Page 36 of Smuggler's Beauty

“She may have embraced her talent more than you realize, Vinnie. She’s strong as hell. Supercharged my telekinesis in a crazy way. We wouldn’t have escaped the medivessel if it weren’t for her.”

Corvinia gave him a sad smile. “Aiden, the royals all have two talents. That’s what sets them apart. Evelyn’s never minded helping others. It’s what she does. It’s her other talent that she’s never embraced.”

Aiden felt like she’d splashed him with a bucket of cold water. All the time he’d spent thinking about Evelyn over the past few days — her dry sense of humor, her subtle, ever present strength, the intelligence that gleamed from her sad hazel eyes — he’d completely glossed over the fact that the royals were dual talents. The importance Emil had placed on her Amplification had overshadowed that fact. Thinking back, he remembered that she had mentioned it at dinner, but had brushed past it so quickly, he had assumed it was unimportant. Psychic talents were a dime a dozen on Tanalia.

What would she possibly refuse to embrace?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The moonlit nightenveloped Evelyn as she threw herself onto her patio chair. The patio was draped with cafe lights, and their cheery glow highlighted the mother-of-pearl buttons on her cardigan, making small ethereal puddles of light down her chest. She sat and watched the stars twinkle as she fumed.

The goddamn audacity.

Evelyn didn’t want to rule a planet. She wouldn’t be good at it. Constantina would crush being in charge of Tanalia. It had been expected of her from the moment she was born. Adelaide would hate the responsibility, but she would rise to the challenge with the ferocity that she approached everything with. But Evelyn hadn’t been groomed for it like her sisters had.

Growing up, Evelyn had been grateful not to have to follow along after her eldest sister like a shadow. She would have liked a little more attention, but she was undeniably glad to have escaped the microscope her sisters were subjected to on a daily basis. She got to hang out with kooky Aunt Corrie and keep her nose in a book. She knew just enough protocol not to embarrass anyone at a state dinner, knew only the basicsof their constitutional documents. They’d never interested her. No vampires, who cared? The vague details she remembered probably had no bearing on the reality of the day to day running as they stood now, anyway.

What the fuck is she thinking? I can’t do this.

She should have been used to seeing Corrie pull high-handed stunts; they’d been a hallmark of her childhood. Though now that she knew Corvinia’s real job, the surety with which the woman made her unilateral decisions made a hell of a lot more sense.

Evelyn had always admired that her father put so much stock in Corvinia’s opinions. She liked that he listened to the women in his life and had elevated women into high cabinet positions. Her father may have his faults, but he was never misogynistic. He adored and respected his wife. He loved all three of his daughters and had never once longed for a son. His rule was one that elevated the Tanalian traditions of art and culture to new heights.

She now wondered how many members of the artistic renaissance were involved in shadow operations.

The sliding door cracked open, and Aiden walked out onto the porch to sit on the lounge chair next to her.

“You holding up, dollface?”

“Just re-arranging decades of long held beliefs. Nothing major happening here.” She waved her hand.

“Oh, not at all.” He cracked a grin at her. “I’m going to drop the rest of the crew off at the ship. Can I head back here in a while?”

“You really are determined to crash every one of my pity parties, aren’t you?”

“It’s important to have goals.”

Evelyn laughed. It surprised her that she was capable of laughter with the way her stomach was churning. Aiden had away of cutting through the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. She was going to miss that. She was going to misshim.

“I’d like to see you later, sure. Come on by.”

“See you soon,” he said. He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before heading back inside her house.

Evelyn debated turning around to watch him leave but decided against it. When she finally said goodbye to Aiden, she didn’t want the image of him walking away from her in her own home to be in her memories. She turned her focus instead back to the moonlight shining over the brick red mountain range. The view of the ever-changing sky was one of her favorite things about her house here, the midnight velvet fading into the brilliance of baby blue, the ombre of orange and pink, all set against the rich red rock of the mountains.

The faint noise of car engines turning over drifted from the driveway. Moments later, the sliding door opened again. She knew Corvinia stood at the threshold. Evelyn heard her take a deep breath before coming outside.

“This place really is beautiful. I understand why you wanted to live here.”

Evelyn sighed and turned to look at Corvinia. Her eyes were wary, like she was weighing the odds of Evelyn throwing a punch. She proffered the abandoned milkshake, a boozy peace offering.

Evelyn decided she could be civil. She was a grown up, after all.

“Thank you for keeping the house in order. I can only imagine the amount of paperwork you must have had to do to keep it from being sold out from under me.” Evelyn reached for the drink and took a fortifying sip.

“It was nothing. It helps to have a spy network to shuffle around. This was a very popular vacation home for a lot of my folks.”

Evelyn’s shoulders tensed up, and Corvinia laughed.