14. River

River

I ’m freaking out, veering toward a meltdown.

“We have to go after her,” I tell Finn as I pace in front of the SUV.

We’re still at the apartment, and the men who showed up to haul Maddy off have cleared out. I don’t know what to do. I want to go after her, but for some reason, her watch isn’t tracking her location. I worry the battery might be dead.

I yank both of my hands through my air, trying to keep my breathing even, but to no avail.

“I think we need to go to the cops,” Finn replies, worry lacing his tone. “It might be—Shit.”

My gaze darts to him. “What?”

“Paparazzi,” he mumbles, giving a pressing glance behind me.

When I spin around, camera light illuminates the darkness that blankets the parking lot.

Without saying anything else, we climb into the SUV, and Finn drives away. When he pulls out onto the street, he speeds up, veering left then right so if we’re being followed, we’ll ditch them. After a few minutes of doing that and getting deeper into the rowdy streets of northside, Finn slows down.

“I’m going to head to the police station,” Finn informs me, glancing at the people loitering the sidewalks.

“From what Maddy’s told me about the cops here, I’m not sure they’ll do anything.” I dig my phone out as it rings. My fingers are shaking as my concern about Maddy rises.

Who took her? And why? I’d say it was Drew, but those men were dressed in expensive suits, and the cars were high-end, so I doubt it.

Glancing at my phone, I note, “Mom’s calling.” It’s a little strange. Usually, she calls earlier in the day and not on the weekends because she’s busy. “Hey, mom,” I answer. “I’m kind of busy right?—”

“Get out of northside now,” she cuts me off. “Being over there and with that Maddison girl… You have no clue what you’re getting yourself into.”

This throws me off. My mother isn’t like my father, so her judgment of Maddy is out of character.

“Look,” I start.

“It’s dangerous,” she talks over me. “Being around and letting the world see it. It’s already on gossip sites. And it has nothing to do with her being poor, River. If your father and his friends find out who that girl is…” She trails off.

“What?” I hedge, leaning forward in the seat, panicking soaring through me. “What do you know about Maddison?”

Finn glances at me from the corner of his eye and whispers, “What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you everything right now—it’s too risky. But if the wrong people find out who she is, a war will start amongst the royals, and blood will be shed. You have to get out of northside. And Maddy has to stay out of the spotlight, which means you need to stay away from her. It’s the only way to keep her safe.”

“This… Does this have to do with the Everfords?”

“Don’t ever say that name again.” Her voice is clipped, and it startles me. “I have to go before they find out?—"

I hear a thump, then silence.

“Mom?” I say in a panic. “Mom, are you okay?”

Nothing.

Then the line goes dead.

“What’s wrong?” Fear asks, his fear matching my own.

“I’m not sure,” I tell him, my anxiety skyrocketing. “But I think something happened to Mom. Something bad. And I think it may have happened because she was about to tell me Maddy is an Everford.”

I call the cops to send them to my mother’s house to check on her.

This is so damn bad—First Maddy, then my mother.

My mother said blood would be shed, but whose? Maddy’s? My mother’s? Other royals?

As I peer around the streets with a sickening feeling building in the pit of my stomach, I can’t help thinking about how dark and dangerous this place is. But this area shows the truth. The Royal City hides its true side beneath glitz and glamour. And underneath all the sparkling lies a darkness that might be worse than I could’ve imagined.

About fifteen minutes later, the brutal reality really sets in. Finn and I are at the police station waiting to talk to an officer about Maddy getting taken. The lack of urgency has me assuming Maddy was right about this place. As I sit and wait with the sounds of yelling and phones ringing filling the air like nails on a chalkboard, I receive a call from the Royal City police.

I answer, crossing my fingers that maybe my mother’s phone died or she dropped it in the pool. Deep down, though, I don’t think that’s the case.

“Hello?” I answer loudly over the noise.

“Is this River Averson?” a man asks.

“Yes,” I reply with Finn watching me worriedly.

“I’ve called to give you an update about your mother,” he tells me. “We’ve searched the house and property, but we didn’t find any sign of her. But there are signs that a struggle happened in the house. The security cameras have been shut off, so we’re unable to use those. Because of this, we’ve filed her as a missing person and we’ll start a search for her.”

I nearly drop the phone.

I can’t breathe.

My mother is missing and so is Maddy.

My mother warned me that a war would start and blood would be shed.

I think it might already have.