I took a swig of the whiskey and laid back in my bed, satisfied that I was back in the palace yet feeling horrible about what happened with Queen. As weak as it made me sound, I did want to explore things with her. I had only gotten a taste of how it felt to be with her, and I wanted more.

How pathetic.

She was a liar, right? Why would I want anything to do with her?

Except...a feeling of something being off was nagging at me. I tried pressing Xyla for more information about this supposed stalker, but she was on Xavier's side, who was still adamant that Queen made it all up.

What was up with everyone not trusting her? Was she a liar and I just couldn't see it? That seemed unlikely. I was good at reading people...some people would say great, but I had trouble with in-depth analyzations...which is where I relied on Xavier. His intuition was a lot more reliable than my own and I had never questioned his judgment...until today.

I knew our past with his ex-girlfriend kept him on high alert where lies were concerned, but surely he wouldn't have let that impact his actions today, right? My mind was full of repeated questions about everything, but they all boiled down to one.

Could I trust Xavier's gut more than my own? Because right now, my instincts were telling me that we let Queen leave the house in a city she didn't know, without her phone or means to get home. "Fuck." I sighed, sitting up and taking out my phone. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep if I didn't figure this shit out.

I dialed Xavier's phone number and put it on speaker, staring down at the floor. "Hello," he spoke, the tiredness evident in his voice. "Syn, it's two in the morning."

"I know I just needed to talk to you for a minute."

"What's up?"

"Are we sure that Queen was lying?"

"Syn..."

"What reason would there be to lie?" I questioned. "She just met us."

"I don't know. Maybe she's crazy."

"She didn't seem crazy, Xavier." I rubbed my forehead, trying to recall all the moments I spent with her.

"Syn, a lot of people don't seem crazy. I know it's hard for you to see people's true intentions, but you need to trust me. I've been by your side forever, I wouldn't call her a liar if she wasn't one. I liked her a lot too."

"Okay."

"Try to get some rest and stop thinking about it. We have better things to worry about." I nodded, listening to his words. The line remained quiet for a few seconds and I heard him sigh. "You're going to go look for her, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am." I stood up, getting ready to go. "Even if it was all a lie, I need to ask her why face to face."

"Be careful, Syn."

"Always."

꧁꧂

I opened the door to Queen's bedroom at the palace and switched the light on. Her luggage was still in the corner of the room with a couple of items scattered on the table and her bed. I walked around, looking for an item that would aid in a location spell for her, and I sighed.

I glanced around at the items, not wanting to move anything out of their respective spots; which was fairly simple to do as everything was still packed. I checked the room up and down, not missing a single spot and when I found nothing, I sat on her bed, resting my arms on my legs. I had to be missing something.

My eyes landed to my side where Queen's nightstand was and I eyed the modern piece of furniture. A single clock lay on top of it, every minute passing reminding me of the danger she could potentially be in and I ran a hand down my face. I rested my chin on my palm, and I furrowed my brows when my eyes landed on the slightly ajar drawer.

I couldn't see inside of it, but compared to all the other drawers, this one seemed to be the one she used. I pulled the handle, looking inside and my eyes landed on torn papers. I pulled them out one by one, laying them on her pillow like some jigsaw puzzle. When it was all together, I read the eerie message on it and I was reminded of the message on her phone from earlier.

Little one...

That same phrase was used in the text message earlier and if I were to go by Xavier's logic, Queen wrote this. "You wrote this to yourself, ripped it up, and hid it in your room?" I whispered to myself. No, that doesn't make sense. I didn't like that I was doubting Xavier, but his theory wasn't adding up to anything for me.

That meant the only thing left was my own thoughts. My own intuition. The idea of solely relying on myself to figure this out was nauseating, but I pushed through it and sprung myself into action. I rushed to Queen's luggage, rummaging through random clothes until I found a picture of her and her mother hugging. Good enough.

