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  Dear Elias,

  Niaps is colorless without you. The stars don’t twinkle, the sky doesn’t put on a display…even the ocean seems like a tired toddler ready to nap instead of the boisterous one ready to flail against the sand.

  Every time you come home, there’s a new girl at one of your parties who hangs on your every word. You’ll lift your eyes to mine, as if you are still attuned to me, and I hope in those moments that you’ll make your way to me.

  You usually don’t…unless a good-looking guy is by my side. Suddenly, you swoop in and I almost believe you’re going to be mine again.

  Alex is getting more persistent. He’s nice and cute, and there are days when the loneliness gets so unbearable, I consider letting him be my first instead of waiting for you.

  Part of me just wants to get it over with.

  Since I know you’re at the university living it up…probably with every female you bring home with you.

  I hate this, Elias.

  What happened to us?

  I don’t know how to keep on pretending that you’re not my everything.

  Mara

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Mara

  When I get back to Niaps, I go straight to the inn. The only negative to leaving Niaps so soon is my newfound friendship with this sweet couple. I didn’t expect to get attached to them, but they’ve been so kind to me. Wells drops me off, carrying my bag inside and then leaving.

  Marjorie isn’t in the lobby and I leave my bag in front of her desk and go around the corner to the dining room. Maclock isn’t hauling out his feast for afternoon tea either. I peek in the kitchen and see a leg on the floor. I gasp and run, clasping my hand over my mouth when I see both of them tied up on the floor, mouths covered with tape. Marjorie looks at me in horror and shakes her head slightly.

  I turn to look behind me and before I can, a hand is clamped over my mouth.

  “Move and they’re dead.”

  I stare at Marjorie and Maclock, determined not to do anything to cause them harm. Maclock tries to get out of his ropes and a guy in a mask steps out and hits him, causing blood to splatter across the kitchen.

  “You think you’re exempt from retaliation because you’re the princess,” the man in my ear sneers. “It’s time to pay up. Since you were so eager to blab about blackmail over national television, Daddy decided it’s time you paid Elias’s debts.”

  I nod frantically. I’d planned to do that anyway. “I’ll pay. I can pay it all.”

  “Six million shartrovs.”

  I turn in horror and he jerks me back in place. “Move and they’re dead, I said.”

  “It was only four, not six.”

  “Interest,” the guy says and his spit hits my ear.

  “I can give you four today and will work on the rest.”

  His grip tightens around me and he sounds angry when he jerks my back closer to his chest. “Four today, two tomorrow.”

  “I can’t get it by tomorrow. Next week. Give me a week.”

  His hands roam down my body and Marjorie’s tears spill over. I plead with my eyes for her to keep quiet.

  “What do I get in return for this extra time?”

  “My word.”

  He cackles and I shudder. He’s huge compared to me and the guy in the mask is even bigger. There’s no way I could do any damage…I look around the kitchen to see if there are any knives in sight. Nothing close enough.

  “Anyone who rats out her parents on national television isn’t someone whose word I trust,” he says. “Three days. I’ll give you three days and that’s it.”

  “Okay.” I nod. I’m not sure how I’ll get two million shartrovs in three days, but I have to. “Three days. Thank you.”

  “The location for today’s drop-off is in your room. Marjorie and Maclock here were so nice to keep your room available for your return. I left a little note up there and you’ll deliver right on time. If you try to disappear on me, these two…M&M…” He makes the sound of a gun firing twice. “I think you get the point.”

  “I won’t disappear. I promise.”

  “You think we trust your promises, Princess?” His grip loosens and he takes a step back, his hands still holding me in place. “I expect to see you in three hours. We’ll be watching. You tell a soul and they’re dead.”

  He lets go and I wait until they’ve walked away and I hear the door closing before I bend down and undo the ropes around Marjorie and Maclock. As soon as their hands are free, they take the tape off of their mouths and we finish getting the ropes off of their feet.

