“Well, get him in here, immediately.” When Pickering doesn’t move, I scream, “Now!”
He startles, then heads out of my office and down the hall.
Imbecile.
Calming my voice, I take a few deep breaths and pick up my phone. I clear my throat and say, “Magnus, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Care to explain to me why the hell the security detail from Torskethorpe is calling me on a conference call with the security detail from Marsdale, asking what my involvement has been with the disappearance of Keller Fitzwilliam and the future queen of Torskethorpe?”
Shit.
I clear my throat again, nerves etching up my spine. “The, uh . . . the princess is missing?” I ask. “That’s news to me.”
“It shouldn’t be fucking news to you,” Magnus bellows. “You should know every goddamn thing going on in that palace. Especially after I helped you plant a contact in there. The princess should not be missing. She should be out on some ridiculous date with that Sotherby kid. That’s what we planned. So where the hell is she?”
My palms go sweaty, and for a second, I consider telling him we lost Keller, that he escaped and we’re now on the hunt, but if Magnus finds out that we lost Keller, he will never let us live another day. Not when he’s being questioned by other countries.
And why is he being questioned?
Because of Keller.
He has communication with the palace. Don’t know how, don’t know how much, but the longer he’s out there, connecting the dots, the more our lives are on the line.
“I’ve heard there’s been negative press surrounding the princess and her willingness to jump to another man so quickly,” I say, making this all up. “I’m sure this is a ploy for the palace, hiding her from the public eye.”
“That doesn’t explain the fact that two countries are coming to me, asking about my involvement.”
He’s right, that gives about zero explanation.
“Well, my source did say that they’ve asked all of the ships across the shores and checked on Fitzwilliam’s passport. No one has seen any sign of him, so they’re starting to ask around, looking for him. My guess is they’re checking off their boxes, trying to scare you.”
“I’m not scared. I’m pissed. This was supposed to be easy. Torskethorpe is supposed to be mine. You didn’t believe Princess Lilija would take the throne without Fitzwilliam, that she’d slink back to her own country. Blackmailing the lord and lady of the Sotherbys was the new plan, yet that has seemed to fail as well. So what now? You want your payday, don’t you?”
“I do,” I say, pinching my brow. “It’s just become more complicated than I expected.”
“Am I going to have to step in and take charge? Because if it was up to me, we’d kill Theo, and with the princess missing, we’d therefore claim the country, just like we talked about. You’re relieved of your duties, and I get exactly what I want.”
“We can’t kill Theo,” I say, my voice growing terse.
“I thought you didn’t have an attachment to him?” Magnus asks.
“I don’t,” I say quickly. “But if we kill him, Lilly will come back for sure. She has devoted herself to him. We need to brainwash her into thinking she can’t handle this, that this isn’t the life that she wants. Removing Fitzwilliam should have done that.” Also, it was fucking working until Keller got away, dammit.
“Well, it didn’t work, and now I have two countries breathing down my neck. You realize the power Marsdale has? We can take down Torskethorpe, but not Marsdale, and certainly not both. So you need to figure out what the fuck is happening, find a solution, and get me that country, or else it’s your head that’s on the chopping block.”
I go to reply, but the line goes dead.
“Fuck,” I yell as I hang up the phone, just in time for my brother to walk into my office casually.
“Troubling news?” he asks, one hand in his pocket.
“We need to find Fitzwilliam. Now. He has Lilly. We need them both dead.”
He scratches his chin. “I might have a few ideas as to where they might be.”
“If you say Harrogate, I’m going to lose my shit. They wouldn’t be there, that would be the last place they’d hide.”
He shakes his head. “They’re not there.” He sticks his hand back in his pocket. “Marsdale . . . or the island.”
