Lyla

As we stumbled into the palace, my heart jumped right out of my chest when we found Rashid’s father waiting for us in the foyer, a stern look on his face.

Rashid quickly grabbed me by my arm and hauled me back behind him, shielding me—or his father, I couldn’t exactly tell—from my incredibly revealing outfit.

An awkward silence reigned over the foyer, loud enough the only thing I could hear was all of our ...