  “Are you okay?” Marjorie asks, pushing my hair back.

  “I’m fine. I’m more worried about you! Did they hurt you?”

  They both shake their heads and I help them to their feet.

  “If you’re sure you’re okay, I need to go. Do you have a place to go that’s safe until this is resolved? I’m so sorry I brought this trouble to you.”

  “We can go to my sister’s place. Why don’t you come with us? And Maclock can go with you to the drop-off today.”

  “No, I’ll be okay. I need to do it their way.”

  “Why don’t you take one of our phones, just in case they’re tracking yours.” Maclock motions for Marjorie to grab the cell phone tucked near the produce.

  “Thank you. That’s a good idea. Let me know when you make it to your sister’s, and be watchful at all times. My father has ears everywhere.”

  * * *

  I should’ve been thinking like my father all along. The first family vacation I can remember was to the Hills of Caninsula. Every place we arrived, there was a new crew of people waiting to take care of us. When I asked him how they all knew we were coming, he replied, “I send someone ahead and have eyes and ears everywhere. They know the minute we touch new soil and are always one step ahead.”

  As a little girl, I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever heard. My father was so powerful that he could snap his fingers and whatever he wished would be done. Now, it sickens me how he abuses his power. I wonder who else has gotten in his way and suffered the same demise as Neil Safrin.

  My room is trashed, another injustice to Marjorie and Maclock that I will make right. The drop-off location is written on a black card, the only item sitting on the bathroom vanity. Everything else is on the floor, including my favorite perfume bottle broken into tiny pieces, and the makeup I didn’t take with me to Yuman.

  I pick up the card and the address is familiar to me. It takes a moment for me to remember, but I flip the card over and see the same emblem as the card my mother gave me the night she told me to look for Elias. The warehouse where Elias fights. Five o’clock. I look at the clock and there’s barely time to get to the bank and then make it to the warehouse. I transfer the money from my offshore account in Sojana and am grateful for technology because forty-five minutes later, I’m able to walk out of the Niaps bank with my cash in hand. It takes two suitcases to hold all the shartrovs, and I put them in the trunk of Marjorie’s car and drive to the warehouse.

  The parking lot is empty when I arrive. I guess it’s too early in the evening for a fight, but I expected at least one car. I step out of the car and am unlocking the trunk when I feel a gun at my back.

  “Don’t turn around. Set the bags on the ground and once it’s checked, you can go.”

  I try to remember the name on the card my mother gave me for this place. It comes to me when he digs the gun deeper into my back when I don’t set the bags down as fast as he’d like.

  “Tito?” I say softly.

  The pressure on my bag lightens for a moment and then his hand is around my neck. “What did you say?”

  “Nothing,” I whisper.

  I drop the bags and he curses.

  “That’s right. Nothing. You repeat that to anyone else and I will put a bullet through your skull. Are we clear?”

  “Y-yes.” I try to nod too, but his grip is too tight.

  The bags are hauled away by a few
other men and when they’re happy that the money is there, I feel a shift with the gun and a taller man replaces the first. Tito must be making sure I don’t see his face.

  “You’re going to get in your car and drive away. Don’t turn around, don’t look in your rearview mirror—you wouldn’t see anything anyway.” His laugh is low and he pulls my thigh back to his, running his hand up the front of me. I close my eyes and pray for him to let me go and am shocked when he loosens his grip. “You have three days to pay the rest. Same location, same time.”

  I stumble forward when his hands drop and move as fast as I can to the car. I drive a few hundred feet and look in the rearview mirror. Five men are walking into the warehouse. I wonder which one is Tito.

  I drive around in circles, not sure where to go, but eventually, I go to the last place in the world I should. I park in the cove near our beach, hidden by the trees, and start walking. I know the trek well and hope that no one else knows this spot as well as I do. Elias and I used to play out here all the time. Between our two houses, it was a great spot to meet when his mother was at her darkest. Elias never said much about it, but I could tell it was bad at home when he’d intercept me on the way to his house. We’d spend the day at the cove instead, him finding excuse after excuse why we should stay right there instead of our rock.

