Protect: Protect Book 4

by Ryann, Olivia

  Then Dryas grabs me by the hand and starts walking out across the broad paving stones toward the cathedral. Damen tags along, lagging a little way behind us. Dryas heads in an arc of sorts instead of straight toward the cathedral’s grand doors.

  As we go, people are already starting to line up on the shallow steps of the cathedral, though it is still early. I tug Dryas’s hand when he moves too far past the front doors. His face serious, he looks at me and pulls me onward.

  “We are not going through the front,” he mutters. “Too much scrutiny.”

  Frowning, I allow him to pull me toward the back of the cathedral. Scanning the cathedral, I don’t see any way into the tall stone building. Dryas seems sure though, so I try to relax.

  As much as I can knowing that we are about to commit treason, anyhow.

  It isn’t until we are almost right on top of the entrance that I see it. A little doorway carved into the back wall and painted the exact color of the stone around it. Dryas approaches it, hesitating but a moment before knocking softly.

  Damen is right behind me, looking casually around to see if anyone has noticed us. My heart freezes when the door doesn’t automatically open.

  What do we do if our plan to enter the building falls through?

  But in the next moment, the door opens a few inches. Dryas sticks his hand inside and muscles the door open, his biceps bulging as he holds it open. I scoot inside, Damen following in my footsteps.

  Dryas ducks inside and releases the door, plunging us into near-darkness. I’m on high alert, feeling a draught of cold air come from somewhere nearby. As I try to ascertain exactly where it is coming from, Dryas flicks on a flashlight.

  He swings it around and for a second its light catches on a stone doorway built into the ground. Clearly ancient, the door leads down into what is perhaps a crypt. That explains where the cold air is coming from at least.

  I run my hands up and down my arms through my shrug, shivering. Damen takes me by the arm, and we start to walk away from the crypt, Dryas leading the way with the flashlight.

  Taking a deep breath, I hustle through the darkness.

  23

  Dryas

  Walking down the dark passageway, I have never been so on edge as I am right now. I know I should not have brought Rue with me to abduct Henrick and Amabel. Everything in my gut told me not to compromise the mission by bringing her along. After all, she might very well be carrying my child as we speak.

  But one look into her eyes and I knew I could not tell her no. It was her idea to steal her sister away; Damen and I just piled on with our mission to abduct the prince, too.

  So now I am starting down the hallway with Rue on my heels, worried the entire time. Under normal circumstances, I would not even think twice about what Damen and I are about to do. But as we reach the doorway into the church itself, I feel my heart racing.

  Shit, this is a bad idea. But what was I going to do? Let the prince escape? Tell Rue that her addle-brained sister would have to get used to her fate?

  Neither one was tolerable.

  Taking a deep breath, I crack open the door and peer into the church. Some wise person built a door into the gallery on the side of the church, a quick way of escaping whatever madness was going on inside.

  There is no one around yet, though I imagine in a couple of hours even the galleries of the church will be absolute bedlam. There is only one prince in this land, only one royal wedding happening anytime soon. Everyone who is anyone will want to see and be seen here.

  For now, I step back and silently shoo Rue and Damen inside. Leaving the door open a crack, I put the flashlight down just outside. Blinking into the bright morning light, I look around.

  There is nothing much to see here, just a long hallway of sorts with what I presume are ancient pictures of Montenegrin rulers on the walls. Holding a hand up to still Rue and Damen, I pull a map from my pocket.

  After referencing it, I point one direction. “The room where the bride is traditionally kept is that way, just around a corner. And the room where the prince awaits should be the other way.”

  Motioning toward the other room, I pause. “I will see Rue to the ladies’ waiting quarters before I join you, Damen. We will lie in wait together, then meet back here with the kidnapped bride and groom.”

  Damen nods once, immediately turning and vanishing toward the end of the hall. Gripping Rue by the arm, I steer her in the opposite direction. She glances up at me with her eyes wide.

  “You are going to leave me?” she says, her voice soft and shaking.

