Unedited

My hands flew to my throat to pry away the rough hands that were cutting off my airways. Screaming was impossible and I was starting to become dizzy. My feet flailed in an attempt to kick away my assailant but to no luck.

The green eyes that blazed down on me were familiar but my brain was too deep into shock to realize who it was until they spoke.

"Stop moving." The voice growled.

Michael.

A new wave of pure fear coursed through my body and I struggled even harder. My legs were flying in all directions as I tried to get him off of me and I got in a few solid kicks to which he singed at. Finally as my strength was depleting I managed to kick him in the elbow and distinctly heard something pop.

His arm yanked backwards and he hissed in pain while I used this opportunity to make a break for it. I flung open the door but was dragged backwards by an arm and hit the ground flat on my back. I tried to scream but nothing happened except for a searing pain in my neck.

I fought him off as much as I could until I landed a blow to his knee and he crumpled. In an instant I was on my feet and barrelled out into the hallway. Though my adrenaline rush was soon lived as my energy crippled and the shock attacked the rest of my body, my knees buckling and turning into gelatin.

There were no guards outside my door and I could hear Michael behind me which only made me panic even more. I didn't know where to go. I hadn't a clue where Shay or Theo resided and they were the only people I knew could save me.

Every time I fell I pulled myself back up again, holding onto the wall for support as I tried to get as far away from Michael as I could. My body turned the corner and launched itself at the first door in sight.

I threw myself against it, pounding my weak fists into the polished wood and wishing I was able to scream for help. Tears pricked at my eyes from being terrified and in pain and I was petrified that Michael would come back any second and try to kill me.

Suddenly the door in front of me was opened and I fell forward and into the arms of someone.

My eyes were flitting closed and I heard shouts and quickly came to realize that this was His Majesty's chambers and King Blakesley was holding me in his arms.

"Holy shit! El, what happened?!" King Blakesley shouted in surprise, but I couldn't speak. He managed to stand my limp body up and saw the marks around my neck.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Help!" He screamed. "Robert, call Shay now!"

King Blakesley leaned up against the wall to support me, while he reached a hand up to tilt my chin so he could observe my surely bruised neck.

If I wasn't close to passing out I would have killed him for touching me but I didn't have much of a fight in me anymore and I needed help.

"Robert!" King Blakesley screamed and my eyelids fluttered closed. "Stay with me, El. Come on. You've got to stay with me." He pleaded desperately while I clung onto consciousness.

"What the hell?!" A voice screeched and The King snapped his head up.

"Someone tried to bloody strangle her!" Blakesley yelled and a new face appeared into my vision, though my vision was blurred the dark brown eyes and tan features told me it was Shay.

"El, who did this to you?" Shay asked.

"I don't think she can speak." The King explained.

"I need the medical staff here now and guards to search every inch of this palace for the intruder." Shay ordered and whoever the Robert person was ran off a grabbed a phone on the wall, dialing profusely.

If only I could tell them that the intruder came from the inside.

"Get Michael, he can be in charge of security." King Blakesley instructed and thats when I lost it. My eyes widened and my body thrashed. I couldn't speak but I wanted to get the message across. I shook my head violently but the pain made me let out a silent cry and tears flood from my eyes.

"No." I mouthed as Shay stared bewildered at me. "No."

The door opened again to a medical team barging in.

"She's been strangled." The King told them as they slipped me from his grip and onto a stretcher.

"You go with her, call Theo, and I'll be there as soon as I can." Shay said as they carried me out of the room.

The King nodded frantically and rushed out to follow along side me.

A man with red hair and brown eyes put an oxygen mask over my mouth and began to address the bruises on my neck.

"You can close your eyes." He assured me. "Its going to be okay."

I responded by closing my eyes and trying to get in a good breath.

"I need some paracetamol stat." He said and then I was out.

The next time I opened my eyes, everything was stiff. The familiar glare of the overhead light informed me that I was in the infirmary again for the second time in a week.

I tried to see if anyone was in the room but the second I even turned my neck a fraction, searing pain zipped through my head like lightning causing me to retract.

Then I remembered what happened. Michael had tried to strangle me. He had tried to kill me.

I needed to find someone and tell them. What if he was still on the loose? Michael was trusted by everyone in this palace sans me so he could easily act like he was not the perpetrator.

Did Shay even understand that I was trying to tell him that Michael did this?

I couldn't sit up to look around so I thought I'd try to speak.

"Hello?" I asked. My voice was unclear and scratchy but it was there.

