His Consort by Mary Calmes

Author:Mary Calmes [Calmes, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64080-962-8
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2018-11-20T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

I MET Ode, my friend Brandon and his wife, Claudia, and my friend Liam and his husband, Cole, at Katie’s over on Iberville and had brunch just like every Sunday. The food was great, as were the bottomless drinks, and by the time we left, I’d had four Bloody Marys, which was two more than usual as I told Ode all about my latest interaction with Varic.

“You need to stop making yourself available for that man,” she cautioned. “Where’s your pride?”

Gone, apparently, where the prince was concerned.

“Just say no from now on.”

It was very good advice.

Ode had her normal three mimosas that morning, but since neither of us worked on Sunday, it was fine. Normally the six of us meandered through the Quarter or walked over to Jackson Square to the park to look at the artwork hanging on the fences, but this week Ode had a family thing, and everyone else had somewhere to be as well. Since they all ditched me, I strolled on my own through the streets.

I enjoyed the Quarter alone or in a group, but now and then the idea of having someone in my life tugged at my heart. Not that I did anything proactive about that, so I had no one to blame but myself. Still, between the last effects of the alcohol and the solitude, a bit of loneliness clung to me.

“Jason.”

I saw Hadrian down the sidewalk ahead of me, standing on the curb in a dark navy suit and black wingtips. He was the last person I needed to see at the moment, after having just recounted to Ode how seeing his boss turned me inside out. I turned around to walk the other way.

“Jason!”

I wasn’t surprised to see him right there when I turned around.

“I hope nobody saw you do your Flash impersonation.”

He squinted. “Pardon me?”

Superhero references were lost on him.

“You look very serious,” I commented, noting the purse of his lips, the clench of his jaw, and the lack of glint in his normally warm brown eyes. He had not run into me by accident; he’d been looking because he had business with me.

“What I am is annoyed,” he warned. “My prince has invited you to meet with him, and yet you stay away.”

Invited or insisted? I wasn’t sure the prince knew the difference, and I was betting Hadrian, as his rekkr, didn’t get the distinction either. “I went last night as I was asked.”

“And then you left, which was not what he wanted.”

“He has a lot to do and—”

“You need not explain his duties to me; I am well aware of what those include. What I am trying to explain now is what the prince requires, and that is your presence.”

“Yeah, I don’t—”

“It is unacceptable that you refrain from accepting his invitation,” he explained through almost gritted teeth, clearly ready to grab me and throw me into a car. “Therefore I must insist that you accompany me now so that I may deliver you safely unto him.”

My

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