“No need for a science lesson, Professor!” Victoria snaps.
“Wren, boost Victoria up and we’ll reach down and pull her out,” Henry says.
Brooke nods in agreement, and I wonder where her democratic ideals are now.
“The princess first? You sure we shouldn’t vote on it?” I deadpan.
“Wren.” Brooke’s voice is exasperated.
“Okay, okay! I’m kidding.”
“No you’re not,” Victoria mutters.
I lace my fingers to boost her up before realizing that the handcuffs are going to make this impossible. I reach into my pocket to get the key, but it’s not there. “Hang on.” I search my other pocket, but it’s also empty. My stomach drops. “Uh-oh.”
“Where’s the key?”
I comb through each pocket again, and then again. It’s not here. I finally meet Victoria’s hard glare, alarm blaring in my chest. “I lost it.”
“That’s not funny.”
“What makes you think I’m joking?”
“Theo! Your bloodywifelost the key to the handcuffs!” Victoria yells.
“Did it fall out of your pocket when you fell?” Theo asks.
Victoria and I drop to our knees and frantically search the ground. I run my hands over stone and dirt until my palms are raw.
“Where is it?” she snaps.
“Give me a minute!” I close my eyes and try to recall the last time I definitely had the key. I remember putting it into my pocket with the handcuffs and running after Victoria. When I found her, I gave her some passion fruit, also from my pocket.
Did I feel it then?
I don’t know. I realize with a sinking feeling that it could have fallen out just about anywhere.
“I don’t think it’s down here,” I call back, after several tense minutes of guilty silence from me and pointed huffs and puffs from Victoria.
“Do you have an idea where it might be?” Theo asks in a strained voice.
“I might have dropped it where Victoria and I were jumping when the plane flew by.”
I hear whispers. They’re probably all conferring about what an idiot I am. One by one, their faces disappear, leaving Victoria and me alone and giving her time to probably kill me.
“Should we look again?” I ask.
“All right,” she says flatly.
We resume our search, and while it’s obvious she wants to pretend I don’t exist, it’s nearly impossible since we’re chained together. Every time I shift to the left, she yanks me hard to the right.
After a long, uncomfortable stretch of silence, she slumps against the wall of the lava tube and lets her head rest on her knees. I lean against the hardened lava and take slow, steadying breaths.Don’t panic, don’t panic.Comet settles next to me, nuzzling his head under my legs.
“I really am sorry I accused you of selling our marriage certificate to the tabloids,” I say quietly. It feels like the others have been gone for an eternity.
She doesn’t respond.
“Does Henry really want to be the king, or is it just an act?”
