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  “Ugggh…that so was not sexy.” Kieran wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  Annika grinned. “I’ll make it up to you tonight.” And then she walked away from him toward the palace.

  Kieran picked up the man and moved him behind the low wall and set down to wait.

  ***

  Annika had no problem making it through the gate. The guard gave her papers a cursory glance then nodded her through. She went straight to the palace door that she saw most of the workers entering.

  Once inside, Annika veered away from the others and headed down a side hall. She nodded at those she passed, giving small smiles here and there. Most people smiled back. Some said hello. She hoped to the stars that she didn’t run into someone that knew the man whose body she wore.

  Finding a flight of stairs, she walked up them and then turned right down another hall. At the end, a door stood closed with a guard posted on the outside. She approached the guard who looked at her warily.

  “What business do you have here?”

  “I’m here to clean up a spill inside. Orders were just called in.”

  The guard went on alert. “Nothing has been spilled. Who are you?”

  Before the guard could move, Annika reached out and uttered a spell that made the guard fall to the floor. She winced as he hit his head on the door and hoped it didn’t leave him with too much of a headache when he woke up.

  Quickly opening the door, she grabbed the guard under his arms and pulled him in. He was heavy but luckily the polished wood floors made from some easy dragging of his dead weight. She shut the door behind her and turned to look at her surroundings. She was in a small sitting room furnished with a couch and several lounging chairs. There was a balcony straight ahead and the doors were wide open to let the breeze in. To the left was another door that was closed. Annika walked to it and opened it up.

  Stepping inside, Annika saw a young woman sitting behind a desk. She had long dark hair that was curly, hanging long past her shoulders. Her amber eyes looked up to Annika in surprise. Annika had found the young queen, Claire Moldevaine.

  “What are you doing here? This is my private office.” It wasn’t said with menace, just surprise.

  “Hi Claire,” Annika responded.

  Claire’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. Then Annika let her glamour go, changing back into herself.

  “Annika! Oh, I’m so glad to see you. I thought you’d never come.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Claire stood up and ran around the desk. She launched herself into Annika’s arms and gave her a hard hug. Annika looked down at Claire and saw her eyes were swimming with tears.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Annika soothed. “None of that.”

  Claire dashed her tears away. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so worried. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep. This was such a bad idea, Annika. I wish you would have never stolen The Scepter for me.”

  “Hush now. What’s done is done but we need to work quickly. Did you have a replica made like I told you?”

  Claire nodded. “I’ll get it.”

  Annika watched as Claire walked into another room off of her office which was Claire’s bedroom. She took a seat and mentally calculated their next moves.

  This was why Kieran was going to hate her. It was why she didn’t deserve him. Annika had been the one who had stolen The Scepter and given it to Claire. And she had not regretted her actions once. That is until Kieran told her that he was falling in love with her. Since then she had been a mass of confusing emotions. But she just didn’t see any good way out of her predicament. Yes, she had stolen The Scepter for Claire. It was Annika’s idea and Claire had reluctantly agreed.

  Annika had known Claire since she was eleven years old. It was at the time her Aunt Mary fell in love and married a wealthy businessman from Balvraine. Annika visited Mary as often as she could, which gave her respite and peace from Mason’s rape. It also gave her a friendship with Claire.

  Mary’s husband was good friends with Claire’s father and the two children were introduced early on. Annika was only a year older than Claire but she felt Claire was like the baby sister she never had. Over the years that Mary lived in Balvraine, Annika and Claire spent all of their time together when Annika visited. Once Annika left Vyronas and relocated to New York, she continued to travel to Balvraine at least once a month to see Claire. Claire was, without a doubt, her closest friend on the face of the earth. She was also the only person, besides Kieran, who knew what Mason had done to her.

  The reasons that led Annika down the path to steal The Scepter were numerous, but it was mainly to protect Claire. Claire’s father had died unexpectedly four months ago, leaving Claire alone and bereft. Unlike Annika’s relationship with her father, Claire had worshipped the ground her father walked on. He was a kind and gentle man, and a great ruler to Balvraine. His magic was powerful and it kept his people protected.

  Claire though, had led a sheltered life, and was completely unprepared for the pressures of ruling. Her father was a young man when he died so no efforts had ever been made to strengthen Claire’s magic or prepare her for the monarchy. It was a harsh lesson to learn.

  Annika spent as much time as she could with Claire after her father’s death, but then she eventually had to get back to her life in New York. Every time she came back to visit though, she found Claire more and more despondent over the pressures of her reign. Without anyone to advise her, without any training, Claire was facing an internal rebellion by a group of sorcerers who sensed blood in the water. Terrified for her people as well as for her life, she turned to Annika for advice and help.

  Annika didn’t know anything about running a country, but she did know one thing well. And that was thievery. The other reason why Kieran would ultimately hate her was because of her compulsion to steal. By preying on those that helped to aid and abet abusers, and giving their wealth away to the abused, Annika felt she was striking a blow at Mason every time. She knew it was a metaphorical blow, but it was her therapy and it worked. It kept her sane. It kept her going.

