Hey guys, I hope you're doing well! As you can see, this is a shorter chapter. I decided to split the next chapter into two, so I could get the first half out earlier (as a more manageable edit) and have more time to work on the second half (which will be a much longer chapter!).

Gonna reply to reviews on the previous chapter, thank you so much for the love and to everyone who reviewed!

Melissa: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter and feel that I portrayed Grace and Alexei well! If you like action, then you'll definitely enjoy the next couple chapters

ggk: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter! If you like action, then you'll definitely enjoy the next couple chapters. Stay tuned for more to come…

Guest: Stay tuned to find out if you'll be correct…

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 digging up bodies, using weapons, or murder.

Content warning: mild
This fanfiction is rated M, for explicit and suggestive themes (such as mental health and abuse), language, and violence. This chapter contains moderate language and mentions of digging up bodies, mental health, weapons, death, and murder. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Oh No She Didn't

I completed the last of my second lap around Valancia's wall, turning down the street that would take me back to the university district. After the hellish and crazy night, I had a lot on my mind and the run was much needed to clear my head. I didn't think I had ever sprinted so fast around the wall but the adrenaline was pumping through me stronger than ever.

As I approached the townhouse, a figure pacing on the doorstep caught my attention. Had we been expecting someone? When I got closer, the figure waved at me. It was Prince Thomas, alone. What was he doing here?

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, as I climbed the front steps.

Thomas looked right at me. "Would you happen to know a Dominic guy?" Did I ever.

"Yes…" I said slowly, looking at Thomas to continue. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it.

"Let's talk inside." I unlocked the front door, leading us into the lounge. Thomas sat down hesitantly on one of the couches.

"You were mentioning something about Dominic," I stated, getting Thomas back on track. He nodded.

"I was with Grace and she said we needed to find this Dominic guy because he could help us." Thomas started.

"Help you with what?"

"I was with her at the palace and I came with her to find these bodies. Then we got to this random gate and Grace told us to split up and find Dominic. So here I am." He wasn't making any sense and the fact that he was frazzled wasn't helping either.

"Back up. Start from the beginning and tell me everything Grace told you." Thomas calmed down enough to tell me about how Grace had dragged him out of bed to find the bodies of the former Adrian royal family, which were apparently hidden in the palace, and how she made him retrace his memories of the day her mother had last visited the palace, to help her with that. If we were anyone else and anywhere else in the world, I would have written that off as fantastical. But this was Adria and this was Grace. I had learned to never underestimate either of them.

"So long story short, Grace enlisted you to help find the bodies of the former royal family on palace soil then told you to find Dominic?" I summarized, once Thomas had finished.

"Pretty much." Thomas casually shrugged, like he didn't know any better. Sometimes, I felt bad for the poor guy, an innocent bystander dragged into Grace's craziness.

Footsteps coming into the lounge caught my attention. I looked up to see Karina standing in the doorway.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Karina, it's just a small matter. I'll be with you shortly." I stood up, blocking Karina's view of Thomas. Unfortunately, the movement made her curious. She peered around me, her face changing in an instant.

"It's her!" Karina screamed.

"It's okay." I immediately grabbed her hand, steering her towards the living room. Unfortunately, she wasn't having any of it as she shook.

"It's her. She's behind it all. She's doing it right now." Thomas warily glanced at Karina.

"Don't take it personally," I told Thomas. "She does this all the time."

"It's her!" Karina shouted, pointing directly at Thomas. "She did this to me."

"Should I be concerned?" Thomas asked, glancing between Karina and I.

"She thinks you're your mother. Don't worry, she did this to Grace too," I whispered to Thomas. He only looked mildly reassured.

"It's okay, Karina. It's not Ann," I said, trying to comfort her. However, that only made things worse.

"Don't say her name. Not when this is all her fault!" Karina screamed before launching into an ear-splitting rendition of the nursery rhyme.

Thomas leaned in close to me, attempting to talk over Karina's screaming. "Oh, by the way, Grace kept singing this song."

"What song?" My brain was hurting, with too much going on and nothing making sense.

