I hadn’t reached my room before my security goons tracked me down. Fuck. I hadn’t put enough kilometers between us as fast as I thought. I suppressed a growl as they caught up to me.

“Your Highness,” the first guard called. His voice was firm, but flat. He would be out of line if he told me how displeased he was. I could fire him for that. But it was there in his voice. He didn’t have to say it.

I turned around in the hall. “Yes?” I wondered if Julianna knew they had found me quickly. It was times like these I wondered if I had a tracking device in my neck.

It was absurd, but it was hard not to feel like I had been caged at times. My royal blood line was more of a prison than a privilege.

He stared at me. It was as if there was an invisible pair of handcuffs hanging in the air between us. If I reached my arms forward, the officer would shackle my wrists. He might as well.

“Sir, we were concerned you had been compromised. We didn’t have your location.”

I shoved my hands in the pockets of my fitted dress pants. I always traveled in a suit. Anything less would be un-royal.

“Compromised?” I huffed. “Do you think that’s actually possible?” I was six-two and played rugby in college. I wasn’t sure who they thought could stuff me in the back of an unmarked van. Not to mention, there was a secret I was hiding. The Marquis clan didn’t need protection. There wasn’t a man in this country who could attack us without risking his life.

I knew my fangs and claws would prevail, but we had to keep up the pretense that we were human. It was an exhausting exercise.

“I would have been fine,” I argued.

He nodded, folding his hands against his belt buckle. “Your safety is our priority. Nothing else matters to this detail. It is our job. Our duty.”

“I understand.”

I didn’t know this guard, or any of the others. They rotated through the royal family, serving each member for a week or maybe only a day before being positioned at another station. My sister Josephine had a detail of her own, but she was an exception to the rule. I was fine with not being personally acquainted with them. It made it easier when I did things like I did today.

“Is there anything you need, sir?” He stood aside as two more officers walked up next to him. I had to assume they were here to stand outside my door.

“No,” I replied. “Unless you’re interested in turn down service.”

“Sir?”

“It was a joke.” I shook my head, rotating toward my room. “I’ll be in here until the breakfast with the mayor tomorrow.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

It was like listening to a robot speak. They were all the same. Trained in the same royal guard. I exhaled, twisting the door knob in my hand.

I locked the door behind me. I searched the room for a mini-bar. I opened the drawers and cabinets, but came up empty. I couldn’t find a single airplane bottle. What in the hell? Was the best hotel in Sangreaux dry?

I whipped the door open. I remembered speeding past a bar when I drove into town. There was a sign for martinis and pints. It was a few blocks from here, but the walk would be nice.

“Sir?” An officer stepped in front of me.

“I’m going out,” I explained. “We’re going out, I guess,” I corrected. Wherever I went, they would be on my tail.

“Sir, I believe we are in a code purple situation,” he reported.

“What is a code purple?” I glared at him.

“The premises have been sealed, sir.”

“That doesn’t matter to me. Did you hear what I said?” I looked at him. “I’m going downstairs to the lobby, out the front doors, and around the corner to that local bar. I’m headed out for a drink. Why don’t you join me?” I offered.

He was as serious as the security captain. “I’m not allowed to drink alcohol, sir.”

“Good to know. I guess that should make me feel safer,” I joked. “You can follow me if you like, but that’s the destination.”

The second guard moved from his post, walking over to intervene. “Sir, under a code purple, that’s not possible. Code purple requires the entire premises to be on lock down.”

I felt the anger pulse in my fingertips. I balled my hands into fists. I’d never considered knocking out my officers until now. I could see it now. They would fall like dominoes with one punch. My bear was ready to surface. He wanted to break through my skin and ramble down the hall. But how would I explain an entire unconscious squadron of royal security?

I had to reign it in, before my bear was out of control. Once again, I had to deny him the satisfaction of giving into his nature.

“I don’t give a shit if it’s a code rainbow,” I hissed. “I’m going out for a drink.”

“That’s not going to be possible.”

My chest rumbled.

Both men took a step back. Their eyes widened. Fuck. They had awakened the beast.

I cleared my throat, trying to cover up my impulse. I wanted my freedom back, but that wasn’t going to happen.

“Sir, there’s a bar downstairs. That will have to suffice until the code purple has been lifted.”

I raised an eyebrow. “In this hotel? The one without a mini-bar?”

They nodded. “It’s right across from the lobby. We will notify you as soon as the code purple is over.”

It seemed my options were limited.

“Then I’ll be in the lobby,” I muttered. “I expect you to brief me as soon as you have an update.”

“Of course, sir.”

I didn’t know who ordered the code purple, but whoever it was going to have hell to pay for locking me inside this hotel.