  During her lowest points when she had thought about taking a knife to her wrists again, it was only the thought of the women she helped that kept her going. And her ability to glamour made stealing almost easy. She couldn’t believe the cake walk it was to take The Scepter from Kestevayne.

  So here she was. She had stolen a powerful magical object to help her best friend. It belonged to the family of the man who now loved her. And she was caught in the middle. Her fate was sealed. She was guilty of her crime and she would pay one way or another. Kieran would be crushed when he found out what she had done. But there was still Claire that she could help and there was no way she was going to let her down.

  There was some tiny part of Annika that told her to confess everything to Kieran. To beg Kieran to help Claire. But then she thrust it aside. He may claim to love her, but when it boiled right down to it, she was too afraid to place her trust in him.

  Annika was jolted out of her thoughts by Claire’s return.

  “Here it is.”

  She handed a small, lead bar to Annika. She turned it over and examined it carefully. It looked damned good. “Where is the real Scepter?”

  “It stays locked in my bedroom.” Claire pointed at the door she just came from.

  Annika had visited Claire a few nights ago, right after she had stolen the jewelry of that ogre of a woman on Park Avenue. It wasn’t a trip that she had planned, but Kieran’s forced manipulation of her to participate in The Scepter’s recovery necessitated a trip to visit Claire and make a plan. They had decided to plant a fake, and then give Kieran access to steal it back. With any luck, Kieran wouldn’t know it was a fake until he returned it to Ava. By then, Annika would be long gone. She knew the price she would pay was not only losing Kieran, but also her life as she knew it. She was going to have to pick up and start all over again. But that was another problem she would face as soon as she wiggled out of this one.

&
nbsp; Getting Kieran to take the fake scepter was the easy part. The hard part was going to be on Claire. For them to get out of this mess, Claire was going to have to learn how to use the real Scepter soon. Like immediately. She only had a few days at most before Ava would probably show up with her entire Army once she realized what Kieran had was a fake.

  “What type of progress are you making on the real scepter?”

  Claire sighed. “Annika, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Sometimes, I think I feel it responding to me, but then it’s gone. Half the time I think I’m imagining it.”

  “You have to keep working at it, Claire. Hard.”

  “I know, I know.” Claire grasped her hands together in worry. “Maybe we should just let Kieran steal back the real scepter.”

  Annika was already shaking her head no. “We can’t, and you know that. There is going to be retribution to pay from Ava. The only way to protect yourself is to harness The Scepter’s magic. It’s the only way to protect your people.” Annika knew her voice sounded desperate.

  “I’m so scared, Annika.”

  Annika reached out to hug Claire. “I know, honey. Me too. Remember, worst case scenario, you and I disappear together. If you cannot get The Scepter to work, I’m taking you out of here and Balvraine be damned. You’re too important to me.”

  Claire nodded her head in agreement. “Sometimes I think that may be the best. I don’t have any friends or family here. I hate it sometimes. You’re the only one I have to count on.”

  Annika pulled back and smiled at Claire. “Hey, kiddo. Chin up. You’re the great Claire Moldevaine, soon to be reigning goddess of The Scepter. You can do it. Heck. You can conquer the world if you want.”

  Claire laughed. “No conquering for me. I just want to protect our land and live in peace.”

  Annika pointed to Claire’s desk chair indicating for her to take a seat. Annika sat down opposite of Claire’s desk. It was time to solidify the plan.

  CHAPTER 21

  Annika returned to where Kieran was waiting with plenty of time to spare. When she morphed back into herself, he grabbed her and gave her a hard hug. “I was so worried.”

  Pulling back, Annika grabbed her nose and waved her hand in front of it. “Geez, Kieran. Have you been bathing in garbage?”

  “Funny. But come on, let’s get out of here so you can fill me in on what happened.”

  Kieran hated to do his next task, but he knelt beside the unconscious man and plowed a fist into his face. He needed to leave a bruise so the man thought he’d been mugged. Grabbing Annika’s hand, they left the alley and headed back to the hotel.

  Once inside their room, Kieran performed a quick spell cleanse on himself and changed clothes. He had smelled like the inside of a garbage can. Annika was sitting on the bed, cross legged. Kieran took the chair. The same chair that Annika had given him the most amazing blow job in. Focus, Kieran.

  “I was able to learn quite a bit. The Scepter is kept in Claire Moldevaine’s office, locked in her desk. I was able to steal the key.”

  “What? Are you crazy? What did you have to do to get the key?”

  Annika wasn’t prepared for him to be pissed at her actions and she started back pedaling. “Relax. It was easy. The man whose identity I took happens to have access to the Royal chambers. The key was lying on the desk. I did some quick searching and found The Scepter lying in the drawer.”

  Kieran looked at her in skepticism. Annika realized that sounded too easy.

  “But I decided to leave it there. I didn’t want to risk taking it out of the palace without you having my back.”

  She held her breath while Kieran processed the information. Finally a look of relief crossed his face. “If you had been caught…I don’t know what I would have done. Please don’t take risks like that again.”

  Annika inwardly winced at the guilt she was feeling. This sucked.

  “So, how are we going to get back into the palace again to steal it?”

