The team took a greater risk to land them in an area extremely close to the palace rather than farther out to make their way on foot. When he hit the ground, the sand flew up as Daron slightly overshot his landing zone. Cameron and the team rushed forward, gathering up the parachutes. Falcon and a few other Knights’ trucks headed toward them in the distance.
Now came the hard part—getting Ellena and the children out and getting to Kamran in Durabia without fatalities on their side.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Ellena drew on every ounce of strength she could summon. She had to fall back on all levels of training, thinking of a way to escape. No gun in sight, so hand to hand would be her best option.
While in the Nation, she was tasked to be under Sister Aisha as a Vanguard—the elite group of women who were security to the Minister and other upper ranking members of the Nation. She only made it through because of the encouragement of the sisters, not necessarily on her own steam. Ellena was not the right size for a Vanguard, but they allowed her into the program anyway, believing she would lose the excess pounds during martial arts, drills and extreme fitness maneuvers. She did, but not enough to become a valued part of a special security detail.
Many women dropped out along the way—women who were the perfect size for Vanguard requirements. But she made it all the way to the end—at her size, only a little smaller than Ellena was at the moment. So many times, she wanted to give up, but their encouragement kept her going. Every single time. She had amazed everyone and even herself.
Ellena calmed her mind and realized that at one point Zohaib would be vulnerable. She had to do whatever it took to save herself and her children. Dro had told her once that what he loved most about the Queens of The Castle, was that they waited for no one to save them. They learned to defend themselves and accept help only when warranted. She was a Queen in her own right.
She waited for Zohaib to lean back on the bed, believing by her defeated posture she would totally submit to his demand. Moments later, when he closed his eyes, she did two things at once. Ellena pushed the sheet toward his mouth and clamped down on his delicate flesh. Her teeth sliced through the first layer of his skin as she pressed the cloth into his mouth and pushed his chest to anchor him to the mattress. She bit down harder, tearing through more flesh, and then with all of her might she yanked away, separating his erection from the rest of his body.
Ellena recovered quickly from the effort it took and spat the coppery taste from her mouth. She shifted on the bed to avoid the blood spray as she moved toward his chest, forcing more of the cloth into his mouth, to muffle his screams. She covered his grunts and attempts to escape from her with loud, sensual moans that elicited hoots of laughter from those on the other side of the door.
“The old man still has it,” Sajid said, chuckling. “Come, let us get a drink.”
She pressed down hard on the material at his groin to staunch the flow. If he died, all would be lost. As his body thrashed, she ran to the credenza, grabbed the ice from the gold bucket, then packed it on his groin as tightly as she could.
Zohaib’s anger flowed into panic before his eyes fluttered and closed. She picked up that delicate piece of flesh and some of the ice, sliced off a section of the shower curtain and wrapped both before opening the toilet’s tank and dropping it inside.
She cleared the blood from her face, while trying to steady her trembling hands. She dressed quickly in his clothes then opened the door to find the two guards chatting.
Ellena lowered the timbre of her voice, gruffly asking in Arabic, “Where are the children?”
They each turned toward the door and pointed eastward.
“Take me.”
One of the guards frowned and peered at Ellena. He moved forward at the exact moment she opened the door all the way, snatched the gun from the holster of the man who stood closer to her, and pointed it at the advancing guard.
“You cannot—”
One shot to his temple ended that conversation.
“Would you like to join him?”
The remaining guard held up his hands and shook his head.
“Take me to my children.”
“You will never make it past the others,” he said as she extracted the gun from the fallen guard and tucked it safely into the belt of the tunic.
“You’d better hope that I do,” she warned. “You’ll die before I will.”
They traveled down the dimly-lit hall. Along the way, she took out several more unsuspecting guards.
“You only have one more bullet left in that gun,” the guard said over his shoulder.
“Thanks for the reminder.” She ditched that gun and aimed at his back with the other, then scooped one more weapon from one of the guards on the floor.
“Walk.”
“You know they’re going to kill you,” he warned.
“Not if I kill them first.”
She put a bullet in another guard before moving forward. The man in front of her shook and went quiet.
“What’s your name?” She prodded him in the back.
His voice quaked as he said, “Ridwan.”
“Well, Ridwan, we are getting my children and I am leaving and going back to my husband. If anyone tries to stop me, let them know that Sheikh is missing a vital piece of … equipment. And if they want a chance to reattach it, they will let me pass.”
His head swiveled and he turned wide eyes on her. He had lost every ounce of color in his face as her true meaning hit. “That is … horrific.”
“Yes, but so is stealing a woman and her children,” Ellena shot back. “I don’t give a damn about anything but getting what’s mine and getting gone.”
“You … you … you.” He shivered and went quiet.
“Yes, yes, yes,” she said in a weary tone as she followed him past another set of rooms. “I separated the king from an important part of his body.”
