an untouchable and irrevocable trust fund her grandfather had left her. Since she rarely bought anything, she had a hefty amount available. Which was good, because any spell worth its salt didn’t come cheap.
Keeping her voice low, just in case, she began to outline her case.
* * *
His nerves still thrummed from learning someone had seen him travel through the veil. Chad knew he had to do something, and quickly. Stalking off from the castle, he went bow hunting while he tried to weigh his options. The simplest solution, which also was the most boring, would be simply to leave now and go home, back to EastWard castle. If not, if he remained, he’d have to disguise his appearance while he was here so the human visitor didn’t recognize him. And without arousing suspicion in the SouthWard Court.
That option and all the challenges it presented, made him grin savagely. Of course killing the human would remain on the table, especially since he secretly preferred this choice. For now, though, he would have much rather left no witnesses. The fact that he had, merely upped the game and sharpened the anticipation.
Life had suddenly become very, very good. No, more than good. Great. Awesome. Epic. Possibly even legendary.
And, he gloated, rubbing his hands together with glee, he hadn’t even examined the magical earring yet. Since it belonged to Queen Millicent, he imagined it would have fantastical powers.
Stalking through the forest, tension building, he thought again of the way the maid had died. Even thinking about it brought him a buzz, better than the finest liquor.
He also felt a familiar restlessness, making him jumpy and uneasy. And angry.
With these emotions all roiling within him, he knew the only way to ease the tension and feel better would be to kill. Something. Anything.
He shot three rabbits in rapid succession and, disregarding every rule about hunting, left their bodies either to rot in the sun or to be savaged by other wild creatures.
This made him feel marginally better, at least able to face his brother again. Until he figured out a way to implement his disguise without the SouthWards noticing, he planned to avoid the rest of the royal family, especially Princess Willow and her human visitor.
When he reached the castle, he slipped into the back door and made his way unnoticed to his room. Once there, he closed the door and began pacing. Some of his rage had been quieted by the kills in the forest, but his problem still remained. That night, King Puck and Queen Millicent were throwing yet another ball to celebrate Eric and Tatiana’s betrothal. Chad would be required to attend. Unless—he smiled grimly—he feigned an illness. A wretched, disgusting illness, the kind that couldn’t be masked by a polite smile and a napkin over the mouth. His grin widened. Disgusting and gagging and nauseating. This, he could do. That would give him time to perfect a change in appearance so that the human wouldn’t recognize him.
Now that he’d decided that, he took out the magical earring. Wiping it clean, he turned it over in the palm of his hand and began to try and learn its secrets.
* * *
Ruben listened as Willow outlined her case. He had to hand it to her. She sort of had a plan, and he definitely needed her help. She wanted to gather information, talk to people, see what they could find out. All in all, exactly what he had already planned to do.
The only problem he had was, despite his best efforts, every time he looked at her, he felt the strong tug of attraction. At the thought, his inner wolf grew restless. The beast wanted her, too—in other, more carnal ways.
As for his human self, Ruben admitted that her feminine vitality drew him on some instinctual level. He’d wanted her the very first time he’d seen her and his body craved her still.
But this he could control. He had an iron grip on his natural urges. Too bad the same couldn’t be said for his wolf.
He’d let the animal part of himself have too much control for far too long. Therein lay grief and madness. The battle now, after the fact, felt futile. But he refused to admit defeat yet.
Willow provided a welcome distraction. Ruben didn’t understand why, but the beast wanted this woman with a ferocity that defied all logic.
“Are you agreeable to us being a team?” she asked, watching him earnestly. “If so, we could get started immediately.”