“Ann!” I yell, as if she’ll be able to hear me. I risk turning loose of my brother and wave with both arms, jumping up and down. “Help us! Help us!”
Alexei stares at me, dumbfounded. “Gracie, we have to go.”
“We need help,” I tell him.
“Yes, so we must …” But Alexei trails off as, slowly, the gates swing open.
I look at him and take up Jamie’s arm. “Come on.”
The guards recognize me. I was just here, they know. I was a personal guest of Princess Ann’s, so one of the men rushes toward us.
“We need to see the princess,” I say. “Now!”
But even I am a little surprised when the doors swing open, and the most wanted man in Adria and I drag an ambassador’s unconscious grandson into the palace’s halls.
Inside the palace walls there is a different kind of chaos.
Guards swarm around us. Two men take Jamie from Alexei and me, dragging him away. We are in a gleaming hallway and my brother is getting blood all over their good rug. I want to apologize, to ask for some paper towels so I might clean up the mess. But I’m too numb. I’m shaking, reaching out for Jamie.
I yell out his name, but my brother doesn’t answer. His eyelids flutter and his legs go weak.
Princess Ann is before me now, gripping my arms.
“Grace!” she yells. “Look at me! Are you hurt?”
“Jamie’s been shot. Or stabbed. I don’t know. He’s bleeding. He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“I know. But, Grace, are you okay? Were you hit?”
Was I? I wonder. I was stabbed and didn’t realize it until the adrenaline wore off. Maybe … “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“It’s okay, Grace. You’re with me now. You’re going to be okay.”
“I knew you were there,” I say. “In the window. I knew you were watching. And that you’d help. And … Where are they taking Jamie?”
“These are my private guards, Grace. They can be trusted.”
I want to breathe. I want it to be okay. But more than anything, I want to be back in the embassy, on US soil, safe and sound.
I just want Jamie to be safe.
“Someone shot Jamie,” I mutter again, because it’s only just now sinking in. “Or was he stabbed?” It’s a big thing not to know, but a silly thing to wonder. Does it even matter? My brother might die either way.
Ann holds me steady. “I never should have let you leave.”
“Why would anyone want to shoot Jamie?”
For a moment, it looks as if Ann might actually tell me, but she just grips me by the shoulders, steers me down a long hall.
“Dominic was with me,” I say. “But then he wasn’t.”
“Yes. Dominic has always been protective of the women in your family. Now come. We have to get you away, Grace.”
“Wait.” I stop and look around. “I need to go with Jamie. Where’s Alexei?”
“Don’t worry about them.”
“I need to see my brother. Take me to him.”
People don’t give orders to princesses. I watch Ann process this fact, see her start to speak, but before she can say a word, alarms sound. Ann gasps and jumps as the doors swing open and armed guards swarm the room, yelling and running. Only Dominic stands still among the chaos.
It takes me a moment to realize that he has a death grip on Alexei’s arm and he’s not smiling. The most wanted man in Adria is inside the palace, just feet away from the future queen. Maybe that’s why Ann’s face morphs from fear to confusion to anger.
“What’s going on here?” she says.
“I’m sorry for the disturbance, Your Highness, but as you can see we have the fugitive in custody. You’re safe now,” Dominic reports.
Ann was safe before they burst through the doors, but I don’t say so. I’m too relieved to see Alexei and Dominic, to know that they’re both still okay.
Dominic tugs Alexei’s arm and stares at me. “We’re sorry to disturb you, ma’am. But don’t worry. It’s over. I’ll escort your guests home, and I apologize again for this. Come on, Grace — we need to get you and your brother home. Now.”
He gives Alexei’s arm a shake, and before I can say anything, Dominic turns and I follow. With one quick glance back at Princess Ann, I rush toward the doors.
Outside, a van idles. There are no cameras, no cops. There’s only Dominic and the palace guards.
“This boy’s been injured!” someone yells in Adrian, but Dominic is already there, calmly directing the men who are carrying Jamie on a gurney, sliding it into the van. Alexei follows, but I stay in Dominic’s arms, screaming without making a sound.
Dominic’s sleeves are rolled up and his hands are inside my brother’s chest — they’re inside his chest, I realize, and I think I’m going to be sick. But I can’t stop looking as Jamie lies on the table in the formal dining room — the very place where just days ago Spence told Ms. Chancellor about his family, where Jamie and Grandpa passed looks between them as if I was the one who would never be okay again.
Chaos surrounds us.
I can hear Grandpa yelling in the hall.
“This is Ambassador William Blakely. I want a helicopter and I want it now! You tell the general I don’t care who he has to get out of bed or dig up from the grave, there will be a chopper on the roof of this embassy within the hour. Do you hear me?”