Thomas gestured at Karina, who was still screaming her lungs out. "This one." Thomas and I both stared at Karina.

"You know, Grace was kinda unhinged like this too. Except maybe not as bad," Thomas mentioned. I raised my eyebrows at him. Christ, was Grace also going crazy? Why was everyone around me losing it?

"She was singing this song as she led me to that gate," Thomas continued. "Which she opened with this key she had."

"The gate?" Thomas nodded.

"And that was where Grace left you and told you to find Dominic?" I continued.

"Pretty much."

"What did Grace think she was going to find at the gate?"

"I have no idea but it could have been those bodies she had been talking about earlier." Suddenly, it all made sense. Grace's words last night. Thomas' frantic explanation. Karina's mumblings. And that nursery rhyme. Oh God, there was no way in hell Grace was going to find help. She was getting her ass in there alone, much like the stubborn girl she had always been. I should have suspected that as soon as Thomas showed up. Grace was in grave danger at the palace and we needed to get there as soon as possible.

I cursed loudly in Russian. "We need to get to the palace now. Grace is in trouble," I shouted. Thomas looked at me in alarm.

I grabbed my phone, calling Dominic. He answered on the first ring.

"I think Grace is in trouble. Meet me at the palace," I yelled into the phone as I flew out the front door, locking it behind me.

"What's going on?" Dominic asked, his voice harsh.

"I don't have time to explain but I think it's bad. I think Grace found the bodies of the former Adrian royal family," I said, sprinting in the direction of the palace.

Footsteps sounded on the other end as Dominic cursed. No doubt he was mobilizing too, instantly getting into action. After a quick exchange about where to meet, he hung up. With that, I pushed myself to run even faster. It was only when I heard loud footsteps and panting breaths that I turned around, seeing Thomas running behind me at a much slower pace.

"Come on, we don't have any time to waste!"

"Weren't you just on a run fifteen minutes ago?" Thomas eeked out between pants.

"It doesn't matter. Grace's life is in danger and we need to go now." I prompted Thomas to continue, although I slowed my pace to match his. After an agonizingly slow run to me, we finally made it to the palace. Dominic was already there, watching, waiting. He led us inside, allowing Thomas to fill him in on everything that happened. Then, Dominic and I followed Thomas through the back hallways of the palace until we reached an ornate-looking set of iron gates in a large atrium.

"Are those the old palace gates?" I asked, staring up at them in wonder.

Dominic cursed as he took them in. "Correct. I don't think I've ever seen these open."

Thomas shrugged. "Well, Grace unlocked them with this key she had."

"Of course she did," Dominic muttered, walking into the atrium, turning to a small opening just behind the gates.

"What is this?" I asked.

"The old guardhouse," Dominic walked forward, examining the small alcove in front of us. We followed him in. There wasn't much, aside from an old, sketchy-looking staircase. "Where did Grace go?"

"We went in here. That was where she told me we'd split up and find you. Then we went back down the south corridor and split up at the main hall. Maybe she's not back yet because Alexei found you first," Thomas said innocently. Dominic and I both took one look at the staircase then at each other, both knowing what the other was thinking. There was no way in hell Grace had gone to get help. She had gone down that staircase and she was in deep, deep shit. A scream from somewhere below us confirmed our thoughts.

"You don't mean…" Thomas started, looking at the staircase before looking at Dominic and I, the horrible truth finally dawning on him.

"I mean exactly that," Dominic said, kicking into army mode. He patted his belt, where for the first time, I noticed the gun sitting in a discreet holster.

"Alexei, I need you to stay here and keep guard in case anything happens," Dominic said. "If I'm not back in fifteen minutes, then you need to call law enforcement and head to the main palace security office to alert them of what's happening." I nodded.

"Thomas, you're coming with me. I need you to tell me everything that happened this morning with Grace and what you think she might have done," Dominic instructed, looking directly at Thomas. The poor guy looked freaked out but nodded.

