by Eve, Jaymin
He lifted his head, hands still wrapped around the black cord he held. “You don’t get it yet,” he said softly, “but you soon will.”
Huh?
“Get what?”
The smallest smile teased the corner of his lips. “Your problems are my problems.”
I had to swallow hard as a sudden burst of emotions took me by surprise. Jordan and his sweet talking was going to be the death of me. And unlike Alex, who had laid it on thick in the beginning, there was a sincerity about Jordan that spoke of someone with an innate good nature.
No wonder he was best friends with Rafe. They were yin and yang. The perfect balance.
One a little too dark, the other a little too light. Together, though, they were perfect.
Jordan went back to his tech shit, and I spent time watching the view again, the mountains soothing me in a way I hadn’t felt in a while.
“Okay, I’m ready,” he said, leaning back and admiring his work. “Just waiting on one final piece. Should be here soon.”
He settled in next to me, close to the fire, and in the silence we watched nature. Time passed, and I leaned against him, the soothing way he was playing with my hair sending me to sleep. At some point I felt him move, and he draped a soft and warm throw over me as he spoke to whoever had entered the room.
Somewhere deep in my subconscious, I knew it was Rafe. This was his secret place, after all. I tried to fall back into that cozy sleep place I’d just been in, but as they talked more, I found myself listening in.
“Our little princess is tired,” Rafe said, and surprisingly enough, he didn’t sound like an asshole. There was almost affection in his voice.
Jordan made an unhappy rumble of a sound. “I don’t think she’s sleeping well. We need to end this fucking asshole once and for all.”
“Told you we should have just killed him,” Rafe said nonchalantly.
Jordan snorted. “And I didn’t disagree, but that’s messy in a way we don’t need right now. We have to be smarter about this, make sure we’re around to keep her safe—to keep all of our families safe.”
Rafe didn’t reply, and it sounded like he was tinkering with the machinery. Whatever the missing piece was, it must be ready to go now.
I knew I wasn’t getting any more sleep, I yawned and stretched, rolling over and to lift my head like I was sleepy and confused. Two sets of eyes locked on me.
"Hey," I greeted Rafe, trying really freaking hard to shove my dirty thoughts aside. No matter how good of friends these guys were, I seriously doubted they'd be cool sharing a girlfriend long term. They were both too alpha. Even Jordan, despite his relaxed nature.
Not to mention the sheer scandal if it all got out. Two crown heirs both fucking the same penniless vagrant? A ballot winner, no less. I'd probably find myself strapped to a concrete block at the bottom of the Atlantic before the newspapers even printed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep," I said to Jordan with a small smile. "Did I miss anything?"
He shook his head and crossed back over to me, sliding into the warm space at my side and draping his arm over my shoulders. "Nothing important," he replied before cuddling me into his side and kissing my hair. "I'm glad you got a bit of sleep. You’ve looked so exhausted this week."
I yawned, wriggling around until I was comfortable with my head resting on Jordan's shoulder and my feet tucked up on the seat. It should have been awkward, snuggling with my secret boyfriend in front of my occasional angry-fuck buddy, but it wasn't. It felt oddly calm.
"I haven't been sleeping much," I admitted.
Rafe shot a dark look at Jordan, who made a disgruntled noise.
"Don't look at me like that," he chided his friend. "It's not me that's been keeping her up."
My face flamed, and I cleared my throat. There went that peaceful calm.
"Not... like that. Just from Alex and..." I sucked in a deep breath, running it all through my head with lightning speed. I hadn't told them about the engagement ring or about Alex's dad and his ticking clock. But it was all becoming too much for me to shoulder alone, and what had Jordan said? My problems were his problems now? Let's hope Rafe felt the same way.
"Alex gave me a ring." I blurted it out, then wrinkled my nose in distaste. Saying it out loud was even more cringe-worthy than it had sounded inside my head, and the stunned look on Rafe's face made me instantly regret telling them. I couldn't see Jordan's expression, but the tension radiating through his body kinda clued me in.
