Xander (Royal Protectors Book 2)

by Kat Mizera

  “Does kidnapping women usually get you the response you want?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to court them a little?”

  “You see how far that got me with Skye—she turned into a whoring liar anyway. You’re all the same. So this time I decided to simply take what I want.”

  “And if I don’t give in?”

  “Then you’ll die.”

  33

  Xander

  Sandor forced me to stay in the hospital for three days, but on the morning of the fourth, when we still hadn’t seen or heard anything about Elen, I told Sandor I would check myself out if he didn’t let me go. We argued for a while, but in the end, I got my way and we headed back to the palace. I was tired, groggy and in pain, but it didn’t matter. Elen was my priority.

  We called a meeting that afternoon, all hands, including Erik, Casey and even Natalia. With me out of commission, we were spread thinner than ever. Ace had come back to Hiskale because the only priority right now was getting Elen back. We’d worry about killing Omar once she was safe, but we were currently low on both help and information. Luckily, Jonas would be arriving with Luke and Sasha tomorrow, so we’d have him back, even though we’d now have the two kids to protect.

  “We’re bringing in Senator Novak for questioning,” Erik said in a steely voice. “We don’t have any evidence, but I don’t give a fuck. No one from the royal family will be involved, of course. I’m leaving the interrogation to Joe and Ace, but I’m not worried about optics. We have to find Elen and I don’t care what it takes. If it makes me look bad, so be it.”

  “If Novak is innocent, he’ll make your life hell,” Sandor muttered.

  “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Erik looked around. “What else do we have?”

  “We know where she is,” Ace said. “The tracking chip finally came online, but if the battery is getting weak, we may lose the signal again. Not only that, the other problem is getting to her. When I say that place is a fortress, I’m not exaggerating. Land mines, dozens of guards, dogs, you name it. I didn’t have to work that hard to sneak into Buckingham Palace.”

  He was probably being facetious, but that didn’t make me feel any better.

  “How many men?” I asked.

  “Too many. Dozens, at any given time. The surveillance drones we’ve circulated show he’s building a small army. The numbers aren’t much as far as armies go, somewhere around a hundred men, but that’s a lot considering how few men we have.”

  “We could use the military,” Erik reasoned, “though I’d prefer not to. I’ll do whatever it takes to rescue Elen, but using the military for an internal kidnapping issue, on a Limaji citizen, won’t sit well with the people. Most would probably understand, and I’ll do it as a last result, but I don’t want to be like a dictator who does that kind of thing.”

  “Agreed,” Sandor said. “But he might not leave us much choice.”

  “So what’s the actual plan?” I asked.

  “I have some men out there doing reconnaissance,” Ace said. “I know a couple of mercs who needed money, so they’re up there sending me info hourly. We’re getting a precise picture of their security measures, coordinates where land mines and other booby traps are set in the surrounding areas, and the protection rotation. When they change posts, etc.”

  “And how long do we wait?”

  “There is literally no way to get to her until I have a clear picture on what’s what,” Sandor said firmly. “I hate it too. She’s my baby sister—you think I don’t want to go in there with guns blazing? But what good will it do if we’re all dead before we get to her? We have to be smart and the only way to do that is to be prepared. That’s why we’re getting recon info.”

  “We do have the beginnings of a plan, though,” Joe said, interrupting before I could respond.

  “Natalia will dress up as a local farm girl and walk up the road leading to the house. We’re working on her cover story, but she’ll go to the door under the guise of looking for help of some kind. Perhaps we’ll give her a few bruises before she goes, make it look like she’s running away from an abusive father or husband. We’ll time it so she’s at the front door, and maybe even inside, when we plan our attack. Having someone on the inside will be an advantage, and she’ll be wired, at least initially so we can hear what’s going on.”

  I nodded. That made sense. I was itching to do something, anything, but I was still healing from kidney surgery and I had two broken ribs and three more that were bruised. Physically, I wasn’t anywhere near a hundred percent, so I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could do anything on my own, but I wouldn’t hesitate to join in once we had a plan.

