Chapter 540

• Leila snatches her hand away and turns to Jake imploringly, raising her hands in complete frustration.
• “There’s nothing to take outside … I’m. Not. Interested!” She throws her hands on her hips in defiance, but Daniel scoops her up in his arms in a flash, ignoring any attempts from her to refuse him, and turns on his heel to march out toward the pitch-black gardens with a look of sheer rage. There’s a flash of cameras, and Jake grimaces and grabs my hand a little more firmly, pulling me to follow the bickering pair into the night air.
• We stop a few times to thank well-wishers in passing as if it’s the most surreal thing ever. I can see Hunter’s back with a struggling pair of legs sticking out to one side. They disappear behind a swaying velvet curtain, and I am urged to follow them in a hurry.