Chapter 11 Royalty
ROYALTY
RAE
“She seriously called Diane?”
“Yes! I swear, Maya, I’m gonna lose my mind before all this is over.” I dropped onto the hard plastic chair across from her in the food court. “I really expected to only hear from her around the funeral. She’s never meddled in my business before.”
“Probably wants to make sure you don’t lose your job if you’re absent.”
I paused, setting my cup down. “Why would she care about that?”
“Well, if she’s making sure you don’t get an inheritance, you don’t think she’d try to keep you from coming to them for money?”
I rubbed my temples. “You’re probably right. As if I’d come to them for anything. Besides, I have savings to fall back on if Shane fires me. I don’t care about a stupid inheritance.”
Maya pointed her spring roll at me. “Girl, Diane would have his ass.”
“Maybe.” I looked down at my burrito bowl as if the beans held the answers to all my problems. “Maybe I should move.”
“What? Why?”
“Patricia made it sound like they were washing their hands of me now that Grandma’s gone, but she’s already shown she’ll interfere if she thinks she needs to. Plus, I don’t need to stay near Greensboro anymore. I never saw the townhouse as my forever home anyway.”
“Why would you move when you own your place? Where would you go?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead. But I could sell.”
“See? Don’t act on impulse and regret it.” She stood, tightening the sleeves of the flannel tied around her waist. “I need to get going. Ma wants me to stop by before I head home.” She gathered her trash. “If you want me to come over later and talk about Bonnie…”
“No, I’ll be fine. I—”
“Oh, that looks delicious. What is it?”
I jumped when Zeke grabbed my fork and stole a bite.
“Oh wow, that’s good. You should try it, Ash.”
I turned to find Ash standing with his arms crossed. Under the bright lights, the tattoos covering his arms seemed to ripple like liquid over his corded muscles.
“What are you two doing here? I thought you were leaving.”
“No can do,” Zeke said, stabbing a chunk of steak and taking a bite. After he swallowed, he added, “Ezra’s still trying to figure it out. We’re just here to get some clothes and new phones.”
New phones? Clothes?
They said they didn’t have money—or maybe I assumed they didn’t since they weren’t from Earth. If they intended to return to Elyrdin, why worry about new clothes? Why did demons need phones? Who would they call?
“Uh, Rae?”
I whipped my head around to look at Maya. I’d almost forgotten she was still there. Clearing my throat, I sipped my drink to buy time. How did I explain these two to her? Were the others here?
“Maya, this is Zeke and Ash. They’re visiting from out of town.”
Not a lie, but I still felt a twinge of guilt over the misdirect.
Maya dropped into her seat, her mother forgotten. Not that I could blame her. With Zeke’s platinum hair and bright eyes, and Ash’s build, tattoos, and long hair with intricate braids, they resembled models. I’d already noticed a few heads turn since they’d arrived.
But wasn’t the devil supposed to be tempting?
“Nice to meet you,” Ash said.
“Holy balls, you’re huge.” Maya gawked up at him.
“Oh my god, Maya!” I rubbed my forehead, pinching the skin between my brows. “I apologize for my friend. She’s apparently twelve.”
“What? He is!” She looked from me to Ash. “No offense, but you are.”
Zeke snorted, swiping another piece of steak.
Ash chuckled. “None taken.” His gaze slid to the group of teenagers who’d overheard Maya. “May I?” He gestured at the empty chair. The girl closest nodded, face flushed, and he pulled it over to the end of our table.
I pushed my burrito bowl toward Zeke. “He’s not that big.”
Maya gave Ash another once-over. “What are you? Six-five?”
“I think I’m only six-three.”
“Close enough. Add in the muscle, and yeah, you’re a big guy.”
I shook my head.
“You seriously don’t think he’s big?”
I glanced over at Ash. He stood the same height as Ezra, just broader. “I mean, sure, but you can’t go around saying stuff like that about people.”
Maya rolled her eyes. “I thought gym bros liked it when women fawned over their big muscles. Right?” Not giving him the chance to answer, she added, “I assume Zeke is short for Ezekiel?”
Zeke lowered his fork. “What? No. Why would you think that?”
