His Lost Queen by Annie Whipple

BELLE

After leaving Loretta’s boutique, I wandered the streets a bit more, not caring how ridiculous I must have looked as I lugged my suitcase behind me, turning heads everywhere I went.

I was beyond the point of exhaustion now and was barely able to think.

I wanted nothing more than to take a shower, put on some fresh clothes, and curl up in bed, sleeping until I couldn’t possibly sleep any longer.

Unfortunately though, that wasn’t a possibility at the moment.

I had been hoping to get a hotel room for the night, assuming a town that was only able to thrive due to the money of rich tourists would have some options for places to stay.

You can imagine my surprise when none of the hotels I passed by had any vacancies. I had no idea why some random small town in Maine was so popular to visit in the middle of March, but I guessed it was the place to be.

So, once again, I found myself on a bench on the side of the road, lying down with my backpack underneath my head, trying to breathe through all the stress and pain I was currently battling.

I had no money, no job, and no place to stay, and the pounding in my head only seemed to be getting

worse.

Yeah, my life sucked.

And what was worse, I missed Grayson. Even though thousands of miles separated us, I still felt this cosmic connection to him, like there was an invisible string tying us together.

I couldn’t get that stu pid bu tthead, as shole, jerk face out of my mind.

I put my hand over the mark on my neck, groaning and squeezing my eyes shut when it flared with white-hot pain. Everything was a mess.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice when a car rolled to a stop in front of Chapter 8 of 59: Chapter 8

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me.

“Hey!”

I jumped, my head snapping up. I winced when a fresh wave of dizziness hit me.

I met the eyes of a guy who seemed to be about my age. He was driving a red jeep and leaning out of the open window, smirking down at me. A girl was sitting next to him in the passenger’s seat, glaring at him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” the boy continued. “Just couldn’t help but notice how lonely you looked sitting on that bus bench all by yourself. Had to stop and see if you wanted some company.”

The girl next to him scoffed and rolled her eyes, obviously finding his poor attempt at flirting as pathetic as I had.

He ignored her and continued to watch me, his charming smile growing wider with every passing second. He was very handsome, and the expression on his face told me he knew it.

He had short, curly brown hair and honey-brown skin. His jawline was sharp, and his facial features were symmetrical and undeniably pleasing to look at.

Then there were his eyes, a warm hazel color with flecks of gold and green that reminded me of the

forest.

He looked like the type of person who could become successful based on their looks alone rather

than their talents or skills.

The girl next to him looked extremely similar, making me wonder if they were somehow related. She had the same hair. Only hers was twisted into long braids that cascaded down her shoulders.

She had the same eyes and the same angular facial features.

The only difference I could find between the two-besides their gender, of course-was that she had a small button nose, while the boy had a long, pointed one. Both were gorgeous, though, that was for sure.

I sat up, trying to fix my appearance a bit. Before I could say anything, however, the girl groaned. “Liam, come on! If we’re late for dinner again, Dad is going to kill us!” she said under her breath.

So they were related. I me ntally congratulated myself on my perceptiveness.

Without looking back at her, Liam, the boy, swatted his hand behind him dismissively. His gaze focused back on me, running up and down my body in one long, appreciative take.

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I couldn’t help but shrink back, immediately wishing I were anywhere else.

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“You’re not leaving town so soon, are you?” Liam asked, motioning to the bus stop I was sitting at. “You just got here.”

My guard immediately went up. How did he know I had just gotten here? Had he been watching me?

The girl smacked her brother hard on the back of the head.

“Ow!” Liam shouted, finally looking at her. “What the hell was that for?”

“You sound like a stalker,” she told him, exasperated.

She looked at me, offering a kind but tight smile. “Word travels fast around here. We all heard about the pretty brunette, walking around town, trying to find a job.”

I felt my face heat up. The entire town had been watching me fail at getting a job all day?

“You’re not leaving, though, right?” Liam asked. He was starting to sound a little desperate. He was obviously interested in me.

I would have been flattered if I hadn’t just recently sworn off men for the rest of my life.

“No. Not yet, anyway. Maybe tomorrow, though,” I muttered. I would have to move on if I couldn’t find a job here, which was starting to look like a real possibility.

So much for believing I deserved to settle down in a place as nice as this, right?

Liam’s brows furrowed, obviously not liking my answer. He leaned forward, ready to speak, but his sister cut him off before he could.

“That’s too bad,” she said, aggressively pushing Liam’s back against his seat so she could see me better. Liam glared at her. “We have to go now. It was nice talking to you. Drive the car, Liam.”

He made no move to do as he was told. “Let me know if you change your mind about the whole leaving town thing. I could show you around,” Liam told me, his grin growing again.

I nodded awkwardly, pursing my lips. “Uh, thanks.”

“Great, now let’s go,” the girl snapped.

