He had no fucking idea how to do that.
Nick had been so busy thinking, he hadn’t been paying attention to Grigor’s speech beyond “Blah blah followed you here, blah blah tracked you there, blah blah hired surveillance experts and hackers and assassins because I’m so fucking rich.” Nick made himself tune in, hoping something in it might give him an idea.
“As for how I found you in America to begin with, all I needed was logic,” the pompous asshole was saying. “Who is the only person who you know and can trust to not want your throne? Lucas. Where does Lucas work? Protection, Inc.”
“You want my throne?” Raluca interrupted, as if the idea had only now occurred to her. “But I gave it up. You don’t need to kill me to take it.”
“Yes, you simpering fool,” Grigor snapped. “Of course I want your throne! And I do need to kill you. How could I ever trust that a pampered princess like you would give it up for good? Once you got tired of doing your own hair, you’d come running back home.”
Grigor seemed easy to bait. Nick already knew Price was. Those two were obviously brothers under the skin: manipulative, mu
rderous, smug assholes. Maybe Nick could use that.
“What I want to know is how you got involved,” Nick said to Price. “Since when did you start hobnobbing with foreign fucking dragon princes?”
Price shot Nick a contemptuous look. “Since one offered me the chance to get some of my own back.”
Grigor raised his voice, sounding annoyed at the interruption. “When I learned who was guarding the princess, I looked up his background and found a chance to kill two birds with one stone. I wanted the princess dead, Price wanted the bodyguard dead, and while both of us are recognizable to our respective targets, my hired men and the newer members of Price’s pack were not.”
“Cut to the fucking chase,” Price snapped.
“Excuse me?” Grigor said icily.
Nick had bet those two were working together purely for convenience and didn’t get along, and it looked like he was right. If he could get them pissed off enough at each other, it might distract them enough to drop their guards. He only needed a second...
With his free hand, Price indicated the fake waiter. “I taught Jim here everything I know about pickpocketing. He’s not as good as me, but he’s plenty good enough to dress up as a waiter, drop some poison in the princess’s wine, and get something out of Nick’s pocket.”
“You motherfucker!” Nick clenched his raised hands. Price’s gun hand didn’t waver, but his gaze lifted for an instant, from Nick’s face and body to just his fists.
Nick met Raluca’s gaze from across the roof. He had only a split second, but it was the first time they’d made eye contact since Grigor had begun monologging.
Be ready, Nick tried to convey.
He thought he saw understanding in her silver gaze. But he had to instantly look away from her and at Price, so he couldn’t be sure. And just in time, too. Price’s gaze moved down from Nick’s fists to his face.
Smirking, Price added, “Not that getting one over on Nick was much of a challenge.”
Grigor raised his voice. “As I was saying —”
So did Price. “Can you shut the fuck up for one —”
“JUMP!” Nick yelled, and flung himself backward off the roof.
He plummeted down, tumbling toward the distant streets below. The world spun around him.
Time seemed to slow. He could hear his own heartbeats thudding in his ears, with what felt like long pauses in between.
Boom. Had Raluca understood? He’d had to jump before he could see if she’d leaped too. If she’d hesitated for even a second, Grigor would’ve shot her before she could follow Nick. Had Nick gotten her killed?
Boom. Even if she had jumped fast enough, had she had enough time to transform?
Boom. The streets were so close. He’d be dead in another second. If he’d saved Raluca, it’d be worth it. It seemed so fucking unfair that he’d die without even knowing —
Something snatched at him, jerking him violently to the side and arresting his fall.
Nick gasped. With the rush of cold air into his lungs, the surreal sense of slowness came to an abrupt end. He was no longer hurtling toward the streets, but moving along and just above them. He craned his head, and saw that he was held in silver claws.
Silver talons.