"Hello?" I called out again and this time I heard a door open and footsteps stalk into the room.

"Oh good, you're up." A voice said and every fiver of my being was immediately on edge and scared for its life.

"No." I croaked. "No! Get away from me!" I tried to get away but the pain in my neck was too much to bear.

"What? You waiting for Shay and Theo to come rescue their little princess?" He spat at me. "Or perhaps The King who now feels like you trust him again. Smart move by the way, running to him for safety, really surprised me. Now you have His Highness back in your little corner of crazy."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked still in full panic, my arms moving frantically beside me not knowing what to do.

"Oh cut the bull shit." He snapped and my eyes widened. "You very well know what I'm talking about."

I didn't but I wasn't sure if he should know that I didn't yet, so I just continued to struggle.

"You're very gullible, El, do you know that?" Michael continued, circling around my bed. "You see, I didn't expect for you to fall so easily for The King saying he murdered your parents, that was quite the bit wasn't it. He didn't expect his little rouse to get you to pull it together to send you into a psychotic breakdown and have you attempt to kill yourself."

"I never tried to kill myself!" I barked at him the best I could.

"I know about your running session in the gym where you tried to over exert yourself and right now everyone thinks you either tried to strangle yourself or that someone broke into the palace and tried to kill you." He sneered. "They have the entire guard searching the premises and trying to figure out how someone was able to get in."

"Not when I tell them you did it." I bit back.

"Oh yes, because everyone will believe you. I'm The King's closest confidant and best friend. Ive grown up in the palace and I know everything about it and it's residents. No one will believe the new girl who thinks The King murdered her parents and is looking for a way out."

"Go to hell." I said in a low, angry voice and he tied his head back in laughter. That's it, Michael is clinically insane.

"What makes you think I still won't talk?" I took a chance.

"Because, if you do, I will kill everyone you know, starting with your minder and hunter boy toys." He stated simply.

"Well, your first attempt to kill someone didn't go so well, so I highly doubt that." I smirked and could visibly see the rage flare behind his eyes.

"Listen here you little bitch, you may have-"

He was interrupted when the infirmary door banged open and footsteps marched in. It was Shay. Michael immediately straightened his back, but not without sending me a warning glare.There was no way I could out Michael right here without getting Shay and myself killed.

"Michael, what are you doing here?" Shay asked and relief and dread flooded my body.

"Just interviewing Miss Eleanor on what happened." He shrugged, his composure a total turn around from how he was just seconds ago.

"Well I'll take care of it from here, thank you." Shay said and Michael nodded before walking away and Shay moved to stand where I could see him.

He stared at me for a few moments before walking out of my vision.

"I need her on some more pain medication and a wheelchair please." He said and then came back to talk to me.

I gave him a frightened and strained look but he just nodded grimly at me.

"Hold on, lets get you back to your room first." He told me and I gulped down my fear.

Soon a team of nurses came back and gave me some pills to swallow and minutes later I could move my head from side to side; slightly, but it was still more than I could before. After they gave me the medicine and made sure it kicked in, they carefully lifted me out of the bed and into a chair with a straight back and wheels on the bottom.

A nurse handed Shay a bottle of the pills they had given me and then everyone left.

Shay didn't say anything but rolled the chair with me in it out of the infirmary and into the hall.

My body was still trembling from my encounter with Michael as he pushed me through the corridors and seemingly empty halls until he began to approach my chambers where people were swarming outside the door.

Shay stopped us about ten feet away from my door and waved over a guard.

"The investigation was supposed to be done by now." Shay quipped at the frail looking teen in front of us.

"I'm s-sorry sir." He stuttered and Shay rolled his eyes.

"Have Theo get me after this is done." Shay instructed and the guard nodded before scurrying off.

Shay sighed deeply, turned us around, and went off in the other direction.

I didn't even try to say anything and waited until he approached a door on the other end of the palace chambers. These rooms were towards the back of the palace and there were more rooms down here, each with a bronze name tag on each door.

Shay wheeled me up to a door at the end of the hall that the tag said 'Captain Hood'.

So this is his room?

He unlocked the door and then pushed me in, turning the light on after us.

His room was about the size of my apartment at home. The walls were faded grey and the floor was a navy blue carpet. All of the furniture in the room was a dark wood, which consisted of a bed in the right corner and a desk in the left one. Besides that there was no other furniture in the room.

A lamp was on the desk along with a few sheets of paper, but that was all for decoration.

