watching the sun rise with Gavin. “We’re headed to Philadelphia today,” I told her.
“Just a few more minutes,” she pleaded, limp like a rag doll in my arms.
Finally, I took some ice and slid it down the back of her shirt. She hopped of the bed with a shriek. “Pea!”
“Let’s just get to Philly,” I said. “You can go to sleep when get settled in the new hotel.”
“Fine,” she whined, pulling on some clothes.
She woke up quick when we got to Roan I, where Gavin had already boarded. Suddenly my sister was bright-eyed and awake. She even managed to shake her bedhead into a sexy tousle. I could tell by the look on Gavin’s face that it didn’t matter what she wore or how she wore it. He was a stone-cold Fern junkie, like most men who met her.
Only the special ones got her attention in return. From the way she mooned over Gavin, I knew that he had earned her own stamp of approval. He was beautiful, yes. He was a dancer, perfect. He was a count no less. But it was something else, something in the electricity around them.
It could have also been the hickey he wore, who knows?
As much as I likewise enjoyed Gavin’s company, it was a little more stressful to have him along for the ride. I had to hide my condition, such as it was. I wasn’t hanging over an airplane toilet, but it was everything I could do to pretend I didn’t feel like total shit. Had our flight been longer I would have taken a nap in the sleeping compartment. I feigned my very first migraine instead because it was easier.
Our next hotel was in downtown Philadelphia with a view of City Hall from the exclusive penthouse suite. It came with its own private elevator which I knew would prove useful by the end of the week. PING had their way of hunting us down in quick order, so it went without saying that my days of peaceful anonymity were numbered.
Since we had a whole day to recover before meeting our brother for lunch the next day, both Fern and I caught up with our sleep by hitting the sheets almost the minute we got to the hotel. It was dark by the time I opened my eyes again. When I called down for room service, they informed me that I had my own personal chef who had prepared our meal for us that evening. I decided to have a little soak in the tub before dinner.
When I went into the bathroom, it was filled with the black, white and purple roses of Aldayne. The specially prepared meals also represented Auggie’s home country, with a big bowl of auberries just for me. I had finished them all by the time Fern stumbled to the table, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
“You let me sleep all day?” she asked, sinking into the chair.
“You needed it,” I said. “And apparently so did I. I only woke up an hour ago.”
She laughed as she reached for a skewer of charbroiled chicken. “Mmm,” she murmured, savoring the bite momentarily before she unleashed the Fern. “So, we might as well get it all out now. I’ll tell you all about my night last night if you tell me all about yours, Miss On Top of the World.”
“It’s not what it looks like.”
Her eyebrow arched. “Really? Because it looks like someone took a photo of you on the private terrace of your hotel, right outside your bedroom.”
“It was his idea,” I dismissed. “He wanted to make Christopher and Monica jealous. I think.”
“Mmhmm,” she pursed her lips. She pulled out her phone and held it up on the photo, complete with smeared makeup and the dreamy look on my face. “What’s going on, Pea?”
“Nothing,” I insisted. “I swear.” Off her very long, skeptical look, “Fine. He’s… made some moves.” Her eyebrow damn near arched off her face.
“And?”
“And nothing. I turned him down.”
“What? Why?”
I sighed. “He’s the sexiest man I’ve ever met, Fern. But I can’t think about that right now. There’s someone else who needs me more. Who needs me to be strong. To stay focused on what’s really important. And that’s not ending up some notch on a roving royal’s bedpost.”
She sighed. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. But you’re a lot stronger than me, Pea.”
“Tell me about it. I’m going to use up all the cold water on the planet in five months. Don’t tell the environmentalists.”