Kingdom of Honor (Kingdom Journals Book 3)

by Tricia Copeland

  “Come on, we’ve got to roll,” Grady called.

  “Everyone ready?” I looked Alena’s way again in time to see Hunter plant a long kiss on her lips.

  Throwing the last pack in the van, I climbed in the back seat. My knee bounced, and with no view of the countryside to occupy us, we rode in silence to the airport.

  Alena’s persona switched to our tourist cover mode the second her shoe hit the pavement. “Antonio, make sure you get all my bags. And don’t drop them. It comes out of your paycheck if anything is damaged.”

  I fitted my sunglasses on my nose as I exited the vehicle. My collar itched my neck, and I fit my finger in the small space.

  Alena hooked her arm through mine. “I can’t wait to see Sardinia. I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

  “It won’t be green for a couple of months.” Escorting her to the terminal, I played my part.

  Tyler and Grady followed behind, while Antonio and Mario trailed with the luggage. We’d packed our backpacks inside expensive bags that would be left with the car on the island.

  Inside, we walked straight to the first-class counter gathered our tickets, and then found the gate. Alena’s voice grated my nerves as she played the rich, spoiled traveler, but I smiled and patted her hand when she spoke to me. It wasn’t long before our plane arrived, and we made our way down to the ramp. It was a small jet seating only twenty passengers, and I wondered how Antonio and Mario would manage being scrunched in the small seats.

  “What, there’s no jet way?” Alena complained.

  “There are stairs up to the door, look.” I motioned to the plane.

  “Still, what about my heels?” She looked down at her shoes.

  “I’m sure they’ll be fine.” I fought rolling my eyes.

  On the plane, we took our seats. As the aircraft taxied and took off, I watched out the window, seeing the last light from the sun fade to black. A short flight, we weren’t in the air fifteen minutes before the crew indicated to prepare for landing. Alena phoned Hunter as soon as the captain indicated use of mobile phones.

  “Hi, love.” She continued to play her part. “I’m just checking that all the arrangements for the house are in order.” Listening to him, she shot me a thumbs up, and I made a mental check beside that item on my list.

  Deplaning, we made our way into the small terminal and to the rental car counter.

  “Mr. Spiros, of course, we have your car waiting outside.” The representative motioned to the exit when I showed him our rental confirmation papers. We followed him to a black sport utility vehicle with dark tinted windows. “I trust this is to your liking?” he asked in a heavy Italian accent.

  “Yes, it will do nicely. Do you agree, love?” I spun to face Alena who trailed behind the luggage cart.

  “As long as all my bags fit.”

  “You heard the madam. Let us make sure there is enough room for the luggage.”

  Antonio and Mario fit the suitcases in the back while the attendant watched. “See, it is good, yes?” He wrung his hands.

  I agreed and signed the contract he held out to me.

  “Have a good holiday.” He waved as we loaded into the car.

  With Antonio in the driver’s seat, the rest of us removed our outer costumes to reveal fitted black suits. We retrieved our bags from behind the back row, fitted utility belts around our waists, and weapons to our backs and legs. Finally, I slipped on my boots. Checking my pack again, I turned on each radio to make sure all were working. We arrived at the drop-off point within fifteen. Swabbing black powder on our faces, we fitted black hoods over our heads.

  “We look like a bunch of thugs. Camille is going to freak out,” Tyler said as we shouldered our packs.

  I said the same words I’d repeated over and over in my head out loud. “She’ll be fine.”

  We’d picked a copse of trees as the drop-off and rendezvous points. Mario stayed with the vehicle, and Antonio hiked with us the last mile to the structure. At one hundred feet out, Alena took Antonio’s hand, and we cloaked ourselves to proceed unseen. I marveled at how we could weave a spell that would hide us from everyone else but our own party. Huddling outside the garage, we waited until it opened, and the vehicle exited. My watch read seven, which meant they were following the same pattern as the previous days.

  Seeing the second set of headlights, I communicated now to the rest of the group. Antonio lay flat on the ground, and the rest of us filed into the garage, hugging the wall. I reached the door first and turned the knob. It opened with ease, and I relayed to Antonio that we were going in.

