by Grady, D. R.
He hoped that by leading, he could show them the way he wanted them to know. In the event of a fire or other emergency, this would also be another way out, another safety route. He wanted them comfortable traversing the passage.
To keep the space dark enough that they wouldn’t notice there were other passages snaking off the main corridor, he kept the small penlight he carried trained on the floor. His companions eased through the panel behind him. They could all see the floor and he quickly showed them the stone walls on either side. It wasn’t a spacious hall, but enough that one person could easily walk, even if carrying a heavy pack or equipment.
“I’ve heard of these passageways.” His mother’s shoes made a staccato ping on the stone floor.
“So have I.” Jorge’s shoes didn’t make a sound.
“I haven’t.” Helena’s voice indicated she was rather enjoying herself nonetheless. In fact, all three of them sounded like they were.
“I hope this doesn’t dead end.” None of these passages did.
He shined the light, keeping watch for landmarks that told him where the other corridors branched off. When they reached those, he shined the light on the opposite solid wall to keep his companion’s attention off the more interesting aspects of the tunnel. Knowing his mother and Helena, though, he didn’t doubt both would bring their own lights and thoroughly explore this space.
That meant he better rig up a system whereby it looked like the entire wall was solid. Mentally counting up the passages off this one, he realized he would be busy for the next few days. That should be enough time to build what he needed to block off the other corridors.
Hopefully Tia would have plenty of work for them to do in the next few days since it was obvious they wouldn’t be working today. Up ahead the corridor turned, and he shined the small light on the corner, then disappeared around it.
“Are we following the outer wall of the palace?” Jorge sounded far too interested.
Uh oh. That meant Jorge was just as likely to investigate this tunnel in his spare time.
“I believe so.” He kept his own answer vague.
Since this was fairly close to the outer palace wall, there were two exits. He stopped in front of the first one. It led outside, right to the palace garages. He stepped back so they could all peek through the door he cracked open. “It leads outside,” Helena whispered.
“Yes, this is a great alternative if there’s a fire.” Hopefully they wouldn’t need this route but just in case…
“It’s nice to know we have options.” His mother peered around Helena.
“Right.” Jorge joined her. “It looks as though this passage continues though.”
Everyone stepped back and he eased the door shut again, making certain it was secure before he took point once more. The other entrance wasn’t far from here and it lead to the very center of the palace, at the cellar level. There were several ways one could take to escape the palace, but if they were under attack, this might be the safest place for them.
He quickened his pace, like he was eager to explore. Three more steps should take them to the swinging door at the end of the corridor. Pretending a little befuddlement, he stopped and shined the light around the space. “That’s odd.”
His mother stepped around him to shove against the door. She toppled. He caught her before she did a faceplant on the other side. “That explains this mystery,” he said.
“Thanks for saving me again, love.” She brushed herself off. Then in typical fashion, swung the door open and sailed through.
“Here we go,” he muttered. Both Helena and Jorge laughed as they followed him through the door and they all found themselves on a landing. A staircase led down.
“Stairs.” His mother clapped her hands then stepped forward to most likely hurtle down them in her too high heels. He grabbed her arm and hauled her behind him.
“Mom, you don’t know if those are safe or what’s at the other end. Would you please allow me to go first?”
She stepped back, disgruntled, but he had been on these stairs. They wound and curved and someone not paying attention could easily grow dizzy and disoriented. In a few areas, they could use some repair. They weren’t crumbling yet, but were well on their way.
He set the pace down the stairs.
“Do you think this will lead us to lunch?” Jorge asked hopefully.
“Don’t know.” It didn’t, but one of the other passages would take them to the room where the palace personnel stored their belongings. He didn’t intend to show them that source today.
Instead, once they reached the bottom of the stairway, it led them into a small lobby. There were built-in benches all around the space and a door leading off it. He knew from experience this door was locked, although the key hung from a nail nearby. He didn’t show them that. Instead he shined the light all the way around the room so they could take stock.
“This looks like it could withstand a bomb.” He tested the stone with his hand.
“Oh I hope we never have to test that theory,” his mother fretted.
“I second that motion.” Helena stopped beside her.
Jorge was too busy prowling around the room to comment.
After they drank in the atmosphere, he turned back to the staircase. “Maybe we better return to the lab. Tia might be wondering where we are.”
All three of them snorted.
“That’s not likely?”
“Not at all. She’s busy,” Helena answered.
Jorge nodded. “We should tell her about this passage.”
“It might come in handy in an emergency,” his mother agreed.
He made short work of leading them up the stairs and through the passages to the closet. After the four of them stood in the more spacious part of the storage closet, Jorge’s stomach rumbled. A glance at his watch revealed it was well past lunchtime. One peek into the lab showed the room wasn’t any less crowded. “We’re going to have to wade through that crowd.”
His companions eyed him dubiously.
“Trust me.”
Chapter 7
When they opened the storage closet door Helena glanced around the still crowded benches and realized this could take some time. Of course they did have organized storage closets and cabinets, a table that didn’t give one a hernia to move, and a secret passageway. The cherry on top was Vlad.
