18. Chloe

EIGHTEEN

"Good morning."

Chloe yawned widely, stretching her arms across the wide bed. Sunlight flickered in from the window, but she could still hear water dripping from the storm.

She was pleased when her arm grazed over Adrian's bare chest.

"So it wasn't all a dream," she said. "That's a relief."

"Would have been kind of a long dream, don't you think?"

She smiled meekly in return. "I keep expecting to wake up from this," she said honestly. "That's something that you're going to have to get used to."

He chuckled. "Well, all right."

She could feel a distance that still separated them. As she looked into his eyes, she could see thousands of distracting thoughts, all drawing back to his obligation as king.

She longed for the day when he shared everything with her, and she knew every little detail about him.

Then she realized that she, too, had obligations. Stirring with a panic, she stood and picked up her phone.

"I have to call into work," she explained simply.

He nodded, though she could sense some protest.

As she dialed, a servant Chloe didn't recognize wheeled in a dining cart filled with waffles, sausage, and eggs. She reacted by covering herself with the comforter as the phone rang on the other side of the line.

"Hi, Wes," she said before putting her hand up to her mouth and faking a cough. "I'm sorry, but I woke up with a fever, and I'm coughing up stuff …"

"I don't need to know," Wes replied, sounding as though he was rushing from one task to the other, a noisy commotion of patrons and scanners beeping. "Why don't you take the day off? We'll see you back here Monday."

"Thank you." She spoke hoarsely before hanging up.

It sounded very busy at the library, and she felt a twinge of regret for not going in. Tomorrow was Sunday, and she would be off work anyway, which gave her a nice weekend at Adrian's.

Still, I wonder how mad they're going to be at me for lying to them, Chloe thought. At least I can pretend I took a couple days to get better.

She took a plate and a small bottle of syrup off the tray, then proceeded to scrape a pile of eggs off her plate and into her mouth.

"I keep telling them not to bring pancakes and waffles up here," Adrian replied. "It's the messiest thing you can possibly eat in bed."

She looked at him knowingly as she swallowed another piece of scrambled eggs. The ham and cheddar were mixed in and seasoned to perfection, and there was even a cheese she didn't recognize.

"I guess you bring all the girls up to your room for breakfast in bed," she said with a chuckle.

Just then, Adrian's phone vibrated. Taking it out of his pocket, he looked down at the screen.

"Shit," he said before removing the plate from his lap and placing it back on the tray.

Chloe frowned, scrutinizing the way he quickly left her side. "Problem?"

She knew he wasn't abandoning her right after she called in to work, but that looked like what he was doing.

"I'm so sorry, Chloe."

"No! Did you not see me just get off the phone?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Unfortunately, I have several meetings I need to go to that I completely forgot about."

She looked down at the plate of food in disappointment, grateful to at least have that to her name.

"What am I supposed to do in the meantime? You're just going to leave me here?"

"I'm not." A sudden realization dawned on him, and he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "I just had an idea."

She looked skeptically back up at him. "And what's that, exactly?"

"You're not going to be alone. Tillie and Irons are here. I can make a call."

Her eyes widened. She pursed her lips.

"It's the perfect opportunity to get to know them," he continued. "And I'll be back later anyway."

Chloe caved. "Fine," she said.

Before heading to his meeting, Adrian gave Tillie a call, discovering that Irons wouldn't be able to make it. He said, on further thought, that alone time with Irons might be awkward anyway, and she agreed.

"Tillie's going to meet you here in an hour. I'm going to head out for now, but I'll be back before you know it."

She wanted to ask him why she, as his mate, couldn't also attend the meeting since he was clearly surrendering the treasury to her anyway. But she held her tongue, deciding it wasn't her place to ask after all.

Chloe took the extra time to get ready, discovering that Adrian had already bought clothing in her size. She found a nice black sundress and waited on the bed, wishing she had brought reading material. She wondered if Adrian had a library, too. She doubted it was as impressive as Callum's.

A knock on the door an hour later signaled Tillie's arrival. Chloe checked her reflection in the mirror, noting a long stray hair just over her bangs before brushing it aside and opening the door.

To her surprise, as soon as the door opened, Tillie rushed inside, giving Chloe a big hug.

"This is going to be so good," she said before breaking the embrace. "You don't know how many times I've been sandwiched between Adrian and Zakary."

Chloe cringed slightly.

"Oh, crap, I heard it, too," Tillie said. "But you know that's not what I meant."

She peeked around Chloe's shoulder, looking into the room. "I see Adrian's still going with minimalism," she said, noting the sparse decorations in the regal bedroom.

