Magic Rises(79)

“You bet.”

I glanced at Derek. “Why don’t you go and grab a bite to eat? We don’t know when Curran will be back.”

“Come on,” Raphael told him. “I’ll walk with you.”

Raphael winked at me, and he and Derek took off.

Half an hour later Desandra had finished eating and was passed out, snoring up a storm. We sat on the floor on the rug, the mostly empty platter of fruit between us. I stole another apricot. I was still hungry.

“You should go to dinner,” Andrea said. “I’ll watch Ms. Preggers.”

“It’s still my shift. You had your turn already.”

“Yes, but Princess Wilson isn’t out there making googly eyes at Raphael.” Andrea bared her teeth.

“Is Lorelei at dinner?”

“Yes. Yes, she is. She’s wearing a see-through dress and she is practically melting when Curran looks at her.”

There were times in my life when supreme mental powers would come in handy. Right now I wished I could telepathically reach into the dining hall and slap Lorelei out of her chair.

“I have a job to do.” I leaned back against the bed and closed my eyes for a moment.

“You okay?” Andrea asked me.

No. No, I wasn’t okay. People were dying. A pregnant woman was in danger. A young pretty shapeshifter girl with heavy political clout was going after Curran and there wasn’t anything I could do about any of it.

“Did you know Hugh has a man in a cage in the inner yard? He’s been in there for weeks. He’s slowly starving to death. And I can’t do anything to get him out.”

“The worst change of subject ever,” Andrea said. “I thought we were talking about Lorelei?”

“I don’t like her,” Desandra said from the bed.

Damn it. “I thought you were asleep.”

“You never talk about anything interesting when I’m awake.”

“That’s because we don’t trust you,” Andrea said.

“I know that. But I’ve got gossip on Lorelei and you don’t.” Desandra scooted up, propping herself up on the pillows. “Like who invited her to the stupid meeting.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. Who?”

“She invited herself,” Desandra said. “She wrote a letter to Lord Megobari and told him that she and Curran were childhood friends, and that she knew many people from Atlanta. This was her only chance to see him and could she please visit. She wouldn’t be any trouble.”

Hugh must’ve just loved that. The smug bastard probably laughed when he read that letter. How did Lorelei even find out about this entire affair?

“Who knew about Curran coming over to arbitrate?” I asked.

Desandra shrugged. “I didn’t know until two weeks before Lorelei showed up.”

“So she had insider information,” Andrea said. “I wonder where she got it.”

“That I don’t know.” Desandra grimaced. “I can tell you that when she got off the ship, she was really friendly. Really. She had the whole sweet and innocent act going.” Desandra fluttered her eyelashes. “Oh poor me, I am a sweet and honeyed flower, too delicate and . . . What’s the word when you are like, Oh, I am so honest and I just want to help?”

“Earnest?” Andrea suggested.

“Yes, that. But I did the same thing at her age. I could tell she was a snake. Once she realized I wasn’t about to be her best friend, this whole big holier-than-thou thing came out. I had a fight with my father and she told me that I was inappropriate. Then one time . . . okay, so pregnant women get gas. Your stomach is the size of a backpack, and when you do get gas, it hurts to breathe. So I farted. I couldn’t help it. She called me vulgar. I told her to mind her own business, and she said that I was shameful and no self-respecting person would associate with someone like me. I was an embarrassment to my father and my husband. I had no honor.” Desandra grimaced. “She must’ve grown up in a fish tank or something. She has all these weird ideas about how people are supposed to interact. Like she is some kind of nobility and we’re all just peasants.”

Interesting. “What did you do?” I asked.

“I’d checked up on her. Her dad is some big alpha in the U.S., but her mom couldn’t stand him so she took Lorelei and moved back to Belgium. There is only one major shapeshifter pack in Belgium, and Lorelei’s grandparents are running it. They didn’t really want her mother or her back, so they let them come back on one condition: neither of them can have anything to do with the running of the pack. There is some family money and they are not hurting, but neither of them can ever be an alpha. They didn’t want them to compete with their son. So when Lorelei told me I was an embarrassment, I told her I was daughter of an alpha and wife to two future alphas, and that three packs were crossing the sea because of me. I asked her how fast did she think they would throw her into the sea if I asked them to do it.”