“What about Dexter?”
“My guess is Ackley went to keep one of Dexter’s attackers alive so he could question him. That’s not something you want to witness.”
She followed Gordon to the edge of the forest. The castle still stood, flames licking out of the windows. In one section, the wooden roof had collapsed. Tears filled her eyes as a deep pain pierced her heart.
“I’m sorry,” Gordon said. “But at least we’re all safe.”
He’d never been well spoken.
Not wanting to talk about her destroyed home, she asked, “Do you think the assassins are the king’s Shields?”
“No. I didn’t recognize them.” He started walking toward the sleeping soldiers.
“How do we know it’s safe?” There could be more assassins lurking nearby.
“We don’t. But we need to rouse these men and get the fire out.”
Reid had no idea how they would do either of those things.
“Are you coming?”
She nodded. “I’ll be right there.”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she attempted to rally her strength and courage. Right now, her energy had to be on rousing the soldiers and providing help where needed.
A distinct, pungent smell permeated the air, reminding Reid of the smell Harlan had noticed earlier in the castle. A twig snapped behind her just as an arm snaked around her body. A cloth was shoved over her mouth and nose.
Before she could protest or fight back, everything went black.
The first thing Reid became aware of was the bouncing. Her arms hung above her head, her stomach pressing against something bony as someone gripped her legs. That was when she realized a man carried her over his shoulder as he ran.
Reid’s head throbbed—whether from the valerian or the bouncing, she couldn’t be sure. Her stomach rumbled with nausea as it pressed against the bony shoulder of the man carrying her. She couldn’t even think straight in this position. A light mist covered the ground. The sky—at least what Reid could see of it upside down—was a dull gray, the crisp air cold. How long had it been since she’d been abducted?
Even though her wrists were bound together, she pressed her hands against the man’s back, trying to steady herself so she wouldn’t be jostled so much. After what felt like several hours, the sun started to set, the sky darkening.
The man carrying her finally stopped. “We can’t follow standard protocol,” he said. “Let’s set up a perimeter fifty feet out.”
Reid peered around him, trying to see who he was talking too. She counted eleven men, plus the one holding her, so twelve in total. They broke into three groups, each heading in a different direction.
When the man finally set Reid on her feet, she swayed and collapsed on the ground, her head pounding, her throat raw. One of the men handed her a piece of bread. She grabbed it, devouring the food. When she finished, he handed her a sack of water, which she drained dry.
Once her stomach had sustenance, she was able to start thinking clearly. Why couldn’t these men use standard protocol? Who were they? And what did they want with her? Reid observed the four men, immediately recognizing them as belonging to the unit of Knights in Gordon’s army—the men Ackley was in charge of.
Reid wanted to pull her sleeve up to reveal her tattoo, proving she was a Knight. However, her wrists were bound together, preventing her from doing so. Instead, she said, “Why did the Knights kidnap me?”
The four men stilled. Then one jumped to his feet, withdrew a strip of fabric, and tied it around Reid’s head, fully covering her mouth. She rolled her eyes.
He squatted in front of her, then reached out, gently pushing a strand of hair away from her face. “You’re safe. That’s all you need to know. Nobody here is going to hurt you.” He stood, then walked away.
A cold chill slid over Reid’s body. The way the man had touched her felt intimate. She wasn’t used to feeling vulnerable. Instead of arguing and making a scene, she remained quiet, choosing to listen instead of fight—at least for now. Once she knew why the Knights had taken her, she would decide how to proceed.
After the men ate, three went to sleep while one remained on watch, a sword in hand. Not having many options, Reid laid down, trying to get comfortable. It was impossible to with a gag around her mouth and her hands and feet bound.
In the darkness, she tried to think rationally. Why would the Knights abduct her? Ackley was in charge of these men. However, he hadn’t given the order to kidnap her. Which meant these men were following someone else’s orders. Anna, perhaps? To complicate matters, the men who’d drugged the Ellington soldiers and set fire to Reid’s castle hadn’t had the mark of a Knight. So who were those men and why had they destroyed her home? Why had they been trying to kill Reid and her friends? Were those men working with the Knights or independently? Maybe that was the reason the Knights had intervened—they were trying to keep Reid safe? If that were the case, why the bindings and the gag?
Well, one thing was for certain, ever since she married Dexter, nothing had gone the way Reid thought it would.
She must have dozed off, because she startled awake, the sky still dark. Remaining still, she tried to figure out what had awoken her.
“Any concerns?” a man whispered.
“No, nothing. It’s been quiet during my watch.”
“Good. I’ll be glad when we reach the stables tomorrow where the horses are stashed. Then we can travel faster.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to our headquarters.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange she tasked twelve Knights with this assignment?”
It was quiet for several minutes.
“Maybe she just wants her daughter protected.”
Reid realized Anna had tasked these men with bringing her to the Knights’ headquarters. But why?
“What I don’t understand is why we took her from Ackley. Why not work with him?”
There was a shuffling noise as the man who’d been on watch laid down. “I heard she said she needs Prince Dexter controlled. Something about him being a liability and the way to keep him in line is through her.”