  I was sick to my stomach thinking about what Omar might be doing to her, and though I was sure those same thoughts were in the back of everyone else’s minds, no one but me knew that she might be pregnant.

  “There’s something else,” I said finally, after battling with myself.

  Sandor glanced at me questioningly.

  “Elen…” I took a deep breath and blew it out. I hated being this open about something so personal, but they needed to understand how afraid I was. Just how much was at risk. She hadn’t said anything but since I knew her period was late, the unknown was just as scary as if I knew something specific. “Might be pregnant.”

  “Oh god.” Lennox reacted first. As a woman, it probably impacted her more than the men.

  “Shit.” Sandor closed his eyes. “You don’t know for sure?”

  “We hadn’t talked about it, but as of the day before her kidnapping, she was maybe three weeks late.”

  “I know this was already incredibly personal for you,” Ace said after a moment. “But whether or not she’s pregnant can’t impact how we go after her. If he’s…hurting her, he’s already doing it. His methods are probably not the kind that would cause her to miscarry. If she was a man, he might be beating her, but my gut tells me that’s not what he’s doing.”

  The unspoken meaning of what he’d just said caused me to storm to my feet and throw the water bottle I’d been holding across the room, watching as it exploded against the wall. I couldn’t think about those types of things. I would truly go insane if I did, but the Marine in me knew everything he was saying was true. A man might be getting a severe beatdown right now, but that probably wasn’t what Omar was doing to Elen. And I honestly didn’t know which was worse.

  “We’re going to find her.” Lennox spoke at my side, one hand on my arm. “Look at me. You know who I am, what I’m capable of—what all these men are capable of—and Elen is one of us even though she doesn’t have the same training. She’s tough and she’ll be okay until we get there.”

  “You don’t know that,” I whispered harshly.

  “You prepped her, didn’t you?” Sandor was on my other side now, eyes the exact same color as Elen’s boring into mine. “Didn’t you?”

  “Yes, of course, but—”

  “Did you drill the basics of captivity into her?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you talk to her about resting, saving her strength, looking for escape routes, not giving in to panic?”

  “Yes!” I didn’t know what the purpose of this was.

  “She’s not stupid. She was on her own for eleven years. She knows what to do, how to survive. She’s going to do whatever it takes to protect herself and the baby she might be carrying. Don’t let your panic override your common sense and training. We’re going to get her and we’re going to kill that sonofabitch.”

  “How many days do you think she can survive, if he’s…” My lips tightened and I turned away. I couldn’t even say the words.

  “As many as it takes.” Lennox squeezed my hand. “If it was me, I would close my eyes and think of Sandor, think of our upcoming wedding, of the baby growing inside of me. Elen was never a soldier but she’s lived through horror and fear and trauma. She’s got this. You have to trust in her strength, as well as all of ours.”

  I nodded but I didn�
��t believe her. I couldn’t stand the thought of Omar touching Elen. And I wouldn’t wait any longer to go after her. Tomorrow, I was heading to Braksa.

  I was still in significant pain, but I’d reduced my pain meds to almost nothing today because I had to be sharp. Tonight, though, I needed to sleep. Tomorrow might be a long day so I took my pills, downed a bottle of water and though my sleep was filled with nightmares, I slept for nine hours. When I woke up, I felt better than I had in a few days, but that wasn’t saying much. It didn’t matter, though. The only thing that mattered was getting Elen back. I didn’t care if we had a plan or not, but I was driving up to Braksa today.

  Someone—Sandor, Erik or Joe—would try to stop me, but it didn’t matter. Unless one of them planned to shoot me, I was leaving in a little while. I’d head up there and meet up with Ace’s mercenaries. Whatever it took for me to be there and ready to get her back.

