you can’t be right in front of Dash without making her anxious, that doesn’t mean you can’t still communicate with her.”

“Call her?”

“Nah. No offense, but that would probably be about as awkward as two thirteen-year-olds being allowed to use their parents’ phones for a chat. You don’t know each other well enough to have a productive phone conversation yet, but I have another idea.” She extended her hand, palm-up, and wriggled her fingers. “Give me your phone.”

He handed the device over without question.

Simone worked her thumbs rapidly over the screen and handed the phone back to him a few minutes later. “There you go. Added a new app for you.”

“What is it?” He squinted at the little icon on the screen. An angry, fanged piggybank tromped Godzilla-style through a partially razed city.

“A cross between Monopoly, SimCity, and Battleship is the best way I can describe the premise. You have to try to collect properties, and your virtual opponents have to try to take them out. It’s cutthroat. Actually,
BUY, BUILD, DESTROY!
is the kind of game friendships fall apart over.”

“So, you
are
trying to sabotage my efforts with Dasha?”

Simone wriggled her brows. “Trust me. Sign up for an account, and add player DotDotDotDash to your friend list.”

“Ah.” He was getting the gist.
Slowly
. But he still didn’t understand why he would have her play a friendship-ruining game with the mate who was already wary enough of him.

The princess, obviously guessing the cause of his discomfiture, laughed and shook her head. “Just do it. I swear, even if you piss her off, the game will get her talking to you. She’s serious about her gaming.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“Honestly, I think this is one of my better ideas, but, hey—I’ve had some real duds.”

“I’m trusting you, Princess.”

“I’m trying to do the best I can by all of you fairy thugs. Maybe I’ve been slow with the learning curve, but I’m coming around.”