Chapter 5

5

“I don’t need an escort,” I repeated for the umpteenth time.

“I disagree.” The same reply Levi gave each time I brought it up.

“You’re going the wrong way,” I stated when he turned in the opposite direction of the office. “The bureau’s the other way.”

“I’m dropping you at home.”

“No, you aren’t. My car’s parked at the office.”

“It will be fine overnight.”

“It might, but how am I supposed to get to work tomorrow?” I pointed out the flaw in his plan.

Of course, he had an answer. “I’ll pick you up before and bring you to meet with His Highness.”

“Who says I want to go see Killian first thing?” I grumbled as I slumped in my seat.

“You’re a princess. Shouldn’t you be eager to meet a prince?”

“I am not a princess. I am from a lower middle-class family, born and raised in the Midwest. Since you’re not familiar with the original Little Ash story, I’ll let you know that Cinderella is a regular girl.”

“Who, as part of her story, marries a prince and becomes a princess.”

My lips twisted. “I am not getting married. Not to Killian, at least.”

“Oh, you have another suitor in mind?” he asked casually.

“No.” It might have emerged a tad vehemently.

“Why not?”

The question took me by surprise. “My personal life is none of your business.”

He gripped the steering wheel tight as he muttered through a gritted jaw. “You’re right, It’s not.”

Since he had opened that door, though… “Do you have a significant other?”

“No. Never will.”

“Why not?” I asked, parroting him.

To which he aped me. “My personal life is none of your business.”

For some reason, that made me giggle.

“What’s so funny?” he groused.

“You and I. It’s obvious we don’t like each other.”

“What makes you say that?”

“For one, you’re always grouchy around me.” I’d never seen the man smile.

“And you’re snippy.”

Was I? “I would have called it assertive, which for me is a big step. I used to be a regular doormat. Partly due to my upbringing, partly due to the Grimm Effect trying to shape me for its curse. It’s not easy for me to say no to people.”

“You seem to have no problem with me.”

I couldn’t help a grin. “I’m trying to be better about not letting people walk all over me, even if they’re bigger and meaner.”

“Bigger, yes, but I wouldn’t say I’m mean.” He sounded offended.

“I’ve read your file. You’re not a man with much compassion.”

“You seem to forget that I’m only called in to deal with dire situations, which usually require drastic measures. I’m the sword that cuts off the head of the monster so people like you can be safe.”

“This mission must be a shock to the system then. No one to kill,” I quipped.

“Yet,” was his ominous reply.

“This is my place.” I pointed to the old, converted Victorian with its three, sprawling stories.

“Big house for one person.”

“Oh, it’s not mine. I rent out the attic.” As I hopped out of his SUV, I expected him to drive off, but, no, he followed me to the outdoor staircase that climbed at a steep angle.

“This must be hell in winter,” he stated, as the structure groaned with every step he took.

“I salt the treads often.”

I reached the landing, a cramped space that gave me a heck of a time when I had the delivery guys bring me a couch. I whirled to say thanks, only to find myself once more practically pressed against Levi’s chest.

For some reason, my pulse raced. “Um, you can go now.”

“I will after I check inside for any threats.”

“What threats? I’m not the one in danger.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Or have you already forgotten what happened?”

“You’re being dramatic. Those rats were an accident.”

“And if they weren’t?” his ominous rejoinder.

“The rats wanted Killian, not me. I’m a nobody.”

“I highly doubt that,” he muttered as he took my keys and reached around my frame to unlock the door.

We entered my place, and I called out a warning, “Dearest friends, I have a guest.”

“Who are you talking to? Do you have a roommate?” He glanced around suspiciously.

“I have roommates of a sort.” I crouched and held out my hand. “Izzy, come say hi.”

My lizard waddled out from the bedroom where he’d probably been sunbathing on his perch.

As I scratched his head, I murmured, “This is Izzy, my iguana.”

“You have a pet lizard.”

“Yes.” And then, because might as well warn him before he did something to upset me, “I also have mice.”

“As pets?” he clarified.

I nodded. “Some neighborhood robins often visit as well. Then there’s Roxanne, the raccoon, and her kits, Benjamin and Hank. I have a spider named Charlotte up there.” I pointed out her web. “And a squirrel who comes around named Dory.”

“Most people stick to cats and dogs.”

I shrugged. “What can I say? I didn’t actively go out and seek them. They kind of chose me.”

“Like a real Cinderella.” He shook his head.

His conclusion before I’d even mentioned my deer friends, Bobbi and Kira.

“Mind if I poke around?” he asked.