  Instantly, I feel guilty. “It will take two of us to subdue Henrick and his guards. You should not face nearly so much opposition in taking Amabel. She should be unguarded.”

  Rue swallows, her gaze darting away. Still, she nods. “Okay.”

  I pull her to a stop, looking down at her. “You do not have to do it, you know. You can go wait in the passageway, near the door to the outside. Just say the word. Nothing would please me better.”

  She lifts her chin stubbornly. “No. After all, I am with you. How can I be less brave than you will be?”

  I want to tell her that inside, I am not brave. I am a nervous mess. But I do not say that.

  Instead, I smile, cupping my hand under her chin. Leaning forward, I press my lips to hers. Her small hand clutches my lapel, nearly crushing my poor heart.

  The idea of her having my child, something I am carefully pushing aside, now threatens to surface. I have to step back and release her, mastering my emotions.

  She smiles up at me. “I can find my way. Go to your brother. Just…” She takes a deep breath. “Remember that I love you.”

  I watch her as she walks away, torturing myself. This was a bad idea. I know that much.

  Swallowing thickly, I turn around and force myself to walk down the hall. I do not allow myself to think of what I am leaving behind. I just force myself forward, trying to make my mind a perfect blank.

  As soon as I turn the corner, I find the room that was on my diagram of the cathedral. Trying not to think of Rue, I slip inside and look around.

  At one end of the small, dark-paneled room is a freestanding mirror, a leatherback chair, and a table with a decanter of liquor and a glass on it. On the other end is a dark red leather couch and a couple of matching overstuffed chairs. Henrick’s wedding suit lies in a bag attached to the mirror.

  Glancing around, I do not immediately see my brother. Heading behind the couch, I see Damen sprawling on the floor. Arching a brow at him, I kneel beside him.

  “We have a while to wait.”

  He shakes his head. “I paid a girl ten pounds to text me when she sees the royal limo arriving. She just texted saying that not one, but two limos were arriving.”

  My brows rise. “Really?”

  He nods, peering at his phone. “Yes. According to her, the prince just got out of his limo and is heading our way now.”

  Shit. I did not expect them to be so early. I can only hope that Rue has already hidden herself.

  My heart thuds as I realize that I did not even try to touch Rue’s stomach before she went on her way. What if something happens to the baby?

  Worse, what if something happens to Rue?

  I did not even get to propose marriage to her. My throat starts to close just thinking about it.

  Damen snaps his fingers in front of my face. “Pay attention. Stop worrying. That can only hurt us.”

  I take a deep breath, nodding. Damen hands me a pillow and I take it, resting it on my knees.

  Closing my eyes for a moment, I manage to blank my thoughts. When I open them again, I am present and ready.

  I pull my gun and put my finger on the trigger. Ducking behind the couch, I make sure that I cannot be seen from the doorway. Damen follows suit. We both fall into old patterns, hunting like this.

  Breathe through a slightly open mouth.

  Count the minutes down.

  Do not think.

  I stiffen
as I hear something muffled coming down the hallway. Voices, a few of them.

  Trying to count them, I would guess at there being five people total. Henrick and his four guards. Damen and I can take them out with ease.

  My heart rate slows as the doorknob turns.

  “Vlad, speak English!” a strange voice chides. “You know how I feel about this. Do not make me tell you again.”

  As I ease a pocket mirror from my suit jacket to see Henrick, he comes into the room with one of his guards. Henrick looks elegant in his suit, his dark hair and blue eyes flashing. The guard is the big guy that we observed the other day if I am not mistaken. The guard nods, peering around the room.

  “Do me a favor, will you? Go check on the ball-chain. Is that how you say it? Ball-chain? Anyway, go see that she makes it into her room.”

  Fuck. I definitely do not want Vlad anywhere near Rue. Luckily, in the next second, Henrick changes his mind. “Wait, wait. Come in here for a second and help me change. I do not want any… what is the word?”

  He utters something else in Montenegrin. Whatever it is, it has Vlad turning around and closing the door. Glancing at Damen, I signal for him to be ready.