  I stay out of sight and am almost to the back gardens of the estate when I see a horse galloping toward me. I shield my eyes and try to make out who it is, while also looking around for a place to hide. Unless I run, there’s nowhere to hide. The rider has black hair with streaks of blue throughout.

  “Ava?” I say when she hops off of her horse.

  Ava Safrin has grown since the last time I saw her. She’s taller than me now and looks pretty badass for a teenager with her blue hair and—

  “You have a tattoo?” I should be running for cover, but her tattoo is the most colorful, vivid thing I’ve seen. I want to get a closer look.

  “It’s the beginning of a sleeve. Just getting started really.”

  Her arm is an explosion of color. It’s a breathtaking array of colorful flowers and almost looks like someone captured the view of snorkeling underwater. “Your mother is okay with that? Aren’t you only sixteen now?”

  She frowns at me. “Yeah? Closer to seventeen actually.”

  I grin and shrug. “Time flies. It’s stunning, Ava. Really beautiful.”

  Her eyes narrow like she doesn’t believe me and I laugh at the absurdity of this. I’ve had my life threatened twice today and I’m having small talk with the sixteen-year-old princess of Farrow.

  “You’re really nothing like Eden, are you?”

  “I’m like her only in the ways that matter,” she says. “Integrity…loyalty—you know—things you know nothing about.”

  I throw my head back and laugh. It’s actually more of a cackle and it shocks Ava so much that she just stands there staring at me. I wipe my eyes.

  “It has been a long day and you are the best part of it. You need to rub off on Eden some, lighten her up a little.” I step closer to her and she takes a step backward, unsure of what I’m about to do. I shake my head and motion her closer. She frowns and leans in. “Don’t let anyone kill your spirit. Mine is dead and I’m afraid I’m never getting it back.”

  Before I reach the gate, I get a text from Marjorie.

  Made it to my sister’s and haven’t seen anyone following. We’ll go to our cousin’s home from here and should be fine. Don’t worry about us! Just be careful.

  I breathe a sigh of relief and hope they’re really as safe as they think. I slip through the back gate and walk in the back of the house, through the kitchen. Chelsea and Uncle Basile are by the stove. She’s on the counter and he is doing unspeakable things to her in the family kitchen. I cover my eyes and walk quickly to the hall door. I hear them break apart and hold up my hand.

  “Carry on. I’m washing my eyes with soap as soon as I leave.”

  Uncle Basile catches up to me and puts a hand on my arm.

  “Uncle, please don’t touch me. I know where your hands have been.”

  “Please wipe your mind of anything you just witnessed. I’m your dear old uncle who can do no wrong.” He chuckles when I groan. “What brings you sneaking through the kitchen? Should I call security? Are you going to murder us all over dessert?”

  “I’ve already been seen by too many people to get away with murder. I need to see Luka. Can you arrange that in a private area and not let anyone else know I’m here?”

  “I’ll do my best. Jadon and Ava are visiting, so it could be difficult.”

  “I saw Ava outside.”

  “Stealthy, you are not.”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  He grumbles under his breath. “See if you can make it to your bedroom without a guard pouncing. It will be the challenge of your lifetime, but I have faith in you.”

  I roll my eyes and he steps into the hall then leans back in. “All clear out here. Go.”

  I hurry down the hall and shut the door behind me as soon as I step inside my room. Everything still looks the same, and I go to the bathroom to grab one of the lipsticks I’ve been missing. When I come back out, Luka walks in.

  “Are you okay?” he asks.

  “I shouldn’t be here. In fact, this is the last place I should’ve come, but I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “I asked you to come home. This is exactly where you should be.” He walks over and hugs me, hard.

