by Tara Wylde
Now it barely sparkles.
A fist constricts around my heart.
I’m such an idiot. She was the best thing in my life and I've royally fucked it up.
I deserve to lose her.
The words I said to her bounce around in my skull, booming louder and louder.
I handled the situation all wrong.
I realized that the second Alexis stormed out of the room.
Rather than doing the sensible thing when I found my statue missing in my bag, and taking a few minutes to really think the situation through, I’d focused on one possibility, and lashed out.
Even as I hurled the words at her and watched her composure crumble, I knew I was wrong.
It didn’t make any sense. I should have realized that right away.
After all, I've read the Interpol reports. Everything indicated that whoever the thief was, they were very smart – definitely not the kind of person who would take things that could easily be linked back to them.
But my statue. I’d personally tucked into the little side compartment I always used for it this morning so it hadn’t been forgotten at the castle. But when I reached into that same compartment for an energy bar an hour later, it was gone.
I’ve always been protective of my fencing equipment, which is why I haul my bag everywhere instead of paying someone else to schlepp it around. Alexis was the only one who’d gotten near it.
I couldn’t see her letting anyone rifle through the bag while I was speaking to Roderick.
So, what had happened?
Each of the last three thefts have pointed directly at Alexis, with each one making it increasingly difficult to explain how anyone else could have been involved. Is she the target? Is someone trying to incriminate her?
But who? And more importantly – why?
A faint suspicion tickles the back of my mind. It seems ridiculous, but maybe …
Maybe if I catch the true culprit, and can show Alexis that I was conned into blaming her, maybe, just maybe she’ll agree to speak to me again. And if the moons and stars are aligned just right, perhaps somehow I’ll be able to find the right words to convince her to give me a second chance.
Even now, it feels like a long shot.
Someone knocks on the door. I ignore them. Talking Alexis into staying is going to take a lot of work, a lot of groveling, and a lot of finesse, and she’d still be justified in kicking me in the teeth and walking away. I need to come up with a plan and for that I need to be alone.
The person knocks on the door a second time. “Yo, Lucas,” Roderick yells. “You in there?”
He’s probably here to tell me it’s time for my second round. Well, screw that. “Tell them I’m forfeiting.”
“Um, that bodyguard you hired, Christopher, is here with me, and he says that Alexis ran out of here and disappeared. He thinks she jumped in a cab but he was too far away to get the plate number.”
Shit! If I wasn’t sitting, my knees would have buckled.
I scramble out from underneath the table, managing to whack my knee on a chair leg and smash my head into the underside of the table top in the process.
My heart thunders in my chest.
I throw the door open and stare at the two men on the other side.
“How the hell did you lose her?” I demand.
Christopher stares at the ground. “She was moving fast. I managed to keep up with her until a food cart rolled in front of me. By the time I got around that, she was outside and gone. Someone said they saw her get in a cab, but they didn’t get the number.”
I dig my cell phone out of my pocket and dial my driver, already on the move.
“Christopher, we’re going to the museum and see if she’s there. Roderick – you call Tessa and see if she knows where Alexis is.”
Odds are that Alexis is safe and sound, but I can’t ignore the nagging feeling at the back of my brain that she’s in serious trouble.
And that it’s all my fault.
277
Alexis
“Princess Alexis.” Duran’s eyes nearly bug out of his head. “What an … unexpected surprise. Shelly told me you planned on spending the day with your husband.” He looks around and pastes a wide smile to his face. “I suppose you’re wondering what we’re doing here.”
He’s grasping the handle of a large utility wagon that has several boxes piled on it. I don’t have to ask what the boxes contain. And I can guess what he’s doing, but I don’t understand why.
“Alexis, you look upset. Did something happen between you and Lucas?” Eileen slowly sets the box she’s holding on the floor and crosses to a small table that holds her sleek black purse. She reaches inside the bag. “I suppose he discovered his little trinket is missing.” She holds up her hand. Lucas’s jade carving rests on her palm.
Duran’s brow furrows. “What’s that?”
“Lucas’s luck charm,” Eileen tells him. She returns the figurine to her purse and doesn’t withdraw her hand. “I palmed it from his gym bag.”
“How,” I ask. “And why?”
“How,” Eileen laughs. “Easy. I don’t know how many wallets I liberated when I was a kid. I still do, from time to time. I like the practice. After lifting fat wallets from Americans in skinny jeans who have more money than sense, grabbing a silly little statue from a gym bag is child’s play.”
She props a hip against the table, looking like she’s settling in for a casual conversation with friends. Her hand remains hidden in her purse. “As for the why. It’s an old story. I was born poor, picking pockets and B and E’s provided food, clothes, and shelter.’’
“But you have a good job.”
“Now. But the rich are a fickle lot. At any moment Queen Lynette can decide she doesn’t need me, though I’ve done a good job of making myself nearly indispensable. I consider this my sideline, my way of saving for a rainy day. I guess you Americans would call it a 401(k)…”
“And him.” I jerk my head towards Duran.