As soon as we were inside and the door closed I stood up, ready to see what he had to say. Did he know?

"Sorry about your room, it should be available for you shortly." He sighed.

"It's okay." I whispered hoarsely.

"You need to rest, you can lay down." He gestured towards the bed and my eyes widened a little in surprise. He was going to let me use his bed?

"Go on." He waved me to it after I just stood there for a moment.

So I did as I was told and got comfortable on the white sheets. His comforter was navy blue like the floor and incredibly warm which I welcomed since after Michael had showed up in my hospital room I hadn't stopped shaking.

"You don't have to talk, but I need to ask you some questions, so just nod your head yes or no." Shay dragged a chair over to sit next to the bed.

"Did you do this to yourself?" He asked blatantly and I shook my head no.

"Did a guard do this to you?"

I shook my head no.

"A hunter?"

No.

"A palace worker?"

Nod.

"That little scrawny kid from the laundry room?"

Was he talking about Alfie? It had been so long since I'd seen him and he really had been so nice to me, I feel guilty for not catching up with him.

I shook my head no again.

"I'm running out of options here." He sighed and then looked around himself for a moment. I quirked an eyebrow and he just turned back to me with a finger over his lips.

"Was it Michael?" He mouthed to me and I took in a sharp breath before nodding slowly.

He shut his eyes in a wince and rubbed a hand across his face.

"I knew it." He mouthed again and I felt water pool in my eyes.

"El, I don't even think you know who it was. Are you sure it was someone who worked in the palace?"

He eyed me as if he was telling me me to do something so I just shook my head no, hoping that was the right thing. He winked at me to say good job and then sighed dramatically again.

"Well until this investigation is solved then you will have someone with you around the clock. We might even change your room since the intruder knows where you reside, to hopefully stop them from finding you." Shay informed me and I just nodded.

"You can sleep now, El. You need to rest." He said smoothly and I leaned back, letting my head touch the pillow.

I shut my eyes till they were open barely a crack and watched him as he walked over to the desk and made some hand motion before touching something with his hand. Then went to the end of the bed and crouched down before coming back up with a small box that he pulled out something from.

He then pulled a different black device from his pocket and flipped a switch. The room was very quiet but soon a static sound was heard. He walked around in circles until he found where is was the loudest and felt along the wall until he found something he was looking for, plucking something small and white from the wall.

He double checked the room until there were no more static sounds and slid the device back in his pocket.

"We should be safe to talk now." He said and marched over to the bed.

"You knew it was him the whole time?" I asked thinly. Sitting up and wiping away the water that had escaped my eyes.

"I had a suspicion and when I walked in on him threatening you in your hospital bed he confirmed it. I just needed you to tell me." He explained and I nodded limply.

"Why?" I tried to ask but my voice was shot.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." He looked me dead in the eye, a promise.

This medicine obviously wasn't long lasting because when I went to nod my head a dull ache began to throb where my bruises were.

Shay noticed me wince and moved to help me lay down.

Once I was situated he began to stand but I reached out, placing my hand on his arm.

"Shay, I don't want to be alone." I whispered.

He looked back at me, startled at first by my touch and then he relaxed.

"Okay." He said and moved over to sit on the side of the bed by my feet.

I kept my eyes open, silently watching him as he shifted around.

"I'm not going to leave, El, you can go to sleep now."

I shut my eyes in reply and tried to let slumber take away the pain I was experiencing, mentally and physically but it was to no avail. Maybe it was because I had slept so much in the past few days that I simply wasn't tired. Or maybe it was the fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins that was keeping me awake.

I wasn't sure how long it was that I laid there, but it seemed like hours.

Shay made no sound other than breathing and neither did I.

Eventually a soft knock was heard at the door and the bed shifted as Shay moved to get it.

"Yes?" He asked, creaking the door open slightly.

"Her room is ready." Someone said.

Theo.

"Okay, let me get her she's asleep." Shay said quietly and I heard them both walk deeper into the room.

"She's in your bloody bed, mate?" Theo whisper shouted at Shay and even though my eyes were closed I imagined Shay rolling his eyes. "What the hell?!"

"She's injured." Shay defended me.

"Just had to get her in your bed one way or another." Theo snapped and my eyes almost shot open in shock.

"Shut up." Shay bit back sharply and then I heard his light footsteps travel over to me.