"What kind of ring?" Rafe demanded, looking... panicked? Nah, that must've been sleep deprivation reading his expression all wrong.
I rolled my eyes. "A nipple ring. Idiot." That answer was pure sarcasm, and I made sure it was clear in my deadpan glare. "He gave me a fucking diamond engagement ring. A huge, ugly, billion-carat stone. Apparently his father—King Steve—wants him to either marry me or impregnate me before the end of the school year."
Rafe flipped a table. The low coffee table that held scattered papers with Jordan's handwriting all over them was upended and landed with a crack of breaking wood.
"Dramatic, much?" I remarked, leaning on my strongest defense mechanism. Snark. "Neither option is going to happen. Obviously. Once this virus that Jordan activated works, Alex is going to end up in a whole pile of shit for hacking confidential files. Right?"
"Temporarily," Rafe snapped, his chest heaving and his fists clenching. He wanted to hit something. Bad.
Jordan shifted away from me and swiped a hand through his hair in a telltale gesture of agitation. "We need to work on plan B," he muttered, mostly to himself, then looked up at Rafe. "Did you cover for me with coach?"
It took me a second to understand what he was talking about, but then it clicked. Friday afternoons were soccer practice before the game on Saturday. Jordan must have skipped it to stay with me.
Rafe gave a jerking nod, his brow still furrowed. "I did, but he was still pissed. There’ve been more resistance attacks, and all the increased security has Coach on edge."
“Why are they attacking?” I asked the princes, since they were on the inside. In a manner.
The pair exchanged a look. “Truthfully, these are not official Society-sanctioned attacks,” Jordan told me. “Not that we’re involved in everything, but from what we’ve heard, these might be some extremist wings of the group acting off book, so to speak.”
Great. Just fucking great.
Rafe’s jaw was tight, and I could tell there was something more that he needed to say.
“Do you know more about this?” I asked him.
Rafe shook his head.
"You're holding something back,” Jordan said as he crouched down to start tidying the papers up. “I can tell."
I nodded. "Me too. Spill it, Angel baby."
Something flashed across his face when I said that, but it was gone again too fast for me to name. Weird.
"Coach told me about Zach..." he started, and Jordan groaned.
"Please don't say what I think you're about to say," he begged. "It’s bad enough we have to see him during Society events, but… Just no. "
Rafe grimaced. "Sorry, bro. I couldn’t get his transfer stopped in time. He got a permanent spot here… and a place on the team."
"Fuck!" Jordan yelled, slamming his hand into the already broken table and sending the papers flying once more. It occurred to me that I'd never seen him fight... but I got the feeling he could be pretty badass. Maybe he wasn’t as “light” as I’d thought earlier. There was some darkness there too. I liked it. "I'm sorry, Violet; I need to go and speak with my brother. Are you—"
"Go," I told him, waving off whatever concern he was about to express. "Deal with Zach. I should be going to bed anyway."
His eyes darkened, the amber tones fading into midnight. “Tempting,” I heard him murmur, but he didn’t push it, just leaned over to press a kiss to my lips.
My mouth parted slightly, inviting him in, and he wasted no time, his tongue sweeping across mi
ne. Whatever sleepiness I’d been feeling faded, but with Rafe watching us, it wasn’t the time to get lost in this moment.
Later. Definitely later.
When Jordan left, I couldn’t stay there with Rafe’s enigmatic stare on me. “So, you all good here?” I asked, swallowing hard as I did my best to avoid direct eye contact.
Rafe’s voice was a warm wash of sound. “Yep, I’ll be here a while finishing this up. We’ll send a message to your palm reader when it’s all set in motion. Did Jordan tell you it’ll probably be a week or so before we see the full effect?”
I nodded, stifling a yawn.
“Yeah, he explained the whole chain of events, blah blah. I kind of zoned out when he started talking all tech.”
