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Christine depended on it.
I weaved through the parade of fire trucks and police cruisers and parked alongside several ambulances. The explosion had been large enough to blow out a wall, and the fire consumed the rest. The ballroom was on the west wing of the castle, away from the sleeping quarters. By some miracle, they’d managed to stop it before the flames destroyed everything. A few firefighters were hosing down a fresh layer of ash, while medics dragged bodies out of the destroyed castle.
When I pulled up to the ballroom and got out of my car, men were frantically digging through the rubble. An officer with soot on his cheek glared at me as I looked around. I decided to ask him some questions so I knew exactly what I was up against. “How many people were injured? Is His Highness okay? Is it true? Did the queen die?” I already knew Augustus was relatively fine. A few cuts and scrapes. A broken, bleeding heart. I still needed to play my part. Confused. Unaware. Disoriented.
I was rewarded with multiple gasps and wide eyes, but the simplest answer was from a middle-aged man wearing a leather jacket. “The situation is under control.” The royal publicist probably gave everyone that scripted response.
I pulled my hand away from my face and quickly wiped my fake tears. It was not difficult to feign grief. I was a little shocked at the loss of life. Even if I’d seen my fair share of death, it didn’t mean I wasn’t affected by it. Though as my kill count climbed, the loss started to hollow.
Searching the space for Augustus, I expected him to be lying in the dirt, inconsolable and useless. But to my surprise, he was knee-deep in ash, plowing through piles of debris, with tears streaming down his face.
It was a strange sight to see. Adonis was at his back, helping him sort through the destruction. Maids with bloodshot eyes watched him with pity. Firefighters worked harder than ever, knowing that their king was barking orders and losing his mind.
“We have to fucking find her! Where the hell is Atticus?” he sobbed.
I observed him for a moment, almost almost almost feeling guilty for what I had to do.
But not quite. I’d never apologize for protecting Christine.
And that was exactly what I was doing.
“I’m right here, Augustus,” I said.
Leo stood by a beam of wood, sawing it in half and heaving. When I announced myself, he looked at me with pure, unadulterated anger. I didn’t have time to deconstruct that look, but I had a feeling he’d talk to me later. I didn’t have time for his temper tantrum now, though.
Augustus spun around, his eyes wide with fear. He pulled himself out of the wreckage and ran toward me, forgetting to wipe the ash off his face. “Where were you? Why haven’t you been helping us?!” His hands grabbed onto me like he was drowning and I was his lifeline.
I opened and closed my mouth, surprised by his show of emotion. I watched as he wiped his nose with the back of his soot-covered hand. He was dripping with sweat and still wore the tuxedo he had on last night, though it was covered in cinders, now. When I didn’t immediately answer, he sucked in a raspy breath, then looked over his shoulder to shout at onlookers. “Nobody stops digging. We will find her!”
“What are you doing?” I asked him. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”
He ran his shaky hands through his hair. “What am I doing? What are you doing? Christine is missing. That damn fire chief says I need to prepare for her to be dead. Dead, Atticus!”
I flinched. The idea of Christine being dead was horrifying. Even though I knew she was safe, tucked in my bed and sleeping off the pain meds my personal doctor had given her, it still shook me to my core to imagine the alternative. The truth was, Lord Nathan could have easily killed her last night. We almost didn’t escape. Which was exactly why she couldn’t stay in the castle. No one could be trusted. “Augustus, you need to sit down,” I said.
“How can you be so calm?!” he roared. “My mother is dead. Half the castle went up in flames last night. And no one knows where Christine is. What happened? You were dancing with her.”
I pulled away from him and started pacing the ground, trying to look distraught. “The explosion separated us. People were running everywhere. I tried to find her, but the crowd pushed me out. I passed out from smoke inhalation and woke up in the hospital this morning. Are you sure she didn’t get out?”
With each word, his voice rose. Louder and louder, he spoke. “She’s not at the hospital, Atticus. The castle has been swept by Leo. And the security footage is being combed through now. No one saw her leave. She’s gone. She’s fucking gone!” He glanced at the police officers and the other firefighters who were trying to make sense of the situation. I made a mental note to have one of my hackers make sure there’s no video of me putting Christine in my car. Augustus pulled me toward him and dropped his voice. “Maybe they took her. Maybe everyone is in on this. We can’t trust anyone.”
He had no clue how close to the truth he was.
“It was chaotic last night, Augustus. It would have been impossible—”
He frowned, realizing the oddity of his outburst. “I…I’m trying to figure everything out.” He looked at me with his brown eyes, ones that were filled with so much pain that I felt a little guilty for hurting him like this. “She hasn’t answered any of my calls. The hospital is triple-checking their patients. If she were hurt, I would have been notified immediately.”
I gave him a sad look, letting my mask of pain slowly dance across my expression. I’d never considered myself an actor, but being the head of a criminal organization made me good at lying.
“She’s not at the hospital, Augustus,” I said. “And you know it.”
He looked at me with narrowed eyes, trying to make sense of what I was saying. “Then where is she?”
My eyes flickered to the destruction before us. “I-I think she’s in there.” I let my voice break for effect.
“No. No, she can’t be. Not Christine, Atticus.”
I had to drive the point home. “If she didn’t get out…if she didn’t get out, Augustus…”