  I lay my head against his chest and feel some of the stress drain away. “Thank you, Luka. I’m sorry.”

  “You already apologized. You don’t need to anymore. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  I lean back and look up at him. “Elias is in more trouble than I realized.”

  He frowns. “I tried to do what you asked, but his house is tied up right now with the bank. Maybe in a few days, we can purchase it.”

  “It’s worse than that. If they find out I’m here, they’ll kill the people I’ve been staying with, maybe Elias.” Or me. I leave that out.

  “Who?”

  “The guy that owns the warehouse where Elias fights is working with Father. I paid them four million shartrovs and now they’re asking for more. I have to come up with it in three days.”

  I think about the money I’ve spent paying off the fights, already lining Tito’s pockets, and groan.

  “Let me take it from here.” Luka gets eye level with me so I can’t look away. “Please, Mara. Don’t try to be the hero more than you already have. Don’t leave the estate and I’ll send someone to Elias’s place now too. Okay? Just promise me you won’t leave.”

  I wring my hands together and step away from him. “I don’t know. I’m antsy. Go. Make sure Elias is okay. I’ll stay put for now.”

  He levels me with a look and I wave my hand for him to hurry and leave.

  Please let Elias be okay.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Mara

  Waiting gets the best of me, and when Luka hasn’t come back to update me within two hours, I go looking for him. I start with his office and when it’s empty, I shut the door behind me and stand by the window, taking in his view. It’s on the opposite side as my bedroom, and he has a full view of the back gardens and beach, while I have the side yard and some of the ocean.

  Ava goes galloping past and I grin. I like that girl. She reminds me of myself before I got the life kicked out of me. Doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks of her and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. It’ll get her in trouble…but it already seems like she’ll deal with it better than I have.

  A knock at the door makes me jump and I freeze, unsure of what to do. There isn’t time to decide; Jadon peeks his head in and when he sees me standing at the window, his eyebrows lift in surprise.

  “Didn’t expect to see you,” he says, grinning. “Hiding out?”

  “You could say that. Although it’s been the worst hiding job I’ve ever done. I’ve
been caught by almost everyone.”

  He laughs. “You shouldn’t have to hide in your own home. Things better with you and Luka?”

  “Yes, much.”

  “Good. I’m glad to hear it. Where is he anyway? He was supposed to meet me outside and isn’t there. Basile told me he saw him here last.”

  “I wish I knew.” I walk over to Luka’s desk and lean my hip against it. A paper falls to the floor and I bend down to pick it up, setting it back on Luka’s normally tidy workspace. Today it’s a disaster and I frown, looking for the paper I just replaced.

  A code is written on a slip of paper. One that only Luka and I know. Well, if anyone else knows it would only be our parents. They told us to come up with a code that only we knew when we were kids and we’ve never had to use it.

  I start shaking and clutch the desk. “Where is Eden?”

  Jadon looks at me with alarm.

  “And Ava. Get them immediately. We need to go to the safe house. I’ll find Basile.”

  “You’re sure?” Jadon asks when he reaches the door.

  I’m right behind him and I push him forward.

  “Yes, go. Quickly.”

  I go to the kitchen and find Basile with Chelsea. When he sees the look on my face, his smile drops and he takes a step toward me.

  “Sound the alarm. We need to leave. Luka left the code for me. I don’t know where he is, but he’ll meet us at the safe house if he’s able.”

  Basile nods and motions to Chelsea. “Stay with her. Go to the tunnels and do whatever Mara tells you. I’ll gather everyone else.”

  Eden and Jadon are near the door to the basement when I get there. Jadon takes Eden’s hand and places it in mine. “Stay together. I’ll find Ava, but go without us if it takes more than ten minutes. We’ll let you know when we reach ours if we’re not together.”

  “We can wait. Where is Luka?” Eden cries.

  “He’ll be okay,” I tell her. “He’ll come as soon as he can. Where is Brienne?”

  “Right here,” she says behind us.