My Ruthless Prince Read Online Free PDF

the dungeon, but the Order knew that Drake had saved Falkirk's life, in turn.
    As the second most powerful of all the Prometheans, James Falkirk had many enemies; but he was a scholar, not a warrior, and in the increasing frailty of his years, he had to rely on younger men for his security.
    That was where Drake came in.
    After Falkirk had removed the broken Order agent from the dungeon, Drake had become so gratefully devoted to him that, with his warrior skills, he had ended up saving Falkirk's neck on numerous occasions.
    An odd bond seemed to have formed between them over the past year or so that all of this had been going on.
    Frankly, Emily was amazed at how much influence Drake now seemed to have over the old schemer. Falkirk certainly appeared to trust him. Maybe they really were that close.
    Or maybe Drake had played a few mind games of his own on his supposed master.
    She could not wait until they were alone so she could ask him about that, and a great deal more.
    Going deeper into the castle, she saw that while the Guards' Hall had been left very much in its rugged medieval state, the main floor and the owners' residential quarters had been luxuriously refurbished in the flowery rococo style of the previous century.
    They passed grand saloons full of gilding and candy-colored pastels, claw-footed furniture with velvet upholstery, ornate chandeliers, and gleaming white chimneypieces. But the opulence of the State Rooms only sharpened her sense of something evil dwelling within.
    At the end of the central hallway, Drake led her up a grand staircase. They bypassed the second and third floors, but on the fourth, they left the stairs and proceeded down a simple hallway where the decor once more abandoned Baroque profusion in favor of the older, plainer style: strong, rustic, German simplicity.
    Drake led her down the corridor, then stopped before one of the rounded wooden doors, of which there were many, placed at regular intervals. She watched his face uncertainly, but he avoided her gaze as he took a key out of his black waistcoat pocket.
    He unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a simple, square box of a chamber. He nodded to her to go in ahead of him.
    Emily stepped into his spartan quarters, looking all around her. The chamber had a low ceiling with a few exposed, heavy, dark beams and creamy walls of wavy plaster.
    To the right of the door was a small fireplace. To the left, a washstand with an old, rust-tainted mirror above it. There were no windows in the chamber, but a small balcony opened off the opposite wall. Drake had left the little balcony doors wide open to admit the light and the fresh mountain air, and the Alpine view beyond was spectacular. Emily was drawn toward it, but then she stopped, noticing his crisply made bed in the corner.
    One bed.
    With a slight gulp, she turned and looked at him.
    He leaned against the open door, watching her in his room with a hooded gaze, his arms folded across his chest.
    "You can put your things over there." He nodded toward the wall, where his extra coat and a few shirts hung on clothing pegs.
    She nodded, acutely aware of his silent reproach as she walked across the small faded oval of a braided cottage rug and went to lean her bag against the wall.
    "Well, then. Make yourself at home," he concluded with a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "You heard James. Stay in this room and keep out of trouble, if that's possible for you. I've got to get back to my post."
    She turned to him as she took off her cloak. "You're leaving already?"
    "I'm not on holiday, Miss Harper."
    "Miss Harper?" She stared at him in irked bewilderment as she draped her cloak over her arm. "What's wrong with you?"
    His only response was an icy glare.
    She realized he was as angry at her for coming as she was at him for refusing to escape.
    A stalemate.
    She threw her cloak angrily on his bed. "Well, why don't you get it off your chest?" she flung out.
    He shut the door, unable to resist, it