A warm hand slid under my back while another went to the back of my legs. Carefully he lifted me up and pulled me against his chest in an almost protective stance, like how you would carry a small child. The arm that was supporting my legs moved up my body so that he was supporting my lower back and his hand went to gently cradle my neck.

All of the movement, despite the minimal amount, jolted my neck and I could not contain the whimper that escaped.

Shay stood motionless for a moment to make sure I was "asleep" and then began to walk to the doorway.

"Seriously?" Theo snipped and Shay stopped moving.

"If you wake her up I swear to God I will break into your room and steal that fancy little pocket knife you've got hidden in your safe." Shay threatened and I tried not to smile.

"Ha! You don't even know the password." Theo chided.

"5-1-2-0-5." Shay deadpanned and I heard Theo stop dead in his tracks.

"What the fu- how did you know that?" Theo demanded but Shay said nothing and continued walking.

I was able to hold in my laughter but it was extremely difficult and I was starting to think Shay knew I was awake.

We must have reached my door because Shay shifted awkwardly to get his I.D. and accidentally bumped my neck and I let out a whimper.

"Shh, baby I got you." He said under his breath and if it wasn't dead silent in the hall I wouldn't have heard him, but I did. Did he just call me baby? There's no way he knew I was awake, because if he did he would never had said that.

So does this mean that Shay likes me?

Wait, do I like Shay?

My head was spinning at this revelation and strange turn of events. So much had happened in the span of 24 hours I didn't know how to deal.

Shay opened the door and Theo flicked back my blanket so Shay could lay me gently down in the sheets and cover me up with the blanket.

"I don't trust you two alone." Theo scoffed as Shay drug a chair over to me, I could hear it shuffling across the floor.

"I'm not going to do anything." Shay sighed. "Just shut up about it."

"Whatever. Just remember the rules and remember your place. Michael would have your head if he found out." Theo chastised him and my heart rate spiked at the mention of Michael's name.

I felt the whoosh of air past my face as Shay waved him off.

"I'll send the maid in with her food." Theo griped and then I heard a door close.

Shay let out a loud sigh and through my eyelids I could tell that the curtains were open. I shut my eyes tighter at this but suddenly the glare was gone away and the sound of the large fabric moving echoed throughout the chamber.

I heard the click of a few lamps turning on before the thud of Shay sitting down in the chair next me.

The comforter moved a bit as Shay rested his hands on it, tracing along the sheets, and instinctively my hand reached out to touch his.

He didn't pull away like I thought he would but instead let me place my hand on his, allowing my fingers to lace through his as he held my fingertips.

Gently, he squeezed my hand and I heard him exhale. I wasn't sure why I was doing this but it felt right. Though so many questions were running through my mind and I didn't know what to even think about what I was doing.

Could I ever be with someone like Shay, or even Theo for that matter. They were both so back and forth between personalities it made my head spin.

Shay would be sweet and helpful one moment and then scolding me the next, but he would do anything for The King. Same with Theo but he would agree with me one moment and then flip to another persons side in an instant, whoever it made the most happy.

Shay was confusing and sometimes mean, while Theo was confusing and a people please. Yet Theo didn't like me like that, so I didn't have to worry about that, but as a friend it was concerning.

"I know you're not asleep." Shay whispered into the peaceful quiet of my room and it startled me.

I let my eyes flutter open naturally and his brown ones were staring curiously up into mine as his chin was resting on the edge of the bed, his body hunched forward.

"Do you need another pill?" He asked and I gave him a thumbs up and he sat up straight, reaching into his pocket for the bottle and fishing out one of the blue circles.

"I'll get you some water." He stated and walked briskly to the bathroom and returned with a water filled glass.

I swallowed the capsule and closed my eyes waiting for it to kick in.

These pills worked wonders, within minutes I was able to move my head and neck without much pain. I sat up so my legs were dangling off the side of the bed.

"Thank you." I said when I was able to look at him properly and he gave me a half-hearted smile.

"No problem, kid."

My ego faltered in just that one sentence. So now he saw me as a child? He was not that much older than me, possibly the same age yet he called me a child.

Wait, though what if that was a pretence? He knew that Theo knew he liked me so maybe he was trying to prove him wrong. Or what if it was because of Michael? Or the rules that Theo had mentioned earlier that I was extremely curious about.

Why does it even matter though, I'm still not even sure if I like him.

...But if I didn't like him then why would him calling me a child bother me so much?

Either way, I knew I had to ask him about it. I was in the dark on so many things that were happening in my life like the murder of my parents, why Michael hated me so much, King Blakesley's real pretences...I needed something I could control.

