Page 22 of Stolen Princess

“It’s what you swim in, darlin’.”

“No, but I’m sure I can figure that out when we get there.” She grabs the tray with my empty dishes and goes downstairs, and I grab my knapsack and follow. She cleans everything up without waiting for me to help. Once that’s done, she glances around the kitchen one last time, releases a shaky breath, then exits through the door. That’s it. No tears or hysteria. No glance back. No second thoughts.

It’s a warm day in Messalina, the sun bright and high overhead with little to no cloud coverage. It’s not exactly the type of day I want to walk any great distance in, and we’re going to have to figure out a plan for all of this.

Christ, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done, and that’s seriously saying something.

She treks across the lawn in the opposite direction from where I came in.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“It’s the entrance my mother uses,” she replies. “It’s the only part that doesn’t have an alarm, just the chime to alert me she’s here.

“That’s how you found me? I triggered an alarm?”

Her head swivels over her shoulder, and her eyes briefly meet mine. “Yes. It’s also why my mother came early.”

So she gets the alerts as well. This is quite the operation her mother has going.

We reach the hedge line, and for the life of me, I can’t see how we’ll get through this. It’s thick and as high as her tower.

She reaches her hand into it, pushing past leaves and branches. She dips her head and peers in, then seems to be punching in a code until a mechanical lock disengages.

“If you know the code to escape, why haven’t you until now?”

She doesn’t answer me as she opens the door that’s camouflaged with leaves and branches. It swings toward us, and she waves a hand for me to enter first. It occurs to me that she could slam the gate behind me, and I’d have nothing. No necklace and no way back in.

“Nah, ladies first.”

She shrugs as if she doesn’t care either way and steps through. The gate closes and locks behind us, and we’re immersed in the forest. A gasp escapes her, and she walks over to a tree, practically collapses against it, and bursts into tears.

There it is. I was waiting for something.

I don’t bother asking if she’s all right. She’s clearly not. Instead, I stand back as she sobs and wails. I fidget, edgy and itchy. I don’t know this girl from anything, but I hate seeing her cry like this. It’s fucking me all up, and I don’t like it.

“Listen, if you’re this upset, maybe you should⁠—”

“If you tell me to go back one more time, I’m going to stab you and leave you here for dead,” she manages through her tears. “I need a moment. How about you fuck off during that?”

Well then. A smile cracks across my face. One that isn’t placed there often at the hands of others. She continues to surprise me.

I walk off, leaving her here to her grief. If she needs space, she’s got it. I’m not her friend and definitely not her lover. Comforting her isn’t on my agenda.

I lean against a tree several down, enjoying the shade as I try to figure out where the fuck we are on my phone’s GPS. It appears we’re less than five kilometers from a road that will take us into a village several more kilometers away.

If this is how we’re starting, it’s going to be a very long day, and we won’t reach it until this evening.

Ten minutes later, footsteps crunching through the grass and dead leaves alert me that she’s finally over her meltdown. I don’t say anything, and I don’t look at her. I push away from the tree and start walking. I’m the one running this show. Her thinking otherwise is the illusion I’m allowing her to have.

The gun and knife are in her bag. They’re useless.

But her mind isn’t, and I need more information on her mother.

Eventually, we clear the forest and find the road, which is nothing more than a two-lane roadway lined with trees on either side. She stands here for a minute, shaking and silently crying. The road is empty, and I take a left, leading us south.

She sniffles and wipes her nose and face. “Where are we headed?”

“To a village down this way. We’ll be able to find a place to stay for the night and hopefully rent a car for your grand excursion and beach jaunt.”