Chapter 6 #3
Half an hour passed. Forty-five minutes.
A full hour. Deyvid’s skin prickled when he realized that Petur was out there searching for him now.
He was a little bit surprised that none of the other shifters had even passed this way.
The scent trick was a good one, specifically designed for distracting shifters who didn’t tend to anticipate that kind of thing, but he hadn’t expected it to be this successful.
He was less than two miles from where he’d started, after all.
Fifteen more minutes went by. Half an hour.
It wasn’t until nearly two hours were gone that the first member of the Corps ran by the front door.
It was a man in partial shift, his head distorted with canine-like features.
Impressive. And dangerous, Deyvid acknowledged to himself.
If anyone was going to see through him, it would be a wolf shifter.
He watched, tensing slightly, as the unfamiliar figure paused by the door. After a few seconds, though, he ran on, and Deyvid relaxed. At two full hours, he could have returned to the barracks. And yet …
“Another pot of tea?”
“Just a cup,” Deyvid decided. “But I will take a few of those buns to go if you don’t mind. And some of the dipping cream?”
“Of course, of course. Bring the pot back if you can,” she said, spooning thick, lavender-scented cream into a small pot on the counter. “I’ll give you a break on your next order if you do.”
“I’ll do my best, madame,” Deyvid promised.
“Such manners,” she said with a smile. “What a lovely afternoon I’ve had with you. Be well, dear.”
“I’ll try.”
It wasn’t until he was six blocks away from the barracks that he picked up his first shifter tail.
It was already past the deadline, so they wouldn’t be able to claim that they’d found him.
Perhaps they were ashamed of how they’d performed because whoever it was, they didn’t come forward—Deyvid simply registered their presence.
They were joined by another, and then another.
By the time he made it back to the courtyard, he was being followed by every member of the Shifter Corps sent to track him earlier, with the exception of Petur.
“Good effort,” Deyvid said dryly. “Why, I even saw one of you for, mmm, two seconds.”
“You cheated,” one of the younger members bit out. “You used our sense of smell against us.”
“You should have found something else to rely on,” Deyvid replied. “I made contact with over a dozen people in the city. You would have done better to ask around than to try to follow your noses.
“I did not do this to embarrass anyone,” he said firmly as the grumbles rose.
“All I want to do is make you aware of the fact that you all have something to learn. That’s not the worst thing in the world.
And at least you all managed to cotton on to the fact that I was returning when I did,” he added. “Any sign of your prince?”
“Last I saw him, he was heading for the sewer,” one of them said, a bit of a smirk on his lips.
Deyvid nodded. “Well, when he returns, direct him toward my rooms after he’s bathed, please.” He looked out at the expectant faces. “Dismissed.”
They left, a few shooting, admiring glances back his way. Of course, there were some angry glances as well, but Deyvid would take what he could get. Right now, he had an assignation to arrange.
Deyvid wasn’t sure what to expect when Petur finally came to him.
Afternoon had turned to evening, and he’d gone to the mess to collect several servings of what passed for dinner in the barracks and then set them up in his somewhat-spartan quarters.
There was only one chair, but Petur had been fine with the bed last time, so—
No, stop thinking about the bed. You embarrassed him today.
He’s not going to be happy about it. A part of Deyvid expected Petur to be raging, in fact—to storm through the door in his battle form and threaten Deyvid or even attack him for apparently driving him to search the sewers in his effort to win.
Instead, there was a very nearly non-Peturish knock on the door at half past six.
“Come,” Deyvid called warily. The door opened, and he was treated to the sight of a meticulously dressed, impeccably coiffed prince with a piece of folded fabric over his arm, who smiled roguishly at him.
He held up his arm. “I brought back your cloak.”
“So you did,” Deyvid said. He indicated the table, where dinner was accompanied by two buns and the pot of cream. “Have a seat.”
Petur did so, then leaned in and scented one of the treats. “Are these from Madame Patrice’s shop?”
“They are.”
He nodded. “Avery said he thought he caught a scent of you near there, but he couldn’t verify it. I checked myself later, but you were gone by then.” He looked at Deyvid with searching eyes. “You did exactly what you said you would. Why are you so tense?”
“I’m not tense,” Deyvid demurred, but inside he was cursing. Of course, Petur would see it, of course, he would—
“What’s making you nervous?”
“Petur …”
“It’s me, isn’t it? You didn’t trust my reaction to you winning the bet.”
Deyvid’s voice caught in his throat. “It’s not … you, exactly. I have a very hard time trusting anyone, Petur. I have to be careful.”
“Of course, you do,” Petur almost crooned. Before Deyvid could stop him, he’d gone down on his knees in front of him. “Deyvid—”
“Get up!” Deyvid hissed, glancing at the still-open door. “What if someone walks by and sees you?”
“I ordered this section of the barracks cleared for the next two hours; no one will disturb us,” Petur said.
“But this is what I mean. You’re caught between asserting your authority and still ensuring that you’re appropriately deferent to me, but Deyvid …
even if someone did see me on my knees for you, I wouldn’t be ashamed of that.
I told you what you could have tonight, and I meant it. ”
He reached out and took Deyvid’s hands. “I’ll work harder to gain your trust,” he said.
Deyvid shut his eyes. “You’re a prince. I’m just … you shouldn’t …”
“Darling.” Petur lifted Deyvid’s hand to his lips and pressed a slow, soft kiss to his largest knuckle. “You can’t dissuade me. Not unless you tell me you don’t want anything to do with me. I’ll honor it if that’s the truth, but I don’t think it is.”
“I don’t like making trouble for you.”
Petur smiled again. When it touched his eyes, he looked like the handsomest man Deyvid had ever seen.
“A little trouble can be a good thing. But you’re going to do so much more good than bad here, Deyvid.
I believe that with all my heart. And now.
” He sat back on the bed, but kept ahold of Deyvid’s hands.
“If I might make a suggestion about tonight?”
“What?” Deyvid asked.
“Let’s eat these delicious buns and this dubious dinner together, talk about the training I know you have planned for tomorrow, then get some rest. Separately. But I’ll be close,” Petur added. “I’ve taken the room next to yours.”
Deyvid was dumbfounded. “You’re a prince, and you want to … Petur, that’s not—”
“I will prove myself to you,” Petur said, his grip tightening for a moment.
“I’m going to show you how much I value and respect you, do you understand me?
I won’t be gainsaid by your doubts or my sister’s temper.
I’m going to earn your trust if it kills me.
Which it won’t,” he added, finally letting go.
“I’m very hard to kill as you’ve seen. Now. Dinner?”
Deyvid couldn’t help it. He threw back his head and laughed. “All right, you madman,” he agreed. “Dinner.”
The rest could wait, but Deyvid was finally feeling confident that there might actually be something good for them to wait for.
He hoped Petur was right.