Page 13 of The Royal Flame (The Royal Academy #3)

MADDISON

T he wind is gusting through my hair as I run as fast as my legs will allow me to.

My sneakers thud against the pavement, matching the accelerating rhythm of my heart.

The chilly air has a nip to it, but my skin is so sweaty and overheated that I barely feel it.

I know I need to slow down soon, that I’m pushing myself to hard, but the longer I run, the more worn out I become, and the less my mind races with thoughts of where my aunt Ellie—or well, my real mom anyway—is.

It's been three days since River and I discovered The Royal Flame, a secret vigilante society that both his mother and mine are in, and both of whom are currently MIA. We have no idea where they are, and we haven’t been able to figure anything out other than that.

While I don’t have any real leads, River’s sister Lily has a bit of knowledge about their mother, but she’s remained pretty tight-lipped.

River’s father has been relatively quiet as well.

But mine has contacted me a few times over the last handful of days.

He checked in this morning with me via text after my first night of being back at the academy.

His text basically reminded me that one of his bodyguards is living in a house close to campus and that he’ll be keeping an eye on me.

But the thing that’s really plaguing me is that text message I got from the unknown, telling me I’m being hunted.

Freaking hunted.

How is this even my life?

The real annoying thing is nothing has happened.

That might be worse than if something would.

As scary as it is to be hunted, at least I’d know what’s coming.

Right now, I don’t know what these people are going to do to me or who they even are.

My real father is looking into it, but so far, he hasn’t found anything out.

Or he has and is lying to me.

As I sprint around the track, I glance at the trees in the distance, wondering if this bodyguard is out there, watching me attempt to see how fast my heart can beat without giving out on me.

I can’t spot anyone through the tree branches, but I’m not alone.

Someone else is watching me from the sidelines.

“Maddy!” River calls out as I round the corner of the track. “That’s enough for now1”

Instead of listening, I quicken my pace, sprinting faster as I round the next corner.

“Maddy!” Worry laces River’s tone. “You have to stop or you’re going to injure yourself.”

The awareness that he’s right lingers in the back of my mind, but I only pick up my speed, veering around the final corner.

As the finish line comes into view, I move my legs faster, my muscles screaming at me to slow down.

But I tell them to shut the hell up, and I push hard, only slowing down when I cross the finish line.

I’m not sure what my time is and I don’t really care.

I can barely breathe, exhaustion aches through my muscles, and I have to lean over as the ability to hold myself upright becomes complicated.

“What the hell was that, Maddison?” River asks as he storms toward me.

I brace my hands on my knee, vomit burning at the back of my throat. “Did you just call me Maddison?” I breathe out as I struggle to catch my breath.

“Don’t change the subject.” He stops beside me. “You know you shouldn’t have pushed yourself that hard.”

“Maybe,” I agree. “But it got my stupid brain to turn off for a while.”

He pauses for a beat. “I know you’re going through some really messed up stuff right now, but baby, you can’t push yourself that hard. It’ll revert your training. Not help it.” He places a hand on my back. “Come on. Let’s go back to my room, and I’ll give you a massage.”

“Is that code for making out?” I joke, way too uncomfortable at the moment.

Most of my life I’ve spent dealing with my problems on my own, but River wants to help me. And he notices when something’s wrong. It’s odd to have that, and part me doesn’t know what to with it.

“No… I mean, we can if you want to, but I really do want to massage you—your muscles…” He’s rambling, probably a bit flustered by my making out joke.

I stand up, causing his hand to drift off my back. “I’m just teasing you. Although, we can make out too, if you want.” I smile, but it’s totally forced, and he can tell.

“You don’t have to pretend with me.” Strands of his dark hair fall across his forehead. He’s wearing shorts, a tank top, and his running sneakers. His full lips are dipped into a frown and his beautiful eyes are overflowing with worry.

He’s the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen.

“I’m not pretending, I’m deflecting,” I say then sigh.

“I know I’m avoiding, but I’m just tired of thinking about where Ellie and you mom could be.

And I think about that stupid text I got.

And when I try to stop thinking about it, I feel guilty.

” I point at the track. “Running helps turn off my racing mind.