On that thought, Vlad curled a hand around her waist and gently shifted her to the side. He stepped in front of her and forged a path through the lab coats like he was royalty. Of course he was.
In a matter of moments, they all stood in the hall. Jorge brushed off his shirt and sent an admiring glance at Vlad. “That was impressive, Vladimir. I could have never gotten us out of that lab so efficiently.” He smiled at Vlad before wondering off toward his lunch.
Maria also stared up at him with pride. She patted his chest. “You are impressive, my son.” Standing on tiptoes, she kissed his cheek, ruffled his hair, and then trailed after Jorge.
She eyed him with a lot of brattiness.
“If you mess up my hair, it’s all over between us,” Vlad warned.
She rose up on her own tiptoes and trailed her fingers through his hair, her lips mere millimeters from his. “Are you sure?”
“Okay, you can mess my hair.” His arms tightened around her like bands of platinum. They raised her another notch so that their lips were on the same level and his took hers in a shockingly intimate kiss.
Her spine melted, and her knees disintegrated. Yet she didn’t mind in the least. Her fingers curled around his scalp as she pressed closer, her tongue vying for even more attention from his. The man tasted better than anything she had ever savored. If he stopped kissing her, bad things would happen to him.
“You are aware this is a public hallway, right?” An unwanted, but thoroughly amused voice asked right beside them. The voice was really close.
One of them, she wasn’t certain who, said, “Go away.”
“No. My fi
ancée is busy entertaining mouldy scientists so I don’t have anything better to do.”
With reluctance, she and Vlad retrieved their own tongues and ended that amazing kiss. It took a long moment before they accomplished this. She was happy his heart wasn’t into the extricating exercise any more than hers. Both of them turned to glare at the unimpressed and still quite amused Aleksi.
“Think on it this way, at least it’s me who caught you and not Emerson.” Aleksi rocked back on his heels as he waited for that to penetrate.
Once it did she and Vlad sprang apart like they had set each other on fire. In her case, Vlad had accomplished that goal. Heat continued to speed through her as her hormones protested, really loudly, at the demise of that kiss.
“Emerson.” Vlad groaned.
“I’ll tell him you’re sorry you missed him.” Aleksi looked quite pleased with himself.
She settled her nastiest glare on him. “I do know where you’re ticklish.”
He sniffed, not impressed at all. “I just saved you from the biggest gossip in Rurikstan.”
“Good, you can eat lunch with us then.” Vlad’s smile was bland, but it still caused skitters of excitement up her spine.
Her stomach effervesced in anticipation as he slid his hand in hers and tugged her toward the room where her colleagues disappeared.
Before they took two steps, Aleksi stopped them and steered them in the direction of the palace dining room. “Apparently Tia is otherwise occupied so you can suffer through lunch with me.”
When Helena indicated she planned to use the water closet, he and Aleksi waited outside for her.
“Have you read what’s on that USB drive?”
Aleksi shook his head. “It’s password protected. You haven’t thought more about what could be on it?”
“No.” Vlad frowned. “He didn’t say much.” He suspected the contents related to him, but he didn’t know for certain. His prince had only stressed that he give the USB drive to Aleksi.
“None of his known passwords have worked.”
“So it’s a completely different one then.”
The prince sighed and nodded.
“I don’t recall anything other than his initial instructions.”
“How long ago did he give it to you?”
“Thirteen or fourteen months ago.”
“That was right before he died.” Aleksi avoided his gaze by bouncing his attention all around the hall.
“Yes. He told me during a sane moment that it was vital.”
“He didn’t mention anything about the password?”
“No.” In the middle of shaking his head, he stopped. “Actually he did.”
Aleksi’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as his gaze finally snapped to him. “What did he say?”
“That you would have to work it out.” His mouth turned down. “He didn’t have many of those clear spells near the end did he?”
“No.” Sorrow etched Aleksi’s face.
“For what it’s worth, he definitely loved and respected you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“When I left him near the end, he didn’t doubt that you would lead our country to greatness. He had a lot of confidence in you.”
“Thank you, Vlad,” Aleksi said, sounding stunned.
He could relate. He hadn’t intended to mention that, but after witnessing the new prince’s utter sorrow at the passing of his father, sorrow he related to, the words were yanked from him.
He was relieved when Helena rejoined them. By that time Aleksi regained his composure and set to teasing Helena. It was reminiscent of their childhood years and told him without a doubt that Helena and Aleksi’s relationship was solid and quite platonic.
This brought relief because he wanted Helena for all time. Whether she wanted him was still in question, but that kiss gave him hope.
Sometimes that’s all a soldier had. Hope. It was a fleeting, sometimes contrary emotion. Yet it was all they had to cling to at times. If a warrior lost hope, he was lost. Those who gave in to despair didn’t last.
That was one of the most basic rules of combat. Keep going. Put one foot in front of the other and look ahead. Do not take steps back, keep moving toward your goal.
