Chapter 134

Violet’s POV

If Theodore knew I had another man’s hands on me, there’s a pretty good chance he wouldn’t be making it off my property alive.

The man I hadn’t met before today applied just the right pressure, and a moan escaped my lips – loudly.

“Really, Vi?” Lily teased from somewhere else in the great room.

“Shut up,” I retorted, knowing full well from the heat in my cheeks that my blushing was visible. I was glad I couldn’t see anyone’s faces with the cucumber slices covering my eyes.

The furniture in the great room had been rearranged to accommodate two massage tables for me and Lily as a surprise for me. I hadn’t realized how badly I needed it.

Because the truth was I was worried as hell. The clearly fake rogue attacks all over the news last night would surely destroy support for the Shelter project. It would be an unwanted setback, but I was playing the long game.

Not receiving funding from your king isn’t as disappointing when you plan to overthrow him anyway.

Lily had continued to question my request to search for land for the Shelter project, so I told her we would hold off while I continued to recover from the “bond rejection” – my ongoing excuse for my pregnancy symptoms. Then I secretly passed the land search duties over to Sophia. I didn’t often yield, or at least appear to yield, to Lily’s questioning of my own plans, but I couldn’t satisfactorily explain my strategy without giving her information that would make her a target.

Thinking about land purchases though reminded me…

“Kincaid said the purchase of the land—” I caught myself before saying “for the Darkmoon University project”. Just because I couldn’t see the two men massaging me and Lily didn’t mean they couldn’t hear me. And I had to be careful who I trusted these days.

“… went through,” I finished vaguely, knowing that Lily would follow. “Do you know if we have any news about the licensing so we can get going on next steps?”

Lily sighed in disappointment. “You’ll have to ask Kincaid – after this spa day that I so thoughtfully put together for us knowing you could use it after the past few weeks you’ve had,” she chided.

More like past few months. My world had just constantly been getting turned upside down ever since my dad died.

“Yes, so thoughtful of you to include yourself in this spa day,” I quipped, and I could hear the smile in her response.

“I didn’t want you to get bored getting pampered all alone!”

“Of course,” I chuckled, trying not to disturb my masseur’s process. “Alright, you’re right: I need this. I’ll stop thinking about my endlessly long to do list.”

Lily let out a sharp laugh, followed by a murmured apology to her masseur. “No, you won’t; I know you better than that. But not voicing those ever-calculating thoughts of yours is a good first step.”

I smiled at the thought of how well my best friend knew me. It was nice to feel seen by someone, especially when the person who I really wanted to be near wasn’t an option.

He was something to worry about, too.

Bennett had stopped by for lunch a few days ago and confirmed what Sophia had suspected and shared with me over the phone: spies had been planted in Midnight. According to Bennett, Theo was sufficiently aware of it to have warned my cousin. I hated that Theo was having to deal with that and that I wasn’t there to help him.

Thankfully, Sophia seemed to think Dahlia was aware that these spies weren’t who they purported to be. Dahlia was an excellent Beta who I was grateful to have on our side, protecting Theo. If my mate had shared any other sensitive information with Dahlia other than the spies who were apparently posing as Eva’s friends, she hadn’t told Kincaid anything during her visit.

I certainly would have heard an earful from him by now about hiding things from him if that had been the case.

So for now it seemed the only people who knew everything were me, Theo, and the High Priestess. Sophia and Dahlia knew something was up, but they didn’t have all the details. I wondered how many more people we would have to put at risk by asking for their assistance.

Yet another thing to worry about.

“Miss? I’m going to remove the cucumber slices and hold your towel up while you turn onto your stomach for the second half of your massage.”

I thanked the masseur as I flipped onto my front, noticing Lily do the same before I settled my face into the hole at the top of the table. I had been able to request that the masseur tread lightly around my mid-section due to the nausea “related to my recent bond rejection”. It was the first time I was glad the whole mess had been so public because it supported my alibi.

I breathed deeply, hoping this prone position didn’t trigger my nausea. After a few breaths – and some well-placed kneading in my shoulders – I began to relax. It seemed that today was a better day as far as pregnancy symptoms were concerned.

Auntie had predicted I’d only have a couple of weeks between the initial pregnancy symptoms wearing off and starting to show. I needed to come up with a plan to make myself visible in Darkmoon again during that time. I needed to reconnect with my people and remind them of the leader they loved – or at least some of them did.

Now that my claim on Darkmoon was restored, I needed to strengthen my territory’s sense of unity because I was pretty sure dark times were just ahead. Hell, I was the one planning to bring them upon us. And dark times were always best endured together.

I thought about the ancient spell Auntie had told me about during her last visit. If Owen had truly used magic, if we could really prove it, the only outcome of revealing his treachery would be his own expulsion.

A country with no leader would immediately become destabilized. It would be unwise to take Owen down without a plan for who would replace him as our new ruler.

I breathed into the pressure being expertly rubbed out of my back, willing it to relieve the pressure in my mind, in my chest, in my heart.

Legally, the crown had to remain in the bloodline. Since Owen had yet to produce an heir, it would fall to Theo.

And damn it if I didn’t believe with my entire being that he would be great at it. Now that we’d worked out a few kinks with his manners, I didn’t doubt for a second Theo’s ability to lead our country.

Based on how he’d taken to the books on magic, he was a quick learner. He had responded well to change as I’d brought him into the noble world. His passion for the Shelter project revealed an innate sense of leadership motivated by compassion and community.

Even if he weren’t the only option as our next king, I would have chosen him in a heartbeat. The Uncrowned King would be crowned after all.

The only problem was how deeply he did not want the job.

I hated the idea of pressuring anyone, especially the love of my life, into doing something I knew they didn’t want to do.

But we were running out of options. And with the added factor of my unexpected pregnancy, we were also running out of time.