Page 39 of The Royal Flame
“Why? What’d you do?” she sounds amusedly intrigued.
“Punched a Royal brat in the face,” I reply, reclining back in the chair.
She chuckles. “I’m not surprised at all. Do you remember that time you hit Jerry in the balls?”
“Of course I remember. It was after he tried to cop a feel.” Sadly, that kind of stuff happened a lot at north side parties.
“You were always so badass. Seems like you still are.” She pauses. “I don’t want to sound rude, but why did you call? We haven’t talked in ages. Not that I mind you calling. I’m just curious.”
“I need a favor.” I slant forward. “I need Will’s number.”
“Why?” she asks puzzledly.
“Because I ran into him the other night and he yelled something at me that I need to talk to him about.”
“What did he yell?”
I waver, debating what to tell her. “My aunt Ellie is missing, and he acted like he had information on her whereabouts.”
“Oh… You know he could have been messing with you, right?” she checks. “He’s asshole.”
“I know. But I need to check. It’s… I just need to make sure he doesn’t know anything.”
“I get that. I do. But he’ll probably want something in return.”
“I know. I’m still working on that part. I think I know a guy who might know some of his secrets.” I resist a sigh. It’s a long shot, for sure, but it’s all I’ve got the moment.
Silence stretches across the line, and I start to worry she hung up on me.
“I can help you,” she finally says. “I know some stuff about Will that he definitely won’t want anyone to know. I was saving the information for a rainy day, in case I got into some trouble. But this sounds super urgent. I met Ellie once at one of your birthday parties and she was so nice.”
I want to agree with her, but I can’t. I always believed Ellie was the one constant in my life that didn’t use or lie to me. Now, I question every moment I ever spent with her.
Is she even who she pretended to be? Or was it all an act?
I need to find her.
I chew on my thumbnail. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Will can’t just keep secrets about a missing person. It’s fucked up,” she says. “Plus, I kind of want to see him get so pissed when he realizes he can’t get out of this one. He’s thinks he can get away with anything. He’s wrong, though. Everyone has secrets.”
Yes, Avery, they do.
I have a lot of them too.
And I wonder how many Ellie had.
Avery and I agree to meet up at a café located in the middle of North Side. It takes me about an hour to get there and by the time I enter the café, the rain is coming down so hard that I’m soaked. The place is about half full, but the people here don’t give a crap about the fact that I’m drenched. The waitress does look annoyed, though, by the water I’m tracking in. I offer her an apologetic look before taking a seat in the far corner booth. I check the time on the clock. I’m already ten minutes late, andAvery isn’t here. Part of me worries this is a set up, but I remind myself Avery is nice. That doesn’t stop me from keeping a hand in my pocket where my taser is.
I stare out the window at the grimy streets litter with dirty puddles and garbage. It makes me long to be at the academy.
But you can’t go back. They’ll probably already working on your expulsion papers.
“Can I get you anything?” The waitress asks, startling me.
My head snaps in her direction.
She’s middle aged with blonde hair and sad eyes, like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
