Princess in Peril

by Rachelle Mccalla

  Levi set a leisurely pace, stopping now and then to pull her into his arms, though she knew he was looking past her, not looking at her. She feared at any moment someone would leap out from behind a tree, but after some time, Levi surprised her by saying, “Here comes the car again.”

  “Is the coast clear?”

  “I guess we’ll find out.” He tugged her back to the vehicle and they slipped quickly inside.

  They drove around for a few more minutes before Levi leaned back from conversing with their driver. “This may be our best chance.” He scooped up her hand and met her eyes.

  “Chance?”

  “We’re getting out a few blocks from headquarters. I don’t want to risk leading them there, but I think—” he cast a glance through the back window “—I think we’ll be okay.” He opened the door and they stepped out onto a bustling sidewalk.

  With her face turned toward Levi and her eyes on her feet, Isabelle wasn’t even sure which part of the city they were walking through, but she stuck close to Levi and trusted him to get her to Sanctuary. As they crossed one street and then another, her hopes rose that they were going to make it to safety after all.

  When they turned down an alley, Isabelle wanted to ask Levi where he was headed, but he quickly picked up his pace and, a moment later, broke into a run.

  As Isabelle ran beside him she felt even more grateful that she’d been able to buy a pair of sneakers. She could hear footsteps pounding the pavement behind them. They had to get away! She tried to sprint faster. Seconds later a large figure jumped Levi from behind and he went down.

  Thick arms wrapped around her, lifting her off her feet. She caught a glimpse of Levi struggling with two attackers as the thug who held her spun her around, carrying her quickly back up the alley the way they’d come.

  Whipping her arm back, Isabelle managed to catch the brute in the nose with a hard jab from her elbow. His steps faltered as blood poured from his nostrils, but he kept moving.

  Kicking at his legs as he carried her, Isabelle attempted to knock the man’s feet out from under him. She could see a car running up ahead, parked at the entrance to the alleyway, its windows tinted just dark enough that she couldn’t make out who waited inside.

  She couldn’t let the man get her inside that car!

  Jabbing her feet toward his legs with desperate strength, Isabelle finally caught the man square on one knee. The joint buckled and he sagged toward the ground. She whipped back with her elbow again, this time catching him full in the face and sending his head snapping back with a grunt.

  His grip loosened slightly and she flung herself from his arms, spinning around and tearing back down the alley toward where Levi was fighting off two other large men. With her loose hair streaming past her eyes she couldn’t see much, but she ran toward him with everything in her, hoping to jump the attacker nearest her as soon as she reached him.

  Footsteps tore up the alley behind her. She was nearly to Levi when a fresh set of arms plucked her up. She could immediately tell the man who held her was smaller than the one who’d carried her off the first time. He must have come from the waiting car.

  Isabelle tried the elbow trick again but the man ducked, avoiding the blow. She extended her arm and managed to free her hand from his grasp. This smaller guy wasn’t able to carry her nearly as swiftly as the first thug.

  Swinging toward his face with her free hand, Isabelle managed to knock him in the ear. It must have stunned him because his progress up the alley wavered. She tried the move again and he lost more speed. Pulling back her arm for another blow, she hoped to free herself from his grasp in another moment.

  She hardly heard the footsteps rushing up behind her until the moment before she felt the other man leap upon them.

  SEVEN

  Levi’s head swam from the blows he’d taken, but he couldn’t let that slow him down. He launched himself at the man who struggled with the princess, peeling him away from her just enough to allow him to get in a good slug at the attacker’s jaw.

  The man wavered in midair a moment. Levi caught him with an uppercut punch under the ribs and he seemed to deflate backward. Spinning around to face Isabelle, Levi was horrified to see her covered in blood. “Are you all right?”

  She opened her mouth as though to respond, but at that very moment a large figure staggered toward them, bleeding profusely from his nose. The lumbering brute was enormous. Levi fought back the darkness that seemed intent on invading his line of sight. His struggle with the other men had left him on the verge of passing out. But he knew that if he lost consciousness, Isabelle would undoubtedly be captured.

  Mustering what strength he had left, Levi thrust his leg out in a high round kick and caught the thug near his ear. The man shook off the blow and reared toward him. Levi scuttled backward, wishing he had some weapon to use. Instead the best he could do was evade the oncoming attack.

  The man came at him swinging and Levi ducked, avoiding the first blow but taking the second in a grazing shot along his jaw. Light exploded behind his eyes, but Levi blinked it back, shuffling out of the way as the man lunged at him again. He was aware of the princess just behind him.

  “Run!” he told her, hoping this last attacker was the only one who remained.

  “I don’t know where—” she began to protest.

  But Levi shook his head as he ducked away from another swinging fist. He held out his arms and continued backward, trying to block the bleeding man from reaching Isabelle. “Just get away. Anywhere.”