I thought I heard a little snort of laughter, but when I finally jerked my head up to see him, there was no expression on his face.
“See you later,” I said in a rush, hurrying off.
This time I knew for sure it was laughter that followed me, but I didn’t turn back.
To say I was in a bit of a daze walking to my room would be an understatement. I really hadn’t been sleeping well, and it had taken that small nap to really showcase how tired I was. Apparently I had to stop pacing my room at night and actually try sleeping if I wanted to feel rested.
Who knew?
When I turned the last corridor to my room, I let out another huge yawn, the sort that took over my whole face and closed both eyes.
It was a stupid move, letting my guard down like that; apparently Arbon had made me soft. I sensed the presence a moment before I felt the prick of a needle in my neck. Quick and sharp, it bit into my skin, the burn of whatever was injected heating along my artery.
“Fuck!” I cursed, swinging around and smashing into whoever was behind me.
But it was too late. I got only one good hit, heard a surprisingly feminine cry, and then my legs buckled and everything went black.
Chapter 25
I’d never had an issue with anesthesia. Any time I’d required it, I’d woken up afterward with almost no side effects. This time, though, as my eyes shot open, I was rewarded with a pounding headache.
There was no disorientation, and I remembered that I’d been ambushed, putting me immediately on alert. My eyes darted around as I catalogued my situation.
Laid out flat on a semi-soft surface. Ankles bound. Wrists bound. Head held down by something strapped over my forehead.
It took me another few seconds to figure out what the familiar surface was, and the moment I did, chills of dread ran across my skin, filling my gut with cramps as I jerked at both my hand and ankle restraints. I was on a bed in the medical wing.
“Ah, you’re awake, Ms. Spencer.”
The creepy nurse’s face swam into view as she peered down at me. She wasn’t smiling like she enjoyed this; instead she wore a professional face as if this was all part of her job.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I cried, still trying to work my ankles free. “This is kidnapping and deprivation of liberty.”
She clucked at me, her expression unchanging. “Please, Ms. Spencer. You know that by agreeing to come to Arbon, you gave up all medical rights to your body. You’ve been ignoring my summons for weeks now. This is the next logical step.”
I blinked at her, some of my movements slowing. “You wouldn’t know logic if it bit you on your fucking ass,” I snarled at her. “I think you meant psychotic.”
She busied herself then, fiddling around with some of the instruments on a metal table beside me. I couldn’t see what was there, but I recognized the sounds.
Since she was turned away somewhat, sorting out her torture devices, I focused more fully on escaping. Many years ago I’d dislocated my thumb during a fight, and ever since then, it had been looser, allowing me a wider range of movement. It wouldn’t help me get out of the bands—they felt high quality, with both a buckle and a strap holding me down—but I might have a shot at reaching my palm reader’s emergency call button. Jordan had programmed it to his number, and if he didn’t answer, Rafe’s. So if I could just get to that button...
“Not the right suturing kit,” I heard the nurse mutter, and I was a little distracted by that.
“What do you plan on doing with me?” I asked, hoping to both delay and distract her while I wiggled my thumb into position to hit that button.
She moved a little closer so I could see her deadpan expression more clearly. “I’m going to remove your IUD and install a tracking device. For your own safety of course.”
I cleared my throat, trying to stay reasonable. “And, uh, why are you removing my IUD? I only just got it in, and I’m pretty happy to keep it until I finish my studies. Babies and college are not the best mix, amiright?”
Joking was the perfect cover for the screaming terror I felt at her words. Also the fury. This cunt of a nurse better hope I never got free in her presence because she would no longer have working fingers to perform these atrocities on anyone.
She waved me off with a dry, unamused laugh. “You’ll be finished soon, and then you’ll be a wife. Your duty is to produce a strong, powerful heir. Anything else is unnecessary. Best to get started now too, just in case.”
