Stay

Allie tensed at his side, and he pulled her into his arms. “What I can’t figure out is why the pilot would have spilled the details. How much would they have paid him to betray the family he’s worked for his entire adult life?”

“Do we know that’s what he did?” Vera asked. “Does the pilot answer to anyone else?”

“Only to me and Jared. I think technically my dad and Jared’s dad still have authority, but they wouldn’t have asked for that information, nor would they have shared it.”

“Were you watching TV?” Owen gestured to the remote sitting on the couch. His question helped ease the tension. I wondered if I was the only one who felt like it was a thousand degrees in that room. The more we talked, the more I was reminded of my short comings. A few months into the job of head of security, and I’d almost lost both the king and queen.

“We needed something to fill the time.”

“Glad you were so bored.” Vera shook her head. “I know you’re royalty, and I’m supposed to be respectful, but I’m hoping my sister buys me a pass because after everything we’ve been through the last few days I’m not bowing to anyone or anything.”

“Are you Vera?” Allie walked right over to her.

“You’ve heard of me?” Vera smiled.

“Yes. Your sister talks highly of you. It’s awesome to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. You seem a lot cooler than a queen should be.”

Levi laughed. “I wonder if you’d say the same thing about me being a king.”

“Kings don’t have the same reputation as queens. Kings have been known to be cool. It’s the queens that get the bad rep for being uptight.” She turned to Allie. “It’s clearly unwarranted of course.”

Allie smiled. “Of course.”

“Do you know what message your husband left?” Vera asked. “And did you really give away part of his kingdom?”

Allie stared at Levi. “What is she talking about? I thought you just wrote down that we were going to Cade’s!”

I nudged Vera. Did she have to stir up trouble?

Levi grinned. “I made it a little bit more fun.”

“He said you were going to visit your biggest mistake.” I smirked at her. “It was perfect.”

“Men.” Allie grumbled.

Vera laughed. “I second that.”

“Ok, enough chit chat.” I didn’t mind Vera and Allie talking. I could definitely see them getting along even though they were as different as night and day, but we still had a lot of serious discussion to tackle.

Allie put a hand on her hip. “It’s been less than five minutes and you’re already annoying me.”

“I miss you too, princess.”

Vera looked at me funny. Before I could explain, Owen butted in. “It’s an inside joke. He’s called her princess long before she was a princess.”

“Ok. Got it.” Vera nodded. She thought I was crazy, but then again, I thought she was crazy too.

“So what have you guys been up to other than stalking me?” Levi shifted his weight. I could tell he was aching to get outside.

“Stalking you?” I coughed. “That had better be a joke.”

“I take it the word that we were dead got out?”

“How can you be saying it that calmly?” Owen asked.

“Because we’re not dead. That’s obvious.” Levi may have been playing it off, but the experience had shaken him. It was clear from the way he kept watching Allie.

“Let’s stop this dance.” Vera butted in again. “We were searching for you because Tiffany told us she was going to have you killed.”

“Tiffany?” Allie said with confusion. “My Tiffany?”

“You guys are going to want to sit down for this.” I gestured to the couch.

“Would anyone like some refreshments?” Cade stood in the doorway. “I could open some wine, maybe mix some drinks. Just let me know what you want.”

I flipped around to look at him. “Are you kidding me?”

“I pride myself on being a good host.”

“But you’re not a host. We’re here to get Levi and get home. All hell is breaking loose right now. Casey’s lost her mind literally, and Georgina thinks Levi’s dead.”

“What?” Allie asked. “What do you mean Casey’s lost her mind?”

“I’m guessing you haven’t heard….” Vera looked back and forth between everyone in the room.

“No, we haven’t heard about any of this, care to fill us in?” Allie wasn’t looking at Vera.

“What do you think I was about to tell you?”

“Just start talking.” Allie crossed her arms.

Vera smiled. She seemed to enjoy watching another girl boss me around.

I gave Allie, Levi, and Cade the condensed version of what I knew. It took three tries to get Allie to believe me that Tiffany was a psycho witch. Once she accepted that, getting her to wrap her head around what had happened to Casey was a lot easier.

“It looks like we’re taking a trip to New Orleans, huh?” Cade asked.

“Yes. We can’t waste any more time. We have to get you guys to safety. Once we do that we can worry about stopping Tiffany. We can’t risk placing any calls until we’re in the hotel. We have the upper hand now if everyone thinks you’re dead. Let’s not lose it.”

“Don’t forget about protecting Casey.” Vera frowned. “We don’t know what’s going on with her right now.”

“That was part of the stopping Tiffany thing.”

Levi turned to Vera. “Of course we’ll protect Casey. She’s my sister too.”

“All right then,” I stretched. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Toby

“I need to talk to both of you, now.” Georgina didn’t wait to make sure we’d heard her. She headed out of the chamber. We both followed behind. There was something in her tone that made this order seem particularly urgent.

She moved down the hall at a quick pace until she finally stopped in front of a door. “In here. This room is sound proof.”

Without asking questions about why we needed a soundproof room, we followed her in and she closed the door. We were inside some sort of library. The walls were lined with shelves of books. The room was also furnished with several arm chairs, a table, and a couch. It was easy to forget we were in a basement.