  I took a long, hot shower, letting the water run over me even though I’d recently had surgery. I’d get Joe to change my bandages since he had training in the military as a medic, and then I’d tell some bullshit story to get rid of him so I could get out of here. Joe knew me pretty well, so he most likely suspected I would try something, but he wouldn’t stop me. He had to suspect it would take an act of war to keep me from going after the woman I loved.

  A strange number came up on my cell phone as I got dressed, and because I was worried about Elen, I answered even though I normally wouldn’t have. “This is Xander.”

  “This Samaria.”

  Great. Just what I needed. Someone else I might have to lie to. “Samaria, hi. Is everything okay?”

  “Where Elen? I call her three days with no answer.”

  “Has something happened? What’s wrong?”

  “Lulu need help with school assignment, but Elen not around. Not answering email either.”

  “Elen’s up north, touring schools, there might not be service up there.”

  “You lying. What happen to Elen?”

  I had to tell this woman the truth. I wasn’t sure why, but I couldn’t lie to her. “She was kidnapped.”

  “They hurt you, Pretty Boy?” She spoke as if she knew they couldn’t have taken Elen without hurting me.

  “Messed up one of my kidneys and broke a few ribs, but I had surgery to fix everything. I’ll be okay once I find her.”

  “You call me, Xander. Be careful, but find her. Tell her Samaria sends love.” She disconnected and I stiffened my resolve. I had to bide my time until I could get out of here. Elen had spent the last night she would spend with that asshole.

  I’d just gotten something to eat when I felt a presence behind me.

  “I’m going with you.”

  I turned to see Natalia and blinked in surprise. Someone had hit her a few times because her lip was split and there was a nice bruise forming around one of her eyes. She wore the clothes of a peasant girl who lived on a farm, and her hair was in a messy braid.

  “Jesus, is that real?” I asked, running a knuckle softly over her black eye.

  She smiled. “Makeup washes off, so yes. But don’t worry, they were gentle.”

  I chuckled. “This what you signed up for?”

  “Yes.” Her English was accented but excellent, so I didn’t have to try to muddle through with my broken Limaji. “I’m willing to die for the royal family.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” I said quietly.

  “Whatever it takes.” She paused. “You must wait for the others, Xander. I will go with you, now, this moment if you insist, but you cannot go alone. This man is dangerous. Maybe the most dangerous man in the world.”

  “The most dangerous man in the world is holding the woman I love prisoner,” I told her. “I’m not waiting any longer.”

  “You’re a stubborn sonofabitch, you know that?” Sandor came up on the other side of me, shaking his head.

  “If it was Lennox, you’d be a stubborn SOB too,” I muttered, taking a bite out of a breakfast sandwich.

  “It’s too soon,” Sandor said. “We don’t have enough—”

  “You have to do what’s politically correct. I’m going to get my woman.”

  “Stop it.” Sandor gripped my arm. “Politically correct isn’t who I am, so fuck off with that. But listen to me. I get it. I swear to you, I understand and I’d be feeling the same frustrations. But you may have a child to think about now. You can’t just go in there and get yourself killed. That kid will need his father just as much as Elen needs you now.”

  My jaw worked in frustration. He had a point, but the alternative was leaving Elen where she was and that didn’t work for me at all.

  “It’s been five days,” I told him. “Five. Do you know what she must be enduring if he’s torturing her?”

  “I know.” He gripped my shoulder. “And we’re going to get her. We. Together. As a group. Not you alone. We got Natalia ready last night—her eye is swelling nicely and hopefully she’ll be able to get close to them, even if just for a few minutes at the front door.”

  “Who did it?” I turned to Natalia out of curiosity.

  She laughed. “Lennox.”

  I nodded and turned back to Sandor. “How much longer?”

  “Tonight. Tomorrow at the latest. We’ve got a helicopter lined up waiting to take us as far as Vinake. From there, we drive and then walk. Give me a few more hours to get the plan finalized. And between you and me, if you die, Elen will kill me.”

  I met his gaze without blinking. “A few hours.”

