The Dark Prince's Prize

Chapter 11-3

Three hours later, Samara turned onto the gravel driveway in front of the garage. She wiggled her nose when she saw all of her brothers’ trucks parked out front. There was only one reason they would all be there at this time of the day—they were planning on ganging up on her.

She had expected that. Her talk with Mason an hour ago went better than she could have hoped. Mason was allowing her to live in the apartment above the barn. Instead of Samara paying rent, he said that her presence would be doing him a favor. It would be good to have the space lived in, he said. His only hesitation was her timeline. He wanted her to wait a few weeks. It wasn’t hard to deduce what he really meant—wait until Adalard was gone.

She had pressed home the fact that it made sense that she should move in sooner rather than later. Bear needed additional help, and with winter coming, there was a lot of additional preparation that needed to be done. He had reluctantly agreed after she mentioned that she was meeting Bear the next evening for dinner and could discuss everything with him.

Mason was surprisingly cheerful about her upcoming date, asking her questions that she really didn’t know how to answer. For some reason, the idea that she and Bear were a couple appeared to put him at ease. Whatever worked was good enough for her. The sooner she was out of this house, the better. If that meant misleading Mason into thinking she and Bear were an item, then so be it.

She pulled into the garage and turned off the ignition. Drawing a deep breath, she held it for a moment before releasing it. She dropped her hand onto the seat beside her and looked down.

The flower Adalard had left for her was still softly glowing. She picked it up and ran her fingertips over the blossom, marveling at how it opened to her touch. She pulled open her coat and slid the flower into the inside pocket before she zipped it up.

“Go in and act like nothing is different. Tomorrow I’ll clean up the apartment. By this weekend, I’ll be out of here once and for all,” she quietly vowed to her reflection in the rearview mirror. “Whatever you do, Samara, don’t lose your cool.”

Once she felt in control, she pushed open the door, stepped out, and smiled as she slid her fingers over the solid piece of window glass. A hint of mischief filled her as she remembered Jerry’s pale, silent retreat to Gary’s truck earlier that day. If Adalard really was an alien and he could do magic like fix broken glass and create strange glowing flowers, maybe he was also capable of dealing with her brothers if she needed it.

“I wonder if he hires out?” she mused as she slammed the door and locked it.

Her footsteps held a bit more bounce as she thought about Adalard. Her excitement had nothing to do with the kisses they shared and more to do with his chivalry. It felt good to know that maybe she had someone her brothers couldn’t intimidate to cover her back. She had nothing against Bear or some of the other guys she knew, but they had all wilted like last week’s lettuce at one time or another around her clan.

“It’s about time you got home,” Rob growled from the porch.

She ignored him. He reached out and gripped her arm. When she didn’t react, he squeezed harder. She knew she would be left with an impressive bruise.

“Remove your hand,” she ordered in a slow, measured tone.

“Where’s the money?” he demanded.

She gripped her captured arm, stepped into Rob, and yanked down and back, breaking his hold at the weakest point where the thumb and fingers met, just like Mason had shown her how to do. She reached out and pulled open the screen door and stepped through the partially opened door. Three sets of eyes followed her as she entered the living room.

Are you in danger?

She barely hid her shock. Pulling her hat off, she partially hid behind it as she crossed the room into the kitchen. Behind her, Gary was anxiously asking Rob about the money. She quickly took the narrow staircase up to her bedroom in the attic.

How can you do this? she demanded.

It… is complicated. Are you in danger? I felt your pain, he demanded.

Samara tripped on the last step going up. Her hand hit her bedroom door, and it swung open. A long string of heated curses swept through her mind when she saw the state of her room. She could almost visualize Adalard’s wince at the furious heat behind them.

I gotta go, she growled.

Somehow, she was able to shove Adalard out of her head. She wasn’t sure how, but at the moment, it was probably best if he couldn’t ‘see’ what she was thinking. Murder and cheerfully dancing around a bonfire came to mind as she surveyed the wreckage of her normally orderly bedroom. She stepped inside, feeling both angry and violated.

“I’m sorry, Samara. I tried to stop them,” Brit quietly said behind her.