I don’t dare tell him I’m not joking.
“I’ll be fine,” I say again, and then I reach up and kiss him, lingering a little longer than I should, savoring the feel of his freshly shaven cheek against my lips. I want to stay here and breathe him in, pretend that I’m the kind of girl who gets a happy ending. But I can’t, so I make myself pull away.
I don’t look back, but when I jump onto the wall I know that I’m alone. I should get bonus points for following directions. It goes against my very nature, after all. I don’t want to be here; I don’t want to do this. But, most of all, I don’t want any more blood on my hands, so I keep walking, and when the wall curves, climbing up the hill, I know I’m out of sight.
I am entirely alone when I hear her.
“Hello, Grace.”
The prime minister is in black today. I wonder if she’s come straight from a funeral. Or maybe she’s dressed for mine.
“Thank you for coming,” she tells me. It’s all I can do not to roll my eyes.
“I didn’t come for you.”
“Of course.” The PM smirks, as if she’s allowing me the indulgence of my indignation. “I’m sorry about Paris, Grace. I should have explained the situation to you more clearly.”
“You mean before you drugged and kidnapped me? Don’t bother.”
“This situation affects us all. It, in fact, affects the world. And the stability of that world is no laughing matter.”
“Do I look like I’m laughing?” I snap back.
“We only want to help,” she says, and now I do laugh.
“You mean the kind of help that might keep me from being hunted down like a rabid dog?”
Her gaze hardens and she talks on. “I’m glad you’re here. We have a solution that will make this problem go away and please everyone in the long run, I believe.”
“Everyone?” I don’t mask the sarcasm that I feel.
“Yes,” the PM says. “Everyone.”
Just as she says the word, a figure appears over her shoulder.
I don’t know who arranged to close the wall today, but it’s totally free of tourists. We’re alone when Princess Ann speaks.
“Hello, Grace. Thank you for coming.”
“Sure,” I say. “I mean, we all have to die sometime, don’t we?”
I hope she remembers my vow, but she doesn’t show it. She just nods at the PM, and it’s clear the two of them have already talked this through. The only problem is me.
What else is new?
“But that’s just it, Grace.” Ann steps closer, as if she has to make me see. Instinctively, I step back, and she halts. The last thing either of them wants is for me to start jumping off walls again.
Ann shakes her head. She almost looks like Mom’s best friend. “Nobody wants you to die.”
I almost believe her.
But then I remember.
“The men who attacked my friends yesterday in Dubrovnia didn’t seem to agree. Were they yours?” I ask Ann. Then I turn to the PM. “Or maybe they worked for the Society.”
“You’re at risk, Grace,” Ann says. “Your brother is at risk.”
“Jamie’s dead,” I say, the words automatic now. But neither of the women on the wall are fazed. I’m not surprised they don’t believe me.
“It doesn’t matter.” Ann gives a shrug. “As long as Amelia’s descendants survive, there remains a … problem.”
“And you think killing me and my brother is going to solve it?” I want to laugh. “Amelia lived two hundred years ago. There have got to be other descendants. Probably dozens. Maybe hundreds. Are you going to kill us all?”
“Wars have raged since then, Grace. Time has passed. Perhaps there are other descendants. Or maybe you and your brother are the end of the line.”
“Jamie’s dead,” I repeat.
“For your sake,” Ann says, studying me, “I almost hope that’s true.”
Suddenly, I’m too hot. The sun is too bright. I don’t want to be here. I want to turn and run all the way around the great walled city. I want to jump into the sea and swim away.
“What do you want?” I ask.
At this, Ann and Prime Minister Petrovic share a look.
“Your mother was the only child of an only child of an oldest child. We know this. We can trace her line back to Amelia. What we want is for your oldest child to sit on the throne of Adria,” the PM says, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.
“I thought the Society wanted to maintain a stable Europe?” I challenge.
But the PM is undaunted. “That is precisely what we want. And we intend to have it.”
They’re talking crazy, and I’m losing patience. “Say what you came here to say or I’m going to go ahead and kill you no matter what.”
I’m not prepared to hear Ann laugh. “Oh, Grace. You do have spirit. I hope my grandchildren inherit that from you.”
For a second I just stand atop the wall, stunned. And even as the words sink in, they still don’t quite make sense.
“You’re crazy,” I tell her, then turn to the PM. “She’s crazy. I’m serious. I think she is insane. And I’m something of an expert on the topic.”