“Sure, but there’s no one here.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” he declared as he headed into my cramped bedroom.

I glanced down at Izzy, who flicked his tongue. “Actually, I can. My friends would have told me.”

He emerged and frowned. “You talk to them?”

I shrugged. “Of sorts. I can more or less understand when they speak, and they understand me. Part of the Little Ash Girl gift.”

“I thought it was a curse.”

“Only parts of it, like the whole being mistreated and the fact one time I had a really old and gross prince try to force me to marry him.”

“Killian isn’t old and gross,” Levi pointed out.

“What is your obsession with matchmaking?” I huffed. “For one, I just met the guy, two, not looking to settle down, and three, I don’t need help getting a date.”

“I’m not matchmaking.”

“Then why do you keep mentioning it?”

His lips flattened. “Just doing my job and ensuring the prince isn’t accosted when he least expects it.”

My brows lifted. “Pretty sure I haven’t done anything remotely close to accosting, nor do I plan to.”

“Good.” Levi glanced left and right. “I guess your place is secure enough.”

“This is a safe neighborhood.”

“Says everyone before something bad happens.”

I cocked my head. “Are you always this pessimistic?”

“Yes. Don’t forget, I know what people are capable of. I see the worst in humanity more often than most.”

“You could change jobs.”

“No, I can’t. This is my cross to bear.”

Why did he make it sound like his job as a Knight acted as penance?

“What time should I expect you in the morning?”

“What time can you be ready?”

“I get up at dawn. So any time after seven works for me.”

“I’ll be here.”

“You’d better, or you’re paying for my taxi,” I warned.

“You have my number?” he asked as he stood on the threshold.

“Probably.”

“Call if you hear or see anything out of the ordinary.”

“I talk to and live with animals. Define ordinary.”

Be still my heart, his lips quirked into an almost smile. “How about if anything scares you?”

“That covers too many things to count.”

“I’ll bet you’re braver than you think.”

A compliment? What was happening here? “I’d rather not test your confidence in that respect. See you in the morning, Sir Knight.”

“My name is Levi.” And with that, he left, yet the scent of him lingered, and I must have stood there mooning because Izzy nudged my ankle.

I glanced down. “Yes, he’s an interesting man.”

Very. Also annoying. But handsome.

A good thing he wasn’t a prince or I might have run into a problem resisting.

Just ask my dreams, where Levi knelt to put on my slipper and I didn’t run away when he kissed me and… let’s just say things got steamy.

Levi called Hannah. “The prince is secure for the night?”

“Yes, sir. He’s currently reading a biography on M?tley Crüe, of all things.”

“He’s not your classic prince,” Levi remarked. “No signs of trouble?”

“Nope. Gerome is patrolling the hallway while Sully and Pike are keeping an eye on the elevator and stairs via the cameras.”

“Be sure to close the bathroom doors in the suite. Wouldn’t want any rats to surprise you.”

“We’re on the twenty-fifth floor,” Hannah pointed out.

“And? The rats we encountered today weren’t the regular kind.”

“Closing the shitter doors now.” Three in total, given the prince had a two-bedroom suite with a living and dining room area.

“And the sliding glass door?—”

“Already shut and locked. Windows are secured. The prince wasn’t happy about keeping his bedroom door open for bedtime, but I told him it was that or I’d be sitting in a chair watching him sleep.”

“He’s definitely chafing at all the security,” Levi agreed.

“More like he’s not used to it. So I have to wonder, why now? You can’t tell me this is over a treaty for honey and wine.”

“My guess is he’s the only eligible prince at the moment, making him in high demand, not just from potential Cinderellas but also every other Grimm story featuring a prince.”

“Woe is the royal who has hundreds of women throwing themselves at him.” Hannah chuckled.

“Not all of those tales are about marriage,” he reminded. “We need to ensure he doesn’t end up dead to satisfy a darker plotline.”

“Understood, boss. When will you be getting back?”

“In the morning. I’ve got something I need handle. Call if anything happens.”

“Will do. Night.”

Levi hung up and reclined the seat in his SUV, which he’d parked in a pocket of shadow—that he created by busting a streetlight—watching the top floor of the house where Cinder lived. A woman not part of his mission, yet his gut insisted he stick close to her. She’d scoffed when he’d suggested the rat incident might not be about the prince but her. However, he had to wonder. Especially since Gerome found a basilisk skulking under her car.

Did Cinder have enemies?

If she did, they’d have to go through him.

With that final thought, he half shut his eyes and slumbered, doing his best to not think about the princess who wasn’t meant for him.