Twelve

Jayden

A sudden, ice-cold splash of water crashed against my face.

I jolted upright with a roar. “What the hell?!”

My vision blurred for a moment, my body still sluggish from whatever mess I’d gotten myself into last night. The pounding in my skull made me want to rip my own head off. I wiped my face with my hand, blinking hard.

Then I saw her.

A woman stood at the foot of the bed, arms crossed and a now-empty bucket in her grip.

Fiery red hair. Sharp, unyielding eyes. A smirk that made my blood heat for all the wrong reasons.

She wasn’t flustered. Wasn’t nervous. In fact, she looked downright bored, like waking me up like this was just another Tuesday morning activity.

My entire body stiffened.

“Who the hell are you?” My voice was sharp, laced with the command that had people scrambling to answer me.

But she didn’t scramble.

She exhaled, slow and unimpressed. “Finally awake, Your Highness.”

I scowled. “I asked you a question.”

She arched a brow. “Wow. No ‘thank you’? No ‘good mornin