  I briefly wondered if our entrance seemed too easy. Praying we weren’t walking into a trap, I took stock of our surroundings. We’d entered a room with lockers and hooks for coats. I guessed right that the next would be locked. Waiting with our backs to the walls, I watched two guards enter.

  We take them out? I asked the group.

  Alena tilted her hand in the air, signaling for us to wait and see.

  The men shed their outer coats and slid into uniform jackets. One waited near the door while the other smoothed his shirt. “All right already, it’s not like we’re going to a ball.”

  I was surprised to hear the man speak English as if it were his native tongue but figured his statement confirmed we had the right house.

  “Fine, fine.” The second guard approached the door.

  The first guard walked through it, followed by the second. Close behind, I slipped in after them with Alena and the others on my heels.

  “What’s wrong with the door?” The first guy stopped and turned around.

  Moving in the other direction down the hall, I prayed Grady and Tyler made it through. I felt a tap on my back and stopped. The second guard pulled the door shut.

  “Just closing slow, I guess. It may need oiling.” He rejoined the first guard.

  Following Grady and Tyler, we tailed the guards as they made their way to a room with a small kitchen, sofa, and television. After stowing their food, they continued down the hall to an elevator.

  If we get all the guards together, we take them out at one time, I told the team.

  I confirmed by getting a thumbs up from each member as we waited for the doors to open. In the small space, I dared not breathe and pulled my blood flow to my core as Alena had taught me. Fortunately, the elevator car moved fast. There was only one floor, but we traveled too far for it to be a single flight down, and I guessed we were some distance, perhaps thirty or so feet, underground.

  Pressed against the elevator walls, we waited for the guards to exit and jumped out of the cart before the doors closed. Trailing the guards down the hall, we approached another two guards seated at a desk in front of a door.

  From the silence, I guessed there weren’t any others in the structure but knew I could be wrong. The walls might have been constructed of soundproof material. Still, we’d gotten this far. So, either we waited until the extra two guards left, or we took them all out. Thinking I didn’t want to waste too much energy cloaking, I indicated to the team we should shock the four guards. Each of us positioned ourselves beside one guard to take them out, and I counted down: three, two, one.

  Alarms sounded the second they fell. I wasn’t about to stop and discuss what that meant, because there was no way to know. I slid a crowbar from Tyler’s pack and ran to the locked door. It took me prying with all my might and Alena using all her force to get it open. Inside, another hall stretched out in front of us.

  The doors lining the hall were solid with no windows. We split into two teams, prying the doors open and checking inside.

  “This is going to take forever.” I ran to the next door and banged on it. “Camille.”

  The others started doing the same, but there was no answer.

  “Back to the other strategy, I guess.” Grady lifted the crowbar and slammed it against a doorknob. I ran the length of the hall. The end was a concrete block wall that matched the rest of the walls.

  “We have to g
et out of here sooner rather than later.” I released my magic, throwing a blast of energy at the nearest door. The hinges popped, and it fell into a dark room.

  “What if Camille is in the path of that?” Grady yelled.

  “There’s got to be a better way. We have no idea when we’re going to have company, and not the good kind.”

  “Use your blood. It will lead you to Camille.” Alena handed me a blade.

  I sliced my palm and let the drops fall to the floor. It rolled to the edge and up the wall.

  “She’s upstairs.”

  Jogging back the way we’d come, I removed the guards’ keycards.

  “I think we better make these guys a little more permanently unable to do us harm,” Grady noted.

  “Tyler and I will lock them in a room.” Alena grabbed one of the men by the arms and pulled him down the hall.

  Grady and I bolted for the elevator, using a keycard to open the doors.

  “There’s got to be a control room, somewhere we can access some intel, maybe get this darn alarm off.”

  “Good thinking. I don’t think we should split up though.”

  “Or we could use this.” Exiting the elevator, I reopened my wound and let the drops fall to the floor. The trail moved forward, away from us, and we followed it past the door to the garage. “Control room.” I stopped at a room lined with monitors, all dead. “The alarm must deactivate their systems,” I told Grady as he caught up with me.

