Chapter 2
“Am I going to regret letting you run point on this, Storme?”
As I pace the front room of the apartment we’ve commandeered for tonight’s mission, Virek’s voice grates through the speaker on the coffee table behind me.
Not for lack of a good signal but because my supervisor’s voice is always grating.
Particularly when he says things like that, like he’s reminding me that he got my promotion and has no plans to give me a chance to take it from him.
I don’t need the reminder.
If Prince Hendrik doesn’t arrive in the next few minutes, I might have to accept that he lied when he agreed to join me for the next two weeks.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he did. I adore Queen Freya and her parents, and Freya’s husband, Elliot, is surprisingly likable for an American.
But Hendrik? He might be a beautiful human to look at, but I can’t say the same for his personality.
“I’m giving you ten more minutes, Storme,” Virek says, not bothering to wait for a response to his last comment. “If your prince isn’t here by then, we’re switching to Plan B.”
Plan B doesn’t involve me at all, and I can’t stomach the idea of letting anyone else be at the forefront of this investigation. Everything we’ve uncovered so far is telling me that something is coming—something dangerous—and I can’t stand on the sidelines while my country is under threat.
The anti-royalists have been quiet since an assassination attempt they made a year ago, and the queen is leaving Candora in a few days for a week-long personal trip overseas, which makes now a perfect time for the antis to strike.
We don’t have time to keep combing through audio recordings from the few nobles we’ve been able to bug so far.
What we really need is to get into the heart of the nobility and figure out who’s funding the antis and why.
The anti-royalists are too good at covering their tracks, so we need to make a connection to someone who can get us on the inside.
We need Prince Hendrik.
“He’ll show.” Callum, the tech agent sitting behind a computer at the back of the room, gives me a reassuring smile before returning his focus to the listening devices he’s getting ready for me.
I’m glad he’s confident; I’m certainly not. “You think so?”
“The prince left the palace twenty minutes ago.” The Irish lilt of his accent tends to get stronger when he’s only halfway paying attention to what he’s saying.
I frown. “How do you know that?”
But Callum only shrugs in the way he always does when asked “stupid questions,” as he terms them. In his defense, the tech agent has never steered me wrong, which is why I’m always glad when Virek lets me work with him. Without Callum, we never would have found the money trail.
“Twenty minutes,” I repeat, mentally mapping out how long it would take to get here from the palace. “He should be here by now.”
“And I am.”
Though Hendrik’s smooth voice startles me, I keep my reaction internal and spin to glare at the prince standing in the doorway. How did neither of us notice him open the door? “You’re late.”
He shrugs, his eyes jumping to Callum. “I’m here.”
“Finally,” Virek grumbles over the speaker, then checks himself and continues in a more respectful tone. “Your Highness, we’re grateful that you’re willing to assist us.”
Hendrik narrows his eyes at the speaker. “And who are you?”
Virek puts as much importance into his voice as he can muster. “Anders Virek, Head Internal Investigator.”
His eyes turning to me again, the prince cocks his head. He hasn’t left the open doorway and looks far too relaxed as he leans against the frame. Far too handsome. “I thought that was your job, Storme.”
Virek laughs. “It could have been, but she turned it down to play bodyguard to the queen.”
“I didn’t ‘play’ anything,” I grumble under my breath. I’m sure Virek hears me, but he chooses to ignore me. He wouldn’t be this annoying if the RIA director was in Candora, but Director Torvik is off grid with the External Investigations team and won’t be back for at least another week.
I can only pray he doesn’t come back to a country in shambles because we failed to do our jobs.
With another look around the room, Hendrik finally steps inside and lets the door shut behind him.
His swagger makes him look more impressive than he deserves, and I ignore the way my body hums in response to his proximity.
Coming closer to me than I expect, he crouches next to the speaker and lifts a blond eyebrow.
“If you’re in charge, Virek, why is it you’re off who knows where and Storme is the one making things happen? ”
Shock ripples through me, though Hendrik keeps his focus on the speaker and doesn’t seem to realize he came alarmingly close to complimenting me.
Virek chuckles. “Because Storme is only following one of many leads, and I’m needed elsewhere.”
