The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 450

Liora’s POV

I could still hear the music faintly pumping through the palace walls, even though it had been hours since the guard locked me in my room.

I’d been pacing my floor for most of those hours, biting my lips until they were raw, my mind racing the entire time. I knew I needed to leave, but I just didn’t know how. And leaving meant walking away from my father, who wasn’t acting like himself. From my mother, who, despite all of her shortcomings, laid sick in bed.

And from Marcus.

Marcus, who I still hadn’t heard a peep from since the mindlink was suddenly and inexplicably severed.

I wasn’t stupid. I had felt his pain and anguish through the bond we shared, and I knew what it meant. If I hadn’t heard from him or felt his presence for this long, then the implications were obvious.

I just hoped I was wrong.

More than once, I attempted knocking on the door, trying desperately to convince the guard on the other side to let me out. But no matter how much I pleaded, he wouldn’t open the door. His shadow remained on the other side like a sentinel for a gilded cage.

Worst of all, I didn’t know where Callum was, or if he was safe, and I had no way to contact him.

I truly was trapped.

Another hour passed. The noise quieted a little as the guests began to go home, but I could still hear voices and laughter drifting up through the floors. I wondered if Callum was amongst those people, perhaps being forced to sit by Bianca’s side just as I had been forced to be with Ambrose.

The very thought made me sick.

I had just sunk onto my bed, massaging my sore feet, when I heard it.

A tap on my window.

I turned my head toward the noise. For a moment, there was nothing, and I assumed it was the wind making something hit the glass. But then, I saw something small and round arc up toward the window, and it hit the pane again.

I bit my lip, glancing over my shoulder. The guard’s shadow remained steady under my door.

I looked back at the ledge Callum was pointing at. Leaning further out the window, I could see the spot he was talking about. There was an ivy trellis beneath it, but it was old and partially rotted. The wood must have broken off toward the bottom at some point, probably during that winter storm, leaving about ten feet of space between the last rung and the ground.

Bushes lined the mulch below. It would be a very prickly fall, if Callum didn’t catch me.

I looked at him again. His steely eyes shone in the dim light, his lips pressed together imploringly.

“Okay,” I finally said, taking a breath. I hiked my dress up around my knees and swung one leg over the windowsill. “But if I die, I’m coming back to haunt you.”

He probably would have smiled at that, were it not for the current circumstances.

The wind hit me as I swung my other leg over the windowsill, just as Zane had taught me before, and pulled myself up along the ledge. It was narrow, forcing me to move sideways with my back against the wall. For a moment, I didn’t move, the wind making my skirt whip around my legs as I looked down at the drop.