I perk up. “Really? Where is it?”
“Just outside your room behind the picture frame of Strombly Castle. Follow the tunnel down through a series of doors, and keep going straight until you reach the last one, which will bring you to the quarters. First door on the right. I shall pick some clothes for you, so you aren’t recognized immediately.”
She goes to my closet and pulls out a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. “Here.” She passes them to me. “The guards change in about five minutes, and if you hurry, you’ll be able to sneak past them. I shall wait by the picture frame for you to knock on it when you return, and I’ll distract the guards so you can sneak in. I shall do this once and only once.”
“Thank you, Runa,” I say as I quickly put on the sweatpants and hoodie. Runa fashions the hood over my head and pulls on the drawstrings. She offers me some shoes and heads to the door. She looks at her watch and my pulse picks up as we wait.
“And . . . now,” she says quietly as she opens the door.
Together, we move down the hall to where there’s a giant picture frame. She opens it, the picture hinging like a door, and I climb into the barely lit tunnel.
“Hurry now,” she says before shutting the picture.
The tunnel darkens even more, which is frightening given I don’t know where I’m going, but determined, I walk forward and reach the first door. I open it and walk through, the tunnel lighting up with sporadic sconces on the wall. I quicken my pace, going through doorway after doorway until I reach the last one, which brings me into a cream hallway with carpeting, resembling a dormitory.
First door on the right.
I turn toward it—thankfully no one is around—and I knock on it, hoping he’s home.
I wait impatiently for him to answer, but when I hear rustling, my hopes leap. The door opens, and standing in nothing but a pair of shorts is Keller. His hair is a mess, his eye’s bruised, and there’s a gash on his cheekbone. When he notices it’s me, his eyes widen, and he quickly drags me into his room and slams the door.
“What the fuck are you doing here? You shouldn’t be down here, Lilly.”
“Well, I had to do something since you weren’t answering my texts or calls.” I spot his phone on his night table and walk over to it. I press the screen and it lights up. “Oh, would you look at that? It works.”
He tugs on the back of his neck, and that’s when I notice bruising near his ribs. What happened to him? “I got your messages,” he says quietly.
“Okay, well, starting on an honest foot, that’s good to know. Anything else you care to tell me? I don’t know, like . . . why you weren’t there today?” I fold my arms over my chest, taking a defensive position.
“I was there,” he says.
“Oh, did you borrow Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak?” Sarcasm is my best friend right now, because the hurt I was feeling moments ago has turned into anger after finding him hanging casually in his room. He shouldn’t be here. He should be in my room, telling me what’s going on. But instead, I had to go after him. “How much did it cost? Must have been a pretty penny.”
“Lilly,” he says softly. “I was in the crowd, making sure everything was smooth.”
“Ah, I see. Funny, because I was told that you were supposed to be at my side, making sure I was comfortable and knew what the HELL I WAS DOING!” I yell the last part.
His brow creases, forming a ball of tension between his eyes. “You did know what you were doing. I heard from Henrik that everything went great.”
“You heard from Henrik.” I sarcastically laugh. “You shouldn’t have had to hear from anyone. You should have been there.”
“I wasn’t in a position to be there.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask. “Because of what Brimar said? Is that what’s holding you back?”
He lets out a large breath and rests his hands on his sides.
“Because I don’t believe any of what he said. Let’s skip over the fact that you didn’t tell me about the adoption, but the sheer idiocy that you’d want to be anywhere near the line of succession is comical. You don’t even want to be with me. That’s how desperate you are to stay away.”
“I want to be with you,” he says, his eyes pleading now. “Don’t fucking say that. I want to be with you, Lilly.”
“Well, you sure have a weird way of showing it. Maybe it’s different here, but in America, we don’t ignore the person we’re in love with. We answer their text messages and phone calls.” I take a step closer, my throat growing tight as the emotion of the day and the moment rock through me. “Do you have any idea how scared I was today? Any freaking clue, Keller?”