Page 106 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

It’s clear by her stunned expression that she didn’t expect to find me.

“What the hell?” she mutters, blinking a few times.

“Run,” I hiss at River as I start to take off.

He takes off with me, grabbing the backpack from my hand as I do. I throw him a what-the-hell look, but he merely slips it on. Always the gentleman, even in a time of crisis.

And that crisis worsens as we round the back of the building and find our Uber is gone.

“Shit,” River curses as we both come to a halt where the SUV was parked.

He frantically peers around at the back of the building, the street behind us, and then to the trees. “He took off.”

“I thought he might.” I’m panicking, my mind moving too fast for me to process a plan.

I need to calm down.

I need to think.

Breathe, Maddy. Just breathe.

Weirdly, my aunt’s voice fills my head.

It snaps me out of my fear enough that I can move my feet.

“Come on. There’s a path through the trees.” I yank River with me before he can even respond and guide him into the trees.

Light slips away from us the farther we get into the branches and bushes. The sounds of twigs snapping underneath our shoes fill up the silence sweeping around us.

“Maddy!” my mother shouts, her voice slicing through that silence.

I quicken my pace. So does River while digging out his phone.

“What’re you doing?” I whisper as his screen illuminates.

“Calling for a car to pick us up,” he replies in a hushed whisper. “Do you know a place where one can pick us up?”

I rack my brain for a place. “Yeah … I think we should be okay in the grocery store. We can hide out there until the car arrives.” I give him the address, and he punches it into the app.

We reach the end of the trees then, and I quicken my pace to a jog. River does, too, and before I know it, we’re both running down the sidewalk at full speed.

Every time a car passes by, tension ravels through my body at the probability that it could be Drew. But we manage to make it into the store safely, shaken and a little out of breath.

I don’t stand at the front of the store. Instead, I wander back toward the cookie sections in the farthest corner. Then I release River’s hand and exhale as I slump back against one of the shelves.

“I’m so sorry,” I apologize, frustrated with myself. Yes, I wanted to get the necklace, but was it worth it? It’s not like I believe I belong to this royal bloodline.

River’s cheeks are flushed, strands of his hair are sticking up all over the place, and his brows are knit. “For what?”

I gesture at the brightly lit up aisle of cookies and the dingy linoleum floor. “For bringing you into this mess. I should’ve known better, but I got too curious. And you know what they say—curiosity helped capture the north-sider with the bounty.”

He slouches against the shelf behind us and crosses his arms. “You’re forgetting it was my idea to do this.”

“So? I’m the one who was more than aware that that”—I point my finger at the entrance doors that lead to the outside where Drew could be waiting—“could happen. But I ignored that little voice in the back of my mind.”

His eyes search mine as he remains silent for a heartbeat. “How about we stop blaming ourselves and put the blame on the person who caused this?”

“My dad?”

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