MALIA’S POV:

Malia beelined it to her bedroom, praying Mr. Dugan and Mr. Taylor were no longer using it as their secret meeting place. They were not. She hastily stuffed her clothes into her bag—leaving behind only the scarf of the Guissepe Swan Charles had bought for her—and departed.

As she rushed toward the palace’s exit, she shut her mind, forcing herself not to think—about Charles, her future, Aeonia, or anything. She was out the large door and ...