Belle’s Quest (Fairytale Bureau #3)

Chapter 3

3

As our lips touched, something sparked. I half expected the prince to turn into a beast. After all, it had happened before with even brief pecks. However, Killian remained human, and even better, the mob of Cinderellas dispersed until only agents, Knights, and the prince remained in the ballroom.

Prince Killian raked fingers through his hair and blew out a breath. “Thank you for saving the evening.”

I snorted. “Someone had to do something. Those women would have torn you limb from limb for a piece of you.” Heck, they still might. After all, this wasn’t a true marriage, merely an emergency measure.

Cinder hustled to my side to exclaim, “Fast thinking marrying the prince! And don’t you worry. I’ll have it annulled ASAP."

To my surprise, Killian shook his head. "Don’t be too quick.” He glanced at me. “If you don’t mind, I could use a bit of a respite from having shoes tossed at me.”

Being a bit of a smartass, I quipped, “Pity the story wasn’t about panties. They’d hurt less.”

The chuckle held mirth but also relief. “These past few days have been insane. When did the curse get so bad?”

“Recently,” Cinder’s flat reply. “We’ve noticed not only an increase in reenactments but a darker edge to many. It’s as if something is agitating the Grimm Effect and it’s taken an ominous turn.”

“There has to be something we can do,” Killian stated. “And before you say it, I know people have been looking?—”

I interrupted. “Not really. Most who dared to try and investigate the root of the curse found themselves roped into some of the uglier stories. The kind that don’t end well. Needless to say, it’s led to a lack of curiosity, as most people don’t have a death wish.”

“Maybe what happened tonight will put both your stories to bed,” Cinder offered.

“Maybe…” I couldn’t help a skeptical note.

Killian offered a hesitant, “Do you think so? I’d like to believe it’s over, but I do worry an annulment will bring back the madness.”

I glanced at Killian. “You know, we could use this break from the curse to work on cancelling it permanently.”

“I thought you said people tried and got punished for it,” Killian reminded.

“None of them have been as determined as me, though,” I remarked.

“Where would we even start?” Killian asked.

I had a quick reply. “In the town that first reported the Grimm Effect. There has to be a reason it began there and spread. I say we start our search in that area.”

“We?” Killian sounded surprised, and yet he quickly nodded. “Yes, let’s do it.”

“Not alone.” Levi showed he’d been listening, despite huddling with his Knights. “Hannah and Gerome will accompany you.”

“We will?” Hannah asked in surprise. I’d not even realized she still hovered nearby.

“Yes,” Levi stated with a tone that brooked no argument. “You are hereby assigned to the prince and his bride until further notice.”

“Aye, aye, boss.” Hannah rolled her eyes as she saluted him. As for Gerome, he grunted.

With that command, Levi and Cinder went off to deal with the other Knights and agents, leaving me and the prince alone—if we didn’t count the knightly bodyguards.

“Do you think we can find a way to end the curse?” the prince asked in a wistful tone. “I would do anything to be free to live my life as I choose and not because of some fictional story written down centuries ago.”

“We won’t know if we don’t try.”

“Be warned, my mother won’t like me gallivanting off.”

“Do you always obey your mother?”

His lips curved. “No. Or I’d have been married long before now.”

Hannah snapped her fingers. “Save the chitchat for later. We should move somewhere a little more secure in case anyone comes back with vengeance in mind.”

“That’s my cue to leave. I’ll gather my notes and come see you in the morning?” I offered my fake husband.

But it wasn’t him that shook his head.

Hannah planted her hands on her hips. “Oh no you don’t. You’re staying with the prince.”

I frowned. “Whatever for?”

“Because you’re now the prince’s wife and there’s a chance not all the women in attendance tonight are free from the curse. One of them might decide to make him a widow.”

“How long do I need to be in protective custody?” I grumbled as Hannah glued herself to my side for the walk to the elevator that would take us to the floor the prince currently resided on.

“Until the boss says so. It could be worse. You could be married to a beast,” Hannah remarked.

