Even Reed hasn’t heard anything from her since yesterday and was having a mini panic attack about walking in the halls alone.

If I were a better person, I would’ve offered her my company. Unfortunately for Reed, I’m not. Astor spent the entire day with her, though. Knight killed him in a thousand different ways in his mind, then nearly broke his leg in practice.

Good times.

Back to Elsa. If she isn’t talking to her best friend, how the hell am I supposed to contact her?

I tell myself that she needs time, and that after a while, she’ll be open enough to listen to me.

The problem is, I’m not a fucking patient person.

Being away from her for an entire day is messing with my senses. I’m on a fucking withdrawal and it’s irritating and pissing me off. I can only return to normal when Elsa’s beside me where she belongs.

She promised.

She fucking promised.

If she thinks I’ll let her get away she must not know me after all.

I’m happy to have her relearn me all over again.

“Ethan will make his move during this fundraiser.”

Jonathan’s words bring me back to the present.

“How can you be so sure?” I raise one eyebrow.

“He must know I’ve been after this deal for months. It’s not mere coincidence he returned when the contract is near completion. He likes disrupting his enemies’ patterns.”

“Will he rival you?” Levi asks.

“Probably. I’m still not sure about his tactics, but I’ll be there to ruin every last one of them.”

“It’s been ten years, Uncle and you both lost your wives. Isn’t it time for bygones to be bygones? You can even ride into the sunset and shit.”

Jonathan cuts him a glare so harsh, Levi shakes his head.

“Just saying. Jesus.”

“You’ll both be there.” Jonathan wipes his mouth with a napkin. “That’s final.”

If Ethan goes, then Elsa most likely will, too. Not because she likes this sort of thing, but because Ethan will seize the chance to show off his daughter and Steel Empire’s heir to the world.

She’ll be there.

I can almost smell her coconut scent all the way to Friday.

“Fine,” I tell Jonathan.

He nods with approval. “See you both on Friday.”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t agree,” Levi protests.

But Jonathan is already out of the room. He’ll probably spend the night in his office making the world a bit more horrible.

“Little fucker.” Levi throws an apple at my head.

I catch it and take a bite.

“This is about Elsa, isn’t it?” he asks.

I lift a shoulder.

Everything is about Elsa, but neither he nor Jonathan need to know that.

Showing weakness is the easiest way to be beaten at your own battle with your own soldiers.

I throw the apple back at Levi and stand up, another plan forming in my head.

He catches the fruit and crunches a bite. “You don’t deserve her.”

“Just like you don’t deserve Astrid?”

“At least I changed for her. What did you do for Elsa?”

“I found her again.”

And no one will take her away from me.

I leave the dining room and retrieve my phone. A number called me 1001 times today. It’s an exaggeration, but yeah, he called me non-stop. I’m surprised he didn’t raid the school.

“Elsa, is this you?” Jaxon Quinn’s concerned voice filters through the phone. “You said you’ll come back today, but you weren’t at school. Your aunt is filing a missing person report.”

So they did raid the school.

“This is Aiden King.”

“Aiden.” He sounds taken aback, but he quickly adds. “Is Elsa with you?”

“No.”

“No?” he shouts, and I have to hold the phone away from my ear to not go deaf. “Where is she? What happened to her? Why didn’t you call and inform us?” He launches on a series of clipped questions.

“Ethan Steel took her to Birmingham.”

After telling him the details about Ethan’s reappearance, I hang up with a smile on my face.

I might not be able to bring her back, but her aunt and uncle will.

6

Elsa

For the past two days, Dad has been taking me on long tours of the property.

I remember bits and pieces from the past, but they’re barely thirty per cent of my childhood. It’s like my memories have been frozen and there’s no way to ‘unfreeze’ them.

Dad has been patient, talking about how both of us used to come to the garden after he returned from work. I was home-schooled at the time and he often helped me with my homework.

The topic of my mother has been on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped myself from mentioning her. One, I didn’t have enough courage. Two, Knox always joined us on our walks, challenging me about beating him in becoming Dad’s favourite. They’re jokes on the outside, but I can feel the rivalry deep inside him. While he appears lighthearted, Knox is in fact lethal when it comes to what he wants.

Being with him is fun, though. It reminds me of the friendships I left behind.

My chest aches at the thought. It pains me how much I miss Kim and Ronan and even Xander and Cole.

I miss the easy friendship we share, the laughs, and even the secrets lurking under the surface. The horsemen might be royalty in RES, but each of them carries a mystery so tangible, it’s enticing.

As for Aiden…

Nope.

I’ve been blocking him from my mind since I arrived here. He doesn’t deserve my thoughts or my tears. Not now, not ever.

Maybe if I keep numbing myself to him and his enigmatic existence, I’ll eventually erase him.

Delusional much, Elsa?

I squash that voice as soon as it rises.

“Do you remember that tree?” Dad motions to an old plum tree at the eastern side of the garden. “You used to climb it all the time and then you had trouble getting down, like a kitten.”

I smile, stopping in my tracks next to Dad.

Agnus needed Knox to help him with the house’s inventory. My foster brother — it’s still weird to think of him that way — only agreed when Agnus promised him the new expensive headphones he’s been eyeing.

For some reason, I think Agnus pulled Knox aside because he knows Dad and I need alone time.

I wrap the coat across my chest. It’s not raining, but the chilly weather hits me to the bones. The dark-grey clouds hang above us with a sinister promise of a starless night in the near future. Like Aiden’s eyes.

Nope. Not going there.

Why the hell does he have eyes the colour of the clouds before the rain? Now he’ll barge into my mind whenever it rains. In a country like England, that’s pure torture.

It’s like being caught in the eye of a hurricane, smashed and wrecked to pieces, and having no way out.

I push him out of my mind and focus on Dad.

He’s wearing a black, tailored suit but no coat. It’s like he doesn’t get cold.

Like Eli.

When we were little, my hands were ice cold, but Eli’s felt like cosy winters and hot chocolate.