I remember the face peering at me from the top of the security fence. Eli. He’s friends with Noah and Alec.
He told them about the gate.
The words in my old diary flash in front of my eyes, and I’m so angry I black out for a moment. Eli’s supposed to protect me. He—
Something crashes over my head.
My heart leaps into my throat.
He’s still here.
He’s inside my house.
When I recover enough of my faculties to think clearly, I cradle Queen Boudica against me and crawl down the hallway, keeping each movement as silent as possible until I reach my father’s study.
SMASH.
I jump at the sound of something breaking. It comes from upstairs. I think of all my things scattered around the ballroom. If they’ve destroyed my shit, I’m going to fuck them up.
I’m tempted – oh so tempted – to creep upstairs and drive my knife into Alec’s kidneys while his back is turned. My fingers tighten on the blade, and I imagine the satisfaction of feeling it sink into his flesh. I make the motion of twisting it inside him, mincing his organs to mush. But I won’t leave Queen Boudica. I don’t know how many people are upstairs or what they intend to do to us, and I won’t put her in more danger. Right now, I need to get those bastards out of my house.
I crawl into the study, find the release for the panic room, and tuck us both inside. As the door swings shut behind me, I mash the buttons to bring up the CCTV. I’ve disabled several cameras to save money, but I still had five trained on different areas of the house. I flick through the feeds, and I see him – a figure in dark pants and a green hoodie climbing out an upstairs window.
He’s alone.
The figure leaps from the ledge. I suck in a breath, hoping he’ll break his leg on the flagstones. No such luck – he lands with remarkable grace in a soft garden bed, narrowly missing a towering cacti because the gods want to spit in my face today.
He’s on his feet in a flash, running for the wall, right where Eli stacked the lawn furniture. He bounces on one of the chairs, grabs the top of the wall, and vaults over like he’s in the fucking Olympics or some shit. He tucks his chin down, obscuring his face in the shadow of the sage-green hood, but as he sails across the wall I get a good look at his hoodie.
Only it’s not a hoodie.
It’s a Stonehurst Prep letterman jacket.
Alec LeMarque’s jacket.
I clutch Queen Boudica to my chest as I press the phone to my ear. It goes straight to voicemail. “I need you,” I whisper. “Alec LeMarque was in my house. Get Galen over here, now.”
Antony’s boys swarm the manor, searching from top to bottom in case Alec left an accomplice behind. On the first floor landing, they find a table upturned, the porcelain vase smashed across the tiles. That was the sound that startled me. My room – my old room – is also a mess, more of a mess than I’d left it after I found the diary. My porcelain dolls had been thrown against the walls until their heads shattered. But the ballroom and my new bedroom remain untouched, thank fuck.
They don’t find any intruders. We have no way of knowing what Alec might’ve seen.
I know this is bad, but it’s a background concern to me right now. I’m covered in sticky mess from Cleo’s stunt, my shirt stained with Queen Boudica’s blood. I pace across the kitchen while Antony’s doctor – the infamous Dr. Galen – lays Queen Boudica on the table and expertly stitches her wound. She stares up at him with those saucer eyes swimming in pain, her fur matted, her breathing labored.
The words flash across my vision. Words written in the blood of my best friend. GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY.
My fist connects with the kitchen wall.
“Easy, tiger.” Antony doesn’t look up. He’s on his phone, no doubt rescheduling the practice session.
“He cut my cat,” I hiss. “I’m going to cut off his balls.”
“All done. She’s a tough girl.” Dr. Galen kisses the top of Queen Boudica’s head. She nuzzles in his arms, groggy from the drugs. “She’ll be tearing up the joint again in no time.”
“She’s going to be fine?”
“The wound looked nasty, but it was superficial. Her attacker managed to miss all her major