Chapter 44
I lay down on my bed as Adeline shut the door behind her. She even took away my phone or at least the one she knew about.
Sighing, I took out my AirPods and put on some music. I needed to decompress. I hadn’t slept for two nights straight. I needed to relax.
This time, Adeline was planning to keep me detained for the whole week. Waiting was hard work in itself. While all the people I cared about were out there risking their lives for me, the only thing I could do was stay here and make sure the enemy didn’t know we were coming,
I looked at the locked balcony door. Adeline was meticulous–of course, she had locked it. I got up and walked to the window beside the balcony door The tree that shaded my balcony was visible from here. I could pick the lock and run, or even better, I could call Josh, who was stationed just below my window. He would get me out of here in seconds.
It could be that easy.
And yet, I was still trapped.
I turned away, resting my forehead against the window, closing my eyes.
My phone rang. I opened my eyes and glanced at my smartwatch, smiling when I saw the name. Killian.
I picked up.
“How’s it going?”
“I got grounded ahead of schedule,” I said.
“And now?”
“They gave me a snack in my room.”
“That’s not safe.”
“What’s not safe? Before they get my signature transferring my inheritance to Nicolai, they won’t do anything,” I said.
“How are you feeling?”
“Feeling?” I repeated. “I don’t have to pretend to have dinner with them. I’m quite happy alone in my room, pretending I don’t exist.” I laughed, but even to my own ears, it sounded empty.
I looked outside my window again.
“Mila,” his voice softened.
“Hmm?”
“I’m here.”
The smile slipped off my face, and my heart clenched.
“Why do you always say the right thing?” I muttered. “I don’t want someone to comfort me.”
“Let me, just this once. Makes me feel like I’m of some use to you.”
I couldn’t reply. After a moment, I finally said, “I trust you. That’s enough.”
“Where are you?” I asked, just for the sake of it.
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Chapter 44
“We’re heading to headquarters.”
“Misha and Tong are with you?”
“Yes.”
“Make sure they come out of there alive.”
“Of course, beautiful.”
Silence stretched between us.
“Are you not going to hang up?” I asked.
“I’m bored. Keep me company.”
I smiled at his words and tooked outside the window at the tree. I sighed. If I didn’t look at it, maybe I wouldn’t feel so trapped. Seven days. I could do it.
“Say something, or I’ll fall asleep,” he said.
“Don’t you have training for this sort of thing?” I asked.
“Yes. Fine. I just want to listen to your voice.”
“How about you stop eating so many sweets?” I shot back.
He laughed. I think I could get used to it.
“Blame my mother for it,” he said, his voice filled with something almost fond. It pricked at my heart with a bittersweet feeling.
“Why?” I asked.
“She used to make the best pie in the world, and whenever my father complained, she’d say it was because if I ate sweets, I’d talk sweet–not like my father, who was aromatic.”
“How did they end up together, then?”
“Uncle Ted and my mother used to smuggle artifacts.”
“Oh.” The way he had started talking, I’d thought she was like any other mother–one who tucked you in at night and baked you pies. Well, this gave me some perspective.
“Don’t sound so surprised. Where did you think my parents met? In a coffee shop?”
“No, I just… didn’t think much about it. So, they met during a business deal?” rasked, trying to sound serious, but somehow, this conversation felt so normal that I was amused.
“Uncle Ted got in trouble with the Russians. My mother didn’t know what to do. They were a sibling duo, taking life one day at a time. When Uncle Ted got kidnapped, she needed someone.”
“So, she hired a Shadow Knight?”
“Oh, she couldn’t hire a Shadow Knight,” he said matter–of–factly. “She didn’t know anyone important enough to help. So she kidnapped one.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I stopped in shock, then burst out laughing. “Are you sure your father didn’t have Stockholm Syndrome?”
“You think you can just kidnap a Shadow Knight? Not just any Shadow Knight–the Heir–and live to tell the tale?”
“Wow.” I took a moment to compose myself. “So what happened?”
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Chapter 44
“He never said it outright, but he must have noticed someone following him and just went along with it. Or maybe he was truly bested for the first time in his life. Either way, that was it. While my father helped Uncle Ted, my parents got together.”
Now it all made sense. I saw Killian in a new light. The way he talked about it–he idealized it. The story, the connection, his parents. He had something real. Genuine.
After they died, it must have been a huge blow to him.
He had a childhood, however short it was.
I went silent.
“Why are you quiet again?” he asked.
I thought it over for a moment but finally ended up asking, “What happened to your parents?”
It was the first time I had ever asked him about his past.
He didn’t reply immediately. I waited.
“Mila, you have terrible timing,” he finally said. “I don’t want you thinking about it when you’re alone. I’ll tell you when you’re with me. Beside me.”
“Was my act of being a fragile, sensitive girl really that good?” I asked.
“You’ve gotten comfortable with negative emotions. That doesn’t mean you don’t feel them.”
“You’re more fun when you’re talking about your parents,” I muttered. He didn’t have to be this honest.
He chuckled. “What are you doing?”
“Sitting around, thinking that these are my last days in this place, and yet…“I looked outside again, at the tree.
“Yet?”
I didn’t feel excitement or happiness–just a dull sense of good riddance. But instead of saying that, I whispered, “The tree outside my balcony. I don’t want to leave it behind.”
“The tree…”
“Hmm. The tree. It was here before me. When I first got to the mansion, I could rarely leave this room. My grandfather got me homeschooled. One day, I tried to escape. I climbed that tree and jumped from a branch, busted my knee, and got caught. I still have a scar.
“But even after my grandfather was gone, the tree remained. Its branches stretched out to my balcony. I could grab it anytime I wanted to leave. Anytime I wanted to escape–it was there. It took me time, but I learned how to climb down safely.
“And now, Adeline has locked my balcony door, too.”
I felt wronged, and my eyes started to sting.
Wherever I went after this–would I find a place? Would I feel at home? Would I ever get to goof around with my friends again? I didn’t know if it was possible.
If I got stuck somewhere again, would there be a tree outside my window?
Was this the only thing this place had given me?
“Killian?”
“Hmm?”
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10:44 Fri, 11 Jul G
Chapter 44
“I don’t want to talk anymore,” I murmured, my voice low and thick.
“It’s alright. You don’t have to.”
Killian didn’t say anything else.
The silence stretched, but I could hear his breathing.
I remembered I had never hugged him. Not really. That first time, at the beach house, he had held me, but I didn’t know how real that had been.
Tonight, I wanted nothing more than to sink into his arms and stop worrying about what came next.
I curled up in bed and just listened to him breathe in my dark room.
When I opened my eyes, light filtered through my window. My face felt dry. Looking down at my sheets, I noticed wet spots.
Tears.
“You’re awake,” his smooth voice came through my AirPods.
I looked at my smartwatch.
He never hung up.
“You’re still on the phone?”
“I told you–I’d be here.”
My heart went warm. Soft.
“Okay… but don’t you have things to do? I’m hanging up now.”
I quickly ended the call, throwing my head back on the pillow.
Clutching my chest, I felt my heart racing.
What the heck?
