What's at Stake

Chapter Four

One, two, three, four, five, six...

I grimaced as I curled another finger down, realizing that the number of people who would want to kill me now couldn't be counted on one hand. Well, the number of people who could physically get to me to kill me. If I counted everyone else, it'd most likely be in the thousands. Thinking of it that way, six wasn't too bad.

And what were the odds that Claude would realize he stole his grandfather's bones from me? Although he must have had some suspicion, otherwise he wouldn't have stolen my pendant in the first place. How could he know about it? Even in my family, only a few of us knew the truth behind the material of my pendant.

I touched my chest, feeling the phantom weight of it on my neck. I had to get it back before I returned home. I couldn't imagine what my father would do if he knew I'd lost it. It had only come off my neck a handful of times in the past decade and a half. Only to clean the bone and replace the leather cord. My father had insisted that I wear it no matter what, and I never went against him. Not after what happened when I'd ripped it off and refused to wear it the time I'd found out what it was made of.

As a sign of triumph, my father had said, wrapping the remains around my tender neck again. And for your protection.

I smiled wryly. More like for my destruction. Claude would replace his grandfather's bones with my own and wear them around his neck.

Maybe I could play it off. Pretend I didn't know that the pendant was made out of the old king's bones. That is if Claude questioned me before he killed me. Or maybe I could tell him it was my grandfather's bones. Everyone knew I shot his hand off. I could pretend it was some sort of prize to myself and—

No. That wouldn't work. Rumors betrayed me. Everyone already knew how pathetic I was. Claude would see right through that lie.

I shook off the goosebumps that rose on my arms. I reminded myself there was no use in panicking because I couldn't do anything about it even if I wanted to. Claude had already stolen it. As with everything else, I would start with a plan.

What that plan would be... well.

My phone vibrated on my vanity, and I picked it up to see a text from Kaz.

I'll wait for you in the common room.

My stomach flipped. Now the fear of my demise had been replaced with the anxiety of school. Classes started in fifteen minutes. I paced the length of my room, straightening out my bow, and repressing the memories of Claude from the night before. I could do this. I would be fine. So what if I hadn't attended a single day of school before? So what if my entire class would be made of vampires?

I could do this. I wouldn't show fear.

Giving myself a nod in the mirror, I exited the room. My eyes traveled to Claude's double doors. Would it be possible for me to sneak in there and retrieve the pendant? If I could work out what kind of schedule he had, it might be doable. I'd done my fair share of sneaking in and out of my house throughout the years. If I could get by my father, I could get by the guard station at the end of the hall. I'd slink in and steal the pendant and be out within minutes.

Assuming the pendant was out in the open. Which I felt would be a 50-50 percent chance. As a prince, Claude would probably expect that no one would enter his room without permission, so he might leave valuables hanging around. But, on the other hand, he had stolen the pendant. It would make sense if he decided to hide it.

I didn't imagine his room was much bigger than mine. I could do a sweep of it within ten minutes. Plenty of time if he were in class.

Afraid the prince in question might pop out of the double doors, I hurried into the common room, my chest feeling a little lighter. I had the basis of a plan. Maybe I could find some secrets about the hidden heir as well.