Chapter 14 #3
“But Sagan is a loyal one and made it clear that a few fuckups or…” I licked my lips. “I believe she said people don’t have to like her, but she needs to know she can trust them and they’ll put what’s best first. She’s kinder than I am.”
Raquel wasn’t quick to reply, making me appreciate her more. “I’ve found I was wrong on more than a few things and my opinions are changing. But I have never, not ever betrayed nor worked against any member of the De la Rosa family, nor would I ever. So if you have a point to make, make it.”
“First, I need to know if you understand who I am and my family,” I hedged, chuckling when she flinched. “Good, that will help.” Then I realized I needed to know exactly what. “I won’t hold it against you, but rumors about women are rarely accurate.”
She accepted that, admitting Sagan’s mother was less than thrilled that a mob boss’s daughter was in the same master’s program when we were at school. But was happy we weren’t friends. “The king and queen wouldn’t be happy with the princess’s decision to make you an aide.”
“Probably not, but if they had handled more and protected her better, I wouldn’t be needed,” I replied with a growl in my voice. I snorted when she seemed confused. “A coup? Elders walking all over her.”
She swallowed loudly. “Yes, that is—things clearly have gotten out of hand.”
“An understatement when Sagan was probably drugged in her own home.”
“That’s not possible,” she whispered, her face going completely pale.
“The guards think so. Princess Treena and her security are investigating it quietly. They think Sagan was drugged during the funeral feast to activate her heat so she was caught in the wrong bed.”
Raquel shook her head. “It’s unfortunate timing, but that amount of stress—it’s completely within reason for a dragon.”
“And having barely any memory of it after?” I pushed, more for my own curiosity. I got my answer immediately when Raquel let out a small whimper.
So no. No, that was not normal or how it went.
“As I said, I’m needed. I’m here to protect Sagan and do what is needed. You might not like it—others will judge it, but to keep her honorable and alive, I will do what someone like me can.”
“She was drugged,” she whispered, not able to process the information. She sniffled and wiped under her eyes. “Gods forgive me, we’ve failed her.” She pulled herself together and met my gaze. “What can I do? What do you need? How can I help—please protect her.”
I told her the truth. I needed everything. I needed the gossip and who to trust. I needed to know who she had doubts about even if small. I needed to know how to get in and out of the castle without raising suspicion… Everything.
She was a fount of information and I appreciated how well she kept her ear to the ground. Plus, her ability to adapt and change her opinions. The blinders seemed to be coming off on Elira and that would be useful.
“I don’t want to betray a confidence, but I’ve never known Sagan to lie. She won’t admit things she’s not—she’s too smart to ever get caught in a lie,” I told Raquel. “We weren’t ever friends, but I respected her and her integrity.”
“I don’t understand where you’re leading me, but I believe you hold this true,” she muttered as she studied me.
“The only time I’ve ever seen her out of sorts was after she visited home and something happened with Elira.
She had a few drinks and was on a call with Treena saying that people wouldn’t ever let go that she pushed Elira as a child and it was all a lie.
She had no idea who Elira was and it was all staged to make people hate her.
“And it had worked. Something so shallow and cliché had worked and she worried about the intelligence of the people around her parents. That was her only concern. Not that people disliked her. Not that Elira was a problem to her, but that people around her parents weren’t smart enough to catch someone two-faced and that was dangerous for them. ”
She didn’t reply for several moments as she considered that. “You never told her that you overheard this, did you?”
I slowly smiled at her. “We’re going to get along well, Raquel. I appreciate smart people, and unlike my father, I’m not threatened by them. I’m not unhinged, and while I have no problem living in the gray areas, I’m not a monster.”
She stood, understanding the meeting was over. “Good, because if you betray the princess or damage her, I will crush you.”
I stood as well and offered her my hand. “I’d expect no less. But there’s still a difference between us there.”
She shook my hand but raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“Yes, because I wouldn’t kill you so fast. I’d torture you, your family, and then sell you off. I’m dedicated in my punishments, so never fuck with me.”
Raquel was smart enough to believe me.
Good, that would make things easier on both of us.
She was beyond useful too because I was able to meet with Avior, the bookie, that night and the manager of the club to get Sagan’s money. Neither could hide their shock that I was the one who showed up.
“I told you she was backed,” Avior told the manager. “I knew she was in with the Metcalfs somehow, but I didn’t have a fucking clue she knew the favorite Metcalf princess.”
“You still should have warned me,” the manager snapped.
“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty,” I purred before this got out of hand.
“Let’s handle what I’m here for and then I can answer a few of your questions.
” I handed Avior back his card. “I also would like the contact you have for that magic since I’ll be in town for a while.
” I chuckled when they both flinched. “Relax. Not like that.”
“So you’re not here to move in,” the manager hedged.
“No, this is my side fun with my one fighter who I owe a lot to,” I said, already having gone over the cover with Sagan.
“I’m here for a legit job to help the family’s…
Standing.” I chuckled darkly when they were dripping with curiosity.
