Page 1 of The Royal Flame
1
MADDISON
Reality is becoming harder to exist in, and it’s been worse since I entered the Royal world. I had thought being a northsider came with complications, but this is an entirely different level of complexity.
I’m waiting for the DNA test results in Grey Devenport’s living room. I’m restless, tapping my foot up and down as I fidget with the watch on my wrist. The battery is dead, so River won’t be able to track me. I want to call him and tell him I’m okay, but my potential new father has my phone. Or, well, one of his bodyguards has it…
I’m honestly not sure.
“Hey,” I say to one of the men looming near the doorway. “Can I please have my phone? I need to make a call.”
The man gives me a tolerant look, then rotates away from me and overlaps his hands in front of him.
“Asshole,” I mutter under my breath. I face forward on the sofa again. The material is soft against my skin, and the cushions are beyond comfortable. The room I’m in is massive with high ceilings. The Royal City sparkles against the starry night just out the ceiling-to-floor windows. It’s clear Grey has a lot of money, so if he is my father, that means…
Wait…
It dawns on me: Could he be the anonymous person who paid for me to attend the Royal Academy?
That thought bounces around in my mind for a while. Eventually, I get up and start pacing the room, my jitteriness building. It’s been an hour since they swabbed my mouth so they could run the DNA test. From everything I’ve heard, getting results for DNA tests can take weeks. But apparently, having money makes it quicker?—
The man who turned his back on me suddenly enters the room. I stop pacing as he halts in front of me and sticks out his hand. My phone is in his palm. I snatch it up, confused why he changed his mind.
“Mr. Devenport has permitted you to make a phone call to your friend River Averson.,” he informs me. “But only to let him know you’re safe, so he’ll remove the missing person’s report he’s filed.”
“He’s filed a missing person’s report for me?” The question is rhetorical, but the bodyguard nods anyway.
I know the police won’t look that hard for me even if River files it. I’m eighteen years old and from north side, but my chest fills with butterflies at the idea that someone cares enough about me to do that—to care that I’m missing.
I might really like River. Grey said it was dangerous to be around him, but I’m not so sure I can give up the gothic prince that made me feel things I thought only existed in fairytales.
I dial River’s number and then turn my back toward the bodyguard, who’s watching me like a nutjob.
“Maddy?” River answers after one ring.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I chew on my thumbnail. “I called to tell you I’m okay, and you can tell the police that too, so they won’t look for me.”
“Where are you?” he asks.
“I’m… I’m safe.” I wish I could tell him where I am—it’s so frustrating. “That’s all I can tell you right now.”
“Baby, I can’t call off the search because you call me and tell me you’re safe. For all I know, someone could be making you say this.”
“Did you just call me baby?”
A beat or silence stretches by.
“I did… Do you not want me to?” He sounds unsure.
Usually, I’d tell a guy off if they called me that. But I think I like it when River says it to me.
“I don’t know… It doesn’t bother me that much. At least when you say it.” A smile touches my lips but then falters. “Look, I promise I’m okay. No one’s making me say this. You know me. If they tried, I’d find a way to rebel.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He gives a short pause. “When am I going to see you again?”
I glance at the bodyguard. “Hey, dude. Do you know when I’ll be able to leave?”
“Sometime tonight,” he replies vaguely. “Once the results come in.”
