Page 97 of In A Faraway Land

Dieter turned back to him. “What are you doing here?”

“A lot has happened since you left,” Bastien said, not looking up.

As Dieter talked to Bastien, the name clicked in her head. She’dnever met Anaïs Mirabaud’s father, Bastien Mirabaud, because he had been called away on business right before every event of the Shooting Star Cotillion she had thrown. Anaïs’s uncle, Valerian, had stepped in for every one of the events and meetings.

She asked Dieter, “Bastien is your uncle?”

Dieter nodded.

“You were at the Shooting Star Cotillion the year that Anaïs made her debut,” she saidto Dieter.

Valerian raised his eyebrows at Dieter.

“Valerian was there,” she said, pointing at the older man.

Dieter nodded. “I saw him.”

“I didn’t see you,” Valerian said.

Dieter shrugged and leaned back in his seat. “I was standing against the walls in the shadows, watching for threats. I wasn’t on the floor, dancing.”

Yes, Dieter had refused to dance with her that night, no matter howshe’d wheedled. Pierre had rescued her from being a wallflower at her own cotillion.

A square of sunlight traveled across the van’s blue carpeting as they leaned around a corner.

Even with all her problems with her own father, Flicka could sense something terrible was going on between Dieter and Valerian.

Valerian said, “Now that it’s settled thatPrinzessinFriederike Augustawill be accompanyingus back to Geneva,” Valerian said, “let’s retrieve Alina from that babysitter who lives next door to you before we take the Geneva Trust jet home to Switzerland, shall we?”

Dieter closed his eyes, and his throat worked as he swallowed. The lines around his eyes deepened. “Just let her stay there. The babysitter will call someone to take her. It’s all settled.”

“She’s my grandchild. Of course,Alina simply must come to Geneva with us.”

A chill settled over Flicka’s skin, and she rubbed her arms. She’d never felt much warmth from Valerian Mirabaud, but Dieter’s reaction—even suggesting that Alina should go live with Wulf and Rae rather than come with them—scared her.

Outside the window, the squat city of Las Vegas rolled behind them as they drove toward the airport.

Flicka knew shewas being kidnapped, and Dieter couldn’t save her this time.

Flicka escaped and survived

In A Faraway Land,

but the story gets darker

At Midnight.

Read more about

At Midnight

at Google Play.

Raphael Mirabaud

My whole life circled back to this,

to him.