  As Henrick gets Vlad to assist him with removing his jacket, I signal again. As one, we rise from behind the couch. Raising the pillow to muffle the gunshots, I fire four rounds into the guard’s neck and torso. At the same time, Damen approaches Henrick, gun pointed directly at him.

  Vlad goes down without much of a fuss. The silencer worked somewhat, or at least no one comes running to their boss’s aid.

  Henrick looks enraged. His gaze darts from Damen to his gun, to the crumpled form of his biggest bodyguard. He curses quietly.

  “What do you two want?” he says, looking at me. “Hmm? Money?”

  “Yes,” Damen says coolly. “We need money.”

  I keep my expression neutral. Henrick actually rolls his eyes at us, which is something to behold considering that we are both pointing our guns right at him.

  “You think that you are going to catch me off balance just because today is my wedding day? Huh? You are fools. Just wait until my guards get hold of you two. You will cry out for mercy just like my bitch of a wife does every night.”

  He smirks. I do not think about my next step. I simply raise my weapon and fire two rounds through the pillow, hitting him just above both kneecaps.

  The look of surprise on his face is almost worth the amount of noise that immediately follows. He howls and falls on the floor. The bodyguards that are still alive burst through the door.

  As I take aim at Henrick, I curse my inability to listen to him blather on. Damen fires at the first gunman, who in turn fires at me.

  Fuck, I think.

  Then, where is Rue right now?

  24

  Rue

  As I pull Amabel behind the door, I hear a commotion start down the hall. Peeking out I can see all the guards running toward the sounds.

  A hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach starts spreading upward, slowly filling my belly with acid. That could very well be the sound of the love of my life dying.

  And what can I do about it?

  Nothing. There is nothing that I can do.

  “Mummy,” Ama whines. “You are hurting me.”

  Looking down at how I’m gripping her hand, I loosen my hold. “Shhhh. Come on.”

  Hustling Ama in front of me, I run to the hidden door that is marked by the flashlight sitting outside it. With a grunt, I open the door and pull her inside.

  “It’s dark!” she cries. My hand flies up to cover her mouth and I shut the door.

  Not taking my eyes from the door, I whisper harshly to my sister. “Ama, please be quiet!”

  Her eyes widen. I put my ear to the door and listen intently. There are several muffled bangs, and then some louder ones. My breath freezes in my lungs; those sounded a lot like gunshots!

  If they were gunshots, who fired them and who was shot? A shiver wracks my whole entire spine. Gunshots are terrifying to me.

  I’ve never seen anyone get shot in real life, but I have the idea that a gunshot can stop a person dead.

  Please, please don’t let Dryas be hurt. Or worse…

  Just thinking about it makes my whole body tremble. I hear voices, faint at first but getting louder by the moment. Leaning against the door, I try to concentrate on what they might be saying.

  At first, I can’t make out what they are saying. All I can hear is men speaking loudly in a language that is not English. But as the voices get closer, I hear the voice that I so desperately want to hear.

  It’s Dryas, speaking what I assume is Greek to his brother. Ama makes a soft noise against the hand I have over her mouth, but I just shush her.

  A soft knock comes on the other side of the door I’m leaning on. I leap back, tugging Amabel with me. The door opens slowly.

  Damen pokes his head in, seeing me. He calls back over his shoulder. “Dryas! She is already in here.”

  Stepping through, Damen picks up the flashlight and turns it on. Dryas isn’t next, though. Instead, I see Henrick being shoved through the doorway, almost wholly supported by Dryas. Henrick’s hands are behind his back, cuffed somehow.

  It looks like Henrick and Dryas are both wounded, Henrick much more severely. Henrick looks at me, his nostrils flaring.

  “Rue! Of course, you are tangled up in this mess. I should have killed you when I had the chance.” His words are punctuated by Dryas hitting him in the thigh, just above one of his wounds. He yells and leans forward, but Dryas yanks him back up straight.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Damen says pointedly.

