Page 101 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

I sigh. I hear the detective moving around my room across the hall, so I lower my voice. “Unknown vandalized my room. Destroyed everything.”

He loses all expression on his face. “You’re joking.”

“Why would I be joking? Lenora called Detective Masters. He’s taking pictures right now.”

The phone drops, and all I can see is the black fabric of his shirt.

“Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Simmons. Liam, family emergency.”

He reappears a moment later with Liam just over his shoulder, scowling.

I shake my head at him. He repeats the same thing in two other classes, and finally, he raises the phone back up to his face.

“All hands on deck, right?”

“What the fuck, man?” Liam snaps.

“My room got vandalized,” I say.

A muscle in Caleb’s jaw clenches. “We’ll be there in five minutes. You guys shouldn’t be alone.”

Someone knocks on the bathroom door, and I freeze.

“Margo, it’s Detective Masters. I took some pictures of the room and am heading out. Just wanted to let you know that I’m going to look into what we discussed.”

“Thanks,” I call.

Caleb stares at me. “Can’t wait to hear what you discussed.”

“The police are supposed to be the good guys,” I whisper.

He just shakes his head. They’re outside now, and someone is yelling after them. Theo yells back, but the words are snatched away on the wind.

“We’ll be there soon, okay?”

I nod, and he hangs up.

My head falls back on the door. I don’t know what the hell we’re going to do. What can we do? We’re teenagers. Kids, really.

My eyes fill with tears. The whole situation is hopeless.

See what I said about hope? It can drop you.

Real fast.

26

Caleb

“Food,” Eli demands. “We can be hospitable and bring food.”

Theo rolls his eyes. “How about delivery? That’s easy.”

“I’m in the mood for sushi,” Liam adds, “but only if someone else is buying. Or lobster.”

I twist around, looking him up and down. “Your mom isn’t doing the soup for every meal thing again, is she?”

He shrugs. “It’s all we can afford at the moment. Do you know how cheap it is to make a million different soups? They last us a while.”

---