  “Use the keycard.” He grabbed it and held it up to the scanner. The alarms silenced, but the monitors were still black. “I’m going to play around with this.” He ran his hands over the keyboard, punching buttons.

  “This is wasting time.” I went back into the hall and cut my hand again. The blood traveled in a straight line in front of me.

  I darted to the first door and then the next three. They were all locked as were the rest on the hall. No light shone from underneath any of them, so I dropped my blood on the floor again. It moved away from me, and I followed it until it stopped. There was a door on either side of me.

  “Grady!” I yelled.

  He helped me open one door. Inside, I felt for a switch. Flipping it did nothing, and I held up my flashlight and panned it across an empty floor. Crossing the hall, I prayed the vampire blood-mate bond hadn’t steered us wrong. Using my magic, I popped the door from the hinges. As the echo of the metal door hitting the floor ceased, I heard a voice calling for confirmation from the control room.

  Incoming, I pushed to Alena and Tyler, hoping the message would make it downstairs. I turned to Grady. “Maybe you better go try to slow them down.”

  “On it.” Grady jogged away.

  Refocusing on the room, I moved the light across the walls, stopping when I found a cot. A human form lay curled up under a blanket. Seeing long dark locks, my heart sank. Still, I darted towards the girl. As soon as I touched her shoulder, she roused. Even through the blanket, I could feel her cold skin. Her face turned towards me. “Camille?” Her skin looked ghost white, and dark circles replaced the warm glow of her cheeks.

  “Jude?” Her eyes opened halfway, and her tongue ran over cracked lips.

  Sliding my arms underneath her, I scooped her up. “It’s okay. I’m here. We’re going to get you out.” I’ve got her, I announced to the group.

  Her head fell limp on my chest. Taking fast strides down the hall, I reached the control room. “Grady.”

  His eyes grew wide as he took in her form. “Is she?”

  “She’s alive! Let’s get out of here.” I cocked my head to the exit.

  Tyler jogged towards us. Seeing Camille, he stopped short. “Is she…?”

  “She’ll be okay. Where’s Alena?” I looked over Tyler’s head.

  “She said she sensed something and wanted to check it out. She’ll be right up.”

  “Is she crazy? Are you crazy?” I spat at him. “Come on. Let’s get Camille out of here.” I motioned to the garage, and Grady took point. Hearing vehicles in the distance, my heart thudded in my chest.

  Cloak, I sent to them.

  As we exited the garage, I remembered Antonio, and I slid over to him. “Alena’s—

  He jumped at my voice. “Sweet mother earth, you’re as quiet as a cat.”

  “Alena’s still inside. We’re taking Camille to the car. I’ll be back to make sure Alena gets out. Wait for me here.”

  We took off across the field to the trees where’d we’d left the vehicle. Mario jumped from the driver’s seat, opening the back doors for us. Grady got in, and I slid Camille into his arms.

  “If I’m not back in five minutes, or if things go south, leave without me.”

  I used the wind to fly back to the building, stopping beside Antonio.

  “Heavens,” he exclaimed. “I’ll never get used to witches.”

  “Go back to the vehicle. I told them to leave in five minutes if I’m not back with Alena.”

  “My orders are to stay with Alena.”

  “Fine, but I don’t have enough juice left to cloak me and you, so stay here.”

  Cussing the female vampire hybrid under my breath, I reestablished my masking spell and jogged into the garage. The sound of approaching motors grew in the distance and I wondered why this place didn’t have better security. Maybe they thought we’d never find it. Inside, I checked the main floor but there was no sign of Alena. The elevator was disabled, but I found a stairwell at the back of the control room. Jumping over the rail, I let myself fall the three stories, calling the wind to buoy me at the bottom. When I inched the door open, I found I was in the middle of the locked portion of the hall. Hearing Alena speak and a male voice respond, I froze.

  Aiming my ear their way, I held my breath to make out their conversation.

