My fingers curled around my knees as a breeze lifted a curl and tossed it across my face. A strange scent surrounded the prince. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but it reminded of something. Beaches? No. I frowned.

His gaze flickered over my face. “You will open those gates for me.”

I laughed again. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“I figured you would say that,” he replied, casting his gaze back to the street. “Let me impregnate you and you will want for nothing.”

My brows snapped together. “Yeah, that’s probably the most unappealing offer for sex in the history of mankind.”

He stared at me. “You are not afraid of me, are you?” Then he leaned over and inhaled deeply. “No. I smell fear on you, and yet you speak to me as if you have no concern for your well-being.”

“Did . . . did you just smell me again?” I asked, my pulse pounding in my throat. The truth was, I was scared. Terrified, honestly, but I couldn’t show that.

The side of his lips curled up. “You are confident because of your importance to me, or you are foolish. Either way, you will bear my child.”

All I could do was stare at him, because this was by far the most bizarre conversation I’d ever had with anyone or anything, and I’d had a lot of strange convos with Tink.

“You can make this easy and come with me now or—”

“I can make this hard? I know how this works. You can’t force me to have sex with you,” I said, voice low. “And if you threaten the lives of others to get me to go with you, you’re still forcing me.” I met his stare, calling up every ounce of bravery I had. “You can make me sit here and talk to you. You can even expose what I am to the entire world—”

“Why would I out what you are? Your kind, your Order, would kill you before you took your next breath. No one who wishes to not incite my wrath will betray you.”

Well, that was . . . kind of good to know. At least I could mark that one thing to freak out over off the list. “Anyway, you can make me do a lot of things, but you cannot make me do that. Ever.”

His head cocked to the side. “Is it because you’re in love with the human male?”

I blinked, jerking back. He said the word love like he was utterly unfamiliar with the term. “What?”

“The man who rushed to your side when you were injured. The one who has been spending every night at your place.”

Oh no. I started to stand but my legs were weak.

The smile reappeared. “How much do you value his—?”

“Don’t,” I warned, voice barely audible. “Don’t threaten him.”

He chuckled then, and it almost sounded real.

“Loving someone else has nothing to do with it. Even if I were single, I wouldn’t have sex with you.”

“I would,” a man said as he stopped in front of the bench. He grinned at the prince. “Just saying.”

The prince winked in return.

I waited until the other man had roamed off before I continued. I made sure my voice was low. “I am not having your child and ensuring that your kind takes over the world. Sorry. That’s not going to happen.”

“Are you a wagering type, little bird?”

I stared at him a moment. “This is insane. You nearly killed me. You’re a fae that wants to take over the human realm. There is literally nothing you can say or do that will—”

The prince moved fast, too fast for me to track. He was suddenly directly in my space and his cool hand was curved around the nape of my neck, smashing my curls. I tried to pull back, but yep, I was getting nowhere without breaking my own neck.

“Let go of me,” I ordered, moving my hand to my left side. If I had to stab him, even if the only thing it did was piss him off, I would.

“You can fight this all you want, but I know the game and the rules,” he said, and my stomach roiled as his icy breath coasted over my cheek. “I know how this ends, little bird. And trust me, you will be consenting sooner than you realize.”

Chapter Six

The prince just got up and walked away. Walked on down Decatur like he was out sightseeing wearing leather pants in seventy-degree weather. I think he might’ve walked into Jackson Square. Maybe he was going to check out the statue of Andrew Jackson? Or maybe he’d cross the street again and try some beignets or coffee mixed with chicory?

And I just sat there, sort of stunned and kind of wanting to laugh. Not the good kind of laugh. I was back to the slightly crazed kind.

What had just happened?

I was trying to comprehend the entire conversation, but the prince getting up and walking away was perhaps the most unexpected part. He didn’t try to force me to go with him. Oh God, was Tink right? Was the prince going to attempt to woo me? Nausea hit me in the stomach, and I might’ve puked a little in my mouth. Was that why he had only creeped me out but didn’t try anything else?

I knew I needed to say something. It was my duty to inform David that the prince was out and about.

Pushing up from the bench, I drew in a deep breath and slid my sunglasses back onto my face. What could I say though? How could I explain to anyone that I’d seen the prince but he hadn’t attempted to harm me? It might be believable if I was any other Order member and not the one who’d chased the prince down and spent one-on-one time with him, getting my ass handed to me. I could say that the prince hadn’t seen me. That wasn’t entirely impossible.

Nervous energy filled me as I waited for the traffic to clear on Decatur. The best thing for me to do was keep my mouth shut, but I couldn’t. I had to warn other members that the prince was out and moving around the city. It was a safety concern. But it was more than that. It was my duty—a duty ingrained in me since birth and I couldn’t deny it.