“The name isn’t uncommon around here,” Ash said. “It’s from the Bible.”
Maya rolled her eyes. “Good ol’ Bible Belt. Met plenty of Michaels, Johns, and Matthews, but never an Ezekiel.”
Zeke swallowed the last bite and wiped his mouth. “It means Zekarias.”
She hummed, looking him over as if assessing whether the name suited him before turning her attention back to Ash. “So what’s Ash short for? Is it a nickname too?”
“Ashryn.”
“Different. Both names are. I like it.”
I buried my face in my hand and groaned. “Maya, stop being nosy.”
“Fiiiine. I need to go anyway.” She stood and grabbed her things. “Call me if you need me. Seriously.”
“Sure.”
She turned back toward the table a few feet away and fanned herself, pointing between Zeke and Ash. I expected a thorough interrogation about the two men the next time we met.
I watched her disappear into the crowd before focusing on the two men. “I thought you were going home.”
“We’d like to,” Ash said, leaning forward and clasping his hands on the table. The cheap plastic chair protested under his large frame. “But unless Ezra’s father summons us or we’re able to figure out a spell to send us back, we’re stuck here.”
“Can’t you contact him? Why do you need him?”
“Whenever we’ve come to Earth before, we bring special stones that open gateways to our world. Without those stones, he’s the only one powerful enough to move anything across the divide without real consequences,” Zeke said.
“So he’s stronger than you are?”
“By far,” Ash said. “In both magic and influence over Elyrdin’s citizens.”
Zeke twirled my straw wrapper between his fingers. “Can’t expect anything less from the ruler of Elyrdin.”
“Ruler? Like a king?”
“Sort of. He leads the council of elder Shyrlivi that oversees every part of life in Elyrdin. Their reach stretches throughout Niemna, but the places beyond Elyrdin’s walls are wild and lawless.”
The way he described it made it sound like a city in the middle of a dystopian wasteland. I’d seen enough post-apocalyptic movies where big walls protected cities from the outside world. I wondered what surrounded Elyrdin. Deserts? Towns crawling with criminals?
“So, if Ezra’s father is like the king, does that make Ezra a prince?”
Zeke nodded. “All four of us are heirs to the council.”
“You’re all princes, or are you two dukes or something?”
“We’re all princes. Even though Ezra’s dad is the official ruler, the council runs things.”
“And your parents are on the council?”
The muscles in Ash’s hands flexed as he tightened his interlaced fingers. “No. My parents are dead, but since they once sat on the council, it secured my seat.”
“He can’t take his seat until the current leadership steps down or dies.”
I looked down at the table, recalling what the hollow-eyed guy had said to Maya.
“The princes won’t save you,” he’d said.
Did he mean Ash, Zeke, Cyn, and Ezra? Save me from what? It raised more questions than it answered.
The revelation of demons and a powerful, magic-wielding council forced me to question everything I’d grown up with and rethink Grandma’s stories the family dismissed as madness.
“So what will you do if he doesn’t summon you and you can’t figure out another option?”
“Well, we’re kind of going to need you,” Zeke said, his voice lowering with each word until he mumbled. Then he added, “We’re stuck here. It won’t take long before Ezra’s dad notices we’re missing, if he hasn’t already.” He twisted the paper tighter between his fingers.
“I mentioned this to Ezra already,” Ash said, leaning back in his chair.
“But I suspect whatever brought us here caused a disruption between the infernal and human plane. This is the second day we haven’t reported to the council.
Cornaith would’ve sent someone for us once he discovered our disappearance.
He’d have traced our location and brought us back. ”
“Cornaith?”
“Ezra’s dad.” Zeke dropped the paper. “Ash is right. He’s not the type to let us go days without contacting at least one of us. I bet he’s pissed.” His eyes dropped to the table, and a tremor passed through him.
“We won’t let him do anything to you,” Ash said, voice softening as he leaned forward to catch Zeke’s eye. When he looked up, Ash added, “You know that, right?”
Zeke swallowed and gave a tight nod.
