Crown of Ghosts (Lost Kings MC 19)

“What do you want to watch next?” Lilly asks.

“No more cartoons, please,” Sparky moans. “Unless it’s Snow White. She’s hot.”

Swan squeezes her eyes shut for a second. “Why am I not surprised?”

“What? Snow White’s a classic.”

“Okay. Hear me out,” Swan says with a dramatic sweep of her hands. “Snow White would be the ultimate club girl.”

“What?” Lilly turns toward Swan. “Why?”

“Think about it. She shows up to cook and clean for a bunch of scruffy ingrates.”

“Oh my God.” Trinity throws herself against the couch, laughing uncontrollably. “Too true.”

“I feel attacked,” Sparky says, throwing a cheese puff in his mouth and munching on it loudly.

“Honestly, and I know you don’t want to hear this, Trinity.” Lilly lifts her chin. “Belle’s worse.”

Trinity gasps. “Sacrilege.”

“To be fair, all the men in Belle’s life are shitty,” Sparky says. “Like, the whole town makes fun of her because she likes to read. Gaston’s a stalkerish douche, the Beast was cursed because he acted like an asshole to some lady, and her dad’s a pathetic, needy wimp.” Sparky jumps up, clearly agitated. “The dude lets a literal beast take his daughter as a hostage so he can go free.” He throws his arms in the air, scattering cheese puffs everywhere. “Who does that?”

“Right,” Lilly agrees. “Dad had one job—protect his kid—and he failed.”

“He didn’t just fail,” Sparky argues. “He left her there knowing she’d end up the sex slave of a big ol’ beast man.”

“Yes,” Trinity mutters, “that’s the appeal.”

I snort-laugh into my coffee mug and Trinity grins at me.

“You’re all ruining my childhood,” Heidi says. “And now I can’t let my daughter watch any of these movies.”

“Well,” Trinity says, “the Beast has good qualities all along. He might be scary on the outside, but he learns to make sacrifices and step out of his comfort zone in order to make Belle happy.”

“Aww,” Heidi sighs. “That’s true.”

“All right, I’ll give you that one,” Lilly says. “But her dad still sucks.”

“Agreed.”

“Let’s do Cinderella next,” Swan says.

“I would totally do Cinderella.” Sparky cackles into his bag of cheese puffs. “She’s hot.”

“Nope. She bugs me,” Heidi says. “Because how is it true love when her prince needs her to try on a damn shoe to recognize her? I was so stressed out that someone else in the village would have the same shoe size before he got to her. A very suspect premise,” she finishes in a teasingly haughty tone.

“Mommy!” Alexa squeals.

“What?” She pulls a wide-eyed silly face at her daughter. “It’s true.”

“That bitch could sew, clean, cook, charm all the critters, and run an entire household,” Swan says. “She should’ve waited for a guy who at least recognized her in her street clothes.”

“But she’s basically a slave and abused by her family,” I blurt. I hadn’t planned to join in the conversation, but here I am, so I guess I’ll run with it. “They make her live in the freezing cold attic with the mice. The prince offers her a way to escape.”

Lilly nods quickly. “Yup. He’s a nice dude, he’s rich, a little dumb, but easy on the eyes. Back then, for a girl like Cinderella, he’s a fantastic catch. But this is why women need to have their own income and way to make a living. So they don’t have to settle.”

I raise my hand and throw Lilly an air high-five. “Preach.”

“No more.” Heidi jumps up, wiping crumbs off her pants. “Lilly, you get to pick the next movie.”

She raises her hands high in the air. “Anastasia. Every time.”

“Ah, good one.” Swan grins and says a few words in Russian—I think—to Lilly who nods.

Our attention’s drawn to loud voices outside. The front door opens. Z, Murphy, and Teller stomp inside.

“Daddy!” Chance cries, jumping up and running over to Z.

I feel like an intruder and have to look away from the scene of happy toddlers excitedly greeting their loving fathers.

“They’re all so nauseatingly adorable, right?” Swan whispers to me.

I flash a tight smile.

Wrath and Grayson stomp into the clubhouse next. I resist the urge to run to Gray. Wrath scoops Trinity up and steals her seat, setting her in his lap. “What’re you up to?” he asks in between kisses.

“I had to defend Beauty and the Beast to these heathens.” She points at Lilly who sticks her tongue out at her.

“We all decided Snow White was the most fuckable of all fairy-tale princesses,” Sparky announces to everyone.

Teller scowls. “Super. Thanks for having that discussion around my niece, jackass.”

“That’s not…quite how the discussion went,” Heidi says, casting a quick what-the-fuck frown at Sparky.

Grayson side-eyes his brothers as he approaches me. A relieved smile curves his lips. “Hey, buttercup. I’m glad you’re down here today.”

I stand and wrap my arms around his neck. “I missed you,” I whisper.

He glances around. “Sounds like it was a good time.” He peers over my shoulder at Sparky. “If not a weird discussion.”