by Kat Mizera
“Daniil!” A woman came running in, her eyes wide and hair sticking up.
“What’s wrong, Edita?” Daniil was instantly on alert.
“You’re on the news.”
“Shit.”
29
Casey
“What does that mean?” Erik asked, immediately standing up.
“I was afraid of this.” Daniil shook his head. “Dammit, I had to get Casey out of there. If I hadn’t…”
“If you hadn’t what?” Erik demanded.
“Omar decided he wanted her.” The two men locked eyes and Erik’s Adam’s apple bobbed as I watched him struggle to stay calm.
“You’re going to need to explain. Now.”
“I’m trying, but it’s a long story and we don’t have the time. I have to start damage control immediately or everything I’ve done was for nothing.” He turned to Edita. “Is the SUV nearby?”
She nodded.
“I need you to use it to get to work and see what you can find out. Just be careful.”
She nodded. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way.”
“Edita, don’t take any unnecessary chances.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “See you tonight.”
“Thanks,” Daniil called after her.
“Okay, enough.” Sandor got to his feet. “You’re not going anywhere or doing anything else until you tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Daniil nodded. “Yes, I know, but—”
“No buts.” Sandor folded his arms across his chest.
“I’ve been deep undercover with the CIA,” he said quietly. “My handler approached me two years ago. There was an opportunity to get in with the government here in Limaj, and more importantly, into Anwar’s inner circle. Apparently, my best friend from boarding school, Sam, was working with Omar and they thought I could use my friendship with him to get close again.” He glanced at Jesper guiltily. “They told me it was safer for my family if I didn’t tell anyone, especially not my husband or my brother.”
“You’ve been undercover with the CIA and you kept it from me?” Jesper looked frustrated. “Knowing my ties to the rebellion?”
“We had the kids to think about,” Daniil responded quietly. “I’m sorry.”
“And you thought I couldn’t handle it either?” Sandor asked dryly.
“You had your hands full with your own shit,” Daniil said. “Look, I’m sorry I lied to everyone, but I did what I thought was right. If you want to argue about this later, fine, but right now, we have to think about how to salvage my cover.”
“I still might kick your ass,” Sandor told him.
Daniil grinned. “Bring it, big brother. Just not today.”
“You told Edita to go to work,” I said, trying to distract them from the raging testosterone in the room. “Where does she work?”
“At Parliament House.” Daniil glanced at me. “She’s a barista there.”
“So if she finds out anything important, we won’t know until late tonight,” Erik said. “What do we do in the meantime?”
“I don’t have time to wait,” Daniil said. “I have to talk to Omar, explain that I let Casey go to draw you out. Otherwise, they’ll know I’m working with the New Rebellion.”
“They know I’m alive?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
“They’ve always suspected, but with a flimsy pathology report from the bodies they found on that mountainside eleven years ago, they could never be sure either way. I’ll use that to my advantage and say it was time we stopped suspecting and started taking action to find out for sure if you’re alive or not.”
“Then I’m coming out of hiding,” Erik said, glancing at me briefly before getting to his feet and starting to pace. “Anything I can do to keep them distracted will give the rebellion time to gain support in Parliament.”
“You need to start talking to people immediately,” Daniil said. “I’ve arranged for General Sarrano to meet with you here at the compound. I haven’t told him it’s you, but I’ve told him I have a high-level government official that wants to meet with him.”
“And you’re going to talk to Omar?”
Daniil nodded. “That’s the only way I’ll be able to find out what they’re thinking. I’m going to shower and then head downtown.”
“What if they decide to kill you?” Jesper asked slowly. “Technically, you betrayed them by helping Casey escape.”
“I knew the risks when I took this assignment,” he responded.
“We have to talk.” The two men exchanged long glances.
“I know, but it has to wait.” Daniil turned to Erik. “What’s your plan?”
“I have to talk to my father,” he responded. “We’ve had a rough contingency plan in place on the off chance I was ever recognized, but we need to finalize that if I’m going to come out on my own.”
“I can get you a secure line,” Daniil said.
“Then let’s get this show on the road.” Erik reached for my hand and we hung back as Daniil led us to what he called the communications center.
“What are you going to do?” I whispered as we walked.
“Whatever it takes to get rid of Anwar once and for all.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t nearly as calm as I was pretending to be, but events were moving faster than I’d thought they would.
“I’m know you’re scared,” he said, pausing outside the door of the communications center. “But it’s only going to get worse. You told me not too long ago that I stopped fighting for you but that’s not true. I was simply fighting to keep you alive. Now that all of this has happened, I’m willing to fight for us, baby, and for everything I haven’t fought for in the last ten years, but are you sure you’re prepared for the possible consequences?”
I didn’t hesitate to nod. “You mean, dying? Yeah, I’m prepared. I mean, I’d rather we didn’t, but I understand the risk.”
He bent his head and kissed me, taking deep, erotic pulls of my tongue that left me breathing a little too hard for a hallway in an underground compound of the New Rebellion, but it was impossible to resist him. Especially after all the years apart. Though we hadn’t had much opportunity to make up for lost time, there was no doubt we felt it.
