Prison Princess (Paranormal Prison) - CoraLee June Page 0,50

your services.”

I’d expected this. He didn’t like my presence here. My prior affiliation with the Assassins Guild made him anxious, and he definitely didn’t like the lingering looks his daughter liked to toss my way, but I didn’t really give a fuck. Layne was going to figure out what she was capable of, and we were going to get the hell out of this place. She was fucking powerful, and I refused to let her parents siphon those powers like Bhaltair did.

“I was thinking about staying for a while,” I replied. “I think it’s good to have me around.”

A vein bulged in the king’s head, and I smirked at how easily he lost his chill. “I’m not ignorant, assassin. I see what’s going on here, but I don’t think you fully understand the ramifications of what this means.”

I lifted my eyebrows in disbelief. If I was going to kill this man, and I wasn’t, now would be the perfect time to do that. He wasn’t paying any attention to what he was doing. Not a single thing to protect himself and he was in the room with an assassin. This was how he ended up losing his daughter to begin with.

He wasn’t worthy of his daughter. Yet he’d put that statement out there to me that I didn’t understand ramifications, and he hadn’t followed that up fast. Was he trying to figure out what he was going to say?

I waited, without moving. Stillness could be its own weapon.

Finally, he spoke. “She’s a powerful Druid. She has responsibilities. If she doesn’t fulfill her destiny, then everything will fall apart. The circle of Druid responsibility will end.”

I nodded. “You thought she was dead. How were you going to handle your so-called circle issue if that had been the case? Layne owes you nothing. You lost her. King or not, what kind of man does that?”

The king balled his fists at my question, and the world trembled in tandem with his anger. I kept my ground, staring back at him with my steel face and puffing out my chest. “I don’t have to explain myself to you. You have no idea the pain my wife and I endured. It’s easy to judge from where you’re standing.”

I rolled my eyes.

Her father spoke through gritted teeth. “Layne is a Moon Goddess. We haven’t seen one in centuries. She isn’t just a Druid Princess. She’s so much more. Her emotions will carve the path our very world spins on. She’s quite possibly the most powerful person in existence right now. And as she awakens more of her powers outside of Nightmare Penitentiary, the more at risk she is.”

Risk? “What do you mean?”

“I mean, normally someone of her rank would need a lifetime to learn how to control her gifts. Her abilities are closely tied to her emotions, which makes her extremely volatile. I estimate that Bhaltair was only tethering a small portion of what she’s capable of.”

“This is good,” I replied. “This means she can protect herself.”

“No. This means even the slightest tilt in her disposition could end the world. She’s not trained. She’s not aware of what she’s capable of. I hate to say it, but Nightmare might have been the safest place for her.”

I’ve never wanted to hurt another person so much in my life and not been able to. “How can you say that? Moon Goddesses, from what little I know about them, are treasured, not locked away.”

“I agree, but these are special circumstances, and I am by no means advocating for her return to that place. But we are going to have to temper her the way that Nightmare did. We’re going to have to put a dampening spell on her while she learns. She’s going to hate it. I will, too. Her mother will weep. It’s hard to watch, worse to endure. I’m not blind, either. I know you two are...attached.”

I forced myself not to look away. I didn’t want her father discussing sex with me. It was just...weird.

He continued rising from his desk. “You two get any more attached and things will go haywire. You’re going to hate seeing what happens, and she’ll be more inclined to not do what she has to if she has you to lean on. And if things really were to go wrong when the two of you are intimate, it’ll be a disaster. If she does marry, it has to be with a person who power dampens. You don’t do that.”

“This is bullshit,” I