“I know the princess from school. My king wanted someone on her team as a sign of good faith.”
“And she was stupid enough to pick a Metcalf?” the manager hissed.
But Avior was the smart one, throwing back his head and laughing. “Oh, shit is about to get interesting around here. The princess isn’t as righteous as Rhys.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but she’s a single woman in a sexist world, so she’s smart enough to know that she needs a tiger at her side,” I corrected.
Pun intended.
I was impressed with what Avior finagled for Sagan. Setting aside the twenty million prize and the two and a half million for the bet she’d made, he’d done well by her. He’d given her a four-million bet of his own on credit, so that was a hundred million.
But he’d also placed some other bets with bookies that night, and even after taking the agreed-upon cut, she was walking away with an extra fifty million.
“She made it clear if I impressed her, I would get the meeting I wanted,” he told me firmly, studying me carefully.
I chuckled darkly, understanding that he was going to be greedy and act like I wasn’t enough.
“This was beyond what you expected and we both know it, darling. Plus, I now like you, and I don’t fuck over people I like.
” I rolled my eyes when he frowned. “My father and brothers don’t have people they work with. They have people they’ve taken over.”
He swallowed loudly and nodded. “I look forward to being your ally then while you’re living here.”
Good boy.
I confirmed the wires and listened as they talked about how everything played out. After the initial crazy and people blowing up about Sagan winning, people were rabid for a rematch between her and the same fighter. Others were interested in a female mystic on the scene.
“We’ll talk. We’re interested and we’ll talk,” I said coyly.
I gave a half shrug when the manager couldn’t hide his shock.
“I let her play because she was bored and I was delayed, but honestly she wasn’t all that impressed.
She’s fought in much better conditions, and the guy was talking about raping her when she was out like it was normal. ”
“Not here,” the manager spat. “He was—I can’t control that any more than you could, but this place—that’s not the show we run.
Come see anytime for yourself. And I admit I was rude and an asshole to her that night, but I was worried about them tearing the place apart.
I’ll eat my hat even because she was right and I didn’t get in trouble. ”
No, quite the opposite from the desperation I felt from him. People were jonesing for the idea of a real female fighter. It would bring in big fighters for the shot at a mystic dragon from what they rambled.
“You have my number and it’s not to be given out, gents,” I warned them.
“I’m fine with a few finding out I’m dipping this toe in here only because I don’t want to be bored, but make it clear this is just for fun.
I don’t want problems.” I stood and let my hand shift into my claws. “You don’t want there to be problems.”
“No, I never do,” the manager said firmly, not even flinching. “And it’s not how we roll. I’ll even cover more security when she comes back to fight. We weren’t prepared. That was my bad and I’m embarrassed. No matter male or female, we weren’t ready. We will be next time.”
I believed him and that this was Sagan’s ticket to get out of the shit she was in.
It took me a couple more days to go over everything she dumped on me, and what I found was so ridiculous that I was beyond pissed. Her family had gotten screwed at every fucking turn.
And her parents had just let it happen.
There has to be more to this. Fuck, I never thought I’d pity a princess, but this is beyond—poor Sagan.
Clearly, Raquel knew more of what was going than she was willing to say because she personally brought me lunch… And some insight that would help.
Specifically copied pages from her great-grandmother’s journal talking about how some elders at the time had shut down renting out other De la Rosa properties.
They had listed a bunch of reasons saying it could influence the family and made the royal family look bad, but her ancestor made it clear it was selfishness so the elders had access to the properties.
But there had been unrest with the royal family at the time—probably stoked by the elders—and Sagan’s ancestor had caved to the pressure to protect the family.
And that was honestly how I saw this whole mess playing out.
A series of small mistakes trying to manage the big picture and protect the family honorably when no one else played by those rules.
“Why is your family paying for so much?” I demanded of her when I was finally done with my review. “You pay for—it’s ridiculous what your family personally pays for. The royal family of Protesia doesn’t pay for any of this. They get like a billion dollars a year in taxes for all of this, Sagan.”
She swallowed loudly. “I had no idea it was that much. I knew it was—really, that much?”
I was about to lay into her about how stupid this all was, but I swallowed down my upset when I saw the signs of extreme stress. I wasn’t upset with her anyways. This was a situation she’d inherited.
“You need to call your council of princesses, Sagan,” I said gently.
“Talk to Treena and the others. They’ll tell you the truth.
You don’t even get a fucking salary and you run the country.
They set this all up and I would bet with the intention of toppling the monarchy.
Curse your parents for kicking this can down the road, but get even with the people who did it. ”
I handed her what Raquel had given to me along with folders of documents from the elders’ investigations basically laughing that they knew they were bleeding the royal family dry… And enjoyed it.
Fuckers. I now had a new goal besides pulling Sagan out of debt and this mess.
Revenge. I was going to get revenge for her and her family and that would cover the life debt I owed her. We would be square then in my mind for the way she saved me from a fate worse than death before I had been killed.
I thought it was a damn good payment and I hoped she did too.