Page 41 of Runaway Queen

“Seriously, it’s cool. I’m looking forward to hanging out with my little lion.” Chiara voice was comforting. “I have a present for him anyway.”

I groaned. “He doesn’t need anything. You spoil him.”

“Well, he’s my godson. Who else am I going to spend all my money on? I’d like to spoil you, too, but you won’t let me,” Chiara complained.

“I’m an adult. I don’t need spoiling.”

“That is precisely where you’re wrong. Everyone needs spoiling sometimes. Anyway, I have to go inside. I’ll talk to you later!”

The thought of not seeing Leo for even one night made my heart ache, but with Nikolai breathing down my neck, it was only a matter of time until he found out about him. The very idea terrified me. I had longed for it for such a long time, to be free of the guilt I carried. But the truth remained that my father was determined to destroy us, even if Nikolai could forgive me for hiding Leo from him. It felt like I was stuck in a rat’s maze, scuttling this way and that, only to find every exit blocked off before I could reach the end. Now, the idea made me want to grab Leo and escape at night on a bus heading across the country. I had my fake documents that Renato had given me. We could just run.

Even as I thought it, I knew it wouldn’t work. Now that he knew I was alive, Nikolai would only find me, and I’d be somewhere new and alone. He’d never stop. Not only that, but finding a donor for Leo meant staying, no matter what.

A few hours later,the school was bustling. The music from the gym blared out of open windows as I wandered around, keeping an eye on the students as they danced. The entire school had been festooned with spooky decorations, and the lights were low. I passed a display of severed heads on an altar. It was genuinely creepy. Maybe it was less the decorations and the fact that there was a homicidal maniac stalking me that had my nerves on high alert.

Students were everywhere. Their costumes ranged from the truly gruesome to the absolutely scandalous. My own outfit was lame at best, considering I hadn’t thought about it until a couple of days ago and grabbed the first thing I could find. A party dress, my old prom queen sash, and a little red food coloring dripping from my mouth, with a pair of glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth I’d found in Leo’s toy box.

The atmosphere in the gym was relaxed now, and the initial awkwardness of the beginning of the dance had passed. Plenty of students were dancing with abandon and having the time of their lives. The last dance I’d been to like this had been prom. Just the thought brought Nikolai to my mind.

“Miss Rossi, a dance?” Marcus appeared in front of me.

The Ice Gods didn’t usually go for school dances, and they were drawing plenty of longing stares. They had made about as much effort as I expected of them. They were dressed in their hockey uniforms and blood-flecked goalie masks, Jason Voorhees-style.

“We both know the answer to that.”

“Worth a shot. Here, some guy gave me this to give to you.”

Marcus held out a note. My blood turned cold in my veins.

“Who gave it to you?”

“Some guy with a sick mask on. Why?” Marcus looked over his shoulder toward the gym’s entrance. “Is he a weirdo or something?”

Or something.

“It’s fine. Enjoy the dance.”

With shaking fingers, I opened the note.

For tonight’s game, hide-and-seek. Your dare, prom queen, is to find who I’m hiding, before she’s never seen again. Hurry up, Cici’s waiting.

Cici?Chiara.Nikolai had Chiara hidden somewhere. Would he hurt her? I couldn’t wait around to find out. I headed out of the gym, urgency building in my chest as I groped for my phone and shakily pulled up Chiara’s number. I clamped the phone to my ear as her line rang and rang. I headed away from the busiest area around the gym. Where would he take her? Somewhere quiet, where she wouldn’t be found.

My art room? It was worth a try. The sound of my heels echoed through the corridors. As I went, the number of stragglers from the party reduced, until I was striding up dark corridors alone. Chiara still wasn’t picking up.

I switched to Angelo. His phone went straight to voicemail.

I shoved my hand in my mouth to muffle a cry of frustration. I couldn’t afford to be noisy. Obviously, Nikolai was expecting me, but I didn’t need to make it easy for him.

I slipped my heels off and left them by a locker. Reaching back into my bag, I closed my hand around myliccasapuni, myparanza cortaknife. I’d barely thought about the blade in years, and had found it stashed in the glove box of my car. Now, it felt like my only lifeline.

I made it to the bottom of the stairs to the next floor. Glancing over my shoulder, I froze. A figure stood at the other end of the corridor. He was dressed in black and wore a mask that was vaguely reminiscent of a skull, but black and neon, with Xs for eyes.

Nikolai?

I put a foot on the first step, and the man started toward me. He didn’t move like Nikolai.

I ran up the stairs. Once I reached the upper floor, I spun in the direction of the art classrooms. So much for being quiet. He was already following me.

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