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Share Us
“I wouldn’t dare, Your Grace,” I mutter into the phone before ending the call and buckling myself in.
“Your Grace?” Alfie laughs, pulling a U-turn that pushes my innards all up into my throat.
“Jesus! You’re never going to get your actual licence if you drive like a bleeding maniac all the time. Not to mention that you’re going to end up getting hurt.” I’m hugging my backpack and squeezing my legs around my violin case to stop myself from jostling all over the place.
“Who was that on the phone?” he asks me with a half-cocked brow.
“No one.” It couldn’t be further from the truth, and he’s already made me admit as much.
“No one, yeah? That must fucking kill his ego.” Alfie bursts out into a wicked laugh, however, his words remind me that eventually, Henry will come find me. When he does, I might not live to regret this.
The pit of my stomach twists with the vibration of my phone. A text. I already know it’s from him.
Unknown: 6pm Tomorrow
I stare at it. Tomorrow?
Disappointment sinks deep into my gut. Even imagining his angry fingers tapping out the curt message gives me no satisfaction.
Today is our day.
Why has he cancelled? That thought is overshadowed by the fact he’s changed the time too. What if this is it? What if he’s ending our time together?
I’m panicking when the phone vibrates again.
Unknown: You won’t like what happens if I have to come get you.
A smile cuts my face at the sight of his bad-tempered words. Maybe I wouldn’t like what he does, or maybe it’s exactly what I want. After yesterday, there’s a burning curiosity inside me about what would happen if Henry completely let go. If all that control holding him together were to unravel. And just as relief eased the knots in my gut, the apprehension of threat causes butterflies to flutter wildly.
6:00 p.m. tomorrow can’t come soon enough.
CHAPTER TEN
HENRY
Dark clouds gather over the city as I drive from my loft in Execution Dock to Hush. My mother’s voice fills the Defender as it starts to rain, a steady light drizzle that lightly soaks through the air. The summer that promised so much has nothing but disappointment in store.
“Your father gave the king his word. He agreed to carry the burden of his condition, and now it’s your turn. You’ve inherited his burdens too.”
“No kidding,” I mutter, turning into the gates. “Might be the understatement of the year.”
“Sharing your burdens is what will make them easier to bear. Sharing them with someone you trust. Someone that cares for you.”
I know where she’s leading with the conversation, and hoping to nip it in the bud, I chuckle, “Do you want me to share my burdens with you, Mother? Cry on your shoulder when things get hairy?”
“We both know you’ve never been a mummy’s boy,” she replies with a sad laugh that gives me pause as I’m about to get out of the car. “You always did run around after your father, constantly trying to please him.”
“And right now, I’m hunting down the people responsible for his murder.”
“You’ll find them. I have every faith in you.” The assurance in her words is all I need to know that she’s been talking to Simon behind my back.
“What did he tell you?” I ask, sounding a notch sharper while I get out of the car and lock it behind me.
“He?”
“Don’t play silly buggers with me, Your Highness. What did your golden boy tell you?”
“Nothing. Simon told me nothing except that you’re handling it.” The smile in her voice gives it away that she knows more than she’s letting on.