"I heard you," I started and his head snapped up to look at me, "I heard you and Theo talking."

His eyes widened and it looked like all of the colour drained from his face while at the same time his cheeks flared with a blush.

"Y-You did?" He gulped.

"Yes."

He took a moment to regain the composure I had broken and in a blink of an eye switched on the rigid Shay I came to knew whenever he was in what I like to call "Minder mode".

"Forget it." He said in a low voice.

But I wasn't going to have that, I needed answers, I needed anything, I needed him.

"No, don't shut me out." I pleaded and my barely there voice broke.

"El you- I- it - it's complicated. It would be so difficult when everyone found out especially with the Michael thing going on. I don't even know if it's aloud for me to be with you like that. His Royal Highness would be pissed and I don't want to put you in more danger than you're already in."

His words were rushed and exasperated as he dropped the resolve he'd so quickly gathered to shut me out.

"Then no one has to know." I stated as if it was that simple and he ran a hand  across his face.

"El, it's not that easy." He sighed.

"It can be." I made sure he was making eye contact with me by lifting his chin with my fingers. "It's not anyone's business but our own and we'll keep it behind closed doors."

He was biting at the inside of his cheek while I spoke.

"It's a risk." He said finally and I nodded.

"I know."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He didn't say anything but kept looking at me. Eventually his hands came to rest on each side of my face and he leaned up from the chair he was sitting in and pressed his lips to my forehead.

My body shivered at the warm, soft, pressure that his lips provided and tried to bite back a smile.

He stayed like that until a beeping sound made him inhale deeply before retreating, pulling something from his back pocket.

He read something on a screen and then slipped it back into his pocket.

"I have go collect the reports from your room investigation." He informed me.

"Wait, you're leaving me here alone?" I sat up straighter.

"Not alone. Your maid will be here soon with your meal and either Theo or Martin will be here to to keep watch while I'm gone." He assured me, patting my head.

"Who's Martin?" I asked, never hearing that name mentioned before.

"He's Theo's second in command. Nice guy. You'll be safe." Shay promised and soon a knock was heard at the door before it opened to reveal Lux.

"Oh my God, Lux!" I exclaimed as she walked in, rolling a cart in front of her.

My body, excited to see the first person who had become my friends in the castle, leaped from the bed and sprung towards her.

"Eleanor, you'll break your damn neck, lay down!" Shay barked behind me and I stopped in my tracks.

Disappointed my shoulders drooped as I turned to make my way back to the bed where he was standing next to it, arms folded across his chest.

He pointed at the bed as I neared it, and I huffed in annoyance, climbing onto it, and plopping down onto the mattress more dramatically then was normally necessary.

"Not kidding." He said in a low voice so Lux couldn't hear. "You're still injured."

"Sorry." I bit my lip, trying to judge if he was really angry with me or not.

"Just don't do that again, please." He said quietly. "I'll be back later."

Shay stood up straight and made his way to the door when someone on the outside opened it.

Some boy I didn't know poked his head in, and Shay opened the door to let him in.

The new boy had dark auburn hair and dark irises as well. He was thin but not scrawny, and was extremely tall.

"I'll be back in an hour. She doesn't leave the room and no one comes in that's not on the approved list." Shay instructed him. "Here's her pills if she starts to hurt or if she just gets on your nerves." He tossed the boy the orange bottle.

"Hey!" I said defensively and Lux just chuckled beside me as she set up my dinner.

Shay didn't turn his head at my outburst but the boy looked in my direction.

"See you in a bit, Martin." Shay clapped him on the shoulder. "Behave, El." Shay called out to me as he left and I rolled my eyes.

When the door closed behind him, Martin walked over, his long black coat hitting the tops of his ankles.

"Pleasure to finally meet you Eleanor, I'm Martin." He stuck out a slender hand and I shook it firmly.

"Please, call me El." I smiled and he dipped his head in a nod and took the seat that Shay had been using.

"So Lux, tell me about what I've missed. I feel like I've been out of the loop for awhile." I begged and she laughed, setting down the pitcher of water.

"Well the biggest talk in the castle is still you, and other than that nothing really. Oh," She seemed to remember something, "This boy down in the servant quarters, Alfie I think his name is, keeps asking about you, but I haven't seen you in a while so I haven't been able to answer honestly. He seems worried about you though, since all anyone's heard is palace rumours." Lux rambled.

"Maybe I can go visit him tomorrow, or he can come visit me." I thought out loud and then Martin piped up.