A few minutes later, the man’s breathing evened out as he fell asleep. Unable to sleep herself, Reid decided to get to work. Since there was one man on watch, she had to be as quiet as possible. Moving slowly, she used her shoulders to shove the gag away from her mouth. After ripping off a piece of fabric from her tunic, she raised it, using her teeth to tear it into smaller pieces. Tomorrow, she’d leave a trail.
The next morning, the group rejoined the others shortly before sunrise. Once again, a soldier threw Reid over his shoulders like a sack of flour. Only today, she didn’t mind. It afforded her the opportunity to drop pieces of fabric, hoping Dexter would be able to track her. The task seemed futile—the Knights probably had too far of a head start. Nevertheless, doing so gave Reid hope.
Just before sunset, they reached a small town, the group stopping on the outskirts. Two of the twelve men went into the town to inquire after the horses. Reid sat, leaning against a tree. Her stomach growled, her head throbbing from being upside down for so long.
“I feel bad we’re doing this behind Ackley’s back,” one man mumbled. “It doesn’t seem right. He’s always been our leader.”
“I agree,” another replied. “And you know Ackley—when he gets mad, he turns into a beast.”
Reid recalled the couple of times she’d seen Ackley kill. He fought like a panther and killed without remorse. When the mercenaries attacked them in the middle of the night, he’d slaughtered them all without hesitation. He was so different from Dexter, who let the Melenians get away when Colbert had been struck by the knife. Of course, Ackley had been trained by the Knights to be an assassin.
Reid’s skin prickled. Something was wrong. Sitting up, she scanned the area, trying to figure out the cause for her unease.
“It’s taking too long,” one of the Knights said.
“We’ll give
them five more minutes. If they’re not back by then, you two will go check on them.”
Reid’s wrists were tied together, her hair knotted from traveling upside down for two days and sleeping on the ground, and she had a gag around her mouth. Dread filled her. If Ackley saw her like this, he would strike down every single one of these Knights.
The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place as Harlow’s words came back to haunt Reid. What was Anna’s end goal? Anna wanted to destroy the Winston family and control Marsden through Reid. The Knights were a stumbling block because they took an oath to protect the kingdom—not support Anna’s warped agenda. Which meant Anna didn’t want the Knights to take Reid to their headquarters so she could control Dexter. No, she wanted Ackley to think Reid was in danger, so he’d kill the Knights for her.
Reid tried warning the men, but the gag made her words unintelligible.
“I think she’s trying to tell us something,” one of the Knights said.
One of the men squatted before her, looking into her panic-stricken eyes. He reached forward, gently pushing the gag down so she could speak clearly.
“This is a set up,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
The man remained in front of Reid. “Why do you say that?”
What if she were wrong? When she opened her mouth to speak, the man in front of her collapsed.
Chapter Ten
Reid jumped, fearing a dagger struck him. She didn’t see anything protruding from his body. One by one, the men around her fell to the ground.
Ackley stepped around a tree trunk, examining the scene. “Are you okay?”
“Did you kill them?” she demanded.
“Why do you ask?”
“They’re your Knights.”
“Yes, I know.” His face remained unreadable.
“There are two more. They went into town.”
He nodded. “Dexter is dealing with them.”
Dexter was there?
Ackley knelt before her. “Because these men are Knights, I’m assuming they did not harm you?”
“I’m fine.”
He cut her bindings. “Don’t want Dexter to see this. He might change his mind.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He insisted we not kill them.” He stood, pulling Reid up along with him.
“So these men aren’t dead?” Relief filled her.
“No.” Ackley rubbed his forehead. “I wanted to kill them, but Dexter convinced me otherwise.”
A hundred different questions came to mind. Before Reid could voice any, Ackley must have sensed her confusion because he chuckled. “As we tracked you, Dexter thought this may be a setup. I wasn’t so sure. However, I had two days with Dexter where I had no choice but to hear him out. We argued. A lot. In the end, we compromised.”
“I didn’t think you capable of compromise.”
He smiled ruefully. “Not normally. And if we’d found you that first night, I would have killed every single one of these men for taking you.”
“Why?” They were his Knights. His friends. He’d known them far longer than her.
Instead of answering, he said, “I agreed to shoot the men with some of the sleeping tonic we found near the drugged soldiers at your castle.”
“These men are asleep?”
“For now.” He rubbed his forehead, examining them. “What do they want with you?”
“They said Anna instructed them to take me to the Knights’ headquarters so she could maintain control over Dexter. However, that doesn’t make any sense.” She chewed on her bottom lip, working it out in her head.
“What are you thinking?” Ackley asked.
“That Anna wanted you to assassinate them. I think she’s trying to kill all the Knights. In order for her plan to work, she has to eliminate the organization.”
“Then we need to proceed as if that’s what happened.” Ackley nodded at the three men heading their way.
As they got closer, Reid noticed Dexter’s focus was pinned solely on her.
Ackley chuckled, the sound anything but funny. “I’m pretty sure if he came here alone to deal with these men, he would have killed them all when he saw the state you’re in.”