“I love you,” he whispered. “You need to hurry up and get divorced so I can marry you.”
“It’s on my to-do list.” I grinned at him.
“Erik?” Daniil stuck his head out the door. “I’ve got your dad on the line.”
Erik kissed me once more and then walked into the room and got on the phone. I gave him a little space, letting him talk to his father about what they needed to do. Something about a press conference. Causing a diversion. Getting the media involved. Some of it was in English, some in Limaji, and though I was listening, I kind of zoned out. I’d only slept a few hours and I was tired. I was worried about what was to come, but I realized with alarming clarity that this had always been my destiny. Erik had known it long before I did, and it was probably why he’d tried so hard to protect me. He’d known this day was coming and how woefully unprepared I was to deal with it. I was an American with no idea how the world of royalty worked. If not for my all-encompassing love for the man on the phone a few feet away from me, I’d wonder what the hell I was doing here too.
“You okay?” Erik asked me when he hung up.
I nodded. “A little overwhelmed but I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“How much sleep did you get last night?”
“Enough.”
“Liar.”
“How much did you get?” I countered.
“Enough.”
We smiled at each other.
“We’re meeting my dad in Turkey, so it’s going to be a long day. You up for a whole new adventure?”
“Let’s do it.” I was up for anything with this man.
30
Erik
I had half a dozen burner phones and used them all on the drive to Ankara. I had a lot going on,
but the biggest problem was going to be Sandor. My father and I had come to the same conclusion about the first step in the process of overthrowing Anwar, and Sandor had to get on board for his least favorite thing: being in the spotlight.
“I know what you’re going to say,” Sandor growled, his eyes never leaving the road since he was driving.
I chuckled. It felt so damn good to have both him and Casey in my life again. “What am I going to say?” I asked, grinning.
“That I may have to step up as next in line to the throne.”
I laughed this time. “Well, you do.”
“Great.” His hands tightened on the wheel.
“If we can kick Anwar out of power, and you step in temporarily, you’ll have the position and the power to get the votes we need for me to take over. I know you don’t want to, but the alternative is leaving him where he is, and he’s been in power ten years too long.”
Sandor grunted but didn’t respond, so I knew he’d do what he had to do, no matter how much he didn’t want to.
We met up with my father and, to my surprise, Liz had come with him.
“I’ve been invested in this situation for more than a decade,” she said as we gathered in the penthouse suite of a hotel where Dad had booked the entire floor and hired what felt like an army of security guards. “There’s no way in hell I’m not going to help now that everything is coming to a head.”
“It’s good to have you here,” I told her. I meant it too. Things were a little strained between her and Casey, but we’d get past that. We had to. There was too much on the line and she was one of my closest allies, no matter what was going on between all of us personally.
“What do we know about Anwar’s personal life?” Dad was asking as we settled at a table. “I saw he got married about five years ago, and again three years ago, but nothing about children.”
Jesper nodded. “He has two wives, after reinstating the old law allowing polygamy that was abolished about two hundred years ago. However, my sources over the years tell me neither of his wives has been able to get pregnant. Apparently, Anwar had the mumps as a teenager and we believe that’s impacted his ability to have children.”
“He did,” I said slowly. “I remember him not coming to a family event because of it. That can cause sterility, right?”
“Yes.” Liz nodded. “So speculation is he can’t have kids?”
“Oh, that must burn his ass,” Sandor chuckled. “No heirs and the royal bloodline dies with him.”
“Too bad we can’t make that happen sooner rather than later,” Jesper muttered under his breath.
“And that’s where Omar comes in,” I groaned.
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Casey said, looking around. “What’s the plan and how will it work? And what does Omar have to do with anything?”
“One thing at a time, love.” I squeezed her hand. “Daniil called a little while ago and said they bought it, at least tentatively, assuming I come out of hiding in the near future. Anwar is foaming at the mouth to get his hands on me so he was willing to overlook him helping you escape.”
She shuddered and leaned closer to me. “As horrible as that sounds, what does it have to do with Omar?”
“If Omar marries Skye, he restores the bloodline and becomes father of the future king, which gives him incredible power.”
“Wait—in what universe is Skye going to go back to him?”
“She’s not,” Dad said firmly, “but that may be what Anwar is promising to keep him in line.”
“That’s crazy,” Casey said. “Why would Anwar do that for Omar?”
“If he knows he’s sterile, and Omar approached him with this suggestion, it means Anwar gets to live out his days as king while helping raise and guide his successor. Omar becomes his right-hand man and has the honor of watching his son someday ascend the throne.”
“This isn’t about Skye,” Casey said slowly, shaking her head. “She’s married to a powerful man and already has two kids… It’s not really feasible that he could kidnap her and force her to have his kids. That ship has sailed…” She tapped her fingers on the table. “This is about Elen.”
“Over my dead body,” Sandor growled.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered. “That makes a lot more sense.”
