“Why would they host it there?” she asked. “They’ve never hosted there.”
Chantal paled. “Not that I’m aware of.”
Which meant they were planning something.
Elara dropped the envelope, wrenched open her collar, and touched the tattoo.
You’re in danger.
“Come on,” she whispered. “Come on.”
Unlike the previous call, this one felt… empty. As if her pleas had entered an abyss rather than gone unanswered.
Fernand! Please!
Nothing. Not even a tingle itched her skin.
Fear roiled her belly. Had they caught onto the truth? Had they found Fernand? Ransacked Étoiles and arrested countless others all because of her?
She’d promised Nik not minutes ago that she would wait, but how could she sit inside the safety of this house wrapped in the armor of Nik’s social status while her friends—herfamily—were in danger?
She couldn’t.
She took off upstairs to Blai’s room.
Chantal was quick on her heels. “What are you doing?”
“Nik has his plan, and I have mine.”
“Which is?”
She knocked once. Twice. A third time.
“Where the hell are they?”
Chantal shook her head. “They didn’t come back from the interview.”
Elara didn’t have time. She wrenched open the door and went right for their closet. She took out the dress she’d worn during their previous trips and stripped off the chef’s coat and old gown.
Chantal lingered in the doorway, watching her with brows drawn.
“If Nik comes back—”
“Elara.”
“—tell him I’m sorry for being a bad listener.”
“Elara.”
“But I should be back before—”
The sharp rap of Chantal’s cane cut her off.
“Slow down,” she said firmly. “I can only handle one harebrained scheme per night. Unless you tell me exactly where you’re going and why, I’m not letting you leave.”
Elara considered ignoring her and bolting anyway, as if she could take her. Chantal would kick her ass in three seconds flat.
“I did this,” she relented. “I really believed this would be a silly little competition where I could bake silly little pies—get everything and give up nothing. Fernand tried to tell me! You tried to tell me! Gaetan…” She swallowed the sob that threatened to escape her.