Perish the thought. She did have a point. At least Killian proved to be affable and easy on the eyes. However, I didn’t like how my lips still tingled from the kiss. I knew better than to start liking a guy. It wouldn’t end well for him.

“Don’t be so sure I’m not a beast. I get pretty hangry when I don’t get fed regularly.” Killian did his best to lighten the restriction on my movement.

“Is now a good time to mention I carry around bear spray?” my sweet reply.

Killian chuckled. “I am not surprised one bit. After all, you’ve shown yourself to be capable.”

“Are you going to whine about that tiny tackle?”

“Tiny?” Hannah scoffed. “You laid him flat.

To everyone’s surprise, Gerome muttered, “Good technique.”

We arrived at our floor, empty of anyone. Gerome entered the room first and declared it free of intruders—or more accurately uttered a noise that Hannah declared as all clear.

As we entered the room, I eyed the single king-sized bed and small sitting area. The prince had to relocate from the penthouse suite after a dragon attack. I’d not been there when it happened but heard about how a disappointed Cinderella turned into the massive reptile and smashed its way out of the building.

Guess I wasn’t the only one with a monster problem.

“I’m starving,” the prince declared.

Hannah rolled her eyes. “What a surprise.”

“What about you?” His Highness asked, glancing at me.

“I wouldn’t mind a snack.”

“On it,” Hannah stated. “Don’t leave this room.”

She’d no sooner left than Gerome parked himself in a chair to watch over us.

The prince shook his head. “While I appreciate your attentiveness, do you mind giving me and my bride a moment alone?”

Bride?

Gerome grunted, his usual loquacious answer to everything, and stepped into the hall, but he ensured the door only partially shut by slipping the security bar over the doorframe to keep it from closing fully. Guess that was all the privacy we were getting.

The prince appeared nervous and tucked his hands behind his back, still looking very regal in his white-and-gold-trimmed uniform.

“I never did properly thank you for saving me at the ball. ”

I waved a hand. “I didn’t do it for you but rather to prevent a bloodbath. The Knights would have started shooting if things got out of hand, and that would have been a PR nightmare.”

“I still can’t believe how insane things got.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ve been dealing with random Cinderellas since I turned eighteen, but it’s never been this bad.”

“As Cinder said, things are getting crazier by the day.”

“You really think we can find a way to stop the curse?”

“I don’t know,” my honest reply, which led to his lips turning down. “But I have been studying the Grimm Effect for some time now. Not the stories themselves, or how to alleviate the side effects of people stuck in them, but where they originated.”

“Because if we find the root, perhaps we can, if not destroy it, at least contain it and stop it from spreading,” he murmured.

“Exactly. And interesting fact, it didn’t begin in London like so many assume.”

“Wait, it didn’t?”

I shook my head. “It took me a while to realize that, while London appeared to be the first to make mention of it, in truth, the very first cases happened in a small town in the countryside. Not common knowledge because, as mentioned, people stopped looking into the origin because of the bad luck that followed.”

“You mentioned those seeking out the curse got dragged into badly ending stories.”

I nodded. “Indeed, they did, but here’s an interesting tidbit. People are only ever roped into one story at a time.”

“And how does that help?”

I smiled at him. “Because you and I are already characters. You as the prince for Cinderella, me as the heroine in Beauty and the Beast . As such, if we dig into the Grimm Effect?—”

“The curse might not like it, but it can’t cast us into another tale and try to kill us.”

“Oh, it will still try and stop us. Of that, I have no doubt, but it will have to come after us using new methods because, if we stay married, then we’re not eligible to Cinderellas or beasts.”

His lips pursed. “Unless one of us dies.”

“Which I wouldn’t recommend.”

He snorted. “I’ll do my best. Back to the origin of the first curses. I have to ask. Why haven’t you already poked at the location you suspect is the root cause?”

“Because I don’t have the funds to finance the trip.” The honest truth.

“But I do.”

My lips twisted. “I’m aware even asking you is a faux pas, but?—”

The prince cut me off. “Not rude at all. We both want the same thing. The ability to live our lives. You have the knowledge; I have the money. I think working together is a fine idea.”