Chloe had no idea what to say, so she just smiled and nodded. Introducing her to a stranger and then having her spend a day with them was a terrible idea.

"Adrian said you might show me around the place," Chloe said.

"That's strange. I thought he showed you around yesterday?"

Chloe brushed the back of her head with her hand. "We got in kind of late," she said.

Tillie nodded. "Well, that won't be a problem," she said. "I hope we're doing more than that, though. I'd love to get to know you."

She walked down the hall and then encouraged Chloe to follow with a gesture.

"Love the dress, by the way."

"Thanks," Chloe said. "It's not mine. I'm just borrowing it."

The tour featured a lot of familiar scenery. Even among the castle's different wings, the decorations were fairly uniform.

At many points in the tour, Chloe would ask why they weren't turning in a certain direction, and Tillie would clarify that Adrian would show her them later.

"No spoilers," she said, moving past the locked doors and corridors.

She could see how getting lost might be a problem with how similar everything in the castle looked.

Just as Chloe was about to ask about the library, she was pulled immediately into the courtyard.

"Holy …"

She stopped herself, not wanting to curse in front of her new company.

"Yes, holy shit indeed," Tillie replied with a chuckle.

Before her was a large garden filled with giant and exotic flowers and a small stream running under the trees and between the bridges. It reminded her of the chocolate room from Willy Wonka.

Tillie plopped down on the bench, looking up at the birds that flew among the trees.

"I often come down here to think," she said. "It's very peaceful."

Chloe took a seat beside her, looking at her thoughtfully.

Her first impression of Tillie was that of somebody very extroverted, always looking for the next big thing. But perhaps she was projecting her friends onto her.

"Does Adrian talk about me much?" Chloe asked, holding out her arm as a makeshift perch for one of the birds. But they were all solitary creatures and largely ignored her.

Tillie weighed her words very carefully as she turned away from her reverie. "Honestly, he hasn't mentioned you at all," she said.

Chloe hung her head in disappointment, staring down at the luscious green grass. "Oh."

"But we can see the effect he's having on you."

Chloe lifted her head in uncertainty, and Tillie clarified.

"We've known Adrian a long time," she said. "Me and my husband are dragon shifters, and he likes to cling to us at the parties. He's not very interested in socializing. But then he disappeared a couple of masquerades ago, and we figured something happened. We're glad it was something good."

Chloe got up from the bench suddenly, looking at the trees. She realized they weren't quite like anything she had ever seen. The bark erupted into a series of strange honeycomb patterns, spreading out over the branches and limbs.

Chloe moved her hand along the bark, noting how smooth it felt.

"Adrian's ancestors had those imported generations ago," Tillie said. "I see you're quite the curious type."

"It's not a problem that I'm a human, is it?"

Tillie held her hand up to her chin, deep in contemplation. "Not for me, no. Dragons are very set in their ways, though, so I honestly don't know."

It was an honest answer, not sugarcoated for her sake. She appreciated it.

She approached the next question with the awkwardness it deserved. "And I was wondering …" Chloe said. "I mean, I read about it in Callum's library."

Tillie nodded, encouraging Chloe to go on.

"Adrian hasn't marked me yet," Chloe said.

Tillie bit her lip. "Ah."

"I was wondering if maybe he hasn't because he's afraid of how people might react?"

This time, Tillie was quick to answer. "I don't think so."

"You don't?"

Tillie took a deep breath.

"We don't introduce new people into this life lightly. He's probably just waiting for you to warm up to the idea. It wouldn't be fair to throw it all on you at once."

It was a fair assumption, probably more rational than any conclusion Chloe had leapt to.

"And speaking of." Tillie stood suddenly, much to Chloe's confusion. "There's one more room I'd like to show you."

"Was it one of the rooms you told me I wasn't ready to see?"

Tillie chuckled. "You'll have to wait and see, I guess."

The crunch of the wet grass underneath her feet was satisfying to her ears as they headed inside. She followed Tillie down long, winding hallways toward one locked door.

She took a small key out of her pocket, opened the door, and gestured for Chloe to step inside.

"Oh, wow."

There sat a large throne room decorated far more ornately than any other room in the castle. Banners were draped along balconies, and several side rooms branched out just beyond the golden throne.

"These are the queen's quarters," she said, walking her forward before opening doors to several side rooms.

There was a well-decorated bedroom, a bathroom, an office, and a walk-in closet as big as some stores in the mall. This small hidden corner of the castle was like a house.

"And they're all yours," Tillie added.

Chloe smiled, noticing the huge shower attached to the master bedroom.

She reached out for one final hug before resolving to take a shower and relax.