Page 99 of The Prince of Broken Crowns

My head angles to the side, and strands of my hair fall into my eyes. “What do you mean, they no longer exist?”

“I mean, their bloodline died out in the seventies.”

I blink at him. “How in the hell does a bloodline die out?”

He shrugs. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out, but there’s literally no information about them online. The only reason we were able to find out about the necklace belonging to this family is because of the online archive for the royal families. But the only info on there was what I just told you. That’s it. So, you having that necklace is particularly weird. Honestly, even if it didn’t belong to this deceased royal family bloodline, it’d still be weird because royals try to keep those necklaces off the market. And if one does make it there, it’d be sold for a ton of money.”

“Maybe one slipped through the cracks?” I offer. “Or maybe my aunt gave me a counterfeit? It could be possible.”

“I thought about that, too, but royals have people who try to keep those off the market, too.”

“Dude, you royals work awfully hard to keep things exclusive.”

“Trust me; I completely agree.” He traces the top of the steering wheel with his fingers. “Do you still have the necklace?”

“Yeah, but it’s at my house. I wanted to get it, but I’m worried Drew’s watching the place.” I dither. “I think I need to try to get it, though, especially after what you just told me. Because if it is counterfeit, then we can just let this weirdness drop. But if it’s not, then I’ll have to track down my aunt and figure out how the hell she got a hold of it.” I give a brief pause. “Or maybe I could sell it and pay off Drew.” I perk up. “Oh my God, what if I could? I mean, I know you said there’s people who try to protect that from happening, but what if I just gave it to Drew in exchange for my freedom?”

“That could be a possibility,” he says, but his tone conveys a strange dubiousness to it.

“What are you not telling me?” I accuse. “Because I’m getting this feeling there’s something else.”

He rotates to face me again. “It’s not that I’m not telling you. It’s just this idea that I have that could explain why your aunt got a hold of the necklace. I have no proof, though.”

“Okay … So, what is it?”

“That … that maybe she’s part of this bloodline.”

“What?” I squeak then clear my throat. “Seriously, what?”

He scratches the back of his neck. “It’s just a theory, but I’m telling you, the probability of her having that necklace by merely stumbling across it in some store is almost as rare as the bloodline it belongs to.”

“But my family is from northside,” I stress, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. “Trust me; if anyone came from money, my parents wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret. And if my aunt is a royal, then that’d make my mother one, too. She would not keep that a secret. Or do I need to remind you of that little phone conversation you overheard while we were in jail?”

“I guess I see your point.” Doubt still weighs in his tone.

Me? I’m pretty convinced what I said is accurate. However, the longer we sit in silence, the more I want answers.

“You know what? If you’ll drive me to my place, I’ll sneak in and get it. We just need to be super careful, especially if my mother’s home. I’ll have to sneak in through the window but scope the place out first.” I shift in my seat. “We’ll have to park a ways away and walk because your car will stand out. There’s this carport a handful of blocks away from my place; you can park there and wait for me while I sneak in …” I trail off at the sight of the wariness on his face. “Never mind. I need to take care of this myself. I’ll ride the bus there tomorrow and figure something out?—”

He places a hand on mine, causing my next words to get caught on my lips.

“I can take you there. I want to go with you, though.”

I shake my head. “You don’t want to leave your car unattended anywhere in that area.”

He considers this. “Then we’ll leave it in Royal City and take an Uber there.”

“River, that’s too expens?—”

He traces his fingers along the back of my hand, silencing me again. He needs to stop touching me like that because it’s too distracting.

“Let’s do this tonight. That way, we can at least know if it’s fake. If not, then we can try to figure out how your aunt got a hold of it. If it is fake, then that’s one less thing to worry about.” He leaves his hand on mine as he dazes off with a crease between his brow. “If it’s not a fake, it could explain why the society is targeting you.”

My brows shoot upward. “Wait—what?”

His gaze collides with mine, and the intensity in his eyes sends a chill down my spine. “If you’re from this allegedly dead bloodline and the society found out, it could be behind the cause of why they’re going after you, depending on why this family bloodline no longer exists.”

“How would they even find that out?” I shake my head. “Never mind. Forget I asked, because there’s no way I could be a royal.” When he stares at me, I stress, “River, dude, think about it. Could you imagine me dressed up in designer dresses and going to fancy dinners?”

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