Chapter 303: By Their Standards, I’m A Terrorist

While the Dream Team was covering up a murder and Stepdad was losing control of forty-seven Alphas, a resurrected king was on a date with a fugitive. The fugitive in question was providing commentary like a scientist observing an ancient civilization and he was enjoying it entirely too much.

The cops have not given up. The kiss count has not slowed down. And the murder charge is still waiting in the wings like a punchline nobody ordered

And now, the moment you’ve all been dreading, the next domino goes to tonight’s episode of Say Yes to the Arrest.

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DOMINO 71: SHE LET HIM THINK HE WAS DRIVING

SOLVEIL - ONE MILE FROM CITADEL

"Mommy, Look! It’s the woman from the story," a child squealed, tugging on his mother’s skirt.

"Shh, sweetheart. Don’t point at strangers."

"But LOOK. The flowers are moving with her! They’re following her, Mommy!"

"Yes, dear." The mother didn’t look up from the vendor stall. But the flowers were, in fact, bending towards Guinevere.

The child waved at her with the enthusiasm of a kid who had just met a celebrity and would be telling this story for the rest of his life to adults who would never believe him. Guinevere waved back with the warmth of a woman who had no idea she was the reason for the commotion.

"They are such a friendly culture," she whispered.

Nicholas said nothing because the alternative was explaining that the foreign civilization she was studying was actually friendly because she was glowing. No other woman was glowing. Just her. He had pieced that much together.

"Interesting that their young are active at this hour though," she added. "I wonder if the light saturation has fundamentally altered their relationship with rest cycles. Bedtime as a concept may not translate here."

She had a point on that one. Her observations were entirely too adorable and Nicholas was enjoying every single one.

"Adults too," he said. "Whole city’s awake. Either nobody sleeps here or they’re all terrible at it."

She grinned up at him like he had said something brilliant. "You’re absolutely right."

That grin was worth every cop in this city and Nicholas would pay the fine twice. Without slowing, he kissed the hand he was holding, and adjusted her hood to cover her face better. Kiss number seven and she still blushed like it was kiss number one, delivered through their matebond. That blush made his chest ache in the best possible way and she had no idea.

The kiss count was climbing. But it wasn’t the only thing.

She had warned him they take trespassing very seriously. Nicholas had thought their run from the police earlier was the worst of it.

But he stood corrected.

He didn’t want to alarm her, but they were definitely being followed. He glanced over his shoulder and clocked a few more tailing.

So he dragged her off the square and they knifed through three alleys in less than a minute, his hand locked on hers like he was afraid she’d evaporate. The route selections were pure instinct because he didn’t know this city.

Left. Right. Under a bridge. Out onto another street that lit up the second she stepped on it.

"Nicholas," she said softly as she gave his hand a squeeze. "I don’t want to alarm you, but you should know that we’ve been getting tailed for the last forty minutes and the numbers have tripled."

Nicholas blinked down at her a few times. She had known this entire goddamn time and didn’t want to alarm him. Like he was fragile. Those priorities were so ass-backwards they needed a priest.

"You do realize I’m a literal Alpha, right? I can handle it."

"Of course," she said immediately with an expression that suggested she had already handled it, assessed it, mapped it, and was now managing his feelings about it.

Without warning, she took control with the energy of a woman who had been letting him steer but needed it back for just a second, towing him into a packed part of the square.

"I also want to flag that we are fully surrounded," she said with zero emotion as they moved. "Don’t look. That man in the doorway has been in three doorways since the tree. Another at your two o’clock followed us through the last alley. That guy leaning against the building there was also there when we bought cloaks. Four are on rooftops east and west, and the man sitting at the fountain just signaled to both sides. The square has four exits. They’re covering three. The fourth leads to a dead end."

Nicholas’s eyes scanned the square. She was right. But he had caught eighty percent of what she caught and he was trained in this. She had been running counterintelligence in her head while commenting on a culture’s bedtime. He didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified. Both. The answer was both.

"They aren’t going to touch you. Not while I’m here," he stated as he took the wheel back from her. He guided her into the shadow of an archway, positioning himself between her and the square.

"Nicholas," she said slowly in a tone that he already didn’t like. "They are after me, not you. You are innocent in all of this."

"Guinevere. I’m not. I also ran, remember?"

"To their culture, their fountains are as sacred as temples, and I have desecrated all of them. Their flora are sentient and I accidentally destroyed an entire flower garden. By their value system, I’m a terrorist, Nicholas."

"A terrorist," he repeated flatly.

"Yes," Guinevere answered, her face grim. "That would be the equivalent of me entering your Keep, murdering your children, bombing your water supply, and burning down the castle."

Nicholas opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Nothing came out. She had compared herself to a genocidal invader with such earnest conviction that there were no words.

"So, here’s what we’re going to do," she continued. "I will stay here and distract them. Don’t look at it now, but you will cut through the tavern. I saw a back door on the other side of the building and a vendor bringing in liquor seven minutes ago."

Nicholas realized with sudden, devastating clarity that she had been planning his escape route with the same analytical precision she’d used to study their culture. Multitasking.