She took my hands in both of hers and shook her head. “I don’t know, but something is up. This is standard protocol for whenever there’s some sort of breach in security, or when one of us has been threatened or ... hurt.” She blinked rapidly. “God, I hate it. I wish I could text my parents and Alex and Nicky and just know they’re all right. I want to know Granny and Grandpa aren’t in danger. But no.” Heaving a long sigh, she tossed her arms in the air. “Here we sit, not sure of anything.”
“Your Royal Highness.” Simon stood next to Hester, Daisy’s protection officer. “If you would be seated—both you and the Duchess, that is—we can brief you on what’s happening, as far as we know it.”
Daisy went still. “You’re going to tell us something?” She darted a glance my way. “That’s not usually good news. We’re not generally given any information until it turns out to be a false alarm—or unless someone’s been harmed.”
“Please, ma’am, sit down.” Hester spoke softly.
My stomach clenched painfully, and the food I’d eaten earlier in the evening churned, threatening to come up. I sat down next to Daisy, both of us stiff and silent.
Simon cleared his throat. “Ma’am.” He was addressing me, which only made my nausea worse. “I removed you from the dance floor very quickly because, based on your accounting of the conversation with this, eh, Scott Gorman, we had reason to believe he might be part of a group that has been an increasing concern to the government. When I was reporting this to the task force set up to monitor the situation, my superior officer called, as you saw.” He paused. “He informed me that this evening, there was an incident at the hotel in Brighton where His Royal Highness the Duke of Kendal was taking part in a meeting.”
“An incident?” My lips were numb. “What does that mean?”
Next to him, Hester shifted in obvious discomfort.
“There was a bomb, ma’am.” Simon leaned forward and covered my hand with his. The fact that he was touching me in comfort sent all of my terror spiraling, because it was so out of character for my security officer. “We don’t know for certain yet, but it seems very likely that this group we’ve been watching is responsible.”
“A bomb.” I repeated the words dully. “Is Nicky ... where was ...”
“His Royal Highness was injured in the explosion.” Next to me, Daisy moaned, but I couldn’t find my voice. I fixed my eyes on Simon’s lips, aware that they were moving and yet not hearing anything. All I could think about was the way we’d left things before the weekend: both of us upset, neither of us communicating and all of it for utterly stupid reasons. I wished that I could go back in time and make sure to kiss Nicky good-bye before he’d left for his friend’s stag party. I wished that I had made it a point to see him before he’d left London for this meeting. I wished that I could take back every unkind word I’d said to him.
And most of all, I wished that I was in his arms right this very moment.
“Your Royal Highness. Ma’am.Kyra.”
Gradually, I become aware that Simon was repeatedly calling my name, and Daisy was shaking my arm. Out of instinct, I struggled to rise to the surface again and pay attention, like a good duchess, but then reality clamped down on my heart. I didn’t want to hear what my protection officer wanted to tell me. If I stayed unhearing, if I refused to listen, I didn’t have to know that Nicky was—that maybe he could be—
“No.” I clapped my hands over my ears. “I don’t want to know. Just let me—leave me alone. Go away.”
“Kyra.” With no little effort, Daisy pried one hand away from my ear. “Kyra, love, listen to me. Look at me.”
I screwed my eyes shut tight.
“Kyra.” Daisy shifted from her pleading tone to full-on regal voice. “Kyra, stop this right now. This is not how you behave. You are the Duchess of Kendal. You are a Royal Highness, a member of Great Britain’s Royal Family. And what’s more you areKyra fucking Duncan Mountbatten-Windsor. You are the strongest woman I know, and you can handle this.”
Where sympathy or gentleness failed, Daisy’s stout, no-nonsense tough love shook me out of my state of denial. Gripping my hands together in my lap, I pulled myself together, sat up tall and looked Simon in the eye.
“I apologize, Mr. West. Please ... go ahead and tell me everything.” If my voice shook a little, there wasn’t anything I could do about that.
Simon ducked his head to look at me levelly. “Ma’am, Prince Nicholas was injured in the bombing. He was airlifted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, and he is in the intensive care unit there.”
“What are his injuries?” I needed to know what to expect. Had he lost a limb? Or been seriously cut by shrapnel?
“The Prince is being treated for head trauma, ma’am, along with some other injuries that are less ... emergent. He is unconscious, and the doctors are working hard to determine the extent of the damage.”
Head trauma.The words echoed in my ears. That could mean anything from concussion to more serious brain injury, including a swelling of the brain, which could lead to permanent brain damage, loss of abilities ... or even worse.
“Stop playing out worst-case scenarios in your head,” Daisy ordered. “We don’t know anything at this point except that my brother is still alive. We’re both going to hold onto that as we go to London.”
Hester looked pained. “Your Royal Highness, at this time, it is not advisable for you and the Duchess to be moved anywhere. We’re still determining if the risk of further attacks is imminent. The people who planned and carried out this bombing are still at large. All of the Royal Family has been moved to safe places.”
Daisy tilted her head. “My brother is in the hospital unconscious. You can’t tell me that my parents aren’t with him. And you certainly can’t be suggesting that my sister-in-law—his wife—and I remain here.” She rounded on Simon. “You just told us that there might be a member of that group—the ones who are threatening us—here at the Viscount’s home. Surely Kyra and I would both be safer in London than we are here.”
Simon gave a brief cough. “That was suggested by Lieutenant Carruthers, Your Royal Highness. There is a bit of disagreement about the best course of action.”
“Then let me be the tiebreaker.” Daisy’s smile was tight and without an ounce of humor. “We are going to London. Arrange the car as soon as you can. Do whatever you must to make it safe for us, but know that we are leaving here in an hour.”
There was a long silence that crackled with tension. Daisy and I formed a united front, but I knew deep down that in reality, we were powerless. Whether we went or we stayed was at the discretion of our security team.
