Four MESS agents immediately form a protective barrier around me and remove the rest of my restraints.
“Henri?” I ask. “Is he OK?”
“He’s unconscious but there’s a pulse.” One of the agents says with a somber expression. “We’re evacuating him now.”
Relief washes over me, followed closely by a surge of worry. I close my eyes and implore heaven that none of Henri’s injuries are life-threatening and that he’ll pull through this nightmare.
Outside, the sound of helicopter blades cutting through the air grows louder, announcing Kurt’s arranged departure. Arranged but not imminent. We don’t trust him not to call for backup and try to attack us again in the air like he did with Theo.
The chopper touches down, turning the lawn into a makeshift helipad. The three lifeless bodies of Kurt’s mercenaries are covered, carried out, and placed in the helicopter. Then Kurt, the pilot, and his remaining loyalists—many nursing their wounds—are ushered out to an emptygarage, where they’re thoroughly disarmed, bound, and locked up with no comms. When I’m safely in the Evorian airspace, only then will Elias’s agents let them go.
Will Kurt ever pay for his crimes?
Averting my eyes from the window, I look around. The room bears the silent marks of the struggle—scattered debris, a broken door, smashed windows, smudges of blood…Audrey!
“Quick!” I urge the remaining agents in the room. “We need to find Audrey, Odile, and Quentin. They?—”
“We already found them, Your Highness,” one of them replies. “The housekeepers are still stunned but otherwise fine. Your bodyguard is badly battered. She needs medical attention without delay. That said, she’s in a better shape than Monsieur de Bellay.”
My thoughts return to Henri.
Elias reenters the room, and for the first time tonight, his posture relaxed.
And then it hits me how close I came to death.To hell with protocol!I hug him.
“The key is outside,” I whisper. “I’ll take you to the spot.”
As we step outside, the cool night air envelops me, sending a shiver down my spine. Noticing my discomfort, Elias drapes his jacket over my shoulders. His men turn on their powerful flashlights. Beams of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the gravel paths and vegetation around the château, sweeping over the walls and the ground. We begin to circle the main building.
I peer ahead, annoyed at how different things look at night. But when the silhouette of a tall tree appears in the distance, I know it’s the one. Halting, I take in its rugged trunk and sprawling roots, and then lift my eyes to the façade across the path. All flashlight beams converge on the wall.
“There!” I exclaim, pointing out the open window. “I flung it out that window.”
All lights are on the base of the tree now.
Elias explains the plan. “We’ll start from the ground, and then move on to the branches.”
Everybody gets on their hands and knees. We’ve barely begun to search when I see it. Nestled between the massive trunk and its roots and glinting in the light against the dark soil lies the key from the weather vane.
We did it, Henri!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
FOUR WEEKS LATER
Slowly, I spin around then stop to face Henri and strike a coquettish pose.
He eyes me up and down from his bed. “I love that sundress. No, scratch that! I adore it.”
“I knew you’d like it.” I smile coyly. “Today is June 21 and summer is officially here.”
“Happy first day of summer!”
“Now you know why I decided to bare my shoulders, even if it’s still springlike outside.”
“Who needs thermometers, when we have calendars to tell us what to wear, right?” His eyes twinkle with amusement. “By the way, I always decide to bare my shoulders on June 21.”
“Then what’s this?” I pinch the sleeve of his T-shirt.