“It does for me too, but I don’t want you to get hurt.” He brushes a strand of my hair that’s fallen out of my ponytail from out of my face. “You still want to make the cross-country team, right?”

“Yes,” I reply, ignore the flutters in my stomach from his touch.

“Then let’s focus on that. Tryouts are in less than a week. You definitely don’t want to get injured before then so let’s go take care of your legs.” He takes my hand and steers me toward the gate.

“You wanna take care of my legs?” I tease, playfully nudging him with my shoulder as we walk.

The corners of his lips quirk. “Why do I get the feeling you get off on teasing me?”

I smile cheekily. “Because it’s fun.”

He shakes his head, but then his eyes glint with a drop of mischief. “Well, if you want me to take care of your legs, I guess you could always just wrap them around me.”

I miss a step but quickly recover. “Is that your way of teasing me back?”

“You tell me.” He flicks me an amused glance as we cross the grassy quad, heading for the front entrance.

It’s early enough that hardly anyone is up yet, and the sky is still grey with only whisper of the sun rising. The air smells like crisp leaves and fresh air and I breathe it in, basking in the lack of population stank that plagues north side.

“I’d wrap my legs around you, River Everson.” I try to be all smooth and wink at him, but a fleck of dusts whacks me in the eyeball. “Ow,” I gripe, rubbing at my eye. “A pierce dirt hit me in the eye.”

“Here, let me see.” He touches the corner of my eye and leans in.

My eye is watering, and I keep blinking as he examines it. Eventually, though, the burning subsides.

“It feels better now,” I tell him softly, his nearness sending flutters through my stomach.

He pauses then quietly whispers, “You want to wrap your legs around me now?”

I find myself nodding. A slamming heartbeat later, his lips weld with mine as his hands find the backs of my thighs.

In one fluid motion, he scoops me up in his arms. I instinctively latch my legs around his waist and his arm slides under my ass to hold me up.

Our tongues tangle as he backs me up, kissing me deeply.

We keep kissing and kissing and kissing, not stopping even when my back brushes across the brick wall of the academy.

It’s insane how when I kiss him, nothing else exists.

If it was possible, I’d kiss him all the time.

But like away, fear trickles underneath the desire.

What if I end up like other north side women, a mistress to a wealthy, married man.

While River isn’t the kind of man who would intentionally do that, he’s also betrothed.

And I’m reminded of this as someone clears their throat.

“Um, River, can I talk to you for a moment?”

After we break out kisses and I blink myself out of my lustful haze, I find Isla, the woman River is betrothed to, standing beside us. She has on wide legged blue silk pants and a grey turtleneck. Her posture is stiff, revealing her discomfort.

River has insisted she doesn’t want the arranged marriage either, but with the way she appears at this moment, I’m questioning if he might be wrong.

“You need to talk to me right now?” River asks, shifting my weight in his arms.

As I become painful aware of how much I’m pressed up against River, I lower my legs to the ground. Puzzlement weaves across his features as he glances at me. I offer him a tense smile then step back, causing his hands to fall from my waist.

“I’m going to go take a shower.” I walk off in the direction of the entrance doors.

I don’t miss the confused expression on River’s face as I do, and I know he’ll have questions later on, but for right now, I focus on entering the wide corridor of the academy.

Like with outside, this inside of the academy is relatively empty as well.

My quick footstep echo against the high arched ceiling.

I’m not going to lie, even though the headmaster assured the public the academy was safe, uneasiness stirs inside me.

What if my room was bugged and it wasn’t found out?

Noah even looked into it and said it was clear of any recording devices.

But I’m naturally a skeptic. My gaze roves across the walls, the domed ceiling, and across every alcove I pass by.

By the time I arrive at my room, I’m bustling with nerves, and my fingers slightly tremble as I grab my phone to unlock the door.

I feel no better inside the room and partly regret bailing on River. Had I stayed with him, he’d probably come and waited for me to shower. Or offered for me to shower in his room.

I decide to take the quickest shower ever as I rush into my room and peel my clothes off. As I’m heading into the bathroom, I hear a knock on the front door. Lily is still asleep, but since I’m undressed, I decide to ignore it and turn on the shower.

While I wait for the water to warm up, though, I hear a soft knock on my bedroom door. Confused, I wrap a towel around me and make my way to the door.