“I have … accomplices. I pick the items, and most of the time, they’re the ones that handle the removal. It makes it much harder for the authorities to track us down. Duran has expensive tastes. Helping me allows him to keep them.”
Helping her … the words remind me of another accusation Lucas had hurled at me. “You purposely ruined my dress. Duran you helped, didn’t you?””
“He did,” Eileen confirms. “I had to provide you with the opportunity to take something from her house. I snuck in behind the two of you and made sure I grabbed the first thing you expressed any interest in. This is the first time I’ve ever tried to frame someone for my crimes. It was a fun challenge.” She smiles at me but her eyes remain blank, completely emotionless.
“All it took was snatching a few key things and planting a few thoughts in Lucas’s mind. I started while you were at his villa. After what that slut did to him in Rio, he’s primed to think the worse. The harder he fell for you, the more suspicious he became. He’s fundamentally incapable of trusting anything good.”
So, she basically brainwashed him. The tight knot of pain surrounding my heart eases.
“But why me? I haven’t done anything to you?”
Eileen throws back her head and laughs. The sound bounces off the walls. “Didn’t you? I spent months setting things in motion so that Lucas would marry me. I planted the idea of marriage in Roderick’s head. Made sure Lucas was unable to find anyone suitable in the required time. Was very clear that I was available. And everything was going exactly as planned until you came along. Finally, I was going to be somebody. Princess Eileen. And eventually I would have been Queen of Moravia. But you had to go and ruin everything.”
I rock back a step. I don’t like the look in Eileen’s eye. The only way I can think to describe it is crazed basilisk.
I’m aware of Duran mimicking my move, but I don’t think it’s to stop me, but rather because he sees the same thing.
Eileen’s arm twitches. She starts drawing
her hand from the purse.
Blood pounds in my ears. I don’t know what she’s doing, but I know I’m not going to like it.
“You know what they say about payback,” she says in a cool casual tone, like we’re discussing shoes or stock options. “It’s a bitch.”
278
Alexis
The large gun in her hand confirms my initial impression that Eileen is nuts.
“What the Hell is that?” Duran explodes. His eyes growing wider and wider. Now that he reeks of fear and has dropped the elaborate sentences, he’s not nearly as attractive.
I almost giggle at the thought. Maybe Eileen isn’t the only crazy person in the room.
Eileen rolls her eyes and her perfectly manicured, blood red nails tap the barrel. “What does it look like?”
Duran shakes his head back and forth. “No, this wasn’t part of the deal. Snatching a few things here and there. Passing on whispered secrets – that’s one thing, but killing? No, I won’t do it.”
Eileen cocks her head to one side and considers him.
I slide back another step. Just a few more and I’ll reach the doorway.
“Duran. You have two choices.” Eileen’s even, measured tone makes her seem like more of a psychopath than if she were screaming. “One, you can go along with me on this, or you can die alongside with her. You decide.”
I ease back a little more. Hopefully, if he mulls over the choice, just for a few seconds, I’ll be clear.
Duran stands frozen, like a deer caught in a pair of oncoming headlights, for two, maybe three seconds, before he turns and bolts.
BOOM!
The sound blasts all coherent thought from my mind. Screaming, I leap sideways throwing myself away from Duran as, in mid-stride, he tumbles to the ground.
BOOM!
My feet slide out from under me and I fall. A sharp pain radiates through my shoulder, arm, and chest. I hear myself scream.
And then nothing.
279
Alexis
The bitter scent of gunpowder and smoke sting my nostrils. I’ve never smelled anything so wonderful in my life. It proves I’m alive.
Whimpering, I use my right arm to push myself up and into a kneeling position. My left arm isn’t working properly. I don’t think she shot me. Not yet, anyway. It feels more like I broke it when I fell.
Against my will, my gaze slides over to Duran. He’s lying face down, blood oozes from a wound in the back of his thigh. His arms and legs spasm. Is he alive and in pain, or are they some kind of death spasm? I shudder. I don’t want to know.
My gaze slides a little further until it reaches his head.
My stomach bucks and heaves. If I hadn’t already emptied the contents of my stomach in the bathroom, they’d currently be in my lap.
The back of his skull … my mind shudders, refusing to register what I’ve just seen.
There’s no way Duran is still alive.
Eileen’s heel’s click against the floor. I cringe backward. I’m hurt. There’s a dead body between me and my escape. My options are dwindling fast.
She stops beside Duran’s body and nudges him with her toe. “Interesting,” she murmurs and directs her attention towards me.
She’s killed once. Nothing is going to stop her now.
My gaze bounces around the room while my heart races a hundred miles an hour. I refuse to just sit here and let her shoot me, but how the Hell am I supposed to stop her?
She’s too close to the exit for me to make a break for it, and even if by some miracle I can charge past her, she’d just point her gun down the hall and shoot. Somehow she strikes me as an excellent shot.
Eileen widens her stance and tightens her grip on the gun. Her elbow bends as her eyes narrow, homing in on the middle of my chest. The shot might not be instantly fatal, but it’ll sure slow me down, giving her time to make the kill shot.
