Hey guys, thank you so much for all the love on the first chapter of Unlocking the Key! Here's the second chapter for your enjoyment!

Gonna reply to reviews on the previous chapter, thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!

Nadia: Haha thanks, I hope it lives up to your expectations and was worth the wait!

Guest: Haha thanks, I hope it lives up to your expectations!

NightOwlSarcasmQueen: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope this chapter finds you well!

Tessa Jane: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter and I hope this chapter finds you well!

alilcutea: Thank you, it's good to be back! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Embassy Row series and all the characters (except for Tanner and Jordan and Alexei's Moscow friends, who are my own creations). They belong to Ally Carter. I am merely using her characters and plotline to create this fanfiction. I have no intention of profiting off the Embassy Row series in any way. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes and would not exist without Ally Carter's wonderful works.

The events that happen in this fanfiction are not meant to be representative of real life. Any similarities to any real-life events or fictional works is purely coincidental and not intentional (with the exception of the original Embassy Row books by Ally Carter since this fanfiction is literally Take the Key and Lock Her Up but from Alexei's, not Grace's, perspective). The character's actions may not always reflect my own opinions or views. Based on what happens or is mentioned in this chapter (spoiler alert), I do not condone car theft or breaking and entering.

Content warning: mild
This fanfiction is rated T, for suggestive themes, language, and violence. This chapter contains mild language and mentions of death and parental loss. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter Two: They Will Not Be Fine

Three days. Three days of being on the road non-stop, sleeping in shifts at rest stops, eating only fast food. Three days before Grace decided she had had enough and put her foot down. We were at yet another American gas station. I hadn't realized just how similar they were across the country until this road trip. If I were to blindly guess which state we were in, I wouldn't have been able to tell, especially not with Dominic's very intricate driving route to Mexico, weaving us in and out of states, lessening our chances of being tracked. It certainly wasn't foolproof but it was better than nothing. We had tried to make good time, by driving and sleeping in shifts. So far, it was going pretty well, considering it was thrown together at the last second. However, we still had another few days before we would make it to Mexico.

Dominic had let me use the washroom first, which was much needed. We tried to stop as little as possible, to get to Mexico as soon as we could. Nonetheless, the endless driving was still taking a toll on me. I felt pretty sleep-deprived, like those nights I had spent in the cave in Adria. The dark circles under my eyes, evident even in the dingy gas station washroom lighting, was further proof that this road trip was quickly draining the life from me. But we had to keep going, for Jamie and his rapidly deteriorating health. He had been shaking and sweating all day, ever since we left the rest area early this morning. I hoped this wasn't a sign of an impending medical emergency, one that would force us to stop at a hospital.

I splashed some cold water on my face, in a feeble attempt to wake myself up. We still had a few more hours of driving before reaching our target rest area for the night. After we finished up at the gas station, it would be my turn to drive, meaning I'd need to be as alert as possible. Given that I felt like I could fall asleep at any second, I hoped I'd make it through the rest of the evening, in order to get us to the rest area safely.

I walked out of the washroom. Much to my chagrin, the gas station was still empty, aside from the bored clerk at the cash register. I grabbed a bunch of snacks for the four of us and went to pay. Luckily, the clerk just scanned my items and took my cash, without paying much attention to me. So far, by some miracle, I hadn't been recognized at any of the gas stations we had visited. My luck was bound to end at some point though, as I still saw the occasional headline with my name. Besides, I knew that our running would only take us so far. Eventually, we were going to get caught.

I exited the gas station, snacks in hand.

"He will not be fine!" Grace's voice immediately caught my attention. Her back was to me as she yelled at Dominic. "He needs a bed, Dominic. And a shower. And a meal that doesn't come out of a bag. We all do. When was the last time you slept? I mean really slept?"

"I'll sleep when you're safe." I took a good look at Dominic. If this road trip was draining the life from me, it was literally killing him. He looked like he had aged a few years even though we had only been on the road for a few days. The bags under his eyes were evident, as was the dead look in his eyes. Dominic was literally sacrificing himself, for us. Although Dominic constantly went above and beyond, pulling out all the stops, he was human too. How long would it take before he reached his breaking point? At the rate we were going, perhaps it would be much sooner than any of us would have imagined.