“And yet you’re still here.”
“Prince Hendrik,” I say before Virek regrets letting me brief the prince. “We have a lot of information to cover for tonight’s party. First, Agent Doyle needs your phone.”
Hendrik’s shoulders tense as he looks over at Callum. “Why?”
“Security protocol,” Virek says. “All agents are required to allow our technology experts access to any devices going into the field.”
“You’re welcome to leave it behind instead,” I tell the prince.
“I’ll add security either way,” Callum says with a shrug.
He doesn’t look at all fazed by the glare Hendrik is giving him, which is another reason to love the tech agent.
“You are too easy to track.” To add to his point, he spins his laptop around to show a map of Invem with a red line leading from the palace to our current location.
Hendrik swears under his breath and slips his phone from his pocket, glaring at it even harder than he glared at Callum. “My location is turned off.”
Callum chuckles and holds out his hand, palm up. “It’s cute that you think that would do anything.”
I understand Hendrik’s reluctance, but we’re wasting time. “You can trust Callum,” I tell the prince and roll my eyes. “He won’t snoop through your messages, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I wasn’t until you said that,” Hendrik mutters, then hesitantly places his phone in Callum’s hand. “The passcode is—”
“Don’t need it,” Callum says and plugs the phone into his computer with a gleeful smile that almost makes me laugh.
Cursing again, Hendrik watches Callum for a moment, then turns to face me with a pained look.
While it’s better if the prince has a positive experience working with me, it’s a little too amusing to see him thrown off balance by someone who doesn’t treat him like royalty.
I gesture for him to sit on the couch, and once I settle in the armchair across the coffee table from him, I hand him a tablet that contains all the information we’ve gathered so far.
Well, all the information Virek was willing to share.
If it had been up to him, Virek wouldn’t have told Hendrik anything, and it took me most of this morning to convince my supervisor to put together the dossier.
“This is what you need to know for tonight’s party,” I say, doing my best to keep bitterness out of my voice.
“Lord Markell?” Hendrik asks as he swipes through the tablet. “He’s no anti-royalist.”
I roll my eyes at his dubious tone. “We’re aware, but Markell has connections to nearly every high-ranking member of the aristocracy and hosts more large gatherings than anyone.”
The prince looks up, one of his eyebrows lifting slightly. “Gatherings that are likely attended by anti supporters,” he guesses.
I nod. “With his estate’s high level of security, we haven’t been able to get inside to plant any listening devices.”
“Which is where you come in,” Virek says proudly. As if it was his plan. No, his plan was to cut power to the city block and send agents into the house disguised as electricians. Not especially subtle. “You can get us in.”
Grunting, Hendrik quickly reads through a few more pages, his brow furrowing in thought.
Though it’s been a long time since we were in school together, I remember well how fast his mind works.
I also remember him acting just as quickly, and it’s nice to see him taking some time to process all the information before saying or doing anything.
“Us,” he says after a moment, his eyes lifting to meet mine for half a second then jumping to Callum. “How many people am I supposed to get into the house?”
“Just me,” I say before Virek can respond. “I’ll be joining you as your date, and I—”
“Ha!” Hendrik jumps to his feet, dropping the tablet onto the couch as he stares at me. “Date? You can’t be serious, Storme.”
“Well she certainly can’t attend as your sister,” Virek mutters.
Tempted to turn off the speaker and end the call with my boss, I stand to match the prince and narrow my eyes. “Do you have a better idea? As your date, no one will question my being there.”
“With you as my date,” he counters, “everyone will think I’ve lost my mind.”
The insult stings more than it should; I’m no stranger to Hendrik’s feelings for me. “Why do you think that, Your Highness?” I ask in a sickly sweet tone. “Does all of Candora know your feelings toward me?”
Though he opens his mouth to retort, something seems to spark in his mind, and he glances down at the speaker with his brow furrowed. “Storme is the queen’s former bodyguard.”
“And?” Virek asks.
Hendrik looks at me. “Won’t that make you a liability?”
“It will make me relevant,” I say, once again speaking before Virek can offer up a terrible response. “No one knows why I left the queen’s employ, just that it was my choice to leave. It wouldn’t be a leap for someone to assume I parted with the queen on bad terms.”
