Page 166 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

His smile is all sorts of sweetness. “You know, you could be a cheerleader.”

“Like a River cheerleader?”

“I like the sound of that.”

“I’m sure you do.”

He nudges me playfully with his shoulder as we start down the hallway. “Don’t worry; I can be your cheerleader, too.”

I feel lighter than I did last night, more clear-headed, and dare I say happy. But that makes me think of what happened with the society, and my mood plunges. He notices, his attention zeroed in on my downturned lips.

“Where’d your head just go?” he wonders as he collects his keyfob from a bowl that’s on a table near the elevator.

“I was just thinking about the society.” I daze off momentarily as images of tree branches and rain flood my vision.

Faint memories of that day, I think.

He pushes a code into the security box beside the elevator doors. “You know everything’s going to be fine with that. Now that you’re with me, and we passed their stupid initiation”—his jaw clenches—“they should leave you alone.”

“Maybe.” The doors glide open. “Why would they erase stuff on my phone?”

He steps onto the elevator, but I hesitate, taking a deep breath before entering. Outside of the window, I can see the view of the city, the towering building glittering against the rising sunlight that paints the morning sky with hints of dusty pink and glimmering orange.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out.” River holds my hands as the elevator starts to descend.

I stare out the window, thinking about all the weird shit that’s happened since I received that letter from the Royal Academy. The society came after me. I discovered I own a necklace that belonged to a deceased family. My aunt ghosted me but then sent me a strange message indicating people are after me. Then there was that wealthy man I met in the grocery store who knew my aunt.

“You know, it’d be a pretty view if it weren’t for the fact that we’re so high up,” I mumble as I stare out the window, gripping River’s hand too tightly.

He inches closer to me and slips his free arm around my back. “Just remember to breathe.”

I realize then that my breathing has become shallow, so I gradually inhale and exhale, attempting to steady it.

“River,” I say as reality slowly creeps up on me. “If by chance I’m an Everford, that means I’m going to be hunted, right?” When my gaze welds with his, he slips his arm up my back.

“Only if people find out.” He carries my gaze. “But I’m going to do everything I can to ensure they don’t. And if the society already knows, I will find a way for them to doubt their suspicions.”

I don’t ask him how he’s planning on doing that or remark on how implausible it sounds. I pathetically latch on to the hope that maybe he can follow through on his promise.

I usually don’t try to have hope.

But right, it might be all I have.

River

I’m obsessed, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I’ve never been fixated on anyone. But Maddy, everything about her draws me in, from her scent, to the way she smiles, to the way she wants to help me. And don’t even get me started on how much I want to protect her. If she knew what I was thinking right now, she’d probably hand me my ass. Maddy is the kind of woman who wants to protect herself, and I can respect that, but I want to make sure she’s okay, too.

Like, right now, as we’re on the elevator, I can tell she’s anxious because of her phobia of heights. So, I place my hand on her back to comfort her, and when she leans into me, pressing her body against mine, I damn near die.

Like seriously, just kill me now.

I never thought I’d have this, that I’d get the chance to feel this way about someone. And part of me hates that I have. My mind keeps going back to the phone call I received from my father. If I continue to fake date Maddy, he’ll get involved. Is it worth it to fake date her, to make her deal with him? What if we were really dating? Would it be worth it? Would she ever even consider really dating?

Jesus, I sound like a basket case.

As the elevator opens, I yank myself from my insecure internal monologue and focus on stepping out.

“You’re quiet,” Maddy remarks as we walk toward my car.

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