I snaked my arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you,” I muttered against his coat as I took in his usual scent of mint and soap.

We were still holding each other when the door opened, revealing my dad’s stunned face. His eyes shot to the tall figure who had his arms around me. “Lord Ambrosia.”

Well, this was awkward.

Vlad bid his farewell. Before he turned to leave, I saw a tint of redness in his cheeks. I followed my dad inside, knowing full well that he would chastise me. Luckily, he was absorbed in the fact that his daughter had been wrapped in the arms of a Pure Royal, so he let it slide. I took his speechlessness as a chance to go straight to my room. It had been a tiring day and I longed to curl up under the duvet.

The next day, I woke up feeling much better. My dad had left early—I saw his note on the fridge, reminding me that today was the day that I was supposed to drop by the Court Guard Headquarters to sign a few more papers before I could officially be released from probation. Next to his note was another note from Mom saying that she would be staying at Tiana’s.

It took me fifteen minutes to shower and twenty minutes to get to the Court Guard Headquarters. I was on my way in when I bumped into Officer Brad Warwick.

“Hey, pretty redhead!”

“I have a name, you know.”

“Avery.” He grinned boyishly, lifting a few years off his face. “You’ve come to sign the papers, right? Just head to the front desk and find Dawn. She will get you sorted.”

“Thanks.”

Officer Warwick held the door open, and only then did I notice he had a familiar tattoo on his inner wrist. I wondered if it meant he knew the bald guy. Were they both apart of some weird Myrmidon cult? “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. Just can’t wait to get this over with,” I said.

“Don’t let me keep you then.”

It didn’t take longer than five minutes to sign the document—actually, it only took a few seconds to literally sign it, but Dawn made sure I had read the whole document, especially the part that mentioned that the punishment would be doubled if I misbehaved again.

I was about to leave when someone called my name. It was Commander Hudson. He offered me a smile and his hand. I shook it, feeling a bit awkward. “Are you excited to rejoin the Gathering?”

No. Because now I had less time to work on my investigation and it seemed like I was only adding to my list of things I needed to figure it. “Yes. I can’t wait.”

“You’re lucky today is the first day you are free to rejoin the events,” he said.

“Why is that?”