by S. E. Rose
I look down at the screen. My fingers pulling up my search. There’s a new message.
“It’s been taken care of. You are relieved of your duty.” I frantically follow the trail left by the message, hoping that’s it not too late to track it down. I home in on it, tunneling through the dark web, mapping out the signal, until it stops. I stare in complete and utter shock.
The signal is coming from the palace. And it’s live. I look again and then again. It can’t be right. I double-check once more, but there’s no denying it. Whoever it is, is here, right now. My stomach lurches as I ponder who. Is it Sten? My mind races through the faces of my family, of Logan’s family, of our staff. I’m not sure who I can trust, anyone in this palace could be a killer. When I was a child, I loved to play the board game Clue. Only right now, I don’t know who, or with what, or the biggest question of all, why?
I back up my data to my server and slide the laptop back into my new hiding spot, which is a loose board in the bottom of the cabinet. I head toward my father’s study. I need to talk to him. My father has nothing to gain from Logan’s death, so I know he’s not behind this. I stop mid-step and shake my head. I can’t even think he’d be behind this. I continue walking. I have to trust someone. And that someone needs to be my father. I’ll tell Logan as soon as I can. I make it to the study and knock on the door. There’s no answer, so I peek inside to find the room empty. I sigh. I turn to walk back up toward my father’s chamber when I feel the ground shake and a loud boom.
Chapter 27
The sound is deafening. The building shakes for a few seconds. And then for half a second…silence…utter, eerie silence before there are screams and shouts. I shake my head to clear it. My ears are ringing, and I look around. There’s so much smoke that I’m momentarily disoriented. The smoke stings my eyes and burns my lungs. I cough and sputter as I look, but I can’t see through the haze in front of me. There are flames in the distance and pieces of wood and stone on the ground. I get down on my hands and knees and crawl toward what I think is the front door. When I arrive, I use my shirt to turn the metal handle and push it open. I stumble down the front steps and land on the pebbles, gasping for fresh air. A moment later, Gerard is standing next to me.
“Are you alright, Princess?” he asks, crouching down to examine me. I lift a hand.
“Yes,” I choke out. I wipe my face with my hand and sit up, looking around. I only see Gerard. “Where is everyone?” I cry out as I stumble to my feet.
A second later, Chris emerges carrying Mia in his arms. I run to them.
“Is she OK?” I yell.
I notice her arm is bloody.
“She fell; I don’t know,” Chris says, his eyes wild. I hear sirens in the distance. I realize there are security guards running into the palace, my gaze follows them, scanning up to see flames shooting out of the top of the palace. Movement at the door draws my attention back down. I see Logan, his eyes scanning until they find me. He runs toward me and crushes me to me.
“Thank god!” he yells. “I couldn’t find you.”
“Where is everyone?” I call out. The sounds of the flames, sirens, and shouting of security permeate the air. It’s like a fuzzy background noise in my ringing ears, and I can’t exactly pinpoint the volume of my voice over the other sounds.
“I don’t know,” he says, looking back at the chaos.
I see Tessa and Auggie stumble around from the back. They seem OK, and I assume the kitchen area was not compromised by the explosion as the flames are shooting out toward the wing where my father, King Edvard, and Lara and Hans’s chambers are located. My mind freezes at the realization, and I shudder.
I take off running back inside. I hear the calls of my brothers and staff. I turn for a brief moment, Shannon and Marcus are now coming from around the building behind Auggie, Tessa, and Liza, who has stumbled out of the building as well.
I lock eyes with Logan. He gives me a pleading look, and then I turn and run inside.
The spray of the fire sprinklers is going now and coats me in a fine mist of water. I rip my shirt and wrap it around my mouth and nose to keep my lungs from inhaling the pungent, smoky air. I see staff running out with priceless antiques, paintings, and such. I yell at them to get out of here. They tell me to turn back, but I continue up the stairs. The smoke becoming thicker with each step.
“Anna, stop,” I hear Logan’s voice behind me.
“I won’t let them die,” I say. I recall him saying I was brave and reckless, and at this moment, I feel very much both, but I also feel determined. I won’t let anyone die without a fight.
I continue on, I hear Logan behind me, but I sprint in the direction of my father’s chambers. I know I’m close to Lara and Hans’s door. I feel for it and push it open. I’m pushed back by flames.
“Aunt Lara!” I yell.
“Anna?” I hear her. I can’t see her through the flames and debris.
“I’m here, where are you?” I call out.
“Get out! It’s no use,” I hear her voice. I spot her face for a brief second before flames lick higher and cover her from my view once more.
“No, I won’t go without you,” I say, desperately scanning the room, looking for a way to get to her. There’s so much debris. Pieces of the wood beams lie broken and on fire. There are giant chunks of wall piled on the floor.
“Anna, my love, listen to me. You can’t get to me, and even if you could, I’m pinned under a beam. It’s no use.” I hear her voice waver, and I feel hot tears splash my cheeks.