  That doesn’t hold my attention, though. My eyes are instantly drawn to Dryas’s right side, where there is blood welling from a definite bullet wound. Damen hastens to grab Henrick. Dryas closes the door, then moves over to me.

  He leans down, grimacing just a bit, and kisses me on the forehead. His face is sweaty.

  “We got him,” he says simply, looking around. “Now we just have to get him out of the cathedral without anybody noticing.”

  My eyebrows rise, but now is not the time to ask questions. I nod instead, trying not to look at Dryas’s wounded abdomen.

  Swallowing, I feel faint just thinking about his bleeding wound. Dryas kisses my forehead again, then looks to Damen.

  “Come on, we should get to the place where we will exit. Can you call the driver now?”

  Damen nods and hands Dryas the flashlight. While we start down the passage, Damen and Henrick trail us a bit, Damen fishing out his cell phone.

  Dryas swings the flashlight beam back and forth slowly as we progress. I clutch Ama’s arm, so nervous I’m practically jumping out of my skin.

  All the sudden several things. happen at once. Damen stumbles and pitches forward, Henrick right along with him. The flashlight flickers throwing us into darkness several times.

  When Dryas bangs the flashlight on the flat of his palm, its beam lands on something strange. Or rather, someone.

  A tall, handsome man steps into the beam, grinning. “Hello, Dryas.”

  Dryas goes tense in an instant. He growls at the man. “Arsen. What the fuck are you doing here?”

  Arsen…

  Wide-eyed, looking from Dryas to Arsen to Damen, I can easily tell that they are brothers. Righting himself, Damen only looks mildly surprised. Dryas looks at Arsen furiously, every muscle in his big body rigid.

  If I had to guess from his ghost of a smile, Damen probably helped Arsen appear here somehow. Gulping against the fear crowding my throat, I huddle Ama against the wall.

  Unfortunately, Arsen looks right at me. “I came to see the woman who has tamed you, brother. What is your name, darling?”

  “Amabel!” Ama practically yells. Elbowing her hard in the ribs, I move backward. Arsen prowls toward me, that same sick grin on his lips.

  “Oh, do not run from me, little one. Do you know what your lover tried to do to me? Hmm?”


  Dragging Ama back by her arm, I move back again. Dryas steps between me and Arsen, practically spitting with anger.

  “Now is not the time, Arsen,” he warns.

  “I think now is the perfect time. What do you think, Rue?”

  Dryas squares off with him. I see the glint in Arsen’s eye as he leans down and lunges toward me. Yelping, I move back again, only to stumble into Henrick.

  I expect Henrick to react, to complain and make noise. What I don’t expect is for Henrick to raise his hands, completely free of whatever cuffs he had on. I see the knife blade in his hand a second before he has it at my throat.

  Everyone shouts all at once as Henrick grabs me. He drags me back a few steps, yanking one of my hands behind my back. I can’t breathe suddenly, my eyes wide and my heart thrumming in my ears. Henrick twists my arm so hard that the joint at my shoulder protests.

  Unable to help it, I scream. Henrick grins at the sound and starts back away, pressing the knife against my throat so hard that I start to bleed. My eyes mist over as I struggle not to start crying.

  I look at Dryas helplessly as the prince drags me back out of the light and into the darkness.

  25

  Dryas

  Everything else falls away. In that heart-racing moment, there are only three people in the entire world. Me, Rue, and Henrick.

  I lunge toward Henrick and Rue, desperate to free her. Henrick holds Rue close, lifting her onto her tiptoes by pressing the knife upward into her smooth white throat. A little trickle of her bright red blood escapes from a nick he makes.

  I start seeing red, with the exact same color and pulsing material rhythm as Rue’s blood. It saturates my vision, swims around my head and makes thinking clearly that much more difficult.

  “I would not do that if I were you,” Henrick says, grinning. “Then again, perhaps I am doing you a favor by slitting her throat. It will save you being shocked later when she betrays you. Is that not right, Rue? You women are always so disappointing…”