NO ESCAPE
The car keeps moving, snow falling against the windshield like soft ash.
I stare at the men’s silhouettes, fury boiling in my throat.
The car speeds down a long, silent road, and I sit stiffly between the two royal men, one on each side of me like human walls. My pulse hasn’t slowed since they dragged me out of the coffee shop. My palms won’t stop trembling.
They had shown me the royal seal.
They had said it was a “royal order.”
They hadn’t given me a choice.
I swallow hard. “Can somebody… please tell me where you’re taking me? Am I under arrest?”
The man on my right speaks without turning his head.
“No, Miss Melissa. You’re being escorted.”
“Escorted to *where*?” I push, voice sharp.
“A royal residence.”
My stomach twists painfully. “The palace?”
“No.” The man on m