I tried to murder her with my gaze, but she didn’t even notice, once again organizing her things. That was okay though; I’d finally wiggled and worked my aching thumb into the right position, and I pressed it as best I could against the button. I thought I heard the small click that indicated it had engaged, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Does Alex know you’re doing this?” I asked, trying my best to keep my breathing even. “Does he know that you’ve drugged and kidnapped me, holding me against my will in the medical wing? Because I don’t think my fiancé”—I choked over that word but got it out—“would be happy about me being treated like this.”
As I was shifting my finger back into a position that didn’t feel like it was being dislocated, I paused as I scraped over the buckle. Shit, it wasn’t as sophisticated as I’d originally thought. It was actually one I’d had used on me by my sensei before, and I knew how to get free.
I’d just need a few minutes.
“Call Alex here right now,” I said, trying to sound more forceful than I felt. “I’m the future leader of the Australasians, and it’s in your best interest not to piss me off.”
She paused, like that fact hadn’t occurred to her at all. With a annoyed huff, she lifted her palm reader and dialed a number.
Alex answered on the first ring.
“Hello, Your Highness,” the nurse said primly. “Could you please meet me at medical wing five?”
There was an extended pause, and then a simple. “Yes.” before Alex hung up.
Meanwhile, I now had extra incentive to get my ass out of here before my “fiancé” showed up. He was probably the one who’d set this bitch up to ripping my shit out, and I’d find no rescue there.
Not that I needed one. Violet Spencer had been born of despair, and I no longer believed in fairy tales.
Especially when they pertained to princes.
Give me the devil any day.
It took Alex all of two minutes to make it to the room, and he must have sprinted the entire way because he was breathing heavily, and considering how fit he was... At this point I was almost certain that my distress call hadn’t gone out, but since I’d managed to get the first loop of the strap off by scratching at it with my thumb, it was all okay.
When Alex saw me strapped to the bed, he turned his glare on the nurse.
“What the hell are you doing to her?”
She huffed again, crossing her arms over her chest. “Exactly what I was ordered to do. Violet must have her IUD removed and a tracker implanted.”
Alex crossed his arms too, and I was surprised to see some rage on his face. “Ordered by whom?”
She blinked, and I was cursing my lack of head movement because I could only see a small sliver of both their faces.
“By your pare
nts of course,” she said stiffly. “And the dean. Final approvals for all medical go through him.
It looked like Alex took a menacing step toward her with fists clenched, but I couldn’t quite tell from my angle. “And what if I told you to stop right now?”
This question was delivered coldly with barely any emotion in his voice. You could have knocked me out with a fucking swift breeze, though, I was so stunned.
Was he actually trying to help me? What in the fuck?
She twittered about, grabbing up some paperwork and thrusting it at him. “I’m sorry; the orders come from above your head.”
Alex swung around to glare at me, and I could see in his expression that he was saying this was my own fault for not conforming. For not falling in line.
“Just…” He cleared his throat. “Just don’t hurt her. Be gentle.”
Then the fucker turned and left the room.
Well, fuck. He hadn’t done or said anything I’d expected from him, but at the same time, he’d just left me here. He could have helped, but he’d chosen not to rock the boat.
Well, fuck him. Like I’d said before, I wasn’t waiting to be rescued. I had this shit sorted.
At that second, I freed the strap completely, and I held my breath as it fell loose and clinked against the metal side of the bed. Thankfully, in the same moment, the nurse grabbed her equipment tray, the clink of instruments hiding the sound of the strap.
“I promise it won’t hurt,” she said as she moved closer to my legs. “I will numb you up completely before removing the device and inserting the tracker.”
“Mighty fucking big of you,” I said, letting all my sarcasm fly free. “You’re a regular saint.”
She focused on me like she was trying to figure out if I was being serious or not before shaking her head and moving down to my left leg. She started to unstrap that buckle, needing to move my legs further apart to do her thing. This distraction, though, gave me the perfect opportunity to reach up with my now free hand and unstrap my head. As soon as that was free, I did my other hand, all in the same amount of time it took this dumb bitch to get my ankle free.