I didn’t know what had happened, but I suspected something had gone down between Ezra’s father and Zeke. It wasn’t my place to say anything, but I didn’t like the tension around Zeke. Before I could say anything about it, Zeke sat up and smacked the table with both hands, making me jump.
“So that’s the situation. We’re stuck.”
“And how does that equate to needing me?”
Ash rotated the black band on his pinky finger. “Since you’re the source of our arrival, we think it’s smarter to stay near you—or at least near the place we arrived.”
Great. I didn’t need my home to become a demon hotspot. I attracted enough of their attention. Still…
“We?”
“Yeah, the guys and I discussed it.”
I nodded slowly, processing the information. “Right. You discussed staying in my home—without me. You decided—again, without me—that the best course of action is to stay in my home.”
Ash winced. At least he had the good sense to realize it didn’t sound as sensible as he’d hoped.
“You found the money for clothes and phones but not to rent a place or a hotel. Now you expect me to let you stay in my two-bedroom townhouse. The four of you.”
“That’s kinda the plan, yeah,” Zeke said.
“Zeke.” Ash shook his head. “We’re not assuming or expecting anything.” He glanced at Zeke. “Well, most of us aren’t. We’re asking if you’ll allow us to stay. We discussed the best course of action, but no one is forcing you to accept it.”
“Well, we’re not.”
I turned to Zeke. “What do you mean?”
“Cyn didn’t think we should ask you.”
“And what did he think you should do?” I sat back, crossing my arms.
“Zeke,” Ash said in warning.
“No, let’s hear it. Zeke?”
“Uh…” Zeke glanced at Ash, then me. “He wanted to tell you we’re staying.”
“That’s all?” I had a feeling there was something he wasn’t telling me.
“Well, no. He—”
“Zeke. That’s enough,” Ash said, sitting up. I glared at him. “What? He doesn’t need to—” He jerked back when I lifted a hand in front of his face.
“Let him finish.” I looked at Zeke expectantly.
“Cyn wanted us to lock you in your room until we left,” Zeke admitted, face twisted in concern. “I told him I didn’t want to do it, if it helps.”
I rolled my eyes, taking in his sheepish expression. “Marginally.” I turned to Ash. “And you? Did you wanna lock me up too?”
“No. Ezra didn’t either.”
“Color me surprised.” I looked down at the empty burrito bowl on the table. “I’m surprised he didn’t wanna just kill me and eliminate the problem.”
“Ezra wouldn’t do that,” Zeke said, grabbing my cell phone and spinning it on the table. “He acts like a hard ass, and he is, but he wouldn’t kill someone who didn’t deserve it.”
Key phrase being “didn’t deserve it.” I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought I did, considering he believed I summoned them on purpose.
“So you need to stay in my house,” I said, getting the conversation back on track. My lunch break was almost over. “For how long?”
“Until we work out how to get home,” Ash said. “We can’t give an exact time because we need to determine if there’s something in the book that can help us.”
Zeke put his chin in his hand, resting his elbow on the table. “And so far, we’ve found zilch.”
I couldn’t deal with supernatural politics right now.
Focus on what you can control.
“I’ll need to do some grocery shopping. Cyn makes a lot for breakfast, and I don’t know what you ate last night, but I suspect there isn’t a lot in the fridge.”
Zeke perked up, setting my phone down. “Does that mean we can stay?”
“We need to talk to the others first. There needs to be rules if you’re gonna stay.”
I had no idea why I entertained the idea. Letting them stay was dangerous.
Ash nodded. “That can be arranged.” He looked at the empty bowl. “Speaking of eating… What have you eaten since breakfast yesterday besides toast and sausage this morning?”
I looked at the empty burrito bowl. “Two bites of that.”
Zeke looked between the bowl and me multiple times. “Um. Sorry? I can get you another.”
“You don’t have any money.” I stood, gathering the trash. “Besides, I need to get back to work. I’ll grab dinner on the way in. Is there anything you want?”
“Anything is fine,” Ash said. “You don’t have to get anything.”
“It’s fine. Do you like seafood?”
“Cyn’s favorite food is fish,” Zeke said.
Ash took the trash from my hands. “That works. Let’s go, so she’s not late.”