The guard spun to face her. “What you have done is punishable by your death. He cannot be buried without all of his …” He inhaled. “They will never let you live behind something so … despicable.”
“Well, he should have thought about that before trying to put it where it didn’t belong, and wasn’t wanted. I am Kamran Ali Khan’s wife and I am not here by choice. Now move!”
He gestured to the door at the far end of the hall, then knocked. When he received permission, he turned the knob and pushed it open. The spacious room was illuminated by bright lights and even brighter colors.
“Mama!” Her babies toddled to her, laughing.
The women looking after them backed away at the sight of the weapon.
“You,” Ellena gestured to a woman with auburn hair, a white tunic, and almond-shaped eyes. “Pick up my son. You …” she pointed to another woman in similar dress. “Pick up my daughter and come here.”
When the women shuffled forward, she leaned in to whisper to her children. “I need you to be very quiet, okay?” Then she directed two other women to pick up the remaining two after she kissed them.
They bobbed their heads, their eyes wide with shock but they stopped reaching for her and held onto their nurses. The caravan of children, nurses, and one guard swiftly covered the ground past a few open areas before the guard said, “You’re not going to want to go that way.”
“Why?”
“It will lead to the side entrance to the garden and out the back way to the road.”
“I feel cool air coming from that way,” she said. “That’s the exit.”
“Yes, but—”
“Why should I trust you?” she snapped, poking him with the gun once more. “Move.”
They went forward, silently covering several yards to the door, only stopping for one reason.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ellena looked with longing at the exit behind Sajid.
“Your father is going to be minus a particular body part if you don’t get out of m
y way,” she warned Sajid, brandishing the weapon in his direction.
“I cannot let you leave.”
“The longer you wait, the less likely it will be that the surgeons can reattach it. Your call.”
Only then did Sajid’s eyes widen and the panic set in as he commanded the guards with him, “Search his room.”
“You won’t find it in time,” she said, smiling. “You can let me walk out of here, with my children, and I’ll tell you when we make it to a safe point. Or your father will become known as a King without a Kong.”
One of the nurses grimaced. The other tried to hold back a smirk.
Sajid growled and shook his head. “You will not make it out of Nadaum alive.”
“We beg to differ.”
All focus turned to the group of men storming through the door dressed in all black and carrying an array of weapons.
Ellena was never so happy to see her family in her entire life. “You came for us.”
“Damn straight.”
Ellena fell into Dro’s arms as the Kings fanned out, each taking one of her children in their arms.
“How did you get in here?” Sajid demanded, watching as his brother Noman was pushed into the enclosed space.
“We did not see them coming,” one of the guards protested as Shaz walked in behind him.
“Never mind all that,” Dro said, shifting warily until he stood in front of Ellena. “El, I’ll take this.”
Her hands trembled so badly, she couldn’t hold the gun straight. “I had to—”
“I know, El. I know,” he said with a reassuring whisper.
“Where is Kamran?” she asked as her heartbeat pounded in her ear.
“They’re holding him hostage at the palace,” Daron said. “From what the Knights told us, they had to restrain him because he was about to wage a full-blown war for your return. But then he called in his brothers.”
Daron reached for her hand and stroked the tattoo with his index finger.
“Thank God, you insisted,” she said of the tattoo that Hiram had place there and the matching one on Kamran.
“Come, let’s get out of here before they do something stupid.” His attention went to Sajid. “You’re coming with us.”
He stepped back. “I must stay and see to my father’s health.”
“He has other sons for that,” Shaz said.
Sajid planted his feet. “But if they attend to him, they will be the next in line if something happens.”
“That sounds like King boy problems to me,” Vikkas taunted. “Not my circus. We have to go.”
“They will need to come with us,” Ellena said, gesturing to the women and the one guard who’d been with her throughout the entire ordeal.
“El, we don’t have room—”
“They will be killed,” she warned. “Especially him. He could’ve taken me out twice before I made it here, because I’m not real good at this.”
Daron shook his head. “All right everybody. Let’s move.”
“Where are you?” Shaz spoke into the com device.
“We’re headed your way,” Nicco responded. “Might need another chopper. We’ve got company.”
“How many extras?”
Daron scanned the group a second time. “Six.”
“We can handle it. Get your asses in gear. We’re about to have the wrong kind of company.”
As they moved toward the exit and certain freedom, Sajid yelled, “Wait! You did not tell them where my father’s …” He swallowed hard. “…qadib is.”
Ellena glanced over her shoulder, looked him square in the eye and said, “I didn’t. Did I?”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Barbaric,” Kamran said and that one word echoed off of every wall in the palace. “Your actions are of a barbaric nature. So fearful of losing status, of losing power, that you committed such atrocities against my wife and would visit horrific pain on my children. Do you know they were going to sell them to slavers and planned to violate them in ways you could not imagine.” He sighed and his shoulders drooped. “My brothers had nothing to fear from me. Nothing whatsoever, but they saw Ellena, and my precious children as so much of a threat, they allowed Sijad to take them, and you supported it by your inaction. Simply to rid yourselves of a problem.”