  “Again, pretty easy. When I was searching Claire’s desk, I came across some invitations that had been sent out. They are having a charity ball tomorrow night. We go in as ourselves. I have two invitations right here.”

  Annika produced the two invitations and threw them at Kieran. They fluttered out of his reach and he bent down to pick them off the floor. He reviewed them then looked up at her with a smile. “Nice. You are quite the little thief.”

  Boy did that compliment hit close to home. And again, Annika inwardly winced in guilt. Stars what she wouldn’t give to go back in time and do this all over again. She would have found another way to help Claire. Of course, if she had never stolen The Scepter, she would never have met Kieran in the first place. What a tangled web we weave.

  Kieran stood up from the chair and walked to the bed. “Now, I think it’s time to reward you for your bravery and cunning.” His face was hot with desire.

  Annika’s body responded immediately. “Then get your ass in this bed and give me my reward.”

  Kieran gave her a wicked grin. “I will. But after I punish you for that ass slap you gave me this morning.”

  He lunged at Annika and grabbed her. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she squealed with laughter as he brought her over his knee to spank her. One hard slap to her rump, and she was squirming in his lap. She looked over her shoulder at him and her eyes were fired with lust. Kieran inhaled deeply, his eyes darkening with need.

  Flipping her quickly in his arms, he brought her up to claim her mouth. Gripping the hair at the back of her head, he kissed her hard and thoroughly. Wrapping her hands around his neck, Annika squirmed on his lap, rubbing her ass against his erection. He groaned into her mouth. “What am I going to do with you, baby?”

  It was a rhetorical question. Annika knew that. She also knew what he was going to do to her now, and the rest of the night. After tomorrow, she knew all bets were off. She’d have no clue how he was going react to her treachery. As she leaned back in to kiss him, she told herself to savor these last hours with Kieran. They would probably be the best she would remember in her life yet to live.

  CHAPTER 22

  Kieran and Annika arrived fashionably late to the charity ball. They had spent the day purchasing outfits to wear. That took all of an hour. The rest of the time they spent in bed. Kieran thought back to the last time they made love.

  After he slipped out of her warmth, he pulled her to his side and wrapped his arms around her. “What are you going to do after we return The Scepter to Ava?”

  “I’ll head back to New York. That is if I can talk Mary into coming with me.”

  “If she doesn’t want to, she’ll always have a place in Kestevayne. Don’t worry about that.”

  “You and Ava and Carrick….you have been so wonderful to Mary. I don’t deserve this kindness.”

  Kieran put his hand under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Don’t say that. Of course you deserve the kindness. Look at all you’ve done to help us.”

  Annika pulled her chin out of his grasp and tucked her face into his neck. She gave him a light kiss.

  “What if I asked you to stay in Kestevayne with me?”

  Annika’s head shot up in surprise. She looked at Kieran and he saw something in her eyes that made him feel unsettled. Was it sadness? Guilt?

  “Kieran, I can’t. I have a life in New York. I have a business to run. A charity to see to.”

  Sighing, Kieran placed a kiss on her lips and tucked her face back down into his neck. “I know. I just thought I’d ask.”

  They were both silent for several moments. Then Kieran spoke up again. “I was kind of hoping you would now ask me to move to New York with you.”

  Annika’s head shot back up to look at him, and it was definite guilt he saw in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Kieran. I just can’t go there. That spells relationship, and I’ve told you, all along…I don’t have that to give. I have nothing to give you that’s any good.”

  Kieran pulled out of their embrace
and left the bed. Pulling on his pants, he looked back at her. “You’re full of shit, Annika. You have plenty to give. You just don’t believe enough in yourself to see it.”

  Kieran walked into the bathroom and called back over his shoulder. “You better get up and get ready. We need to leave soon for the ball.”

  And here they were now, walking into the House of Moldevaine. Kieran could hear the soft strains of music getting louder as they were led to a ballroom. Glancing around, he estimated there to be about 200 people in attendance. Enough people they wouldn’t be noticed sneaking away.

  The original plan had been for Annika to glamour herself as Claire, so she could walk unquestioned right into Claire’s office to retrieve The Scepter. But the more he thought about it, the more he didn’t like that idea. Mainly because it had been too easy to retrieve that key. Annika said The Scepter was lying in her desk drawer, but he didn’t buy it. There is no way anyone would be that stupid to leave it unprotected without some type of ward or protection charm. No, he’d need Claire to be able to retrieve it without any hiccups.

  Leading Annika onto the dance floor, he took her in his arms. She looked exceptionally beautiful tonight. Her gown was a long, silver sheath that hung straight to the floor. One arm was covered in the same flowing silver material. The other was bared to the shoulder. As they swayed to the music, Kieran leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to ear. “I’m making a change in plans.”

  Annika pulled back slightly from his embrace so she could look at him. “Why?”

  “Because, there is no way The Scepter is just lying in a desk drawer unprotected. It will have some type of magical ward around it. We’ll need to take Claire with us to break the ward.”

  “What? Kieran, no. That’s not necessary.”

  “It is. Trust me, Annika. We’ll need Claire.”

  “How about we just go there first and see if there is a ward. If there is, we can come back for her.”