Right now, his goal was keeping everyone in Rurikstan safe, especially Helena. That’s all he had at the moment. The rulebook discouraged taking up with the locals, yet he couldn’t ignore this particular Rurikstani. She was everything he wanted.
He would keep Rurikstan safe. He would also keep Helena in his life for as long as she allowed it.
***
Now she finally understood what that word brooding meant. It had always escaped her in the past. Vlad currently offered an impressive definition. Brooding meant dark, menacing, and definitely deep in thought.
He had yet to contribute to the lunch conversation. Had she upset him? Said something she shouldn’t have? Yet they hadn’t talked much. They’d been too busy exploring the other’s mouth to worry about talking.
It should worry her, but it didn’t. Instead, she was fretting over the fact that… That what? She delved deeper into her unease. It wasn’t comfortable, but the deeper she sank the more she understood her own fear that Vlad hadn’t enjoyed their kisses as much as she had.
What if he hadn’t enjoyed them at all?
“I can’t believe you left me,” Tia exclaimed from the doorway.
She traipsed in, laid a possessive, happy kiss on Aleksi then slipped into the chair beside him.
Hans, the waiter who normally served Aleksi, conjured up a plate of food for her. “Thank you, Hans.” Her smile set the entire room alight with joy and happiness.
Helena suppressed a sigh.
“You’re welcome, Your Highness.” Hans obviously basked in her smile.
The happiness dimmed as Tia’s smile turned upside down. Her scowl was something to behold. “Hans, you did not just call me Your Highness.”
“No, he did,” Vlad answered. It was the first thing he said the entire meal.
Hans smirked at Tia. “That’s your title the moment you marry His Royal Highness here.” He made it sound like marrying Aleksi was equivalent to Ebola exposure.
Aleksi growled. “She is not breaking up with me to marry you, Hans.”
“I think you should give her that option.” Hans stood his ground.
“Want me to kill him?” Vlad wiped his mouth as he stared Hans down.
Hans’ eyes widened. “Hey, you can’t do that.”
“Yes I can. If my prince commands me to.”
Aleksi turned a nasty smirk on Hans. “I do believe that bears thinking about. Hans gone from my life. No longer flirting with my fiancée. No longer trying to steal my fiancée.”
“Hans, run.” She used her most dictatorial tone.
He didn’t wait for her to finish the statement but took off.
She glared at the two gloating men across the table. “You two should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“He keeps trying to steal Tia.”
“Stop whining, Aleksi. Tia doesn’t have eyes for anyone except you. You know that.” She scoffed before turning to her whatever-Vlad-was-to-her. “As for you, you are not killing anyone while we’re trying to enjoy a civil lunch.”
“Did someone just turn Helena into the princess?” Aleksi turned into the picture of innocence.
Tia eyed him with amusement over her coffee mug. “You better be careful. Helena knows a lot about you.”
“I’ll just sic Vlad on her.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger on either side of his chin.
She turned her own quite interested eyes on Vlad. “That’s fine by me.” She blew Vlad a kiss. “He has much better chances of survival than you do.”
Vlad’s eyes morphed from warm amusement to hot interest. Her body did that whole bone melting thing. He needed to be declared illegal. No man should provide such masculine perfection in one gorgeous, enticing package. It was a crime against womankind.
&nbs
p; “This is just a guess here, but I think we lost them.” Tia leaned forward to flirt with Aleksi.
“It’s okay, they’re still young.” Aleksi might have leaned forward to kiss Tia, but she didn’t have enough available gray matter to confirm that.
Drowning in Vlad’s dark, nearly black eyes was far more interesting to her. The man was so… incredible, magnificent, delicious…
One of them, and she wasn’t certain which one started it, rose from the table, the other quickly following. The remains of their lunch left without a thought. Instead, Vlad grabbed her hand and hauled her out of the room. She offered no protest whatsoever.
“It’s nice to know Vlad has one weakness.” Aleksi said this from far away. But really, she couldn’t be expected to comprehend anything when Vlad was around. It was asking far too much.
With the stealth she associated with Vlad, he located a small, deserted sitting room. Tugging her inside he quickly shut the door and locked it before turning to her with burning eyes. Hers could melt a Bunsen burner at least. She met his passion with her own, kissing him with every pent up frustration the man had left smoldering within her all these years.
The kiss ended because they needed to breathe.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Vlad tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
“How am I looking at you?”
“Like you don’t quite believe I’m here.” He tugged her closer, warming her, fitting her curves like he had been made to do so.
If there was ever a man made for her, here he was.
Yet also lurking in the back of her mind was the knowledge that she didn’t know anything about him. Nothing pertinent anyway. She knew his family, knew which school he had attended, but she didn’t know what he did for a living or anything about his training.
She didn’t even know what his favorite food was, or color, or song.
Did he even like music?
“See, that look is making me nervous.” He teased her and those strands of hair.
“I just realized that you can kiss me senseless, but I know nothing about you.” Her voice was definitely breathless. His fault.