Kamran paced in front of the Kings. “I will say this, and I do so openly. Here is my right hand to Allah.” He raised his arm. “Besides my mother and sisters, if I see one family member’s face come towards me, my wife or my children, I will shoot first and ask questions never.”
When his chest stopped heaving, he snatched off his head covering and ran one hand through his hair, ruffling the dark strands.
“There was no reason to do what you did,” he said, sweeping a gaze across all of them. “I had already signed documents that meant neither I, nor my children, would have any interest in or claim to the throne. You all knew and yet you still came for us.”
He watched his brothers avoid his gaze before he continued, “We claim to be better than Americans but we are no better. Their current leadership and the people who follow him have this same greedy, divisive mentality. We claim to be better than Christians, yet we are no better. They are so fearful of people who look like us, who look like Ellena, that they enact laws to ensure they can never reach their full potential without nearly three times the obstacles others face. They, like us, treat women, as inferior. So, do not ever work your lips around the words that we are better than anyone.
“The difference between us and them is oil. The difference is the source of our money. But the truth of the matter is that the source of our evil is the same. This does not bring us closer to God. These actions that put my wife on Nadaum soil were prideful, and not in the spirit of peace. Barbaric natures can be traced back to the foundation of almost any culture, but we are supposed to be civilized and an example of the best Allah has to offer. The best example.”
He swept an eagle-eyed gaze across his brothers, all of whom stood together in solidarity with each other. “I leave this place with burdens so heavy that it will take the rest of my life to lift. But here is where you made a mistake. You failed to remember our wedding day. You failed to remember her family—the Kings, the Knights, the Queens. They are all on their way here. They came for justice. And they will not be denied.
“The moment I leave the place and step outside, all manner of hell is coming your way. The only persons I am inclined to protect are my mother and sisters, who are already outside of the palace shopping, I believe, with the rest of the women and children.” A sinister smile twisted his lips. “I made sure they left the grounds this morning. My brothers and their wives who are still here—all of you can burn in hell. Better yet, maybe having you lose something important, maybe being at the mercy of others will be just the lesson you need. “
“If your exit is when hell starts, then all we have to do is make sure you do not leave,” Salman said as their father grimaced.
His brothers Umar and Nadeem closed in.
“Father, is this truly something you wish?” Kamran asked, beyond feeling surprised at this point.
“Kamran, I am truly sorry that it has come to this,” he said, frowning as he watched Marina and Alexa going from his guards, assistants administering some type of clear liquid into their eyes. “If it means my life, the life of my sons, and safety of the sheikhdom, then you must remain here for a time.”
Salman gestured toward his personal guards. “Take them to the lower quarters.”
Alejandro Reyes suddenly flickered into view, standing next to Kamran. After a flash of light, Daron was in full view. Soon, all nine Kings, all nine Knights, Cameron, Mia, Alexa, Grayson, and Nicco stood around the room.
Sheikh Aayan shook his head as his grip tightened on the hand rest. “How … how is this possible?”
“I warned you that her family would not stand for her to be mistreated.” The Knights and the Kings disappeared again. Seconds later, they appeared. One
stood next to the Sheikh and the rest surrounded other members of the Royal family.
“As I said before, her family has her covered.” Kamran folded his arms and wore a satisfied smile.
Ellena came through the doors, and the sight of her hurt his whole heart. Though she tried to hide her emotions behind a smile, he could tell she had been through hell. Her eyes were tired and she wore men’s clothing—a sheikh’s clothing. And the bloodstains were evident. His or hers?
Even with all that, her air was triumphant. He wondered, only briefly, about the children’s whereabouts. Then surmised that if she was here, and her brothers had been successful in their mission, then the children were safe.
He would never fail her again. Would never become so comfortable around people that he would believe they weren’t capable of taking drastic action to maintain power and status.
“Oh, and just so you know,” Kamran said to his father. “They consider me family too.”
With that, he turned toward Marina and took the vial from her hand.
“My son,” the Sheikh cried out as he stood. “Have mercy on us all.”
“You had no mercy on my wife,” Kamran roared.
“You could have another wife,” Aayan roared back. “An Arabian wife, with Arabian children.”
“And now the real Sheikh comes out.” Kamran kissed the back of Ellena’s hand. “This woman is the only wife I desire. I have no need of anyone else.” He held the vial in the air. “This is your consequence. This is your punishment. This will render you temporarily sightless. Everyone here who has not been given the treatment that Marina has graciously given the rest of us, will be blind.”
King of Durabia Page 16
