Vlad scrambled up from the couch. Shiitake mushroom! I really didn’t want him to see me get scolded by my dad. Oblivious to the tension building in the room, Vlad walked in, tugging his shirt down, which he’d clearly just thrown on. “Mr. Montgomery.”

“Lord Ambrosia.” The fact that my dad loved catering to the whims of the Royals could actually work in my favor for once. “Pardon me, I didn’t realize you were here. My apologies for awakening you.”

My dad shot me an icy glare, as if his banging and crashing and general robbery acting weren’t what actually woke Vlad up.

“No, please don’t apologize,” said Vlad kindly. “I insisted on staying here—I didn’t want Avery to be alone. Your couch is actually quite comfortable.”

My dad’s look was lethal. Vlad said quickly, “I’ll just pop to the bathroom and then be on my way.”

Once Vlad was out of earshot, my dad said, “Why did you let him sleep on the couch? He’s a Royal. He should be in a bed.”

“You’re saying you’d rather I had invited Lord Ambrosia to sleep in my bed?”

The cold, hard stare, mastered over the years, had terrified me when I was small. But I was no longer a kid and I was in no mood to back down to his controlling nonsense.

I sighed. My eyes caught sight of a red purse on the counter, which could only belong to my mom. Only then did I realize that I had not seen her since she came to visit me in jail. “Dad, where’s Mom?”

“She’s staying at Tiana’s,” he said.

“Why? She was the one who chose what clothes I should wear and wanted to make sure I did okay at my first Gathering, but I’ve hardly seen her.”

“She’s going shopping with Tiana in the morning.”

“Seriously?! It’s her friend over her daughter. Again.” I still found it dodgy. “But if Mom is going shopping tomorrow, won’t she need her purse?”

My dad looked up at me then snatched the purse off the counter. “I came here to grab it for her. She accidentally left it. We’ll finish this discussion another time.”

And that was it, no further explanation. He left me standing there, furious. He hadn’t even asked how I had gotten out of jail.

Chapter Fifteen

The only thing that was guaranteed to make me feel better when there were no Twinkies around was hot chocolate.

I filled the kettle with water, put it on top of the stove, and turned on the burner. I dumped two packets of hot chocolate into a mug as I waited for the water to boil. Vlad came out of the bathroom, but not before making sure the coast was clear.

“Please don’t tease me about my sweet tooth. I’m so not in the mood,” I said.