Page 54 of Wicked Games (Fallen Royals 2)

Robert gets home a while later and comes upstairs, knocking on my door. “Did your friends leave?”

“Yeah, Sav had to get home for dinner.”

He nods. “Lenora said she was going to pick up dinner, but I think she got sidetracked. There’s an outlet store right next to the pizza place.”

I snort.

“Hungry?”

“We snacked,” I say, shrugging. “I’m good for now… and I need to catch up on this stuff.”

“All right, back to work then.” He taps the door, then closes me back in.

I look around the room, pulling my leg up to my chest. I wrap my arms around it and put my chin on my knee, closing my eyes for a minute. It isn’t that I want to be the queen bee—to take Amelie’s place. I just want her to realize how wrong she’s been.

She needs to fall… and Caleb does, too.

He’s been hoping to break me, and he took his best shot. But it just isn’t happening.

I’m strong.

I close my books, turn off the light, and stretch out flat. It takes a long while for the energy to sap out of my muscles. In that time, Lenora comes home, her voice floating up during her conversation with Robert, and she peeks her head into my room on her way to hers.

I lie perfectly still, not in the mood to chat with her.

I relax at her small exhale, the door closing behind her.

Sleep comes in small pieces, dragging me under and then waking me with a snap.

My mind swings from Josie to Caleb, back and forth like a pendulum. I don’t know why she’s haunting my thoughts tonight, but I can’t get the ghost out of my mind. I let her marinate in my head for a while: a girl I’ve never met, will never meet, and can’t shake.

I wonder if she lived here. In this room.

Something taps my window.

I flinch, scrambling upright. I expect Caleb’s face to be staring back at me. Instead, there’s nothing except moonlight.

The tap comes again, harder, and I creep closer.

Three hours have passed. It’s midnight.

And Caleb stands below my window. His arm winds back, and he tosses something toward me.

A little pebble hits the glass.

I jerk open the window, sticking my head out.

“Come for a midnight stroll with me,” he says.

“Are you crazy?” I whisper-yell. “How?”

“You could sneak out the back door,” he says. “Or climb down…”

I roll my eyes. “No.”

He spreads his arms wide. “Come join me, Margo. Or I’ll join you.”

I swallow. One encounter at night is enough, thank you very much. Especially with Robert and Lenora just down the hall. They can probably hear our conversation.

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