Page 92 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

“Theo Alistair has to be safe,” I say. “My parents know I was with him after the engagement party—”

“He won’t be brought into it.” His lips flatten for a moment, his distaste clear. “We’ve decided to put you on a plane. For your protection, and our family.”

“No—”

“Tonight,” he adds.

I slip past him, needing to put distance between us. This is unbelievable. I had two weeks to myself, to live away from my parents—and now Amelie’s fiancé shows up and talks about pushing me farther away? “I can’t. I have class…”

“You can enroll at a new school.” He grabs my elbow. “Let me be perfectly clear, little Page. You have two options. You can stay exactly where police will find you and become a suspect in that man’s murder. Do you think Boston is that far away?”

“It’s a different state—”

“And the whole county knows about your sudden enrollment.” He sneers. “Beth Alistair pulling strings… seems out of the blue, don’t you think? Once the detectives start hunting, you’d be easy to find. And hard to look away from, considering your… past.”

I involuntarily shudder. My past—too many times I’ve been pulled out of a jail cell for something stupid. Dad was on a first-name basis with most of the cops in the county because of me. But they’ll take my history of acting out and twist it.

Say it’s only a matter of time before she lashed out more violently.

“Option two, you come with me. You stay away from New York until the case is closed.”

“My sister…”

“Won’t know where you are.” Wilder releases me and steps back, smoothing the front of his jacket. Like I was the one to crinkle it. “No one will miss you, Lucy Page. No one missed you when you left the first time. Life didn’t even so much as hesitate to continue. How many times have your parents reached out? Or your sister?”

I shake my head. I can’t believe I’m considering this.

“If you stay, who will they rope into this? Your alibi?”

“Stop it,” I whisper.

He nods, following my line of thought. I almost open my mouth and blurt out everything—that it was an accident, self-defense. But it stopped being an accident the moment I dragged his body farther into the woods, and even worse when Theo torched it.

He offers me a boon: “You can come back for the wedding. Okay? That’s the one thing I can give you. I can’t give you that if you’re in prison for first-degree murder.”

Amelie on her wedding day… I can’t miss that.

“Let me pack my things,” I say woodenly. I have an out-of-body experience as I pile my clothes in the same bag I arrived with—my possessions are a meager collection. Once everything is together, and I’ve forced the zipper closed, I loop my camera bag’s strap across my chest.

Wilder stood by the door the entire time I shuffled around the room. He types on his phone, ignoring me. Or at least, pretending to ignore me. It’s a false sense of security, I think.

I glance at him now, then steel myself. I pull out the portfolio and slide the photo of Theo out. This is what he wanted to see when he asked for my portfolio. What he would’ve probably enjoyed teasing me over—just another piece of evidence of my obsession with him.

But for some reason, I can’t bear to part with it. The rest of the photos aren’t as sentimental, but this one…

It’s too large to fit between the pages of a book, so I carefully place it in my camera bag, in one of the narrow pockets. It shouldn’t get crushed…

“Ready?” Wilder drawls.

I stiffen and grab the duffle bag at my feet. “Yes.”

“Phone.”

I stare at him. “What?”

“Give me your phone, little Page.” He shoves his own in his pocket. “Now.”

“I…” I can’t. That’s my lifeline. The one connection to everyone I care about—Theo and Amelie, my parents… Well, I’m not sure if I should even keep them on the list. They clearly don’t give a fuck about me.

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