"Oh, Dominic," Grace said, shaking her head. Maybe she was onto something. After all, there was only so much we could handle before one of us snapped. The area around the gas station was pretty empty, except for a small motel on the far side of the parking lot. It paled to the luxury of the embassies and the condo in Moscow. But compared to the dodgy, old car Dominic had stolen, it was like heaven. I caught Dominic's eye, glancing over at the motel. Dominic subtly shook his head, still trying to stay strong for us. I looked Dominic in the eye again, glancing from Grace to the motel. Dominic just shrugged, as if the decision were up to me. Maybe if it were up to me, I would have forced us to keep going, just like he had initially planned. But really, our decision had been made by a certain girl standing between us. I just shrugged, knowing that our opinions really weren't going to matter at the end of the day.

"I will see about getting us some rooms," I said, heading off to the motel. As luck would have it, its parking lot was also dead, which increased my chances of being recognized by a motel clerk who spent far too much time watching TV. I supposed I'd just have to hope for the best.

"Stop." I turned to find Grace looking at me. "You're still front-page news. Even if no one in their right mind would expect you to run to the US, we probably shouldn't take the chance." As much as I didn't want to admit it, Grace was right. I would probably be pushing my luck if I tried to get us motel rooms.

She then looked at Dominic, zoning in on the jagged scar running down the side of his face. "And you're … memorable." She held out her hand until Dominic reluctantly handed over his wallet. "You two stay here. I'll go see about the rooms." With that, Grace turned towards the motel, walking with purpose, like she was on a mission she intended to accomplish. I couldn't stop myself from staring after her, feeling bewildered and dumbfounded. I turned back, finding Dominic looking at Grace the same way.

"I guess she's got us wrapped around her finger," I said. Tanner and Jordan would have said I was whipped but I begged to differ.

"Just like her mother," Dominic said, his attention still focused on Grace, his eyes dazed. I wondered if Dominic was seeing Grace or if his mind was in another time, reliving memories of Grace's mother. His eyes suddenly refocused, snapping back to the present.

"I noticed the car was starting to act up over the last few hundred kilometres here, not responding as well as before. I'm sure you heard those noises too."

Of course I had noticed the car making funny sounds on the way here, like something was bound to fall apart at any second. "It was especially bad when we were braked for a long time, stuck in traffic. I thought it would go away with a refuel but it didn't help much."

"Would you mind taking a look at it?" Dominic asked.

"Sure," I replied, opening the hood of the car. Much to my relief, nothing started smoking, a good sign that nothing was obviously broken or that the car was severely overheating. I took a look at the engine and the battery. Both were intact.

"What do you think is the issue?" Dominic asked, coming to stand beside me.

"It could be a variety of things. It could be an issue with the brakes themselves, the engine, or the transmission. Hopefully, it's just the engine overheating, which should be fine after we stop for the night," I replied, scanning all the parts under the hood. Nothing looked obviously broken, aside from being really old. I was glad I had taken an auto shops class in tenth grade, to fulfill the practical life-skills course requirement, and sort of had an idea of what could be going on.

"None of those will be an easy fix."

"Not likely. All of those will require a trip to a mechanic."

"Stopping at an auto shop will just eat up more time. We'd be better off taking another car if this one gives out," Dominic said resolutely.

"Taking another car will eat up time too," I argued. It had taken us longer than expected to break into a used car lot, find a decently working car, and drive off with it.

Dominic stared off into the distance, as if trying to find the rest of the way to Mexico. "Fair enough. It's the lesser of two evils though. We'll just have to hope this car will make it to Mexico."

In lieu of driving us to the rest area, Dominic had tasked me with keeping watch for the night. That was how I found myself sitting in an overly cushy armchair, with a view of both rooms. Dominic and I were sharing a room. He was currently fast asleep on the bed. Jamie and Grace were sharing the other room, connected to this one via a door. If I leaned over to peek into that room, I would see them fast asleep on the bed.

I checked the time on the burner phone Dominic had given me. 2:00 a.m. Only a few more hours and I would be relieved of my duties. It was very strange, being the only one awake while everyone else was asleep. Watching them sleep was even weirder. Despite being asleep, Dominic still looked stressed out. Always on high alert, ready to protect us at a moment's notice, like the former military man he was, even in deep sleep. Jamie was tossing and turning, in a fitful sleep. He was obviously in distress, his body working hard to fight whatever infection had decided to thwart his system. Grace was lying on her side, facing Jamie, her arm reaching out towards him. Even in her sleep, she still wanted to protect him. The thought made me smile. It had always been Jamie looking after his kid sister, making sure no one would dare to hurt her. Now, it looked like the roles had reversed.

