Page 19 of Hateful Prince
Caspian leaned against Dahlia’s wardrobe and let out a low chuckle. “Oh, this is so entertaining. Like an elephant and a bleeding mouse.”
“Tor, I thought you weren’t afraid of ghosts?” Dahlia asked, taking the doll from Cas’s hands.
“I’m not. Dolls are another matter. There was an incident when I was younger,” he replied as she opened the chest at the foot of her bed and placed the doll under a pile of heavy blankets. Tor visibly shuddered as Dahlia dropped the lid.
“Hey! It’s dark in here!” The muffled sound of her little voice was creepy, I had to give Tor that, but I suspected that even if she wasn’t possessed, the Beast of Novasgard would still be afraid of her.
He looked the worse for wear. Especially since all he was wearing was a towel wrapped around his waist and he was covered in dried blood and dirt.
Hook howled with laughter at his obvious embarrassment. “I’m sorry. It’s just... too good. I can’t...”
“Someone shut him up before I do it with my fist,” Tor warned.
The pirate wiped away the tears streaming from his eyes. “I can’t take you seriously. You’ve lost all credibility.” He held his hands up daintily, prancing in place as he mocked, “Oh help me, there’s a scary dolly after me. I’m a big Viking monster, but I need my girlfriend to rescue me from the child’s plaything.”
“She’s my mate,” Tor growled. “Say another word and I’ll end you.”
Cas crossed his arms over his chest. “Sure you will. Until I grab that doll and hold it up between us. I know your weakness, tough guy. My days of fearing you are long past—if they ever existed at all.”
Tor snarled, Hook laughed, and Dahlia got between them.
“Tor, go get cleaned up. Cas, do us all a favor and shut up before my room gets destroyed.”
“Finally, someone says something useful,” Cain muttered.
“Don’t let her out,” Tor whispered as he shot a glance at Dahlia, then the chest.
Our mate, to her credit, didn’t make him feel bad about his fear. Instead, she sat atop the chest. “Promise.”
Tor collected his discarded clothes on his way to the bathroom. I turned my focus back to my gem. Now that the doll had been dealt with, it was time to get to the bottom of this debacle. “Explain again how ye placed the spirit in the doll.”
“I don’t fucking know.”
“How can ye not know?”
“I sneezed.”
“Bless you?” Caspian offered.
“Did it come shooting out of your nose and into the damn porcelain?” Cain asked, scooping up Asshole and running his fingertips between the pup’s ears.
“No. I... ugh, Masterson released her from a spirit jar so I could work on my control. I had her, but the jar broke, and while I was waiting for a replacement, I sneezed and lost her. Or... maybe I threw her into the doll? I don’t know. And I don’t really see why she has to be here with me. Is this a punishment? It’s unfair to force me to take care of a creepy possessed doll when it wasn’t my idea in the first place.”
“Breathe, baby doll.”
“Are you intentionally attacking me right now?” she asked, eyes narrowed.
Cain lifted a brow. “I always call you that.”
She chewed on that for a second. “I guess you do. Fine. As you were.”
“Glad we’ve established who wears the pants in your relationship,” Cas tossed out.
Cain shot his gaze to the pirate, shadowy tendrils of power creeping out from his hands.
“What was that?” he asked, voice low.
The way Hook visibly recoiled sent a reminder of the time I had to rescue him from Cain’s wrath once before.