Despite what the news was reporting, most of the group—who were likely all Circle, I realized—were looking at me like I was the second coming. They didn’t seem too ready to turn over one of their own, even if she was a wanted criminal. It was the guests on the periphery who hung back like they thought I might be hiding a gun in my tiny beaded bag.
I glanced again at Colette and Elodie, now standing near the front doors. Colette gave me a small nod—and then approached the security guard patrolling the side of the building and pointed to me.
The guard squinted, frowning.
Behind them, Elodie slipped around to the back of the building.
I squeezed Stellan’s arm, and he touched my hand in acknowledgment. Phase one complete. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “The only security I’ve seen are the ones standing at the front doors and a few more at the sides. They’ve let a couple people in, probably for the bathroom, so Elodie won’t seem too suspicious, but if the guards start to go inside, I’ll signal and we’ll make an even bigger scene. For now just keep on with this.”
I nodded and tried my best to stay engaged in conversations as I waited nervously for the lights to go out. The security guards here probably didn’t have the authority to arrest me themselves, but they could have called the police, so I kept listening for sirens in the distance.
And then a car did pull up at the end of the red carpet, but it wasn’t the cops. Lydia Saxon got out, followed by her brother.
Stellan saw them at the same time I did, and grabbed my hand, pulling me away. It was too late. My sister’s gaze zoomed in on me the second she stepped out of the car, and a chill ran through me like lightning. “I thought they weren’t in town,” Stellan said.
“Jack said he didn’t tell them we were here,” I replied. But they could have showed up of their own accord.
“They can’t do anything to you in front of all these people,” Stellan said.
I nodded. The twins were making a beeline for us, bypassing the photographers calling for them to take a photo. They were a striking pair: Lydia’s hair slicked back in a sleek, modern ponytail that grazed the top of her strapless red dress, and Cole’s matching dark hair and olive skin topped off with a red bow tie and his usual smirk.
“Avery. So lovely to see you here.” Lydia leaned in to kiss me on the cheek, and raised an imperious eyebrow when she saw my hand still caught in Stellan’s. I pulled it away and took both her hands in mine, partly to make sure she wasn’t hiding any weapons.
“I didn’t realize you’d be at the festival,” I said. I’d hoped that even if they realized I was here they’d leave me alone since I’d promised Alistair the tomb. They must not trust me at all.
“Last-minute decision,” Cole cut in. The top of his head only reached Stellan’s shoulder, but he looked up at him with a sneer. “We didn’t realize you’d be here, either. With the help.”
They didn’t realize I’d be here? The cameras flashed like a swarm of fireflies in the night.
The Fredericks asked Cole a question, and he turned away to talk to them, but Lydia stayed right next to me. “I can’t wait to hear all about what you’ve been doing in Cannes,” she said with that sparkling smile that had tricked me into believing she cared.
I glanced up at the theater. What was Elodie doing? Could she not find the electricity?
“Avery.” Colette came up beside me, her gaze cutting to Lydia. “There’s a director I’d like you to meet. Come with me for a second?”
I nodded, grateful. Maybe I could hide until—
The lights cut off. Finally.
There were stray giggles, like there always seemed to be when darkness fell unexpectedly. And one sharp intake of breath from close by.
I felt Lydia clamp a surprisingly strong hand around my wrist. “Avery, get out of here,” she whispered.
“What?”
“It’s not safe for us to be here right now.” Lydia’s whisper was no longer calm. “The electricity wasn’t supposed to—just go.”
A chill came over me. “What did you do?” I pictured the milling crowds, and then the attack at the Emirs’. Lydia and Cole didn’t come to find me, and they didn’t come to walk the red carpet.
Stellan was already pulling me and Colette away from the building and the crowd.
Lydia followed us. “Take your Keeper boyfriend if you want. I won’t say anything. Just get out of here.”
“Are these people going to get hurt?” Stellan said, low enough that no one else could hear us under the low hum of voices. My eyes had started to adjust to the dark, and I saw that he had Lydia’s wrist, just like she had mine.
Lydia tried to pull away. Cole was headed toward us. “I can’t be sure it’ll go off when the power comes back, but it might. If anyone’s too close . . .”
“You set a bomb? Here?” Stellan said just as I said, “Elodie. Call her. Now.”
Stellan grabbed his phone with the hand not holding my sister.
“We have to get everyone out of here,” I said.
I opened my mouth to scream, but Lydia silenced me. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
The scream died on my lips. They still had my mom, and I couldn’t be sure Lydia was on the same page as Alistair.
Stellan muttered something into the phone in French, urgent.