Admittedly, Grace had all three of us wrapped around her finger. Dominic would be willing to give up his life for her, I would do anything to protect her, and Jamie would do whatever it took to make her happy. She was the one person who united us all, three unlikely allies. We probably would have spent another night on the road if it weren't for her. Sure, it was a dingy, old motel room straight from the 1950's, with old-fashioned furniture, a leaky bathroom faucet, and lightbulbs with questionable life spans. But it was much better than sleeping sitting up in the old car, even though I wouldn't get my chance at the bed until the early morning hours. I was sore all over from spending far too much time in that car and couldn't wait to finally get a decent sleep in a bed. This reminded me of the couple nights I had spent in that cave and how easy it was to take basic things for granted.

Never had I imagined that I would be on the run again. However, this time, I was doing it with my oldest friend and the girl I loved and it wasn't as rough. After we got Jamie to Mexico, I wasn't sure what would happen. Maybe I'd have to establish a new life there, since my name was still plastered over international headlines. I had accepted the fact that I'd never get to return to Valancia or Moscow again, not without endangering the people I cared about. I would never get to see Tanner and Jordan, or Roman, Eugene, and Josef again. I'd never be able to hang out with them as we made fun of each other. But I still had Jamie and Grace with me. Maybe they were the only two people I needed in order to truly be happy. After all, I had known them longer than all my other friends. The three of us had grown up together. We were true embassy kids, having spent our summers running around the embassies and the wall, attending formal event after event, diplomatic relations drilled into our minds. And we all knew what it was like to lose a parent. That alone bonded us on a deeper level. We had all experienced pain and loss at a young age, stripping us of our innocence and forcing us to grow up too fast.

Add Dominic into the mix and we became the damaged quartet. Our culminated suffering was more than enough for one lifetime, maybe even two. We had learned not to get attached so easily because one day, it'd be torn away from us. We had learned how to keep our grievances to ourselves, shouldering on while bearing the scars, invisible or physical. Perhaps no one else could understand what we had gone through but we were able to find solace in each other. Perhaps that was why I had been drawn to Grace, after all those years apart. We were able to understand each other's suffering and pain, all caused by the one organization that had ultimately decreed our destinies and every aspect of our lives from the start, the Society.

Aside from Jamie, the three of us knew what the Society was really capable of. We had all lost someone because of them. Currently, we were fighting a losing battle. They were onto us, for knowing far too much, and it wouldn't be long before they had us cornered. We could only run for so long before they finally caught up to us. However, I, as much as Grace and Dominic, refused to give into the Society, to help them keep up their charade. If they ever caught up to us, I wouldn't be going down without a fight. I wasn't going to play by the Society's rules any longer. They had already done enough to change our lives for the worse and I wasn't going to let them do any more damage. Not to four people who were already broken enough. If anything, we were the only ones who could keep the Society from doing more harm, from killing more people in order to keep their precious secrets hidden.

At this moment, it truly felt like it was the four of us against the world. That thought would be enough to make anyone quiver and think of backing down. But at least the people on my side were the three people I trusted the most. With Grace by my side, I felt virtually unstoppable, like anything was possible. Even if we couldn't take down the Society right away, we could still get Jamie to safety before the Society found him. Then we would tackle those evil ladies, stopping them from hurting anyone else. Then maybe, I'd finally be able to find my ever after with Grace and build a new life with her. We would run away to somewhere no one knew us and start over, leaving our demons behind. I'd go to the desert, the arctic, the jungle, anywhere, as long as we were there together. I didn't care where we'd run to, as long as I was with her. She would truly be my forever and always…

"Alexei!" I felt someone shaking my shoulder. I blinked, only to see early morning sunlight, instead of the darkness of the night, streaming in through the crack in the curtains. Shit, had I fallen asleep? I slowly came to, seeing an irate Dominic standing in front of me.

"James and Grace are gone." I immediately snapped to attention, peering into the neighbouring room. Sure enough, the bed was well slept-in but empty.

"Did you see them leave?" Dominic looked right at me, eyes seething. I shook my head. The last thing I remembered was staring blankly at the rooms. I was supposed to keep watch through the night but it looked like I had failed that basic task.

