Chapter 77

He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, but only got a couple hours of sleep before Henry rapped at his door.

“No,” Ansel said, trying to ignore him. He turned over in bed away from Henry, and shielded his face with a pillow.

“It’s urgent,” Henry said. “And I’ve brought in someone to help. She’ll be here in five.”

Ansel threw some clothes on and staggered down to his office where, thankfully, Charles was there to hand them large mugs of coffee.

“I’ll let you know what happened with Queen Mia later,” Henry said. He looked haggard. There were shadows under his eyes and his voice was hoarse.

“Go home,” Ansel said.

“I’ve got to catch you up to speed, and help -”

“The person coming, you said she’s here to help, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“And, she’s familiar with the situation?”

“Very much so, but -”

“It’s okay,” Ansel said. He took a drink of his coffee. “I’ll ask her to brief me. Get out of here and go to bed.”

Henry looked like he would keep pressing it, but then he sighed. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll catch a few z’s and then I’ll be back to help.”

“Just take the day,” Ansel said.

Henry shook his head. “We don’t have that kind of luxury. You’re about to find out.”

Just then, there was a quick knock at the door.

“This is Zara Mitchell,” said Charles, letting in a woman with dark hair and eyes. Ansel stood to shake her hand. Henry greeted her and then slipped out.

“I have to admit something,” Ansel said. “A lot’s been going on around here. I have no idea who you are or what situation you’re here to guide me through.”

Zara held a small gold locket around her neck, zipping it back and forth along the chain.

“Well,” she said, crossing her legs. “I’m your PR rep. My specialty is spin.”

“Okay,” said Ansel. “That’s good. I can use that.”

“So, you’re not completely in the dark?”

“I know up until… two days ago, I guess.”

“Since Ethan Woods was found dead,” Zara said. Her gold eyeshadow glistened under the office light.

“I’m aware that he’s dead, if that’s what you mean,” Ansel said.

“What do you know about the news coverage and the public outcry?”

“There’s a public outcry?” Ansel frowned, his inner boiler lit.

Zara nodded. “There are protestors outside your gate, Sir. One of your men escorted me here today to help me through.”

Ansel was speechless.

“Mmm. So, here’s the deal. I have a lot of connections, a lot of sources I work with for information... That kind of thing helps when I need to get competing stories out to draw attention away from my client.”

Ansel stared at her. Where was this going?

“That’s how I know,” she said. “The Grand Prince is helping to spread lies - or, at least, very unflattering things about you.”

Ansel suppressed a growl. “What lies?”

“It’s believed that you were to blame for Dr. Woods’ death.”

“He was going to be arrested for trespassing on my estate,” Ansel said, his voice rising.

“What’s spreading is that your men chased him down, causing the wreck - maybe even intentionally, to cover it up and make it look like an accident.”

“What?” He clenched his fists.

“There’s more,” Zara said. “The girl - Karin. It’s being reported that you captured her and held her against her will, that Dr. Woods was her fiance who came to rescue her, and -”

“That’s why I had him killed,” Ansel finished. He felt sick to his stomach.

“Mmm,” Zara said. “That’s the story. People are furious, saying you should be held to the same standards as anyone else. They’re calling for your arrest, Sir Ansel.”

“No one from law enforcement has come to investigate me,” Ansel said. “There’s no need for them to. I pulled Karin out of the hands of traffickers. I signed a deal with her to be my surrogate. It’s -”

He pulled open his desk drawer and rummaged around before he remembered. “Shit,” he said. “I’m half-asleep. I gave Karin back the contract because we may dissolve it. She left the day before yesterday.”

“You might want to get that back in,” Zara said. “In case you are investigated.”

Ansel raised his eyebrows. “I hope you’re joking.”

“No.”

Ansel fumed. He gripped his coffee cup and tapped his fingers against the desk with his free hand.

“I’m hoping we can avoid it all,” Zara said. “But I’ll need you to trust me, and do everything I say.”

Ansel took a deep breath. “What do you have in mind?”

“First things first. I need you to tell me everything. The truth about it all. I need you to spill your guts - all the secrets you’ve been hiding about these relationships in your life - with your brother, your surrogate, or anyone else connected to this.”

“What makes you think I’m hiding things?”

“Everybody does.” She smiled.

Ansel put his head in his hands. “How will it help?”

“Because there will be things we can use to counteract, muddy the water, or repaint you as the hero of Blue Moon.”

Ansel looked up. “I don’t want to be the hero. I don’t want to be the Alpha King. I hate all of this political shit. Put me in battle. I just want to be the soldier.” He moaned. “Or, God, get me back in front of my piano again.”

“Even that’ll be hard to do if they throw you up on the proverbial - probably - guillotine.”

Ansel ran his fingers through his hair. “Damn it… Okay. I’ll tell you whatever will help. I need you to get out of this and win this election. I don’t want to, but I have to, and that’s my secret.”

Zara’s eyes glowed. She leaned in. “Why do you have to win?”

Ansel took a deep breath. “My father’s wife was unable to conceive a child. He took two lovers as surrogates, which is how Edwin and I came to exist. He’s my half-brother. And when I was young, my mother was murdered by his mother.”

Zara started intently, clutching her locket.

“She poisoned my mom with wolfsbane. No one believed me, but I witnessed it happen. I relived it every night in my dreams for years until - until I met Karin, that is.” Ansel’s heart hurt. He took another deep breath.

“Edwin knows that I know. He’s tried to undermine me for as long as I can remember, but his most recent tactic has been getting his hands into the Were underworld. Whatever he can do to tie my hands.”

“Mmm.” Zara scrunched her forehead, as though she was trying to process all the details.

“I did, recently, come close to killing him,” Ansel said. He cleared his throat. “Since you said you need to know the full truth.”

Zara’s expression stayed even. “Yes. Good.”

“He attacked Karin at the ball and threatened to rape her.”

“Well done,” Zara said, nodding, as they shared a brief smile. Her face became serious again. “Tell me how this all plays into becoming the next Alpha King.”

“That part’s simple. If he wins, he’ll have me killed. He’s already set up situations in the raids I’ve worked to try and make it happen “accidentally,” and he’s threatened as much if he’s King.”

Ansel paused, staring at the floor. “There are worse things than just dying, and that’s what I’m most afraid of. Torture is a possibility. Him hurting people I love.” Ansel’s heart beat faster just thinking of it.

“If it’s me on the throne.. for a long time, I was driven by my father’s praise, but mostly by my anger. I wanted to use it as my chance to avenge my mother’s death, and have him killed.”

Zara peered at him. “And now?”

“I don’t know,” said Ansel. “I don’t think I want revenge anymore. I just want to do what’s necessary.”

Zara turned her eyes up at the ceiling, lost in thought. “Okay,” she said, looking back at Ansel. “This is all really delicate.”

“You’re telling me.”

“We’re not going to go public with everything yet. I need to get corroborating information and we’re going to lay some groundwork. In the meantime, I need to get you on camera. We’re going to make a statement to the public.”

Ansel felt a small part of him die inside. He shrank in his chair.

Speaking of torture...