Page 78 of Wicked Games (Fallen Royals 2)

They both turn. Margo stands behind them, bare feet, sweatpants, one of my t-shirts. I tilt my head, wondering when she took that. But it must’ve been the day after the masquerade ball.

A lead weight falls into my stomach.

“Let him in,” she whispers.

Lenora frowns. “No—”

“You don’t have to,” Robert finishes. “It’s unavoidable to see him at school, but here? This is your safe place.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “I know you don’t get it, but he…”

Push and pull.

“I regret it,” I tell them. “It was none of my business. Just because I suspected, didn’t mean I had to tell you.”

Lenora swipes at her cheek. “It was heartbreaking. But not for us. We’ve done our best to put Josie’s death behind us. Our hearts broke for Margo, that she had—”

She shakes her head, looking back at Margo. I wonder if they’ve had this heart to heart before, or if I’m the catalyst.

Robert steps out of the way, waving me inside. “No use letting the heat out.”

I slip in and go to Margo, cupping her cheeks. Times like these, she wavers between fierce and ethereal. The girl I knew as a child lived up to her last name, but not now. I just need to pull her string until she unravels. Until she finds her center.

“Hold tight,” I say under my breath, and then I turn toward Lenora and Robert. They’re not going to like this. “I have something for you.”

They watch me warily.

I take the folded note out of my pocket, handing it to Lenora. “It was in the back of a picture frame.”

She shakes her head and doesn’t take it.

My hand hangs in the air, the note pinched between my fingertips, while I wait for her to move.

“How did you find it?” She crosses her arms. “There’s only one—”

“It’s a note from Josie.” I ignore Margo’s quiet gasp behind me.

Robert reaches out and snags it. “Give us a minute.”

I nod, taking Margo’s hand. I guide her away, up the stairs.

“What are you doing here?” she whispers. “I thought—”

I tap the last picture before her bedroom. The smiling Jenkinses. “While you were missing, I snuck up here. I was going to take this picture and see if I…” There’s not a good way to explain this. “I was going to show it to your mother and see if she remembered Josie.”

Her gasp is a knife between my ribcage.

“You know where my mother is?”

I look at her. “I did.” Now I don’t.

“Where is she?”

“She was at a motel.” I herd her into her room, shutting the door behind us. “She’s not anymore.”

She goes straight to the window, holding herself. Is she searching for her mother out there? Wondering if she’s watching, waiting for the right chance to take her back?

I get angrier by the second. Amberly doesn’t want Margo back—far from it. She still holds resentment for her daughter. Gave her away when she was ten, before her dad even got arrested. She just woke up and decided, I’m out.

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