“Can’t this weekend. I’ve got prior engagements. But I’ll get my assistant to check my schedule and figure out when we’re due for a publicity photo.” Afterall, what was the use of this political arrangement if not the publicity?
Her father was the vice president, and the rest of her family powerful players in mom’s world, andMadam Presidentwas one of the few people on this planet I gave a damn about.
Laura pouted but knew better than to push me. I controlled the direction we took in our arrangement, and right now, she was not a priority.
I returned my gaze to the other side of the courtyard to search for Eve once more, catching sight of her purple tinted hair when a blast echoed through the air, the explosion rocking the ground. The force knocked me down, and by the time I scrambled to my feet, brushing off the dirt I could already feel on my palms, security had descended.
Laura and I ended up under a pile of trained soldiers, all using their bodies to shield us from further attack. “Get the fuck off me,” I growled, pushing at the muscled back blocking me. “I need to check out the damage.”
Not to mention they were in my personal space, and I was barely resisting the urge to start punching them to get free.
“Sir, stay down. You’re being moved to Secure Location Alpha until we can assess the threat level.”
Dammit. Eve had been close to that explosion, and I had to check on her, but these men were too well trained to let me anywhere near the attack. They took their orders from Mom, and they wouldn’t back down from the normal protocol—which was to get me and other politically important students into the bunker.
Sure enough, Laura and I were yanked to our feet and dragged between the agents until we started to move on our own. Guns appeared in their hands as more security stepped around us. I tried to ignore Laura bawling and yanking on myarm as I peered through the guards toward where it looked like one of the walls had been blown out of the science building.
Right where Eve had been standing when I saw her last.
Fuck.
I ducked my head and attempted to dodge my way through our human barrier, but before I made it three steps, two burly men grasped my arms and yanked me forward. Their comms chirped with orders as they moved us into the storage room that hid the door and stairs leading down into the bunker.
There was no chance for me to do anything but bark orders, which most of them ignored, more focused on locking us away. “Just make sure she’s fucking okay?”
Benji, the security I knew the best on these grounds, nodded. “I’ll see if I can find her, sir. And as soon as we’ve established the threat level, I’ll be back to release the lock.”
My back teeth gritted together as they closed us into the ten-by-ten room. It wasn’t a huge space, but it had enough essentials to get us through a week of isolation. Not that I’d last that long, of course. Not when I was stuck in here with Laura, her two best friends, and the other three dickheads my mom insisted I be friends with for political gain. The only one I gave a single shit about was Prince Oliver Thorningale of Denmark, who I actually considered a friend.
Even so, eight adults in a small space had my skin crawling, and I’d be clawing it off within a few hours.
“You okay?” Oliver said, sidling in next to me and running a hand through his dark curls. “Need me to distract Ms. Can't-take-a-hint?”
Too tense to joke, I nodded my head, and he accepted that, wandering off to occupy Laura.
There was a very good reason I considered him a real friend.
I started to pace in front of the door like a caged beast. Thankfully, Benji was back within ten minutes, giving us the allclear. “Explosion in the science lab,” he said shortly, waving his hand to let us know we were free to leave. “Try to avoid that area if possible. They’re in the midst of a cleanup.”
“And the girl?” I asked, lowering my voice as Laura glared at me.
Benji nodded. “Yes. I found out that she’s been taken to the medical center. She has injuries but apparently nothing too severe.”
Relief almost sent me off the step and back into the bunker. “Thank you.”
Breaking away from security, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to the person I trusted most in this world. If anyone would know how to help me keep my promise, it was him because it was growing abundantly clear I couldn’t do this on my own.
He hit me back in less than a minute, and I broke away from the group, ignoring Laura’s calls as I headed across campus toward a small grove where all the shady deals went down. It wasn’t in my best interest to meet publicly with my best friend, not when our worlds were so far apart, but no one who cared about politics would be caught dead in the grove.
Choosing one of the few trees not designed to drop shit all over me, I waited in the shadows for Connor. He appeared without a sound, stealthy despite his massive frame. “Hitting the roids again,” I said, eyeing the way his biceps strained at his shirt.
Connor flashed a smirk my way and flexed his biceps. “Don’t be jealous that I’m naturally more jacked than you. Your prissy ass just needs to lift heavier.”
At home I was in the gym every morning. Here, though, I’d rather eat rusty nails than step foot in that germ-ridden cesspit that smelled like month old ass. It was on my list to figure out if I could commandeer a space for a private gym.
Once I got through everything else that was pending.
“So, not that I don’t love our clandestine meetings,” Connor said as he dropped back to rest against the tree, uncaring that his shirt was now covered in bark and moss, “but I’m assuming there’s a reason you’ve called me today. Right after that explosion.”
