Ahead of them, Thomas and Eddie walked hand in hand. She’d seen them kiss after they’d defeated the alligator and heard them mention a blood-bond. She’d never met a same-sex blood-bonded couple. Hell, she hadn’t even realized that Thomas was gay when he’d first arrived at the palace. He didn’t seem effeminate at all. Neither did his partner.

“How do you know all these people?” she now asked Cain.

He turned his head to her. “They’re from a security outfit called Scanguards. They helped me.”

“A security outfit? You mean they’re actually professional guards?”

Cain nodded. “Bodyguards. The best money can buy.”

The revelation stunned her. Somehow she’d suspected that maybe the men he’d brought with him had been imprisoned with him and they’d mounted an escape together, and that was why he now trusted them.

“How did they free you?”

“Let’s not talk about that now.”

Disappointed that he was yet again refusing to talk about anything related to his kidnapping, she pressed her lips together. After the day they’d spent in each others’ arms, she’d thought that he’d finally open up to her and tell her what had happened to him. But again, she met with a wall of silence.

“So you’re Cain’s girl, huh?” the human suddenly asked, shifting his head so he could look past Cain’s chest. He was a good looking guy, but from the interactions she’d observed so far it was clear that he was immature. He couldn’t be older than twenty-five. Maybe in another ten years he would have grown into a real man.

Cain growled, and in Faye’s ears it sounded like a warning. “Yes, she’s mine. Any other questions?”

“Cain,” she chastised softly, both thrilled that he’d called her his, and at the same time horrified that he would talk to Blake in such a menacing way. “Your human friend is just making conversation.”

“He’s not going to be a friend much longer, if he comes on to you once more,” Cain shot back, then stopped himself as if he hadn’t wanted to say it.

To calm him, Faye gently stroked her hand against his hip. His eyes immediately sought hers and began to shimmer golden. His vampire side was simmering right under his skin, ready to burst to the surface at any moment should he feel that somebody was threatening his territory.

“My love,” she murmured under her breath.

The words seemed to soothe him, and he severed the eye contact and continued following the two gay vampires.

It took only a few minutes until they reached the driveway leading to the palace. Several guards were already rushing toward them, weapons at the ready. Clearly drawn by the scent of Blake’s blood, they were expecting trouble and ready to meet it head on.

Before the guards reached them, Cain called out to them, “Stand down! They’re friends.”

The king’s guards waited for their small group to reach them. “Was there an attack?” Lee, one of the more senior guards, asked, glancing suspiciously at Blake, his nostrils flaring.

“A little accident with some overly hungry alligators,” Cain explained. “Escort us to the palace. We need to take care of my human friend here.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

Flanked by the guards, they marched to the palace and entered it.

“Where to?” Faye asked, looking up at Cain.

“Downstairs. Blake will be staying with Haven and Wesley.” Cain glanced at Thomas and Eddie who were receiving curious looks from the guards. Cain didn’t have to point out where Eddie would be staying. By the looks the two lovers exchanged, it was clear that they couldn’t wait to withdraw to their room.

“Back to your posts,” Cain ordered the guards who’d accompanied them.

Faye walked ahead as Cain brought Blake downstairs and almost carried him along the corridor to the king’s quarters, Eddie and Thomas following them. She opened the double doors wide to make way for the men behind her, then glanced at Cain. He motioned to the door on the right, indicating that it was Haven and Wesley’s room.

She knocked and opened it before getting any reply. The room was empty.

“Here, on the sofa,” she instructed, pointing to the large sectional that dominated the sitting room of the comfortably appointed guard’s suite. While not as luxurious as the king’s or the queen’s suites, the king’s guards’ suites were homey. Considering that the king’s guards had little private life, with the leader of the king’s guard having none at all, each king had made sure that they were housed in rooms which spared no expense to make them feel at home. Each guard’s room was therefore different and furnished to the taste of the guard.