“I’m not leaving you,” I say, my voice cracking on the last word.
“Anna, I won’t break my promise I made to your mother when you were born. I promised I would always take care of you if anything ever happened to her. You will not die trying to save me,” she says. I hear her coughing, and I know she’s probably inhaled a lot of smoke.
“I’ll go get help,” I cry out.
“Anna, just get out, please,” she says.
I’m crying now. “I love you, Auntie Lara,” I say.
“I know, my love. I know. You’re the closest thing I’ve had to a daughter, and you’ve made my life a better one. Now go live yours,” she says, her coughing growing more prominent with each word.
“I’m getting help,” I call out.
I run from the room. I hear the voices of what I presume to be firefighters down the hall. “Down here!” I yell and sputter on smoke. I continue toward my father’s room. I try to open the door, but the handles are so hot, I wince. I take off my shirt, wrap it around my hand and turn the knob.
I back up as flames burst from the doorway.
“Daddy!” I yell and cough.
“Anna?” I hear him. I turn and see the door open to the suite where Uncle Eddie stays when he visits. I’m about to run inside when I hear a crack above me.
“Anna!” I turn just in time to see Logan running at me, motioning for me to move with his arms. I start to step to the side, and then everything goes black.
To be continued…
Acknowledgments
There are always so many people that help me make a story come to life. One person that I have to recognize is my beta reader, Beta One. She’s not only been my good friend for decades, but she tirelessly reads and re-reads my manuscripts. Without her help, my stories wouldn’t be as good as they are.
I also have to thank my friend and reader, Elizabeth Bell, for taking time to help me with my blurb, cover, and story. Your input helped me immensely.
I want to send a special shout-out to my author community, in particular, Geneva Lee and Elise Lee, for offering their support to me. It means the world to me.
And lastly, I have to thank my wonderful team that helped me make these books, my editor, Judy Zweifel, and my cover designer, Arijana Karčić.
About the Author
S.E. Rose lives in the DMV. And if you know what that means, then you know where she lives. She currently resides with her husband, two children, and alwa
ys at least two cats and usually other random creatures her children decide they need. While she works at a desk during the day, her evenings and weekends are devoted to writing and editing her romance novels. She loves all things wine, coffee, tea, and dark chocolate, that’s right dark chocolate. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, traveling, going to concerts, and reading.
Learn more about upcoming books from S.E. Rose at www.seroseauthor.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @seroseauthor. She has many other social media accounts and you can find them all at: https://linktr.ee/seroseauthor .
Other Books by S.E. Rose
Series:
Portentous Destiny Series:
Island (Book 1)
Secrets (Book 2)
Bravura (Book 3)
Determination (Book 4)
Home (Book 5)
Duet:
The Poisoned Pawn Duet:
A Fierce Princess
A Valiant Prince
Novels:
Chronicles of a Hot Mess
The Decoy
Novellas:
Neighbor in Apartment No. 5
The Tinsel Tango
Want to learn more? Visit www.seroseauthor.com.
Sneak Peek at The Poisoned Pawn Duet Part II, A Valiant Prince
I lose track of her quickly. The smoke is thick and blankets the air like morning fog. Water is spraying down from the sprinklers, and I take my shirt off and hold it under a sprinkler before tying the wet cloth around my nose to keep the burning fumes of the fire from filling my lungs.
I make it up the stairs. The temperature rises, as I climb each stair. When I reach the top, I look toward her room. I run there first, but it’s empty. I walk back into the hallway and look toward the fire in the other wing. She wouldn’t. Shit, she would.
I begin to run toward the fire, fighting the natural urge to run back outside, fighting my instincts that say to run away from the fire, because if my fierce princess ran into it, then I most certainly am going in after her.
I hear her before I see her.
“Daddy!” she yells.
As I run toward the sound of her voice, I begin to make out her figure in the distance. There’s fire everywhere. Debris rains down from the ceiling, and I narrowly miss it. I’m momentarily confused as I approach her, she’s not looking in her father’s room, but inside my father’s room.
“Anna!” I call out as I close in on her.
She turns slowly, and just as she sees me, there’s a roar of fire, a cracking in the ceiling above her, and then I don’t see her.
“Anna!” I scream, sprinting as fast as I can, choking on the smoke that I inhale instead of oxygen.
There are so many flames. I fall to the ground and begin crawling. I can see a beam has fallen, and I jump over it. That’s when I see her. Her arm is under the beam, and she’s on the ground, pieces of ceiling around her, on her. I don’t even think as I start removing burning debris from on top of her. They say that people have superhuman strength when adrenaline pumps through their bodies in times of emergency. This is the only explanation of how I am able to push a giant wooden beam off Anna.
I pick her up in my arms and turn. Then I see my father. King Michael supports him and the two are stumbling toward the door.
“We have to go!” I yell to them. “This wing is going to collapse!”
“Go!” King Michael yells as his eyes focus on Anna. “Get her out of here.”
