Maybe I’m too cynical, but I don’t believe in fairy tales.
It's not the first time I scare off her suitors—discreetly, of course.
A guy approached her the other day in the library. Her head of security ran his name and found a prior conviction for indecent exposure.
I personally went to see him and told him he’d leave without teeth if he ever spoke to Jazmina again.
The next day she messaged me saying she could take care of herself.
I ignored it, because she’s wrong. No predator walks around with a sign on his chest. Sexual assault on freshmen is common, and no matter how tough she thinks she is, she knows nothing.
“What isn’t in the report? Besides the ex-girlfriends?”
“You know we’ve been undercover on campus. If I may say so, I don’t like the friendship between Her Highness, Princess Jazmina, and that girl, Linda. In my world, there’s no such thing as second chances. She could’ve put the princess in serious danger by not going to meet her that night. And she lied. Told the princess she missed the party because she fought with her boyfriend. Not true. She went clubbing, didn’t even bother telling Her Highness.”
“And what else?”
“She’s not the kind of girl who should be in the princess’s inner circle. A liar, a terrible student. And if that weren’t badenough, I overheard her talking to her boyfriend about going out together on Saturday in Marseille, which means she lied again and planned to leave the princess alone with her brother, Robert.”
I rise from my desk. “Where do I find him? Take me to him. It’s time for a face-to-face with that son of a bitch. I don’t doubt he and his sister planned to use Jazmina.”
“Won’t be hard. He drinks every night at a pub on Kensington Church Street.”
An hour and a half and one death threat later, I walk out of the pub feeling oddly satisfied.
I grab my phone and send her a message:
Forget the boat trip, princess. Go to the museum on Saturday instead.
Chapter 25
The Next Day
I’m not a morning person, but today I woke up in a strangely good mood. I always get this way near the weekends, and even though I regret agreeing to Linda’s outing, I won’t go back on my word.
“Everything’s still on for Saturday?” I ask as soon as I walk into the classroom.
She looks at me like I’m a serial killer. “Don’t come near me.”
I take a step closer. It’s just the two of us, and the way she’s acting, you’d think she expects me to pull a knife out of my backpack and attack her. “Linda, you look insane backing up like that. Are you scared of me?”
“Of you and your psycho guardian. He threatened to kill my brother and make his body disappear if Robert took you on the boat trip.”
“What?”
“Your guardian went after my brother yesterday and threatened him. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore,princess. I swear I’ll never cross your path again, but stay away from me too, please.”
She really does look terrified, and I’m torn between laughing, because the idea of her being afraid of me is ridiculous, and wondering whether she took something hallucinogenic.
Rodrick would never do something like that. I followed every rule he imposed. Annoying? Yes. Unreasonable? Often. Murderous?
No way.
Then I start remembering how every guy who talks to me only does it once . . .and never again.
Could it be . . . ?
I grab my phone, ready to call him and get to the bottom of this once and for all, only to realize it’s dead.