Dominic pulled out his phone, making a quick call about a potential security breach at the old guardhouse. Then, he put his phone away, trading it for his gun. He looked at Thomas, nodding at him. "Let's go." Dominic and Thomas briefly looked over at me. I nodded at them, giving them one last salute before they headed into the unknown.

With that, I was left alone, standing on high alert. All around me, the palace was deserted, the old stone corridors imposing and silent. What secrets were hiding in these walls? It was hard not to get a little creeped out by the whole atmosphere. But I had a role to play, an important one, even if passive.

A cough got my attention. I whipped around, seeing no one. However, it was hard to tell if anyone was hiding in the numerous corridors and hallways that branched off the atrium. I quickly peered into each of them, only seeing dark shadows. There was another cough, louder this time. Right then and there, I felt like I was being watched and that someone was out to get me, very soon.

"Who's there?" I shouted. The only reply was the crunch of broken glass underfoot, followed by the quiet flick of a lighter. Seconds later, the acrid smell of cigarette smoke permeated the room. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, a cold shiver running down my spine. The crunch sounded again, louder and closer, until it was interrupted by a very familiar, cold voice speaking in my mother tongue.

"I didn't think it would end like this. I thought I had gotten rid of you for good. If not in the car explosion, then surely, you would have died in the wild. But I got word you were in Mexico. So I investigated. And much to my surprise, you were very much alive. I could have had you taken out then. But I waited, biding my time, because I knew you'd be foolish enough to return to Adria eventually. And so here we are, reunited once again."

"What do you want from me?!" I exclaimed. I was met with silence until I found a gun in front of my face.

"I always told you, you could run all you wanted but you could never hide from me."

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will be up between Oct. 6 and Oct. 22.

Who do you think is coming for Alexei? With that brutal cliffhanger, all I can say is you guys really aren't ready for the next chapter…

Update (Oct. 22): Hey guys, as you may have guessed, the next chapter will not be up on time (my apologies for this). I hate having to keep delaying chapters but life has been so insane lately. Work has been crazy as usual. And I've had some personal things happen, namely an insanely chaotic two week situationship (from meeting him initially to when things ended) with a guy who was the spitting image of Alex Volkov from Ana Huang's Twisted series (brown hair in a high fade haircut, green eyes, insanely tall at 6'3", he was even half Ukrainian) but a quarter as smart and with serious commitment issues (ended things because he wasn't ready for a committed relationship, as he still wasn't over his ex who he recently broke up with). So I've been dealing with the aftermath and trying to find myself again (since I was so wrapped up with him). After a week and a half, I'm starting to feel back to my normal self and am only now just getting a chance to start the proper editing for Chapter 33 of Unlocking the Key. Like I've hinted at, it's a long and pivotal chapter and I want to make sure it's done correctly. I'm hoping to get it up between Nov. 5 and Nov. 13 (and that it won't get delayed even further, since I'll also have an hour long rounds presentation for work to prepare and present during that time). Thank you for your understanding and patience with all these delayed chapters and hopefully I'll be back sooner rather than later with the next chapter.

Update (Nov. 13): Hey guys, as you may have guessed, the next chapter will be delayed again :P My sincere apologies for this, as life has just decided to keep being insane. Not long after I posted the previous update, I got a really bad cold, which took me out for a week and a half. Then once I recovered, I had to prepare and practice my rounds presentation for work (which thankfully went well) and catch up on chores. And of course, still trying to get over the Alex Volkov look-alike (which isn't helped by the fact that he keeps reaching out, despite me telling him we're going no contact right after he ended things, as that's what I need to move on from breakups). Despite that, I've done a good amount of the editing for Chapter 33 of Unlocking the Key. It's 80-85% ready but as you know, I don't want to post something until I'm 100% happy with it (especially since this next chapter is a pivotal one). Thankfully, this week at work shouldn't be too crazy so I'm hopeful about having some time to do the final rounds of edits and post it within the week (hopefully by Nov. 20 at the latest). I sincerely apologize for delaying this chapter again but I promise you guys it will be worth it when it finally gets posted. Thank you so much for your understanding and patience and hopefully you'll be hearing from me soon :)