Page 130 of The Prize

My body ached and adrenaline still bubbled beneath the surface. I wanted to get those paintings to The Wilder as fast as possible where they could be guarded by state-of-the-art technology. I was glad it was over—

My body froze as a wave of terror drenched me in sweat. I was going to just stand by and allow it to happen. What if he’d done it already? I flew out of there, raced into the foyer, and jolted when I made it to the bottom of the stairs and saw Tobias heading along the landing.

I bolted up the stairs after him. Tobias continued into the master bedroom. I caught up with him in time to see him pulling off his shoes and falling back onto the bed.

He lay there with his clothes on and his hands resting behind his head and yawning. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Where is she? TheMona Lisa?”

“You’ll never see her again, Zara.”

“Tell me you didn’t burn her.”

He pushed himself up onto his elbows. “No.”

“Then how?”

He patted the bed. “Sit down.”

“Tobias?”

“I didn’t want you to think of me as the person who’d destroyed her. Didn’t want you looking at me that way.” He gave a shrug. “I delegated.”

“Who to?”

“Jade.”

“What if she misunderstands? What if she destroys the wrong one?”

He sprung up off the bed. “She wouldn’t do that.”

I read doubt in him, I was sure of it, and turned on my heels and bolted along the hallway and down the staircase, through the foyer and all the way into his workshop.

I yelled when I saw the authenticMona Lisawas gone. All of the paintings were gone.

Tobias caught up and followed my stare.

“Where are they?” I burst out.

“Here.” He hurried through and quickly made it to the chrome door at the back. “Open the door, Jade.”

Barging past him I needed to see them all before I took my next breath. They were all stacked neatly, and there at the end lying on a flat board was the authentic portrait of theMona Lisa.Approaching her, I peered down at the painting, needing reassurance there was no foul play going on here, no smoke and mirrors, no betrayal that I’d been too dazed to catch.

Tobias wrapped his arms around me. “See, everything’s okay.”

A chill washed over me as I turned to look up at him. “How is it to be done?”

“I thought this was what you wanted?” He frowned. “Having her do the honors lets us both off the hook.”

That was true at least, but all I could think of was how beautiful that painting was, how mesmerizing, how profound an existence.

Running from the house, knowing the others—the ones we couldn’t carry—were burning up.

I shoved Tobias aside and ran back into the main workshop. “Jade.”

“Jesus, Zara.” Tobias was right behind me. “I thought this was what you wanted.”

I jolted to a stop when I got to the kitchen and saw Jade hovering over the stove before the kettle. Tobias bumped into my back and I staggered forward toward the central island, and my gaze saw the painting lying flat on the granite. She was fine. The painting was in one piece and Jade hadn’t destroyed her.