  “You’re drawn to the sword. That’s why you’re still here. You know you’re close. Why do you think I’m here instead of out looking for Gabrielle?” the man said. “I knew you’d find Camille eventually and come for her. I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Theron. Theron was here. My mind raced.

  “What about Gabrielle? Don’t you even care that someone kidnapped her?” Alena asked.

  “No, I love you. We should be together. We’re the only two of our kind. We are the god and goddess.”

  I turned my head and saw him take her hand.

  She pulled her fingers from his grip. “Theron, come with me. Join us. We can make history. There won’t be any more fighting. Our peoples will be at peace.”

  “What, go back and admit to my brother that I was wrong? Watch you two drool all over each other?”

  “Yes, I like Hunter. That’s not the point. We are the future of our kind. We need to lead our people in the right direction.”

  I had to get Alena away from him. Alena, we’re out of time. Camille is in the vehicle with Grady and Tyler. They’re going to leave with or without us in three minutes.

  Her head cocked to the side.

  “What?” Theron asked.

  “Come with me.” Her hand wrapped around his wrist.

  “You don’t understand,” he insisted.

  “We have to go, come and explain.”

  “No.” His voice hardened. “You stay with me.”

  “I can’t do that. I have to go.” She released his arm and stepped back.

  “I could lock you up like I did Camille.” He matched her step, his face a mere inch from hers. A thin smile spread across his face.

  NOW! I yelled at Alena.

  Before I could blink, he dug his teeth into his wrist and pressed the wound to Alena’s lips.

  I charged towards them at the same time she blasted him with a wave of energy. Grabbing her hand, I drug her to the stairwell. Arm firm around her waist, I called to the air and shot up the middle.

  “I got it,” she yelled, pushing me away as we landed.

  Using a cloaking spell, I flew to the exit. My rage threatened to erupt as I felt magic come off her in waves.

  “We ha
ve to get Antonio.” I rounded the garage wall as a vehicle pulled into the driveway.

  Alena grabbed one of his arms. “Grab his other arm!”

  I jumped as I locked my arm in his, and we went sailing through the air to our vehicle. Landing, I let go and slid into the waiting car. Alena followed me in and slammed the door.

  “Go!” I yelled.

  Mario put the vehicle in gear and sped towards the road. As the car bounced over the rough terrain, my eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Seeing Camille limp in her father’s arms, my fury with Alena evaporated.

  “How is she?” I knelt in front of them.

  Grady put his fingers to her wrist. “I don’t know. She’s breathing, but barely. Her heart rate is slow. I don’t know what they did to her. She opened her eyes but didn’t say anything.”

  “Camille,” I whispered, placing my hand on her forehead. “She’s freezing.”

  “I know.” He hugged her to him.

  “Let me hold her. Move.” I motioned to Tyler who scooted over. Seated beside Grady, I supported Camille’s back and shifted her to my lap.

  “Guys, we’ve got company. Any way to get us out of this?” Antonio called from the front.

  My eyes locked on Alena’s. “Cloaking spell?”

  “With all four of us it might work. Everyone put your palm on the metal.” She placed her palm on the ceiling.

  Hand to the vehicle frame, I poured all my magic into the spell. “Is it working?” I called.

  Antonio’s eyes cut to the back mirror. “They just stopped.”

  “Okay, we’ll hold the cloak for a while longer. Let’s take a less direct route.”

  “Got it.” Mario tapped on the map on the dashboard.

  I held Camille against my chest with one arm and with the other pressed my palm to the wall of the vehicle. Mario wound through a neighborhood, descending to the coast and cutting south to the boat dock. Stopping, we surveyed the surroundings before we released the cloaking spell. Seeing the boat blinking its lights, we flung the doors open. Outside Grady put his arms out. I can take her.

  “No, I’ve got her.” I ran to the ramp and jumped onto the boat. As soon as all of us were on, the engine roared, propelling us out onto the dark ocean. Seeing the lights bouncing off the fog, I cursed the weather. Two boats with four vampires in each trailed ours, and I started to let myself think we were safe. Of course, we had Alena in our boat, and she could be tracked anywhere.