  “You have my word.”

  34

  Elen

  Omar didn’t feed me for three days. They brought me upstairs once a day to use the bathroom, which was also the only place I could drink water, and then they’d throw me back in my prison. I was getting weak now, my legs shaky as they brought me upstairs on the morning of my fifth day of captivity. I had to eat today. Even if it meant sleeping with Omar, I wouldn’t last much longer, and I had to think about the baby. I still hadn’t gotten my period, and though there were extenuating circumstances, the growing nausea and tenderness of my breasts told me I was pregnant. I’d do whatever I had to do to protect Xander’s baby, even have sex with Omar.

  The whole thing made me want to gag but he’d meant what he said. He would make my life miserable unless I chose to be with him, and if the alternative was death, it didn’t seem like it was really a choice anymore. Omar was the scariest kind of bad guy because he wasn’t stupid. He was narcissistic, undoubtedly mentally ill, and incredibly vain, but he firmly believed he knew everything, both about Limaj and its people. Defying him or sticking to my convictions was only going to get me killed, so I had to suck it up, no matter how distasteful it was.

  When his man came to get me for my daily trip to the restroom, I barely made it up the stairs. I was so weak and nauseated, I had to clutch the man’s arm when we got to the top.

  “Tell Omar I…want to talk to him,” I whispered as I escaped into the bathroom.

  I was really a disaster now, after four days with no shower, in the same clothes. Staring in the mirror, there were dark circles under my eyes, and I was starting to look gaunt. My hair was matted and greasy and my face and hands covered in dirt. So the woman going to breakfast with Omar now wasn’t the same one I’d been three days ago, and I couldn’t keep this up. If I didn’t believe I was pregnant, I would have stuck to my guns, but not now. I had someone else to think about, so my pride and morality had to be left by the wayside.

  There was very little I could do to make myself look presentable so I padded out of the bathroom, following Omar’s man to the dining room. Omar was sitting at the table reading a book. He glanced up and arched a brow.

  “Bloody hell. I wouldn’t sleep with you now even if you begged me. You’re a mess.”

  “Whose fault is that?” I asked. I didn’t have the energy to be snarky, but a little bit crept in anyway.

  “Well, it most certainly isn’t mine.” He delicately
wiped his mouth with his napkin. “We’ve discussed this. I’ve given you choices, Elen, and you keep choosing to suffer.”

  I swallowed as I met his dark gaze.

  Fuck, even as sick and miserable as I was, this was hard. Giving myself to him, in any way, was almost more than I could bear. But I had to.

  “I…think…maybe I’ve changed my mind.” My voice was barely a whisper, but he heard me.

  “Have you now?” A smile creased his face. “Well, that’s excellent news. Would you like to shower first or to have something to eat?”

  I hesitated. I felt disgusting, but I needed my strength. “Food. Please.”

  He motioned with his hand. “Help yourself to some biscuits. I’ll have my cook bring you a plate of eggs.” He lifted his phone and spoke to someone as I poured myself a cup of tea and inhaled a biscuit.

  “Once you’ve eaten, you’ll shower and find something appropriate to wear. I’ll leave a selection of clothes for you. Then we’ll discuss the future.”

  “The future?” I took a shaky breath, trying to stay calm.

  “Our wedding plans, of course.” He cocked his head. “Is that not what we’re talking about?”

  “Oh. Yes. Of course.” I didn’t have much appetite anymore, but I had to eat for the baby, if not myself.

  “You still have a choice, Elen. If you choose to be my wife, you have to do so willingly. I won’t fight you at every turn.” He paused, raising his saucer. “Unless you prefer it rough like that.”

  It was hard to hide my revulsion, but somehow, I managed. He was so disgusting and the last thing I’d ever do was willingly let him manhandle me.

  Bastard.

  I really hated him right now.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t know how long it would take Xander and my brothers to come for me, and I couldn’t wait for them anymore, so I would make do until they did.