Free Rise of the Lost Prince by London Saint James Page A

two of them doing a fist bump with each
other. “Way to make those old dudes shake in their boots, Vape.”
    “Shake? More like piss their
pants.” Vapor laughed before woo-hooing. “God. I love this scare the humans
shit.”
    “I may have,” said Vibe, Wink. Wink . “implanted the suggestion
Neverland was haunted. So I doubt we see those surveyors again.”
      “Don’t celebrate our victory too soon,” said
Petúr. “We may have scared off Cromwell’s men this time, but more will come.”
    Vibe glanced at Petúr from the
corner of his eye. “Speaking of our old buddy. What are you going to do about
his daughter?”
    “Something I imagine she’s not
going to like.”
    ****
    “You can’t do this,” Wyndi
insisted, stomping her foot in the middle of the kitchen.
    “I can, and I will,” Petúr said,
eyes burning like liquid gold.
    Dash started studying the
newspaper he hadn’t been reading. And was Tera whistling as he walked off? Men.
    “I refuse to be some kind of
prisoner, Petúr.”
    “On that note,” said Firefox,
placing a massive bowl of scrambled eggs in the middle of the table. “I’m outta
here.”
    Petúr made a derisive sound,
glancing down at her. “Prisoner? Really?”
    “Okay. Maybe not a prisoner in
the actual sense of the word, but—”
    “I’m freakin’ hungry,” said
Vapor, grabbing up a plate of bacon. “So, you two fight away. I’m still
eating.”
    “Me, too,” said Byte. “Pass the
toast, Vape my man.”
    “Grapple is after you, Wyndi.”
Petúr said, ignoring all of his brothers. “And in case you’ve forgotten the
incident in your parking lot, he’s not someone who you want on your trail.”
    “No,” she said, quietly,
picturing the swarm of darklings coming out of the shadows. A shiver spiraled
down her spine. “I haven’t forgotten.”
    “I can better protect you here.”
    “I can’t stay in Neverland
indefinitely, Petúr. I have a business to run, and I can’t go missing without
word.”
    He crossed his arms, biceps
bulging. Get a grip , she thought.
They were having an argument in the middle of the kitchen, with witnesses. Was
it weird she wanted to lick the right well-formed muscle and then the left?
    “You’re not leaving the castle,”
he said, lines of tension branching out from the corners of his devastatingly
gorgeous eyes. “End of story.”
    The man was stubborn. Well, two
could play that game.
    She crossed her arms, doubting
the gesture to be as impressive. “I at least need to go home for a little
while.”
    He gave one terse shake of his
head. “Not happening.”
    “I won’t stay long. I’ll do what
I need to then come back.”
    “Nope.”
    Wyndi heaved a sighed.
Exasperated. “I need to make some calls, get my assistant manager to fill in at
the bar, have Sven cover for Bell, and shift servers around on the floor.” She
glanced down at herself. “Not to mention, I don’t have any clothing here and I
can’t flit around in your T-shirts all the time.”
    He smirked, glancing down the
length of her body. “Why not? I enjoy the way you look in my T-shirts.”
    She quickly looked around to see
the others not really paying attention, or maybe they were good at hiding the
fact they actually were taking in every moment of their quarrel.
    Her cheeks flamed. “Get serious,
Petúr.”
    “I assure you, I am serious.”
    More heat danced over her skin by
the way he was watching her.
    “But—”
    “Vibe will pay a visit to Jolly
Roger’s. You’re away on business for your father. At least, that’s what
everyone will believe.”
    “And Bell?”
    “Out sick,” he said. “Vibe will
make sure her shift is covered.”
    She set her chin, hands on hips.
“And my father? Is Vibe going to scramble my father’s brains, too?”
    A muscle in his jaw ticked. “What
do you mean, too?”
    “I wasn’t mugged in that alley,
was I?”
    “No,” he said in a quiet tone.
“One of the darklings was after you.” She blinked, the memory