“And you think that might garner you some sympathy with the anti-royalists.” The prince wrinkles his nose, looking me up and down with something close to disgust. And somehow even that expression doesn’t temper the thrill that comes from him giving me attention, which is rather pathetic.
“If you’re my date…” He clenches his jaw, then his hands, and the fabric of his navy-blue shirt stretches across his shoulders.
“You want the antis to assume I’m in alignment with you. ”
It’s not a question, and I’m impressed that he picked up on my plan so easily.
“You’re only here to get Storme through the door,” Virek says, almost on a sigh. “The date is just a cover to prevent suspicion.”
But Hendrik’s body remains tense as he stares at me like he’s trying to read the truth in my face.
I tilt my head and shrug. I haven’t been able to convince Virek that my idea is a good one, but that won’t stop me from doing my best to go through with it.
We’re running out of time to play it safe, and if we don’t find a way to burrow into the center of the anti-royalist movement before they act, we’ll never remove the threat to the crown.
I need the antis to think I might be an asset if I’m going to get deep enough to know how to stop them.
Hendrik’s expression hardens. “So what do you need me to do?” he asks, though I have no idea if the question is directed toward me or Virek.
I let Virek explain the official plan: Hendrik gets me inside, I plant the devices, and the prince does what he does best and gets people talking.
If we had time, it would be a solid plan, but with the sheer amount of funding we’ve been able to track over the last couple of months, the anti-royalists have shifted from whispers in the background to an immediate threat.
“Your earbuds,” Callum says as he hands Hendrik a bud, then gives me mine. “They’re also microphones and have an impressive listening range, if I do say so myself.”
“Callum is one of our best tech experts,” I tell the prince.
Callum scoffs. “I am the best,” he says, then hands me a case full of listening devices. “You remember how to turn them on?”
“Of course I do,” I say with a smirk. “I’m the best.”
Callum rolls his eyes as he hands Hendrik his phone. “This will also function as a listening device.”
Hendrik wrinkles his nose. “All the time?”
“Only when connected to our system through one of the buds. What you do on your own time is your own business.”
“Brilliant,” the prince mutters, though he still looks skeptical as he pockets the phone.
“I’ll guide you every step of the way tonight,” Virek says, whether to me or Hendrik, it’s hard to say. There’s plenty of derision in his tone, likely because he doesn’t appreciate me calling myself the best.
Hendrik hums as he looks at the earbud in his fingers, and for a moment I wonder if he’ll refuse. But then he slips it into his ear. “I’ve always wanted a shoulder angel,” he says dryly. “I suppose I’ll have to settle for you, Virek.”
“At least he’ll be better than the devil you always listen to,” I mutter under my breath, slipping in my own earbud.
Hendrik chuckles. “Ah, Storme, is it any wonder no one will believe you’re my date?”
“Yes, well, your job is to make them believe. Are you up to the task?”
He steps around the table to loom over me and offer up his most charming smile, the kind that makes my legs turn to jelly and reminds me that his effect over me is as strong as ever.
“Always, love.” Lifting his hand, he brushes a finger along my cheek so agonizingly slowly that I’m barely able to suppress a shiver.
“Just don’t go thinking anything I do tonight is real, yeah?
I’d hate for you to be disappointed when this is all over. ”
Exhaling shakily, I step away from his touch and stand as tall as I can.
Years of learning to master my reactions, and I still crumble whenever he’s nearby.
Ridiculous. “You could never disappoint me, Prince.” He smirks, and I roll my eyes as I add, “Because my expectations are so low, even you can’t fall that far. ”
“If the two of you are done being cute,” Virek snaps over the earpiece, making me jump, “you have a party to infiltrate. Storme, I suggest you give His Highness the rest of the—”
“I know enough,” Hendrik says, tilting his head at me in a sort of challenge. “After all, all you need me to do is be myself. I happen to be an expert at that.”
Yes, he certainly is. It’s going to take all my self-control to keep my focus on the mission instead of the magnetic prince who hates me, and I send a quick prayer to the skies. If this evening’s briefing was any indication, I need all the help I can get.