Nyle didn’t stop pacing the halls, unable to keep still while he was away from her. Something didn’t feel right, but he didn’t know what it was. She was just at her mother’s house. Surely, she would only stay for a couple of hours and come back feeling better. Daisy just needed some time away from all the pressure, and it was understandable. She was raised as a human her entire life and was days away from becoming queen of a kingdom of dragons that she believed despised her. If only she understood how serious Thalydias’s decrees were, no one would dare disrespect them. Except, of course, for his sister. Oh, how he longed to ring Maylei’s little neck.

Hours ticked by. With each moment that passed, Nyle’s nerves frayed more and more. What if Forrest had been there and told her more lies? Or even worse, what if Forrest had managed to kidnap her?

Just when he felt he couldn’t take her absence any longer, his phone rang. He was so excited, he didn’t bother to glance at the caller ID before answering the call.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“What?” a male voice said.

Nyle’s brow creased, peeling the phone back to look at the number. It was one of the palace drivers.

“Sorry, I thought it was someone else. What’s going on?” he asked.

“Is Miss Maddow spending the night at her mother’s? She didn’t say anything about it, and I haven’t seen her. Her mother even left the house a while ago.”

Anxiety choked Nyle. What if something had happened to her? Daisy was extremely courteous, especially when it came to his staff. The uneasy feeling in his stomach grew exponentially.

“Don’t move. Keep an eye on the house. I’ll be right there.”

Nyle hung up the phone and ran as fast as he could out of the palace. He wished he could just fly there, knowing it would be much quicker, but he knew better than to draw attention to himself. Jumping into his fastest car, the tires squealed as he gunned it down the driveway, not bothering with the standard safety precautions. When he pulled onto the main road, he recklessly weaved between cars to get down the street as fast as possible.

He made record time on his trip into the city. When he got stuck behind traffic, Nyle punched his steering wheel wildly, his horn blaring each time his hand collided with it. Nyle was practically crawling out his skin, the forty-five-mile-an-hour zones felt as if they were specifically put in place to torture his soul.

When he finally approached Cassie’s house, he noticed Cassie’s car pulling into the driveway. Throwing his car into park, he jumped from the car.

“Where is Daisy?” he yelled over to Cassie as he jogged over to her.

Cassie turned in surprise and took a couple of steps back. What was that about?

“I thought she ran off to be with you,” she replied.

“She ran off?” he questioned.

She nodded, “We had an argument, and she bolted out the back door.”

Nyle was momentarily dazed by anger. “And you didn’t think to go after her?” he snapped.

“She was mad. I thought she needed time to cool off,” Cassie replied defensively.

“What did you fight about?” Nyle asked, taking a few more steps toward her.

She backed up with every step he took. His eyes narrowed. Something was definitely up.

“About you,” Cassie said coldly.

“What about me?”

She averted her eyes, awkwardly shuffling the shopping bag she had in her arms. “I don’t think you two should be together, and she didn’t want to hear it.”

“Why shouldn’t Daisy and I be together? We’re in love.”

“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘if you love something, set it free’? That’s exactly what you should do,” Cassie snapped, finally marching toward her house.

“Forrest got into your head, didn’t he?” Nyle scoffed.

“You can’t blame Forrest. He told me about who you and your family really are. I’d be a terrible mother to encourage my daughter to be with a monster like you,” Cassie hissed.

“You don’t know whether the things he told you are true or just words to get you wrapped around his little finger. You’re playing right into his hand. He and the Elementals are the ones that should frighten you.”

“Pretty sure they didn’t lock up some poor girl and throw away the key, just because she was going to tell people that you and Daisy were together. And I also heard that you hit that woman,” Cassie snapped. “That’s just sick that you would put your hands on a woman. How could I encourage her to be with you after knowing that?”

Nyle’s jaw dropped. How did Cassie know about Mylora? More importantly, how did Forrest? His mind raced with possibilities. Had Forrest been colluding with Mylora? How did he know she was locked up instead of dead? Something wasn’t right about that, and Nyle was going to get to the bottom of it. First, he had to find Daisy.

“You wouldn’t think Mylora was a ‘poor girl’ if you knew what she did to your daughter.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cassie.

“I don’t have time for this, Cassie. Mylora is far from innocent, and that is a fact.”

As Cassie went to unlock her door, Nyle spoke, “Do you at least know where she went?”

“Like I said, I thought she was going to you. Maybe she gathered some sense and is running far, far away.” She slammed the door.

Nyle stumbled backward, a hand to his forehead. Where could she possibly be? It was then he realized that in all his panic, he had not even tried to call her. Shaking his head, he reached for his phone and dialed her number. Before he could even put the phone to his ear, he heard the call go straight to voicemail. What if Cassie’s disapproval had been a final straw for Daisy? Nyle was on the verge of tears as he made his way over to his car. He waved at the driver who was still sat waiting, to let him know he could leave.

Climbing into the driver seat, he rested his head on the steering wheel. Where could she have possibly gone? She didn’t have many close friends, so he didn’t think it was likely that she was at someone else’s house. His mind tortured itself with thoughts of the last time she had snuck away from him and ended up in Mylora’s clutches.

“Think, Nyle, think,” he mumbled to himself, tapping his forehead against the wheel.

Daisy said she wasn’t leaving him right before she left, and she also said she loved him. She didn’t lie to him; she was a terrible liar. She had said she wanted to get away from the drama, and since her mom had only made things worse, she had to be headed somewhere to be completely secluded.

With that thought in mind, Nyle opened his phone and logged into his bank account. When they moved to Virginia together, he had set her up with her own accounts and credit cards. He never wanted her to have to ask for money.

Luckily for him, his family owned the bank. With one quick call, he was able to get the details about her last transactions.

“Looks like the last three purchases, from oldest to newest, was a taxi, a purchase at a Starbucks, and a plane ticket purchased at JFK Airport. Is everything okay, Mr. Flamme? Has there been a breach of your account?”

A plane ticket? Tears stung his eyes.

“No. Thank you for your help. Those were my purchases.”

He hung up the phone. Where could she have gone? What if she was never coming back? His entire body ached with worry. As he thought over the information the banker had told him, a sudden parallel was made. He knew exactly where she was. Nyle placed another call. As soon as the other end picked up, he ordered.

“Get the jet ready. I want to leave as soon as I get there.”