I didn't have any idea where Grace and Jamie possibly could have gone. My eyes flicked to the table by the door joining the two rooms, where Dominic had left the car keys. Sure enough, they were gone. I jumped up, peeking out the window. Unsurprisingly, the car was gone, the motel parkade completely empty.

"Did they run away?" I asked, my stomach churning and my dinner threatening to come back up as I thought about every possible thing that could have happened to them, all because it was my fault for not keeping proper watch. Like running away or being kidnapped and forced to drive or worse things that I didn't want to think about.

"Potentially," Dominic replied, as he wandered over to the window, looking outside. "Do you know where we are?" I thought back through the past three days and all the driving we had done, coming down through the eastern states and into the southern states.

"Oklahoma."

Dominic nodded. "There's a town a few kilometres away, by the name of Fort Sill. It's a military town. I had kept in touch with Caroline all these years and she told me this was her husband's last post. This was where she was going to raise her family and establish her life. She had opened up an antique shop, using her passions to make a living. It still stands to this day, albeit in a burnt down state." I let Dominic's words sink in. Grace and Jamie could have lived in this town. They could have grown up here. Had Grace known we were in Fort Sill, when she decided to put her foot down?

"Do you think that's where they are now?" Would Grace want to see her mother's shop again, three years after the incident that had turned her world upside down?

"I'd be willing to bet money on it," Dominic replied, his attention still focused out the window. When he turned towards me, there was a knowing glint in his eyes, a daring look on his face. "Only problem is, it's in the centre of the town, which is a bit of a ways away, especially without a car. How do you feel about a ten-kilometre run?"

That was how I found myself running along the highway with Dominic a few moments later. The sun was just starting to rise, yet, cars were already rolling down the highway. Dominic kept up a good pace as we ran, ignoring the looks of passing drivers. Thanks to all the driving we had done, I hadn't been able to work out for the past few days, aside from quick stretch breaks at gas stations and rest areas. Thus, this run felt great and was nothing I couldn't handle, especially after all the laps around the island I had done with Dominic over the last six weeks.

Dominic directed me onto a road off the highway, bringing us towards the town's core. I couldn't get over how American it looked, like an image straight from a postcard or a travel brochure. The street was lined with small shops and lit with tall, warm streetlights, nothing like the gas lights in Adria, creating a picture-perfect image of a typical small American town. It wasn't hard to imagine people wandering in and out of the shops, looking for souvenirs to buy.

But there was one shop that wouldn't be open for business anytime soon. There were no lights turned on, its windows boarded up. There was a gaping hole where the door should have been and the ceiling was charred. The lone car parked in front of it confirmed what it used to be. The antique shop. I looked over at Dominic. He nodded as we slowed to a walk, approaching the shop. Once upon a time, it would have been majestic, fit for a princess, or a royal family. Even now, it still stood tall, a reminder of what it once was, and what could become of the rest of the rightful Adrian royal family if we weren't careful.

"Let's go," Dominic said firmly. We walked in. The floor was covered in dust but was still surprisingly sturdy. I looked up, noticing the charred ceiling tiles that would have once given the room an airy feel. Dominic wandered over to the far corner of the shop, looking around. Quiet voices sounded throughout the room, echoing under the high ceiling. Yet, no one was to be found, aside from Dominic. I wandered further inside, where a pile of bricks laid near the back. Over the pile, the back of a shirt peeked out.

I inched closer, peering over the bricks. Sure enough, Jamie was kneeling on the floor by a gaping hole. Grace was nowhere to be seen but her voice rang out, as if she was nearby, out of sight but still very much present. As I got closer, a small hand appeared from the hole, handing something to Jamie. Was that Grace? If so, where was she and what the hell was she doing? I rounded the bricks, peering down into the hole, spotting her standing way below Jamie, on some kind of platform.

"Yeah, that's her," Jamie said, his attention focused on the item in his hand. I approached Jamie from behind, noticing he held a photograph. It was of three young women, a blonde surrounded by two dark-haired girls. For a second, I thought I was looking at a picture of Grace but realized it had to be her mother. The girl on the left was Princess Ann and the girl on the right was… my mother.

