“That will end well for them,” Vitor replied, sounding amused. He nodded towards Henry where Ceawlin was next to him, both looking very alike, even if not physically. “I think it clear where Olivia and Ceawlin got their influence from, whereas Cerdic seems more like Matilda besides the Zen part.”
“I heard Sebastian say that Henry had a sadistic streak a mile long, but I thought it more jovial. Now I think not,” I agreed. “Do you think Cerdic knows?”
“I don’t think Cerdic cares,” Vitor answered. “He seemed shocked Henry came, but not surprised he was still close with Ceawlin. Also, I don’t think Inez has been officially introduced to him yet. I doubt that’s a coincidence.”
“That will probably end well,” Tian sighed. But Tian was always sighing. I didn’t even know if he knew he did it or remotely as often as he did. It was excessive, but while it seemed to always be his annoyance, I got the feeling it wasn’t and there were more layers to it. If a sigh could have layers like that.
They landed and both of them looked a bit green around the gills and amazed.
“Speaking as someone who’s met his share of sadists, you’re a fucking sadist, James,” Cerdic bitched, rubbing his stomach.
“You still liked it,” James about sang. “Plus, there was a point.”
“Be careful how we hold Inez when we carry her to travel,” Sebastian surmised. “Yes, I made that mistake the first time and she… I felt horribly for a while.”
“That was an experience,” Kristof praised Tyson. “I promise to always be as gentle with you.”
“Oh fuck,” James groaned, giving Cerdic a worried look.
“Yeah, revenge is a bitch,” Cerdic warned.
I wasn’t the only one who laughed, but I made sure to grab James for where we went next. I wanted to go up in the jets one day and I wanted him to not fuck with me. I followed after Vitor who Simon had shown where we were going, stopping at a very large warehouse. I set James on his feet and he waited until everyone gathered.
“Some of you know that every time we check a place out or put a city back online, Inez always grabs visitors’ guides or any information she can at the government offices. While most of you thought it frivolous or a spoiled princess planning vacations and focused on fun—”
“She’s picked out some amazing finds as many tourist attractions have astounding resources or what areas boast as having bounty in,” Jacob cut in. “She found several rough diamonds that way in Seattle whereas we would have overlooked them.” He glanced from James to the warehouse. “What did she find this time?”
“The sexy sponge of information that soaks up all she can found out that seventeen states controlled wholesale alcohol purchasing,” he answered with a smirk. “Meaning all alcohol had to go through one large government facility instead of direct purchases. Thirteen also regulated retail purchases and Mississippi was one of them.
“This three hundred thousand square foot facility behind us was the distribution center for all the alcohol in the state.” He smiled and handed over a pamphlet to Cerdic. “And this is your prize. Your fiancée found it amusing how often you both were snagging booze for her as you’re both clearly connoisseurs, and while you might want her castle and coven to have the best, you also enjoy it most.”
“That’s not inaccurate,” Cerdic agreed, heading for the door. “This should be good.”
It was. We walked inside and there was just everything. The place was enormous and completely stocked full of booze. And I mean stocked. The place was a few stories tall and had shelving that allowed pallets to be stacked to the ceiling.
“How much of this is bad now though?” Ceawlin grumbled.
“The beer for sure is—” Henry agreed.
“No beer,” James cut in. “Beer didn’t count and is its own beverage. This is spirits and wine, so only the hard stuff.” He gave them an annoyed look. “But even if it was only half because of the beer, I think a hundred and fifty thousand square feet is still a nice prize and gift from a fiancée given she already gave them both presents. This was just for fun.”
“Ignore their jealousy,” Moon said as he moved in further. “I would be as well as I’m sure neither of their princesses would think to set all this up for them.”
“Spoken like a noble without a court,” Ceawlin drawled.
He raised an eyebrow as he looked back to Ceawlin. “I have a court I’m loyal to and have taken an oath for. I’m simply not her noble. Yet. I can wait as long as she wants. She’s worth that.”
“I’d be very careful on what you say next as Inez made it clear if you were to upset Cerdic or annoy us when she wasn’t around to handle it, we were allowed to stab you,” Sisay warned him as he went over to the business desk. “This is the full list of all approved retail places, so every address in the state of Mississippi.” He gave Cerdic an annoyed look. “She gifted you all the booze in a damn state.”
“Of course she did,” he chuckled. “Alright, well, I’ll share with my team for sure. James, you get a bottle only since you brought us here, but you tried to make me puke.”
“That’s fair, but I also promised the guys who were driving the trucks for your fun we’d save them something nice,” James added.
Cerdic nodded. “I’m fine with that. Apparently, I have a whole state of booze
