Page 94 of Keep Me

I crawl my way to my bed and under the covers. I say a silent prayer to the universe that Idris finds a loophole, that something, anything will get me out of this mess. And if you’re not too busy, universe, I’d like my man back too.

That’s whose arms I pretend to be in, safe and content as I drift off to sleep. Only for my own blood-curdling scream to wake me up moments later. Except in this nightmare, it was my own parents locking me in a cage.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Ryker

The twelve-hour plane ride to Lorsica felt like twenty. Theo tried to keep our spirits up with his jokes, but none of us were in the mood for it. We’re all tense with what’s to come.

There’s no chance in hell we’ll be able to get anywhere near the palace, which means we need to break her out in the middle of the night. Or at least try to, because we have absolutely no idea how to do it.

“Why don’t we just go to the palace and ask if we can see her, that we’re friends from school?” Theo asks as we set our bags down in the hotel we’re staying at.

“Jesus,” Elio mutters, scrubbing a hand down his face. “She’s a princess, remember? A member of the royal family. We can’t just roll up to the palace and ask to see her. Chances are her security team has us all red flagged too.”

“I don’t see y’all coming up with a better idea,” Theo points out while turning the TV on.

A picture of Camille fills the screen, except it doesn’t look like my girl. This version of her has darker hair, fancy clothes, and a smile that doesn’t meet her eyes.

“Turn it up,” Jasmine instructs.

Theo does as she says, but a French voice fills our ears.

“Tell us what they’re saying.” I look at Elio.

“I will, now shh,” he orders me, listening quietly as various pictures fill the screen. Most of them are of Camille, some of the palace, and then there’s a blond guy who has the most punchable face I’ve ever seen.

Somehow I know without the translation that this is the guy she’s supposed to marry. Not on my fucking watch.

We wait quietly while Elio listens, and my stomach churns with each passing minute, feeling like the more time we waste, the more I lose her.

Elio turns the TV off, then moves to face us. “The wedding is at eleven a.m. tomorrow at the palace. She’s to be married to Jacques Auclair, the son of the Prime Minister of Calis.”

Fuck.

“We’re too late.” I worry, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Jasmine turns to me, a fire in her eyes. “Hey, we did not come all this way to be scared off by timelines. We’re here, and we’ll do this. I’m not leaving without her.”

It’s exactly what I needed to hear, her determination filling me with a burning desire to take my girl home. “Neither am I.” I stand, feeling more confident than I was just seconds ago.

A piercing ring interrupts the moment, all of us looking at Elio as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. “It’s her brother,” he tells us as he puts him on speaker. “Quentin, how’s it going?”

“Not fucking good. My sister ran back home to our father, disobeying Idris’s orders to stay put until we figured this shit out. Which is still taking a hell of a lot longer than we anticipated or wanted. To top it off, my dad destroyed her phone,” he groans, clearly stressed by the situation.

“I know it’s a shit show, but we’re here in Lorsica. I’m trying to help my girlfriend and your sister’s boyfriend to get her back,” Elio admits.

“And your sister’s best friend, Theo,” Theo shouts, earning eye rolls left and right.

“Sorry about that,” Elio murmurs.

“Wait, what? You’re in Lorsica? What are you planning to do? You do know there’s no way you’re going to get anywhere near her or that wedding, right?” Quentin half laughs, half scoffs in disbelief.

I grab the phone from Elio, deciding to speak directly to Quentin. “Then tell me what I can do, because I’m not letting your sister marry anyone but me.”

“Presuming she wants to marry you, that is,” Theo jokes, but no one laughs.

“That could buy us the time we need to prove my dad is lying about everything,” Quentin says as if a light bulb went off in his head. “If you could prevent the wedding from happening, at least we can avoid that disaster and work on defusing the one that will come after. Which includes my father trying to ruin your life.”

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