“That was why you were so insistent Olivia come to this,” Matilda chuckled darkly. “Bury the hatchet and all of that, right?”
I shrugged. “I honestly hoped she would see how happy I made Cerdic and decided her jealousy or lingering annoyance at me not falling for her traps wasn’t as important as him. I hoped we could all just have some fun and we were past the bullshit and drama. It seemed a smart ace in my pocket that people could hear it directly from her.”
“There was no way she could have guessed this would be what happened,” Kristof defended. “None of us imagined this sort of insanity of several covens just crashing the party like they owned the place. You would never allow that. You would kill them, but they don’t fear Inez as she didn’t inherit, which is stupid as she’s a new bloodline. Her tree is her tree, not the house’s.
“People saw her tree give seeds, which none have done before. For people to keep underestimating her is insanity, but still people will do it as they cannot see past their own egos and self-inflated values. My princess was kind and willing to look past the insults and bullshit, but she will not risk the safety of her people as half a dozen are plotting to take all she has, and her to rule all fourteen of you that have alliances.”
“Well that’s lovely, because we’re apparently insignificant as we would simply allow it,” Hanna drawled, rolling her eyes before giving me a curious look. “You’ve had spies watching them this whole time?”
I snorted. “Of course. I let them through the door so I wasn’t the bitch that they could have some bullshit reason to strike out against at the ‘insult’ it would be or whatever. But more than that, I wanted to know what they were really up to. There were so many people all around that they couldn’t tell one extra shifter in little cat form sleeping in the hallway.”
“Plus, we have working electricity,” Trisha added with a smirk. “All of the hotel rooms, trailers, and places in the castle are bugged. We now know all your secrets.” She smiled at Nora, dipping her head. “I think you are a gorgeous woman as well, Princess Nora.”
Nora burst out laughing, wrapping her arm around her stomach and giving me a loving look. “Every time I think there’s no way you could keep up with all the insanity around you, you disprove me once again. Darling, I am honestly in awe of how distrusting you are, even with such a kind heart.”
I shrugged. “I don’t find them to be mutually exclusive.” I kissed Kristof’s cheek before moving over to Vitor and Petre, giving each of them a soft kiss that lingered, making it clear they were mine, even if it was for show with Vitor. “And since you were so open to just dropping in, a few of mine did as well on my behalf.” I smirked at the shocked princesses. “And they did bring gifts, unlike you party crashers.”
“What did you put in their covens?” Matilda asked, looking seconds from bursting out laughing.
“They can’t even get mad or retaliate when they did it to you and they stand on your lands,” Nora whispered, letting out a snicker. “Tell me they bugged their covens.”
“Did they? You didn’t tell us that,” Jaxon muttered, glancing between us.
I shrugged. “You would have said it was starting too much trouble, but I figured if things went well, I’d never need to use them. I have absolutely no faith that it will ever go well though, and several people agreed with me.” I smiled at the princesses. “Did you know DoD satellites still work? Those weren’t destroyed.”
“And Princess Inez fixed the systems that communicated with them on several of the vessels we have,” Trisha added. “So bugs that give burst transmissions are the least of your worries as you don’t have the working equipment to find them without power, but those tiny little signal enhancers are exactly what very big bombs lock onto to find locations.”
“Meaning we can wipe out all of your covens in one shot if we so much as feel you on our continent,” Wilson purred, not military, but one of my engineers of the apocalypse who helped with that stuff.
“So, thanks for being the assholes I hoped you wouldn’t be. Talk to Olivia if you want, but I suspect some of you woke feeling ill after deciding you were going to pull what she tried to, but then get the fuck out of my castle and leave my coven,” I said cheerily. “And don’t come back. Ever.” I sighed like I was happy to get that off my chest. “Now back to my plans of consummating my marriage all over my castle.”
I walked back over to Kristof and kissed him before moving over to one of the wicker chaise lounges with lush cushions. I gave him an inviting look over my shoulder as I untied the nightgown and let it slide off my shoulders. Then I got on all fours on it, ignoring the gasps and whispers. Oh no, not something submissive, like it mattered as people overreacted.
“I’m not ashamed I give my husband everything he wants and I enjoy every second of doing it,” I told him firmly. “He’s worth more to me than pride or stupid whispers. We know what our relationship is and it doesn’t include anyone else.”
18
He was there before I even finished the last word. He knelt behind me and