Shit. If I’m going to do something, I need to do it quick.
My best bet is finding some sort of weapon, something I can throw, one handed.
But what? And even if I do find something, my aim must be good enough to knock the gun out of her hand and across the room. The odds of that are about one in a thousand.
“Always be on the offensive.”
The words Lucas spoke to me our first night at the villa, the first time we really connected, whisper through my mind. My heart sobs. What I wouldn’t give to see him again, just for five seconds. That's all the time I’d need to tell him I love him, to make sure he heard the words and understood what a gift they were.
In my mind’s eye, I conjure up an image of him. If I’m going to die, he’ll be the last thing I see.
Eileen holds the gun at chest level, she grips it with both hands. My time is just about up.
“Always be on the offensive.” More urgently this time.
A plan snaps into place, it might not work, in fact it probably won’t, but at least I’ll die knowing that I died fighting.
Boom!
Eileen’s finger pulls the trigger as I launch myself forward.
A burning line of fire, hotter and more painful than anything I’ve ever felt before, streaks cross my chest as my body slams. It doesn’t matter. I have enough forward momentum going, that the new injury doesn’t slow me down at all.
There’s not enough time for her to move. My shoulders connect with her knees in a tackle that would have made any American football fan proud.
She falls with me draped awkwardly across her legs. Her hand slams into the ground and the gun skitters across the floor before coming to a stop against a wall.
Blood pours from me the rapidly expanding pool mixing with what’s already drained from Duran’s body.
Eileen is down, but she’s not out. She thrashes and bucks, trying to throw me from her.
Her knee connects with my injured collar bone, and the white-hot flash of pain is too much. My vision dims, I can’t hold on any longer.
As the world goes completely black, I swear I hear Lucas screaming my name as if his whole world has been ripped apart.
But that can’t be right. It doesn’t make any sense.
280
Alexis
The next time I open my eyes, I find myself not staring at a bright light at the end of a long dark tunnel like I expected, but at the ceiling. Every inch of my body hurts. It’s like pain has been layered on top of pain.
I try to shift my position, but only my hands move. I’m strapped down to something.
“Just lay still,” a disembodied voice to my left says. I roll my eyes in that direction and see a person dressed in a medical unit staring at a portable monitor.
Another person wearing an identical outfit is hooking needles and tubes to my arms. If everything didn’t hurt so badly, I’d probably be freaking out. I hate needles. But right now, I hurt too much to care.
“Alexis!” Lucas’s face appears above me and despite everything that’s happened, my heart jumps.
“Your highness. If you could just step back, just for a moment?” Lucas’s head bobbles like someone has tried to shift him, but he doesn’t move from my side.
The EMT, or whatever they’re called in Moravia, decides to ignore Lucas. “Do you think you have any internal injuries,” he asks without looking up from the screen.
“Do you know how fleas travel?” I push the words out of swollen lips.
Probably not the thing most people say right after a life-threatening event, but it’s the only thing I can think of.
Lucas’s wide-eyed gaze runs up and down my body, taking in my torn and blood-soaked clothes. He runs his hands along my arms and legs, checking for breaks and lacerations and acts like he doesn’t hear me.
The EMT does – and shoots me a dirty look. “Ma’am, this is hardly the time or place for jokes.”
“They itch-hike.”
The most amazing thing happens. Before my very eyes, Lucas’s shoulders shake. His face flexes and a moment later a blinding smile spreads a
cross it, deep laughter, like long forgotten thunder, rolls out behind it.
I gape at him. Lucas, covered in grime and dust and desperate to save me had looked pretty damn remarkable, but his smile, stunning. It's the missing piece, the thing I’d been looking for since … probably my whole life if I’m completely honest.
The EMTs bustle me into a waiting ambulance, every movement sending fresh waves of pain shooting through my entire body. I don’t care. They could drop me right on my broken arm and it wouldn’t change anything.
Lucas laughed. That’s the only thing I care about.
From the ambulance ride to the assortment of tests at the hospital, Lucas stays by my side, using his position as crown prince to blatantly defy the doctors order for him to leave even when it's time for them to set my broken collar bone and stitch up my gunshot wound.
It takes several hours, but finally the doctors are happy with their progress and leave me alone in the room with Lucas.
Considering how close I was to being shot point blank by a mad woman, I feel pretty lucky to have escaped the situation with just a broken collar bone, a shot that passed cleanly through my side, and an assortment of sprains, scrapes, and bruises. With time, these will heal.
He sits beside my bed and runs his hand through his thick hair. “Alexis, I don’t –”
I’ve never heard him sound so hesitant, so unsure.
“I can’t believe I said those things to you.”
I reach out and take his hand in mine. “Lucas it’s okay. Eileen set me up – and she played you.”
“No.” He stands, jerking free of my grip. “It’s not okay.”
He stands, jerking free of my grip, and paces from one end of the to the other and back again. Damn, he moves nice. “She tricked me, but I made it easy for her.”
I push the button on the bed’s control panel, gritting my teeth against the residual pain I still feel despite the pain medication as it slowly elevates me into a sitting position.
