“It’s a one bedroom apartment. Just watch me.”

Artur glared at her. She glared back. Jonas watched, enjoying himself far too much. Then they both glared at him.

“Well, I’m sure you two will work it out.” He coughed. “I’ll just, you know, hit the trail. Call me tomorrow,” he said to Fred.

“Nuh,” she said, fumbling through the papers on Pearson’s desk. The guy had been in town less than three days and his lab looked like a tsunami had hit it. How he could find anything, much less research his little problem, was beyond her. “This is hopeless. My dumb idea of the year. I’d better see to the fish.” She thought of something and looked up at Artur, who was still looking at her with narrowed eyes. “You any good with fish? I mean, do they listen to you?”

“Of course.”

She sighed. “Of course.”

“Of course,” Jonas called over his shoulder as he left.

“Well, suit up. Or whatever you do.”

“Summon an underling to tend to your chore,” he said, waving her responsibilities away with a hand the size of a baseball glove. “Greater problems require your attention.”

“Around here, I’m the underling,” she snapped. “Some of us work for a living, Prince Artur.”

He blinked, his eyes like banked coals in the poor light of the lab. Creepy eyes. But kind of interesting. Hard to look away from, really. “I can assure you, setting out from the Black Sea to find you was considerable work.”

“Good for you. Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“More subjects for you to meet.”

Chapter Fourteen

“Those tiny creatures are not my subjects,” the prince observed, staring down into Main One. They were at the top level of the aquarium, the observation deck, looking down into the main tank. The prince, on the way up, pronounced the NEA “acceptable,” deciding it was “a miniature kingdom.” She had bitten back an acid remark; maybe he’d decide to take the place over and give her a new problem to worry about.

“But they’ll listen to you, right?”

“Some will. The predators will.”

“And the others?”

He smiled at her with his very sharp teeth. “The others will see me as the predator, and flee.”

Briefly, she imagined herself explaining the mass carnage to Dr. Barb. “Ohhh… kay. New plan. How about you stay here, then? I’ll do this myself.”

He eyed the smelt bucket with distaste. “These menial tasks are beneath you.”

She cursed herself for not having Jonas take Artur with him when he left. Jonas could have checked him into the Marriott, gotten the guy all settled, fluffed his pillows, told him all about the good bars, whatever. Now she was stuck with him. “Why?”

“Because—” He groped. Not literally, thank God. “Because you are above such things.”

She prayed the Marriott still had rooms at this hour. “Why?”

“Because you should be tended to and coddled and pleasured and teased.”

She gaped at him. He was staring down at her, his big hands in his pockets, his eyes thoughtful and almost—dreamy? “Why?”