never promised not to tie you up. As a matter a fact, I tied you up last night and you were damn happy about it.”
“That was for fun.” It had been a hell of a night. The boys had tied me up, blindfolded me, and made me guess who was doing what to me. I actually got hot thinking about it now, but it was a cunning distraction and I couldn’t fall for it. “You’re talking about actual, not sexy, bondage. Not happening, Danny. Besides, Dev already knows who did it so we’ll be fine once he proves his ex-honey Gilliana is behind everything.”
Gilliana was Dev’s wife at one point in time before the queen annulled their marriage. I’d been told she was a bit perturbed at the thought of a new Mrs. Quinn.
“How did she know that is what we were thinking?” Declan asked, his jaw dropping slightly.
Dev smiled. “Because she’s clever. Yes, my wife, I think it was Gilliana or at the least her family. We’ll know more once we get this one awake and talking.” He motioned to the unconscious faery.
“I knew it was someone you slept with or someone related to someone you slept with,” I muttered under my breath.
Declan rolled his aristocratic eyes. “Well, Zoey, if we went by that then our list of suspects would be…everyone in the sithein . It is much easier to count the women Devinshea forgot to sleep with than the ones he actually did.”
“That is rude,” Dev shot back.
“And true,” Declan responded, unwilling to back down. “We could do a hand count. Anyone who has slept with Prince Dev or had a relative sleep with him could raise their hands.”
“Don’t you dare, brother,” Dev hissed. His fists were clenched as he spoke to his brother, but he finally relaxed and chose to turn back to Danny and me. “You knew I had a past. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because it’s Gilliana. No one else hates me enough to do it. I was actually quite kind to my partners.”
Danny nodded. “Padric mentioned I should watch out for her.”
“Excellent.” Declan took control, snapping his fingers at his guard. “Then we can go to the palace and sort this all out. The guard will surround us and we will move quickly. We shall travel as true trooping faeries. I will send servants for the luggage. We shall be at the palace within moments.”
“I have a problem. Does anyone have an extra pair of pants?” Neil turned around and his whole left cheek peeked through the cotton.
Dev bent over, laughing at the sight. Daniel put his hand over his mouth to try to hide his smile. Sarah just pointed out the problem to Felix.
“Oh, sweetie.” She tried not to giggle. “You spray tanned before we left.” I remembered the day. I’d gotten a facial while Neil got a nice glow he was sure he would need in Faery.
“Yes,” he said impatiently. “I need a tan or I look ghastly.”
Zack couldn’t seem to stop giggling. “Dude, I pulled out a hunk of flesh when I took that arrow out of your ass.”
“OMG, I don’t match.” Neil announced what the rest of us had already figured out. “Nice, Z. I save your life and what do I get for it? Mismatched butt cheeks.”
I hugged him and smiled brightly. “We’ll find someplace quiet and sunbathe nude. I promise you’ll match soon enough.”
“Fine,” he said with a pout.
I took his hand as the royal guard began to herd us toward the exit. We would walk to the palace surrounded by a phalanx of guards. Lee pulled his quarry behind him and Danny and Dev argued about how to prove Dev’s ex was behind everything. I held Neil’s hand and looked up at the white palace that got closer with each step.
“I already want to go home, Z,” Neil admitted.
I sighed and squeezed his hand because I knew the feeling.
Chapter Four
“She gave us three different rooms?” I asked the small creature who had guided me to what I assumed was our dressing room. Now I looked around and saw that only my luggage had been delivered.
When we’d reached the shining palace, we’d been
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley