Page 59 of Desperately Yours

Closing my eyes, I started to swing my legs. “One,” I counted. “Two.” I noted the way I didn’t meet resistance in either direction as I swung my legs forward and back. “Two and a half.” My hand slipped until my grip became almost obsolete. I didn’t even have seconds left. “Okay, three.”

I released my hold on the roof just as my legs swung forward. I expected to feel the ledge beneath me, but this time, I found myself falling again. But instead of a free fall to death, I swung through an open window, lost my grip, dropped, and collided with a set of stone stairs.

For a moment, I held still and tried to breathe through the discomfort. The sharp edge of the stairs caught my fall, which was better than the ground but still painful.

I blinked once, twice, but slowly my eyes started to focus. Sitting up, my heart quickened. Stairs meant climbing down instead of falling. I wasn’t in the tower any longer but hooked back into the palace again.

I forced my feet under me. There was no time to rest, not yet.

I had a prince to save.

Michaela

Ifollowed the stairs as far as they went, winding in such a way I kept second-guessing whether I’d made it out of the tower at all. Though I wanted to take them fast, bounce two at a time to get to Fitz that much sooner, the adrenaline started to wear off and every step sent a throbbing ache through my bones. I tried to take inventory as I moved, the cut on my hand, the scrape across my shoulder from the edge of the roof, and the countless bruises from the impact of my fall. It was a miracle I was alive and I couldn’t help but worry about unknown broken bones and possible internal injuries.

The final step emptied out into a small alcove with an arched door. From here, it would be easy. People had to be looking forme. All I really needed to do was find a member of security, alert them to what Sadie had done, and maybe crawl into bed and sleep off some of the pain. Oh, a bandage for my hand wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

I pulled on the handle of the door, nearly ecstatic when it gave way with a tug. There was a chance I was going to have issues with locks and doors for the rest of my life.

Voices turned the corner in the hallway beyond the alcove. They would be at the door in moments. What luck!

“Word is, he’s searching for the American.”

My hope perked up. Fitz was looking for me. I opened my mouth to speak, all I had to do was—

“You know the command, if you find her, eliminate her.”

I froze, pinned in horror. Did I hear him right? I pulled the door closed until it was only open a crack.

The second man continued, careful to keep his volume low. “We can’t have her ruining the plan, not when we are so close to success.”

They’d turned the corner, and their palace security uniforms became clear. The first officer thumped his partner’s shoulder. “Is there a bounty?”

“Yeah,” he laughed like his buddy should have known, “dead or alive.”

Satisfied, the other officer’s mouth curved into a sickening smile. “And considering who its coming from, I suspect the royal coffers will be quite generous.”

Without a sound, I pulled the door shut, unable to breathe. A bounty? The queen wanted me gone that badly? They talked like this was a shoot on sight order. Did Fitz have any idea?

He couldn’t.

If he knew, he’d throw them in the dungeon that didn’t even exist. In fact, he would build a dungeon just to keep them. No,this was a secret conspiracy, just like way too many other things in this country.

And at the heart of it was the queen herself.

My stomach twisted with unease, but I held silent until the security team passed by. When I was sure the hall was clear, I pulled the door open again and slipped through. I had no way of knowing which way to go. It wasn’t like the mall where they had a big map with an X to mark where I was in the scheme of things. I needed to make a choice, and I could only hope I was right.

I went to the left, away from the men who had taken my death so lightly. Despite my pain, I started jogging. I didn’t have time to wait around. I couldn’t trust anyone. Avoiding everyone was my only chance for survival. As I approached the next turn, I debated my choice and opted for another left.

Nervous, I turned and looked back the way I’d come, watching for a threat.

The hall remained empty, but that didn’t mean nothing threatened my safety.

After all, my path was highlighted along the white marble floors. Tiny dots of red that fell as I ran. A trail of blood from my injury that would surely lead right to me.

Fitz

I bowed to yet another Darling of Court. I'd gotten an earful from every jilted young woman who felt as though they should have been chosen in the competition. Tabitha of Princeborough Province had been no different, but handsy in addition.

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