Page 2 of Broken Princess
“No. She was never here.”
I tipped my head to the side. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s had the flu for the last few days, so she didn’t come tonight.”
Something started to hum in the back of my mind; a warning tone, almost too low to hear. “Are you sure about that?” I asked.
Kate nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“But Willow told me she was hanging out with her.”
“You probably misheard her,” she replied, nose wrinkling. “Trust me, Simone is as sick as a dog at the moment. It’s so freaking annoying. She was meant to come to this pop-up art show with me the other night, but then she bailed at the last second because she was practically dying. Then Marissa couldn’t come either, because she decided to go on a date with—”
I held up a hand to cut her off. “Sorry, Kate, you’ll have to finish this story another time. I really have to go.”
“Whatever.” She let out a short huff and flounced away.
I headed in the opposite direction, limbs moving stiffly and sluggishly, as if someone else were controlling them remotely. There was an ache in my chest which grew sharper and more painful with every step I took.
Willow lied to me. That much was obvious now.
Why did she do it? And where the hell was she?
An idea suddenly popped into my mind. I stopped and opened the necklace tracking app on my phone, squinting down at the flashing green dot on the screen that marked Willow’s current location. She was close.
I zoomed in to figure out exactly where she was and narrowed it down to a small restroom in another hall leading away from the East Room. I hurried down there and pushed the door open.
“Willow?” I called out.
Once again, there was no response.
I peered around with furrowed brows, wondering why the hell the tracking app directed me to this exact spot when the room was clearly empty. When I turned my gaze to the vanity, I saw something glinting on it under the soft yellow light. My heart sank as I moved closer to check it out.
It was Willow’s necklace.
“What the fuck?” I muttered, picking it up and slowly running my fingers over it. The blue pendant was cold to the touch.
For a stupefied moment, I stared into space with wide, unblinking eyes, every inch of my body turning numb. Then panic started bursting through me in short waves of shock and dismay as the chilling reality of the situation set in.
Willow was gone.
She left me.
A vicious cramp twisted my guts, and I dropped the jewels on the tiles as furious heat flushed through my system. This was all my fault. Of course Willow ripped off the necklace and fucking left me. Why wouldn’t she?
She didn’t know how sorry I was for everything I’d done, and she didn’t know how much I’d fallen for her. She probably thought I was a heartless monster who planned on keeping her trapped with me for the rest of her life, and because of that, she figured she had no choice but to get out as soon as she had a chance.
With an anguished groan, I slid a hand into my pocket, feeling the folded letter there. If I’d just swallowed my pride and given it to her before we came to the party tonight, she would’ve realized how I truly felt about her. Then she might’ve chosen to stay with me instead of slipping away in the night like a fugitive.
“You fucking idiot,” I muttered to myself through gritted teeth, crumpling the letter up in my fist.
Why the hell did I wait so long? Why didn’t I just suck it up and tell her how I felt instead of waiting around for some stupid fireworks, as if they would make a fucking difference? Did I actually think it would be romantic? Did I think it would be enough to make her forget all of the awful things I’d done?
Jesus, how could I be so fucking stupid?
An avalanche of desolation rolled across the room and crashed into me, knotting my guts and weakening my knees. I couldn’t stop picturing Willow out there in the punishing winter night, clawing her way through the darkness, all alone.
It wasn’t safe out there, not for someone like her. She knew that, and she was probably freezing and terrified right now, but she’d risked it all just to escape me anyway, obviously thinking I would hurt her again if she stayed.