His eagerness led me to give him warning. “It will be dangerous.”

“More dangerous than what we just experienced?” he asked with an arched brow.

“Quite possibly. The Grimm Effect will do its best to stop us.”

“It has been doing its best to control me almost my entire life.”

“We might not find anything.”

“Better to have tried than do nothing at all.”

“So you’re in?”

He nodded. “Indeed I am, wife.”

Despite the spurt of pleasure I felt at him saying it, I grimaced. “Ugh. Can you not call me that?”

“Then what should I call you because Agent Boucher seems a little formal.”

“My first name is Annabelle, but my friends call me Belle.”

“And I am Killian.”

“Which is a mouthful. Don’t you have a nickname? ”

He shook his head. “Mother never allowed any. She called them disrespectful to a future king.”

“Which is bullshit.” I slapped a hand over my mouth. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for speaking honestly. It is bullshit, but…” He shrugged. “Welcome to life as a royal.”

“Thank goodness, I’m not a royal,” I said with a laugh.

“Hate to break it to you, but as long as we’re married, you’re now Princess Annabelle.”

“But I don’t want to be a princess,” I hotly declared.

“It’s not so bad so long as you don’t mind a lack of privacy.” He glanced at the partially open door.

“So how much longer are you in town?”

“I can leave anytime now that the ball and negotiations are over. My jet is already fueled and ready to go. I just need to give my pilot a location.”

My brows lifted. “Wow, you’re really on board with this.”

“It’s past time someone did something about the Grimm Effect, and you’re the first person I’ve met who understands we need to do more than mitigate the side effects.”

“What about your mother, though?” Given what he’d hinted thus far, I doubted she’d be on board with her precious son gallivanting off into danger.

His lips curved. “Mother doesn’t need to know our wedding is a sham. As a matter of fact, she’ll probably be delighted I’ve decided to fly my new bride somewhere for our honeymoon.”

He’d come up with the perfect cover story.

“In that case, I simply need to get changed out of this dress and pack a few things before we go. Say, two hours?”

At my eagerness, Killian shook his head. “Not so quick. If we’re to fool the curse and world at large, we’ll need to at least make a pretense this marriage is real, which means we can’t leave this room until the morning.”

I arched a brow. “You expect me to sleep with you?”

“Of course not!” He hastened to add, “And to ensure your comfort with the ruse, you can have the bed. I’ll take the couch.” A couch that would force him into a tiny ball given its short length.

My gaze strayed to the king-sized bed. “I’m sure we can both manage to sleep on that giant mattress. No point in you being sore in the morning. After all, it is your birthday.” The whole reason for the ball being Prince Killian turned forty on this trip.

He laughed. “And what a birthday it’s been.”

“You seem awfully good-humored given events.”

He shrugged. “What would being sulky or angry accomplish? I find life much easier to handle if I keep a positive attitude. Although that might not last if I don’t get some food.”

Luckily, Hannah returned with a bag of fast food comprised of burgers, fries, and even milkshakes.

As we ate with our bodyguards, I related my research and theories, of which I had a few.

“You think someone uncovered something, à la Indiana Jones, and activated the curse,” Killian summarized when I finished talking.

“It makes the most sense. Magic didn’t really exist before the Grimm Effect. Werewolves, dragons, and the rest either.”

“If that were true, then why the many stories?”

“Because people are imaginative.”

“And you think some unearthed object brought those fantasies to life?”

“It’s one theory.”

“Guess it’s no worse than the guy who claimed aliens were behind it,” Killian stated with a laugh.

By the time we both started yawning, we’d formed an amicable rapport, which turned into nervousness as he pulled back the covers on the bed.

Hannah had been kind enough to loan me shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in, and the prince wore track pants and a T as well. But that wasn’t the reason for my agitation. Because of my beast issues, this would be my first time ever sleeping with a man.

True to his word, Killian acted the perfect gentleman who stayed on his side of the bed. He even put a pillow in the middle so he wouldn’t encroach on my space.

Turned out it wasn’t him that should have worried. When I woke in the morning, I found myself splayed across his chest.