Page 106 of Inside the Wicked

I’m antsy as fuck waiting in the car with ten minutes until midnight. Ana was out of my sight for one hour and got herself into a shitload of trouble, so I decide she’s not getting five minutes without me once I have her back.

“What if they grab her before she can make it past the gates?” Adam asks, practically pressing his face to the tinted glass in the back seat.

Rix says next to him, “We have a distraction in place. One gunshot, and their security will flock to the threat before they lock down the shit out of that place. It gives her two minutes tops to take that window of initial panic.”

“I’m going out,” I say.

Rix’s protest is cut off with the closing of my door. My hood is up, and a black scarf covers my lower face. I blend into the bushes far enough away from the White House that no one will make out my figure from there. But I dare a fraction closer to the exit Ana indicated she’d take. I don’t want to risk her not seeing the car, which is black and blends in with the dozen others on the street we’ve parked on. This could be the difference between being home or in a cell tonight, because I’m not leaving her, no matter what.

Exactly at midnight the gunshot goes off, and the reaction is immediate. My attention is sharp, watching bodies dart away from the place Ana should emerge from, but soon they’ll be stationed around the entire perimeter with laser focus.

I could make out Ana in any light or darkness. Even her silhouette wraps my whole being in contentment. She’s so close my body itches for her, but she’s careful, waiting for people to pass before she darts right through the gaps in their net. She’s running straight, but not in my direct path. I risk leaving the cover to intercept her.

My gloved hand muffles her scream of fright, but a second scanning my eyes is all it takes for her to relax in my arms.

“Hello, little bird.”

“Rhett.”

Hearing my name in her breathy voice makes my heart soar. I take her hand, jogging across the street.

“Stop!” someone yells out.

Which of course means “get the fuck out of here.”

I open the passenger door and Ana slips inside, and I look up to gauge what we’re up against. What I don’t expect is to see President Kinsley.

He’s surrounded by armed security, out here likely against every protocol for a potential gunshot threat. Our eyes lock, and even from this distance and in the dark I can see his terror for his daughter. Yet he doesn’t advance, and neither do any of those around him since they can’t break their protection for him even if he demanded it.

He can’t fully see me, but I’m almost certain he knows who I am despite my face covering and his belief that I’m dead.

I can’t waste a moment considering his feelings when Ana is the only thing that matters—and she called for me.

I’m speeding off the moment I’m in the driver’s seat.

“Holy shit, we really just kidnapped the president’s daughter!” Rix says.

“This is insane,” Adam mutters.

Ana twists in her chair at his voice. “Did you get the book?”

“This was all for abook?” I ask irritably.

Sirens wail in the distance, and it’s only a matter of time before they clock our car since we were seen. I try not to speed to avoid flying our guilt like a flag sooner.

“Yeah I got it,” Adam says, passing it to her. “I’ve never seen your dad so pissed, and mine threatened to cut me off if he found out I was hiding things for you. So I… kind of snuck out and haven’t been back. I guess I’m a fugitive now too.”

“Shit,” Ana mutters. Then she giggles and I snap an incredulous look at her.

She only grins wider. “Look at us, a band of the president’s most wanted criminals,” she muses. She’s so casually composed, as if we didn’t just set off a terrorist alarm at the White House, take the president’s daughter right in front of him, and we’re now risking a hot pursuit. I wonder if I should be concerned or proud.

I have no idea how any of us are going to wrangle our way out of the shitstorm we’ve created, but I decide all that matters is that Ana seems happy.

I catch a glimpse of the title on her book. “What isTwilightabout that could be so important for this to be worth it?”

I’m met with the combined gasps of Ana and Rix.

“You’ve never heard of it?” Ana questions like it’s a personal offense.

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