"Not unless he's on the approved list of people who can enter, and The King has strict orders for you not to leave your room unless direct orders are handed down from him personally."

"Seriously?" I asked and he nodded swiftly.

"Well I'm sure once they catch whoever did this and everything settles down, you shall be able to see him." Lux smiled softly at me. Something about the air of humbleness she carried always made me calm.

"I'm sure you're right." I agreed and looked down at the meal in front of me. "Thank you, it looks great."

"Of course Miss Belle, is there anything else I can get you?"

I almost griped at her for calling me that but then I remembered that when her superiors were around she had to call me by my formal name.

"I think that is all." I smiled up at her small frame.

"Alright Miss, I shall be in the closet if you need me." She headed off in that direction, snagging a cloth as she walks by her cart.

Paying no mind to Martin I began to eat, feeling tremendously better after the first few bites.

After I had slowed down I noticed Martin sitting awkwardly in the chair and decided to get to know him if he was to be one of the people looking after me.

"So Shay tells me you're second in command under Theo?" I cast out a line for conversation and hoped he would take it instead of this hour being spent in awkward silence.

"Yes. I am in charge of training and deploying the Hunters while Theo is in charge of me." He explained his job. I sighed an internal sigh of relief that he had taken the conversation I had offered.

"I also work with Shay and Theo on the palace security board to make sure everything runs smoothly, which unfortunately has not been the case." He continued.

"So I heard they were investigating my room, did they find anything?"

"Shay will be able to release that information to you, if he so wishes, when he gets back." Martin said firmly and in that moment I could tell he took his job very seriously.

"So how long have you worked in the palace?" I searched to change the topic a bit.

"A long time, practically grew up here, as do most of the higher up staff. Or some of us were taken here after a Gathering and then got promoted." He informed me.

"Oh." I nodded.

We continued to chat about things about the palace until an hour had passed and Shay strolled back into the room.

My heart skipped around in my chest a little as I saw him walk in, but I couldn't seem to eager so I forced myself to calm down.

I had taken a pill a few minutes ago as soon as the pain started to make a debut so I was feeling a bit energised.

"Was she too much trouble?" Shay asked as the door clicked shut behind him.

"I'm right here you know." I scoffed but he ignored me.

"No we had a lovely chat." Martin smiled.

Shay nodded in reply and walked in our general direction and I noticed a black leather satchel slung over his shoulder.

"Would you mind telling Theo I moved his shift back an hour, I need to go over these reports with El." Shay told Martin.

Martin began his way out and I called out goodbye to him.

"Goodnight. Miss Belle." He gave me a slight wave and then swept out the door.

I started blankly at the door for a moment before turning to look at Shay who was dropping his bag on the chair in front of me.

"How was your break?" I asked sweetly.

"Fine." He answered. His mood was not pleasant nor was it angry but it was weird none the less.

"What did the report say?"

He hesitated before sitting down and pulling a blue folder out of the bag. Papers were practically spilling out and he opened it carefully.

"Basically, Michael has covered up any of his tracks, and it doesn't help that he's so close to The King." Shay sighed. "The guards found 17 cameras hidden in your room and 8 listening devices."

"Wait so he was spying on me?!" I exclaimed.

"Yes." Shay said meekly.

I felt violated. I had changed clothes in here, taken showers and he had gotten all of it on video.

"Also, he used a key card to get in so that's making it difficult to narrow down who did it since so many of us have access to your room. And the fingerprints don't help either. All of us have left traces in your room so it's impossible for them to figure it out and Michael will know the second you open your mouth to rat him out."

"This is a nightmare." My head fell into my hands.

"We just have to get the upper hand on Michael. Find a way to get himself caught." Shay said calmly.

He seemed to sense my hesitance in believing that and lowered his voice even more.

"I don't know how, but we will find a way. I promise."

I bit my lip and gave him a weak nod.

"Miss Belle, your bath is ready." Lux's serene voice called out to me across the room and my head rose to look at her while Shay turned to look at her quickly.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't hear the water running." I dipped my head down in an apology and slid off the bed past Shay.

I could feel his eyes following me as I ducked into the bathroom to let the water wash away the distress that covered my entire being.

When I was bathed, dressed in plain flannel pyjamas, and my hair in a wet messy bun, Lux applied some cream to the bruises on my neck and gave me another pill.

I entered back into my room but froze when there were two people next to my bed instead of one. Shay and King Blakesley.