“That’s because you don’t know him,” Reid insisted.
He didn’t reply.
When Dexter was close enough to hear her, she said, “I’m fine.” He scanned her body, obviously searching for injuries.
The two Knights with Dexter knelt to examine their comrades.
“As promised,” Dexter said, “they’re asleep, not dead.”
Ackley tilted his head. “How’d he get you to come willingly?”
“He’s our prince,” one answered. “He ordered us to stand down. Said Anna had sent an assassin after our unit. He said if we came willingly, he would ensure none of my fellow Knights were harmed.”
“And you believed him?” Ackley asked.
“I wasn’t sure. I figured I’d come and if I didn’t like what I saw, I’d kill him.”
Reid didn’t think the Knight would have been able to kill Dexter so easily. However, she kept that opinion to herself. “Now what?” she asked.
“We proceed as if the assassinations took place,” Ackley replied. “Anna can’t know Dexter thwarted her plan.”
“Did you figure out who set my castle on fire?” Reid asked. “And is everyone still okay?” They had been the last time she saw them.
“Everyone is fine,” Dexter assured her. “As for who burned your home, after questioning one of the men we found in the forest, it appears the king gave the order.”
“Then what were the Knights doing there?” Reid asked.
“Anna heard the king sent soldiers north to assassinate Duke Ellington and whomever was with him,” Dexter explained. “So she must have used them as a cover for the Knights to sneak in and kidnap you. Ackley wasn’t supposed to know the Knights took you. He was supposed to think they were the king’s men. Anna must have hoped he’d kill them before realizing who they were.”
Reid rubbed her temple, trying to think it through. In order to stay one step in front of Anna, Reid had to figure out what her mother intended to do next. “We proceed as if everything went according to Anna’s plan. Ackley saved me, these Knights were eliminated, and now we’re traveling to the City of Buckley to gather what’s left of the Marsden army.”
“Correct.” Dexter turned to Ackley. “How long until they wake up?”
“I gave them a low dose, so ten, fifteen minutes.”
“We need to get moving,” Dexter said. “Anna could have someone in town who reports to her.”
“Assuming Ackley just slaughtered a dozen men, what would he do next?” she asked.
“I’d burn the bodies.”
“Then we need to make it look like that’s what you’re doing.”
Ackley nodded. “I’ll go shoot some deer. We can use the blood and bones at the scene of the massacre. Then we’ll set the area on fire.”
Once he left, Dexter turned to the two Knights. “I’m going to take Reid and get her cleaned up. You stay here with your men. When they wake, let them know the plan.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” they replied.
“What are your names?”
“He’s two, I’m one.”
“Very well.” Dexter took hold of Reid’s hand, gripping it. “I’ll be back with my wife in twenty minutes. When Ackley returns, help him prepare the area.”
When Dexter called Reid his wife, both men’s eyes widened. They’d probably only thought of her as Anna’s daughter.
Dexter pulled Reid up the hill and out of sight from the Knights. He walked so quickly Reid almost tripped over a tree root. However, his grip on her remained firm, keeping her upright. They wound their way between the trees until they reached a narrow river.
Dexter’s shoulders heaved up and down. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She squeezed his hand before letting it go. Kneeling on the bank, she splash
ed refreshing frigid water on her face.
“I assume no one…touched you?” While he asked it as a question, his tone held a menacing threat.
She could feel him watching her, so she glanced over her shoulder, meeting his eyes. “No. I was not harmed in any way. I’m fine.”
Closing his eyes, he gave a brief nod, his shoulders finally relaxing. “The water looks deep enough for you to bathe in if you want. I can keep watch.”
“Thank you. I’d like that.”
When he turned his back to her, she peeled off her clothes, tossing them on the ground. Stepping into the water, she tried not to slip on the slick rocks. She went deeper, gradually adjusting to the chilly water. Once it reached her waist, she went under, washing off the accumulated dirt and grime.
Resurfacing, she peered over at Dexter. He now faced her direction, scanning the surrounding area, looking everywhere but at Reid.
“I’m coming out now,” she announced, curious to see what he’d do. Would he watch her?
He turned around, his back to her once again.
“You know you can look.” As she said the words, she felt her face flush. Normally, she wasn’t so bold.
He stilled.
Afraid she’d been too forward and had somehow offended him, she said, “You know, because we’re married. It’s okay for you to keep watch while I exit the river.” Now she sounded like a bumbling idiot.
He shook his head. “Oh, Reid.” The way her name rolled off his tongue sent a shiver through her. “The first time I see you—my wife—naked, will be when we have all night to spend together.”
She slipped on a rock, stumbling under the water. Scrambling to her feet, she tried not to focus on images of being in Dexter’s arms all night. What would it feel like to be with him?
“It doesn’t sound like you’re out yet.”
“I’m not.” Shaking her head, she climbed out of the river and put her clothes back on. A large boulder stood a few feet away, so she climbed on top of it and sat. Pulling her boots on, she tied them, hoping she’d warm up now.
Hidden Knights Page 12