I tried hard not to think about her, even though she still found ways to pop into my head. My good memories of her were tainted by the fact that she had willingly left, potentially for doing something criminal if my father's phone call was to be believed. To this day, I would never understand why she chose to engage in criminal activities, not when she still had a young child, and would never forget the hole she left in my heart with her absence.

"What was she like?"

"Gone." I couldn't stop myself as the word came out of me. Without thinking, I jumped down into the depths of hell, into the dark abyss where Grace was, landing on the solid, sturdy platform. "She was gone." I looked up at a bewildered Grace as I reiterated that fact. My mother was gone. Cruelly disappeared without so much a word or gesture. Not even that letter was enough to make up for all the pain I had felt over the last ten years. At least Grace and Jamie knew what became of their mother. Every day, I had to wake up, not knowing if she was dead or alive, if she was safe or imprisoned. Some days it hurt less than others but that pain was always there.

A shadow crossed over the hole, obscuring the minimal light that had filtered in. I looked up to see Dominic standing next to Jamie, betrayal and hurt evident on his face.

"I never knew this was down here," he said. "I came and … She didn't tell me. I never knew." It almost didn't surprise me to learn that Grace's mother had kept secrets from Dominic. Like mother, like daughter, I supposed.

Grace held a flashlight in her hand, sweeping the beam throughout the room, illuminating its contents. The walls were absolutely covered in paper scraps, maps, calendars, sticky notes. It looked like a private investigator's office. Whatever Grace's mother was investigating, it had to be something serious.

The beam of light stopped on a box sitting on top of a shelf. Grace's eyes transfixed on the box. She slowly made her way towards it, reaching out to touch it. In an instant, her eyes glazed over. By now, I had seen her do this many times and knew that she was reliving something. I jumped off the platform, which I realized was a desk, and made my way towards the shelf. Grace's finger absentmindedly moved over the box, a beautiful, wooden thing with an intricate pattern. I had never seen anything like it.

"You'll open it when you're ready." Grace's voice sounded, all breathy and light. Was she talking to me or was she still stuck in the memory?

"Are you ready?" I asked. Grace snapped back to the present, turning towards me.

"What?"

"Are you ready?" I asked again.

"Alexei, if our moms were working together … if your mom was part of this, then maybe—"

"Maybe Karina's dead? Or maybe she just left me? Which one of those is supposed to make me feel better?" I didn't want to know what my mother was involved in, especially if being involved in the Society had led to her leaving me. No matter the reason behind my mother's disappearance, it was not going to undo ten years of pain. Knowing if she was dead or alive wasn't going to change the way I felt. It was closure that I'd never get, a truth I'd never know.

More sunlight filtered in through the hole before it was blocked by Dominic, a hard look on his face. "We can't stay here. It's someplace they might expect to find you. We can't stay."

"But—" Grace protested, before a death glare from Dominic silenced her.

"Take it down," Dominic ordered. "Take it all down. We'll bring it with us. We cannot let it be found." Soon, the streets would be filled with cars. It would be bad enough for the townspeople to find us here, especially given the group that we were, the former owner's children, her ex-lover, and an internationally wanted fugitive who just so happened to be in love with one of the owner's children. It would be even worse if they discovered that the shop had a secret floor, that not even the closest of Grace's mother's friends knew about. If a random stranger stumbled upon the secrets within these walls, their perception of the world would be turned upside down. We couldn't let those secrets be discovered, not with the secret floor now exposed.

Under Dominic's watchful eye, Grace and I set to work, tearing down every scrap of paper. We used every box and bag we could find, stripping the walls until they were bare. Dominic and Jamie steadily brought the boxes and bags to the car. We were taking everything with us, to keep the secrets among those who already knew.

The last thing I took with me was the wooden box. It seemed to have special meaning to Grace, given the way she had touched it. Taking one last look around the now bare room, I stepped onto the desk. Dominic reached down to pull Grace up, just as I boosted her up. When she had safely made it up, I handed her the box, which she cradled close to her chest, as if it were her child. I jumped up, pulling myself back up through the hole. As we walked back to the car, Dominic and I exchanged a look. It looked like this was only the start of all the secrets.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be up between Oct. 31 and Nov. 9.

I really don't know that much about cars and was just basing it off the problems that my poor, old car has so my apologies if that part wasn't very accurate. Also, I ended up doing a lot of rewrites for the end parts because I wasn't happy with how they were so hopefully it's fine now. Which part do you think is coming up next?