Page 56 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

“So, I’m just supposed to what?” I question. “Wait around until whoever grabbed me or left the message comes after me? And what about your sister? The message could’ve been for her.”

“I …” He trails off, his throat muscles bobbing as he swallows hard. “Can you just drop this? Please?”

The begging catch in his voice causes something inside me to break a little.

“Please, Mommy, I’m so hungry.”

“Please, Mommy, I’m scared.”

“Please, Mommy, help me.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it.” I pause then add, “For now. But if anything else weird happens, I will start digging around until my fingers have blisters.”

“Is that a metaphor?”

“Nah, I plan on having to dig up a body or two. I mean, doesn’t every mystery lead to that?”

He gives me a hardy-har look but visibly relaxes. “Thank you.” He offers me a smidgeon of a smile. “I have to go get my water bottle. Be careful, okay?”

I give him a salute, and then we part ways with him heading toward the dorms and me pushing out the door and stepping into the cool morning air.

The track is located on the far-left corner, beside the football stadium. The separation of the two shows how wealthy this school is whereas, at the community college, the two are combined with the field being located in the center of the track.

The air has a slight chill to it as I walk, even with the hoodie I slipped on, and the atmosphere is still, calm, peaceful. In my dreams, when I envision my future, I picture myself living in this kind of existence?—

“No, just give me a second,” someone says as I round the corner of the building and step onto the path that leads to the track.

A series of benches lining a sidewalk comes into my view, and standing beside those benches are four guys, one of which is Noah. He has a hood drawn over his head, but his bright green eyes are a dead giveaway that it’s him.

A tall guy with auburn gets up in his face. “No more seconds. I want it now.”

A shorter guy with long black hair positions himself on the left side of Noah while the third guy—a bodybuilder of a dude with cropped blond hair and sporting a tank top—moves to the right side of him. He’s surrounded, and panic flashes in Noah’s eyes as he steps back, bumping into a bench.

“I don’t have it right now.” Tension ripples through his body. “But give me until the end of the day?—”

The tall guy slams his hands against Noah’s chest and shoves him. Noah staggers backward, tumbling over the bench and landing on his ass.

“Time’s up, Noah.” Tall Guy steps onto the bench while the other two guys move around.

A fight is brewing, and shit is about to get ugly. I could walk away—I’ve seen a ton of fights go down, so it’s not like this is new to me. Normally, I stay out of it because I don’t want to get my ass kicked, too—or arrested. But they’ve got him outnumbered three to one. Plus, he’s Lily, Finn, and River’s stepbrother. While they may hate him, I would like to believe that they wouldn’t want him getting his ass beat.

Sucking in a breath, I stride over to them like I’m sort of a boss bitch, which I am not, but these guys don’t know me.

“Hey, there you are.” I wind around the guys and straight up to Noah, who’s scrambling to stand up. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

Noah blinks up at me, puzzlement etched across his features.

“Sorry, I thought we were meeting out front.” I offer him my hand, and his confusion remains as he places his hand in mine and lets me help him to his feet.

“Who the hell are you?” the guy with auburn hair asks me.

I face him, putting on my best I-give-zero-hells expression. “I’m Maddy. Who the hell are you?”

“I’m the guy who’s about to kick your boyfriend’s ass,” he replies with a cocky grin.

“Really?” I ask, all blasé. And I can tell my inference is throwing him off. “Why?”

“That’s none of your business, northside trash. And if you knew what was good for you, you’d walk away from this.” He crosses his arms, his smirk magnifying.

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