Liam rolled his eyes. “Hold on a sec, would ya? I haven’t even given her my number yet.”

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The girl looked like she was about to chop his head off, her perfect skin beginning to show signs of redness underneath.

“Uh, there’s really no need,” I intervened. “I don’t have a phone, so giving me your number would be kind of useless.”

Liam’s brows rose. “No phone?” he asked. “Isn’t that kind of dangerous? What if some stranger tries something on you, and you need to call for help?”

I shrugged. The thought had occurred to me on more than one occasion, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. No money meant no way to buy a phone.

“I guess I should probably avoid making small talk with strangers then, huh?” I proposed, raising my brows at him in a challenge,

“You know, that’s a great idea,” Liam’s sister said. “We’ll leave you alone and be on our way. No more strangers in your path.”

Liam leaned forward, completely ignoring her. “You know…that whole stranger thing can be taken care of real quick, beautiful.”

The girl faked a gag, whispering, “Puh-lease,” under her breath.

“Uh…,” I managed to say, not sure how to respond. Not many guys had hit on me before. I didn’t know what the proper protocol was. Was there a right way to turn someone down?

“I’m Liam Blackwood, and this is my twin sister Laila,” he continued before I could respond.

“Once you tell me your name, we won’t be strangers anymore, now will we? Then we can talk for as long as we want without having to worry.”

“No, we cannot!” his twin, Laila, yelled. “I refuse to let this trainwreck go on any longer! She’s obviously not interested in you, dude, so, please, move on.

“We have places to be and a very angry dad to deal with. And guess what? You better believe I’m blaming this whole fiasco on you.

“You’re gonna have to listen to Dad give you a lecture on the importance of time management for the whole meal, and you’re not gonna get any sympathy from me because this one is all on you, bud.

“We would have been on time if you hadn’t spent forever looking at yourself in the mirror before we left.

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“And then you prove, yet again, that you are only capable of thinking with your penis and have to stop to talk to the pretty new girl in town even though you know we weren’t even supposed to be talking to her in the first place.

“So I suggest you get your as s in gear and drive the f ucking car before I push you out onto the street and leave without you!”

Laila’s breathing was hard, and her cheeks were tinged with red. Liam, however, looked bored with

her rant.

It was becoming clear that this sort of bickering was a regular occurrence between the two of them.

He stared at her for a few seconds. “You done?” he asked.

Laila’s jaw clenched, her entire form stiff with anger.

Liam looked back at me and smiled casually. “You know, I think there are some people out there who could really take advantage of therapy. Or anger management.”

He glared back at Laila, who gave him a look of disbelief, throwing her arms up in defeat.

She leaned back in her seat. “I give up. Do whatever you want.”

Liam turned to me again. “I’m not gonna lie to you, new girl. I don’t feel great about leaving you out here on your own with no way to call for help if you need it.”

I looked around us. There weren’t many people on the streets now that it was getting dark, but those who were still out and about seemed like the least threatening people in the world.

It was mostly just families and happy-looking couples. I raised a brow. “Is your town known for its crime or something? I’m not really getting that vibe.”

“You’d be surprised, actually,” he said. I couldn’t help but notice the way a muscle jumped in his jaw. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

I immediately nodded, confused as to why so many people seemed to care what was going on with me. Where I came from, and I think in most cases, people minded their own business. “Yeah, I’m good.”

He eyed my suitcase and dirty clothes. “All right, well, on the off-chance that your plans fall through, there’s a bed and breakfast around the corner that usually has vacancies.

“Tell them Liam Blackwood sent you, and they should be able to set you up for the night.”

My chest filled with hope at his words. “Really?” Then, realizing I had basically just given myself up as a liar with no place to stay, I quickly continued. “I mean, uh, thanks, but I’m sure that won’t be necessary.”

Liam reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of wrapper, writing something down on it with a pen he had in his car. He handed it to me.

“There should also be a phone there that you could use. Call me if you run into any trouble.”

I looked down at the phone number in my hands. I was starting to have déjà vu, reminded of the interaction I had had with Loretta this morning.

I tried giving Liam a smile, stashing the number in my pocket. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Liam didn’t look so convinced. In fact, he looked more concerned than he had before. After a few more seconds, however, his gaze moved from me to the watch on his wrist.

“Hmm, you know what?” he said, pressing his tongue into the inside of his cheek. “I think we’re going to be late for dinner. Laila, why didn’t you say anything?”

He shook his head, looking back at me with a feigned, exasperated expression. “I have to do everything around here. It was nice meeting ya, new girl.” He put the car into drive.

“Uh, yeah, you too,” I replied.

As they drove away, I watched as Laila’s silhouette through the back window of his car continuously smacked Liam on the head with more aggression than I would have expected from someone so small.

I had to hold back a laugh. I could still hear them yelling at each other as their car drove out of view.