Page 91 of The Stolen Princess
He raised a cocky eyebrow. “Am I bothering you?”
She rolled her lips together and nodded.
His mouth turned upward. “We can’t have that.”
Myka shook her head as Drake kicked out the leg of the other chair and sat down, scooting close to her.
Drake was everywhere.
Myka was going to have to get over it. She sucked in a deep breath, pointing at the outer wall door Arco had led her through when she had escaped Tolsten House. “If we get word to Arco,I’m sure we can gain access through that door during the night. Then we can use the woods as our cover until we get to the main house and that side kitchen door.” She pointed to two different locations on the drawing. “There are guards stationed up here and here. The usual shift rotations happen at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The night guards are lazy. And can easily be distracted.”
Drake nodded. “That’s what Arco told us in his letters. He used alcohol to bribe them in the past.”
Myka furrowed her brows. “He used alcohol?”
“Yeah,” Drake confirmed.
“The alcohol I paid him with?”
“Yes.”
Myka’s mouth dropped open. “This whole time, I thought Arco was an alcoholic.”
“No. He used it as a way to bribe the guards so he could move around Tolsten House more freely and gain information.”
Myka sat back in her chair, letting his words sink in.
Drake turned the paper in his direction. “This is great stuff. We just need to get word to Arco and let him know our plan.”
“Why is Arco helping you?” Myka asked.
Drake shrugged. “Because he loved your mother.”
Myka’s eyes went wide, and he quickly corrected himself.
“Notloved... he wasfondof her and hated how your father treated her.”
“What did my father do to my mother?” she whispered. She had memories of them fighting. A lot of memories of that, actually, but she didn’t know if she could handle another bomb dropped on her right now.
“I don’t know. I think he wasn’t kind to her.”
“Oh.” She let her breath out, feeling relieved that she didn’t have to wade through something more.
“Where do you think your father has the weapons hidden?” he asked.
Myka stared at the map, shrugging. “I have no idea.”
“You have to have some kind of idea. I mean, you grew up at Tolsten House. Surely you heard something or maybe he told you the location without you knowing.”
She shook her head. Up until a few days ago, she hadn’t even known her father was a bad man. Why would she know where the weapons were?
Drake looked at her like he was waiting for her to say something more. She stared back at him, wishing she knew what was behind his brown eyes.
He nodded, dropping his eyes back down to the map. “Okay.”
For some reason, Myka felt like she had disappointed him, but she didn’t know why.
“What about Commander Stoddard?” Drake asked. “Where are his rooms and office?”
