“No, it all looks really good. You did a great job.” I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

“Oh, sorry. You’re probably exhausted.” Rhys stood up. “I just got done with school, and I didn’t have a chance to talk to you earlier. But . . . yeah. I’ll leave you be.”

“Wait. You just got done with school?” I furrowed my brow, trying to understand. “Does that mean you’re a tracker?”

“No.” It was his turn to look confused. “I’m mänks.” When he saw the perplexed look on my face, he corrected himself. “Sorry. It’s just short for mänsklig.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I demanded. My low energy made it hard to conceal my exasperation.

“They’ll explain it to you later.” Rhys shrugged. “Anyway, I should let you freshen up. If I’m not in my room, I’ll be downstairs, getting some food.”

“Are you happy here?” I blurted out before I could think about how rude that sounded. His eyes met mine just for a second, revealing something intense I couldn’t quite decipher, but then he quickly dropped them.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy?” Rhys asked wryly. He ran his fingers along my silk sheets, staring at the bedspread intently. “I have everything a kid could want. Video games, cars, toys, money, clothes, servants . . .” He trailed off, but then a slow smile returned to his face and he looked up at me. “And now I have a Princess living across the hall from me. I’m ecstatic.”

“I’m not really a Princess.” I shook my head and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Not in the real sense of the word. I mean . . . I just got here.”

“You look like a Princess to me.” The way he smiled at me made me want to blush, so I looked down, unsure of what else to do.

“So what about you?” I kept my head down, but I raised my eyes to meet his. The smile playing on my lips felt oddly flirtatious, but I didn’t mind. “Are you some kind of Prince?”

“Hardly.” Rhys laughed. He plucked at his sandy hair, looking rather sheepish. “I should probably let you finish getting dressed. The chef is off tonight, so supper is on me.”

Rhys turned and walked down the hall, whistling a song I didn’t recognize. I shut my door, wishing I could understand this all better. I was a Trylle Princess to a grifter empire, and I had a mänsklig living across the hall from me, whatever the hell that meant.

I lived in this amazingly stunning house with these cold, indifferent people, and the price of admission was stealing from the only people who cared about me. Sure, Finn was here, but he had made it perfectly clear that his only interest in me was business.

I went through my closet, looking for something to wear. Most of the clothes seemed too fancy for me. Not that I had grown up wearing rags or anything. In fact, if my mother . . . er, Kim . . . hadn’t gone crazy and left, these would be exactly the kind of clothes I’d be expected to wear now. All high-class fashion pieces. Eventually I managed to dig up a simple skirt and shirt that resembled something I’d actually wear.

I was starving, so I headed off to find the kitchen to take Rhys up on his offer. The tile floors were cold under my feet, and strangely, I had yet to see any rugs or carpet in the entire house.

I had never been fond of the feel of carpet on my feet, or really the feel of anything on them. When I thought back to my glimpse of the closet here, as large and full as it had been, there hadn’t been any shoes. It must be a Trylle thing, and that thought was oddly comforting. I was part of something.

I passed through the living room, where a fireplace filled the partial wall separating it from an elegant dining room. The furniture appeared to be handcrafted wood and was upholstered in white. The floors were all smooth golden wood, and everything was aimed toward the glass wall, forcing you to admire the view.

“Nice digs, right?” Rhys said, and I whirled around to find him standing behind me, smiling.

“Yeah.” I looked around the room appreciatively. “Elora definitely has good taste.”

“Yeah.” Rhys shrugged. “You gotta be hungry, though. Come on. I’ll whip you up something in the kitchen.” He started walking out of the room, and I followed him. “You’ll probably hate what I make, though. You’re into all that health food junk like everybody else, right?”

“I don’t know.” I had never thought of myself as a health nut, but the things I preferred tended to be organic and vegan. “I like natural things, I guess.”

He nodded knowingly as he led me past the ornate dining room into a massive kitchen. There were two professional-grade stoves, two massive stainless-steel fridges, a gigantic island in the center, and more cupboards than the residents in this house could possibly use. Rhys went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew and a bottle of water.

“Water, right?” Rhys held it out to me, and I took it from him. “I’m really not the best cook, but you’ll have to settle for my cooking.”

“How often do you have a chef?” I asked. In a place like this, they definitely had some kind of staff.

“Part-time.” Rhys took a sip from his Mountain Dew, then set it on the island and went to the other fridge to start rooting around. “Just weekends, but that’s because it’s usually when we entertain. I don’t know what Elora eats during the week, but I’m on a fend-for-yourself basis.”

I leaned on the island, drinking my water. This kitchen reminded me of the one in our house in the Hamptons, the one Kim had attempted filicide in, but that one had been smaller. If she hadn’t left, this was probably how I would’ve been raised. In fact, I’m sure this was how she had been brought up.