Page 61 of The Prince and the Puck
Still, when I saw Declan’s face—when I saw the concern he clearly felt for me—it tugged at my heart. And before I thought better of it, I threw myself at him. I didn’t even realize we had an audience until it was too late. I stepped away from him, trying to suppress the rush of blood to my face and the rapid beating of my heart.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Declan said softly.
I stepped out of his arms. “Me too,” I said. But now, there were more pressing matters at hand. “We have to find Neel,” I said, dashing down the corridor ahead of them.
Declan, Lambert, and Stuart followed, trailing me turn by turn through the hallway. Finally, Declan called out, “Lizzy, do you even know where you’re going?”
I stopped. Where was I going?
“We have to find Neel,” I repeated, more for my own benefit than anyone else’s. Maybe there had been some cleaning products in that closet that had messed with my thinking.
Stuart spoke up. “One of the guards told us he saw Neel rushing to the helipad.”
The helipad. That wasn’t good.
I spun and took off again, angling toward the nearest exterior door that would take us outside. I slammed through it, Declan, Lambert, and Stuart hot on my heels, and together we raced across the lush green lawns of the palace gardens toward the helipad.
I could hear the chopper blades whirring. Which meant Neel hadn’t gotten away yet.
Declan and Lambert overtook me—because of course they did. I realized, fleetingly, that all that hockey conditioning probably made Declan really good in a chase. My competitive nature wouldn’t let him win, though. I kicked my legs into high gear.
We all arrived at the helipad together, ducking against the downward force of the chopper blades.
Neel was already strapped into the backseat, clearly waiting for his pilot. Declan ran around to the other side of the helicopter while Lambert stepped up into the passenger compartment.
“Going somewhere?” Lambert asked.
Neel didn’t say anything, just looked back and forth between the two princes. Finally, his gaze dropped to me—then past me, to the pilot approaching from the far side of the helipad. It was clear to Neel that he was not going anywhere.
When the helicopter was shut down and we’d explained everything to the pilot, Stuart took Neel into custody, and we marched him toward the royal quarters.
“I think my father might have some questions for you,” Lambert told Neel.
Neel alternated between shooting me hard looks and grumbling about monarchies in general.
“Why would you do this, Neel?” I asked him. Neel had been a mentor, a friend. A liar, I realized.
He frowned at Declan and Lambert. “The monarchy has been in place for too long, keeping our nation mired in antiquity. When it looked like King Erik would die and Lambert was in no shape to ascend, it was a perfect opportunity to modernize. We didn’t expect you to make it back,” he told Declan.
That was offending on so many levels. Neel hadn’t believed I could protect the prince? “Why did you send me if you wanted to kill Declan? You knew I’d defend him with my life.”
“I honestly didn’t think that would be enough,” Neel admitted. “Figured you’d be too busy pretending to be a PR consultant to actually keep an eye out for threats.”
“So rude,” I said under my breath.
“Who would be in charge?” Lambert asked. “Just out of curiosity.” I knew he was asking in case there were other members of the current security force or palace staff that had been working with Neel.
My former boss chose that moment to seal his lips, narrowing his eyes at Lambert. I knew he wouldn’t be able to stay silent forever. I was just glad we’d caught him before thegroup he was working with could attempt to mount an even more dangerous offensive against the crown.
But when we entered the palace again, he quieted completely. Perhaps he realized that his fate was sealed, no matter how he felt about the monarchy.
“I’ve got this,” Lambert said, stopping Declan and me in the hallway just ahead of the doors to the royal apartments. “Stuart and I can handle it.”
“You sure?” Declan asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. You have some things to discuss with Lizzy.”
Lambert’s eyebrows moved up and down in a very suggestive way, and I really wanted to know what he and Declan had been talking about.