“Which is why I have to set up a press conference,” Dad said firmly. “And tell the whole fucking world what a piece of shit Anwar is.”
“But unless you can prove he killed his father and brothers,” Casey said slowly, “will anyone care? They already know he’s brutal and heartless. Not liking him isn’t going to remove him from power.”
“Remember, the people were on the verge of rebellion when Erik and Sandor were killed. Daniil disappeared and of course Skye and Elen were never in the running to rule, so the people had no choice but to accept Anwar. Seeing that Sandor, Daniil and Erik are all alive is going to change everything.”
“And even if it doesn’t,” Erik added, “having us reappear like this will allow us to assess how much support we have in Parliament.”
“But what about Elen?”
“We have to find her and get her to safety,” Sandor said, reaching for his phone.
“Why am I suddenly so scared?” Casey whispered.
“Believe me,” Sandor said, putting a hand on her shoulder as he put the phone to his ear. “We’re all scared.”
I don’t know how he did it, but in less than twenty-four hours my father had set up a press conference to top all press conferences. Every major news network from all over the world seemed to be in attendance and he walked into the room like he owned it, with Sandor at his side. For safety reasons, the rest of us were watching from our suite, and we were glued to the screen, along with the rest of the world, as he started to talk.
“A long time ago,” he said, looking around the room, “I fell in love with a woman my father didn’t approve of. A commoner. Someone not cut out to be the wife of a king. My father gave me an ultimatum: Give up the woman I loved or give up the throne. The decision I made changed the course of history. Not just my own personal history, but that of my country, my people, and the children we hadn’t even imagined yet. Though it pained me to give up my birthright, I knew I would never be happy without the love of my life, and I had complete confidence in my brother, Isak. He was smart and had a good head on his shoulders. I had faith he would rule our people with both passion and compassion—and he did.
“The only things I didn’t take into account—two things I had no way of knowing without the ability to see into the future—were the sons Isak and I would eventually have. My son, one of the greatest young leaders I’ve ever known, would never rule because of the conditions of my abdication. Isak’s firstborn son, though next in line to rule, turned out to be the least qualified to do so.”
The room erupted in questions and conversation, but Dad merely stood there, watching and waiting for everyone to settle down. I was fairly certain no one had recognized Sandor yet, but it was bound to happen. To his credit, Sandor looked more regal than I’d seen him in years. He and my father both wore suits, but Sandor stood out because he’d always hated the formalities involved in official state business. Today, however, he looked as ready as anyone I’d ever known to rule a country, no matter how much he didn’t want to.
All these years later, he had even less interest in ruling than he’d had a decade ago, but we weren’t showing all of our cards just yet. With my father’s abdication and the technicalities of succession, Sandor would be next in line should Anwar die or be removed for any reason. Then Daniil, and finally, me. Daniil had no interest in ruling either, but all three of us understood that we had two objectives. The first was to prevent Elen or anyone else from being kidnapped, and the second was to remove Anwar from the throne and take our country back from the authoritarian murderer who’d been ruling for a decade too long. It didn’t matter which of us ascended the throne as long as Anwar was gone. It would take a unanimous vote
of Parliament for that to happen, something we didn’t have time to work on, so we were going to temporarily throw both the government and the media into chaos with today’s revelations hopefully prepare Parliament while Anwar freaked out.
“Can you elaborate, Your Highness?” someone in the press corps called out.
“In the years since my abdication,” Dad continued, “I’ve watched my country and my people flourish and then in the last decade languish pitifully. Medical care is abysmal, trade is almost nonexistent, tourism has come to a standstill, and the death toll in the northern part of the country is horrifying. Limaj is suffering from humanitarian, economic and theocratic crises with no end in sight. I gave up my right to affect change for my people, but my son and my nephews did not. And my people need them now more than ever. Anwar ascended the throne after killing his father—and that is not what we want or need in a leader.”
The crowd went nuts now, throwing out question after question, and Sandor took a step forward, his face a mask of inscrutability. He hated this shit, but we had no choice at the moment. We had the outline of a plan, but it wasn’t foolproof and with Elen’s life potentially on the line, we were rolling the dice that this would buy us the time to get to her before they did. In the meantime, the biggest snag in our plans would be coming up with proof that Anwar had killed his father and brothers in order to ascend. This was one of many reasons I’d grown complacent over the years. Overthrowing a sitting king was almost impossible and we simply didn’t have the proof we needed. We had proof of a ton of inhumane and unconstitutional things he’d done since ascending, but they weren’t really enough to overthrow him. Proof that he’d killed his father—the sitting king at the time—would be the trump card we needed.
Over the years, the CIA and a few members of the rebellion had collected intel that there was proof, that he’d had inside help. However, figuring out who it was and then convincing them to admit it was something else altogether. My gut told me it was Omar and an idea had begun to take root the more I thought about him. He was the key to everything. The trick would be figuring out what Omar wanted badly enough to be willing to turn in Anwar. My gut told me it would be something we were unwilling to give him, but we could let him think we would.