I stood up, holding the paper in my hand as I paced the room and closed my eyes. The familiar tingling in my fingers came up as I felt my mind ascend my body, and I took a deep breath. My head remained pitched black as I made a connection with her, willing myself to find her. "Invenire," I whispered.

A blob of colors began to pop up in my mind and I pushed my mind to focus on them. A cool wind hit my face as the image began to form, and I shivered. Focus. As if my eyes were being snapped open, I gasped and looked around to see myself standing in the middle of an alley. I looked up at the dark sky, and empty street in the distance, and I frowned.

A large door opened in front of me, and a man with long blonde hair walked out, holding a phone up to his ear. "Yes, I have her," he said as he walked straight through me. My eyes followed him momentarily before flicking to the door he came out of, and I entered it, stepping into a room filled with crates and woodshop materials.

I looked towards a dark corridor where a small groan was emanating from and I walked towards it, spotting Queen tied to a chair. Her head hung low, blood staining her cheeks and rage floated through me. Rage at whoever did this, but also at myself.

She was here because of me.

I wanted to stay and somehow let her know I'd be coming for her, but I couldn't. For her sake, I needed to find out where she was and rush there before anything else happened. I tore my eyes away from her, rushing back out to the alley and into the sidewalk where the street signs were.

"9711 Cherwood Lane," I whispered. In the corner of my eye, I saw the man who came out of the room where Queen was heading back in and I clenched my fists at my sides. You're going to die.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and I was back in Queen's room. I sprinted out, contemplating getting Xavier to come with me, but I didn't need him to somehow deviate my mission. Right now, all I needed to focus on was getting to her and killing the bastard who had the nerve to take what was mine.

꧁꧂

I parked in front of the alley and looked up and down the street, seeing nobody. I headed down the dark walkway, cringing at the overflowing trash bags in the dumpsters. I looked up at the run-down buildings surrounding the place and wondered just how exactly Queen managed to get here. This wasn't where she belonged.

I walked to the grey door I saw earlier and kicked it down, stepping inside to see a group of men inside smoking and playing cards. "Who the fuck are you?" A man yelled, standing up and pulling out his gun.

I rolled my eyes at him, my eyes roaming around the table and landing on the man I saw when I did the spell. He looked at me, fear dancing in his eyes and I knew that he knew exactly who I was. My eyes moved to the place where Queen was less than an hour ago, but it was empty. I turned back to the man who knew exactly where she was to see him sinking into his seat, and I took another step into the room, making three more of them stand up and aim their guns at me. "Yo man, who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"What's wrong, gentleman? Don't have room for another player?" I placed my hands into my pocket, looking around at them. A fat man, stroking his beard at the table, eyed me from his seat. From his ringed fingers and heavy gold chain, I pieced together that he was the leader of whatever the hell was going on here.

"How much money do you have on you?" He questioned. I raised my arms, slowly reaching for the clip of money in my pocket with one hand and tossing it onto the table. One of the men standing snatched it, flipping through it and nodding at his boss. The large man looked at him before turning back to me. "You ever play before?"

"Nope, but a card game can't be that hard, right?" I walked towards an empty chair at the table and sat down, crossing my arms.

"Why are you really here?"

"That man," I pointed to the blonde. "has someone important to me, and I don't plan on going home without her. With that being said, I suggest we raise the stakes...only if you have the guts, of course."

They all laughed, except for the blonde man who knew exactly what I was capable of. "What do you suggest? Since you're so big and bad." The man let out a large laugh, his entire body shaking.

"A game for your lives," I said. "If one of you wins, then all of you survive. And if I win, you all die and I take your man over there to go get my girl. How does that sound?" I studied him, a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead, and kept my eyes on him as I heard him gulp.

A man like him wouldn't be able to pass up a challenge like this one in front of his men. He needed-no craved respect, and I would use that against him. Leaders who needed the validation of their subordinates were always the easiest to take advantage of.

"Sounds easy enough." He laughed, picking up a cigar from the table. "But I'm gonna add one thing. If one of us wins, your girl dies, and you'll watch."

"Deal."

Hang in there, Queen.