The Golden Chalice

✰✦✰ Chapter 30 ✰✦✰

✰✦✰ Chapter 30 ✰✦✰
" I'm Keeping The Baby! "

"PARTY" DIDN'T SUFFICE for the elegance of this celebration.

A string quartet sat at the far end of the dome-like museum; the glass ceiling showcasing the starry night above us; creamy granite walls dotted with paintings collected throughout history; glass cases of historical artefacts standing in rows beside a dance floor, sitting underneath red carpets; laughs that sounded rich rang throughout the place and I suddenly felt out of place.

It'd been nearly a decade since I'd been to a celebration like this one—or anything of the sort. As a little girl, I'd had the confidence one needed for these things. I'd been trained for it, after all. Now? I didn't know what to expect. Especially when I couldn't hide beneath the comforting disguise of my false identity, not when everyone now knew who I was.

Luckily for me, however, the bouncer hadn't recognised me—the huge monster of a man had been too busy admiring Jacks. I could tell it bothered Rinne that all he had to do was exist to get everything he desired. Goodness, it was a dangerous attribute to have.

"I reckon we need to split up," Darius rubbed his hands together as we strode into the museum. "We're easier to target if we're glued to one another."

"Agreed," Jacks straightened his suit.

"But still," I argued, "it wouldn't be wise to have everyone walk off separately, especially when we don't all know what we're doing." I shot Darius, Sarinne and Miles a look.

Miles's dark eyes flashed. "What the hell are you on about?"

Sarinne gaped at me. "I know what I'm doing."

"No, don't worry now," Darius' lips tipped upward. "The princess will instruct us."

I cocked my head and considered him. "Do you want them to catch you, identify you and eventually send you back to Crimson Isle where your boss awaits?"

Darius only glared.

I narrowed my eyes. "I'll happily let them know."

Luna inched closer to Miles and I found it more than surprising that he didn't even seem to mind it. "I think we should go in pairs. Since Scarlett, Jacks and I already know how to behave—"

"Luna, I like you too much for you to be saying these things," Sarinne warned her.

Luna's helpless eyes trained on her. "I'm only trying to help."

Miles sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," he grumbled. "We'll go in pairs. But even that doesn't change the fact that the three of us apparently look fucking hopeless."

I glanced over my shoulder at the people holding their champagne glasses, at those on the dance floor that kissed their wives and husbands lovingly, and even at those that seemed to be in deep, what I assumed to be, business conversation.

"We'll act like married couples," I murmured, facing the group. "They'll take us more seriously if they think we mean family business too, won't they?"

Jacks cleared his throat. "Good point."

"Okay," I said, clasping my hands together. "Split up. Act in love. Don't screw it up and remember the signal if you've found the earrings, okay?"

"Who wants to start by looking for clues upstairs?"

Darius smiled sweetly down at me. "We will, won't we, Princess?"