Millie gives Maximilian an incredulous stare.
He laughs, “Not me, my dear Millicent. The guy before me.”
“He had dumped me a few days earlier,” Lucie explains to Millie. “So not only was I getting screamed at by children, I was also getting passive-aggressively criticized by my ex while wearing fairy wings.”
Millie snorts into her glass.
Lucie throws her hands up in mock horror. “That day I swore I’d never date a boss again. A week later, I got a job at MINDFUCH in Paris, and guess who was my immediate supervisor?”
“She really tried not to date me,” Maximilian deadpans, eyes twinkling. “Heroic effort.”
“I triedsohard,” Lucie groans, flopping theatrically against the back of her chair. “Like, nun-level hard.”
Laughter bubbles around the table. Even Brigitte smiles faintly, which, for her, is fireworks. I sit back, shoulders relaxing. The tension that threatened to hijack the evening vanishes. By dessert, I’m actually enjoying myself.
As for Alex… No matter how you slice it, he handled Millie’s gaffe well. And he didn’t gloat.
The night airis crisp and thick with the scent of fallen leaves. The royals, Alex, and I step off the castle’s terrace when I realize this isn’t going to be just a digestion-friendly stroll under the stars.
Maximilian and Lucie exchange a look heralding serious news.
We follow the gravel path to the oldest part of the park, lined with yew hedges and overgrown marble urns. Lucie wraps her arm around Maximilian’s. I keep my hands in my coat pockets.
Maximilian speaks first. “Mother’s recovery is slower than we’d hoped. She’s having difficulty speaking. And walking. Her fine motor skills are erratic. She recognizes us, and she smiles. But…”
He looks away.
My chest tightens. “I’m so sorry to hear that!”
“What about her gift?” Alex cuts to the chase, as usual.
“We don’t know,” Lucie replies. “It might come back. Or not.”
“And without a vision,” Alex says, “you have no leads for the eighth key.”
“No,” she agrees. “And the clock is ticking.”
Maximilian picks up the thread. “That’s not the only update. We wanted to tell you in person because it concerns you both, directly. The sniper has been talking.”
I stop in my tracks. “What?”
“He’s confessed,” Maximilian says. “His name is Tobias Brunner. Ex-military. Swiss Special Forces. One of their best shooters.”
Lucie adds, “He wasn’t acting freely. Kurt Ozzi’s men kidnapped his wife and daughter.”
I exhale sharply. “Jesus.”
“They mailed him his wife’s little finger,” Maximilian says grimly. “Told him if he didn’t eliminate Felicia, he’d start getting bigger pieces.”
We all stay silent for a while.
I rub my arms through my coat. “How did he even get into Mount Evor?”
“Kurt bribed Swiss officials,” Lucie explains. “They gave Tobias a legitimate diplomatic passport. He entered through the front gates, under his real name.”
Alex frowns. “And the rifle?”
“It was smuggled separately,” Maximilian says. “Tobias was told he would find it buried beneath a marked tree in a secluded area.”