  The swinging fists picked up speed. Levi ducked back again and again before the attacker caught him in a solid punch to his gut.

  Air whooshed from his lungs and the sky spun.

  He heard Isabelle scream, and as he blinked back the blood that ran from a cut on his eyebrow, he saw the princess swinging something at their attacker’s head. When he saw the man go down, Levi sagged forward in relief.

  Isabelle stepped under his arm, and he slumped against her. “Stay with me, Levi,” she whispered, patting his cheek. “Tell me how to get to Sanctuary before any more of those guys show up.”

  Stars danced behind his eyes, and Levi knew he was leaning heavily on the princess, but it was all he could do to stay conscious. When he spoke, his lips felt swollen and unfamiliar, and he realized the men who’d assaulted them had gotten in several hard blows to his face. “Down this alley. Two blocks. Don’t let them—” he gulped a steadying breath “—see where we go.”

  “All right.” Isabelle hoisted him a little higher and tucked one arm more securely around his waist. “Can you walk at all?”

  Levi was able to get his legs moving, but the action seemed to demand as much from his system as he could possibly handle. After several steps blackness and stars clouded his vision, and he paused. “I’m sorry,” he panted between breaths.

  “It’s all right.”

  “No.” He wanted to look behind them to see if any of their attackers had roused, but turning his head only brought on another onslaught of stars, and his field of vision blurred completely. “Can you see the men behind us?”

  Isabelle looked back for him. “They haven’t moved.”

  Relieved to hear it, Levi nonetheless knew the men could regain consciousness and come after them at any moment. He couldn’t let the princess be captured. Pressing on, he told Isabelle, “We’ll come to a door on the right side of the alley that says Sanctuary in small blue letters. It’s in the middle of the block. The pass code is eleven, sixteen, seventeen.” His words came out between gulping breaths. “If the men come after us, drop me and run for that door.”

  “I’m not going to leave you,” Isabelle protested.

  Levi stopped on his tracks. He had to make her understand. “You will leave me,” he said, fixing his eyes on hers. “It is your royal duty. You cannot endanger yourself for me. If those men capture you, I fear the Royal House of Lydia will end.”

  Isabelle absorbed his message with a solemn expression. Then she
glanced back. “They still haven’t budged. Come on. If we hurry, getting captured won’t be an issue.”

  She propped him up a little straighter and moved forward, faster this time.

  When his steps slowed, she all but pulled him. “Lean on me, Levi,” she whispered. “We’re getting there.”

  His closed his eyes and focused on matching her steps. When he faltered, she encouraged him, “Half a block more. I’ll drag you if I have to.”

  The sky seemed to tilt and sway, and the next thing he knew, she had him propped against the doorway as she entered the numbers he’d given her. It seemed to take all his strength to make the step over the threshold. As the darkness closed in, he forced himself to fall forward so that he wouldn’t block Isabelle from closing the door securely behind him.

  Isabelle daubed gently at the wounds on Levi’s face. She was certain the cut on his eyebrow could use stitches, but after the men who’d helped her carry him to the couch had found a first aid kit for her, they’d apologized about not being able to help more. There was a crisis somewhere, and everyone in the Sanctuary office was upstairs trying to resolve the issue. It occurred to Isabelle after the men left that she might be the very issue everyone was trying to resolve, but by the time that thought occurred to her, the men were gone.

  She and Levi were on their own.

  At least she was able to clean Levi’s wounds and wash the blood from her hair in the nearby kitchenette. It saddened her, what those horrible thugs had done to Levi, leaving his handsome face swollen and bruised. After she’d bandaged up the worst of his injuries, she cupped his cheek in her hand, surveying the damage and trying to determine what else she might be able to do to help him.

  After all, he’d done so much to help her.

  Moments later, she felt his head shift in her hand, and Levi showed signs of rousing.

  She couldn’t help smiling down at him as his eyelids fluttered open. “I was afraid I was going to have to take you to a hospital,” she chided him.

  “Where are we?” He blinked several times.

  “The back lobby of Sanctuary. At least I think that’s where we are. Anyway, I entered those numbers at the door you told me to find, and it opened.”

  Levi’s eyes seemed to come into focus. “Yes, this is the back lobby. You did an excellent job getting me here.”

  “I wouldn’t have made it much farther.” She closed up the first aid kit and gathered up the empty packets of ointment. Because he’d finally awakened, she wanted to keep him talking to help him stay conscious. “What were the numbers anyway?” she asked as she headed to a nearby wastebasket.

  “Hmm?”

  “The pass code for the door. Is that a Bible verse?”

  “Ah.” Recognition filtered across his face. “Ezekiel 11:16 and 17. ‘The Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone. I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land again.’” As he quoted the verses, his voice strengthened.

  Isabelle felt a chill chase up her spine as Levi spoke the ancient words. “‘I will bring you back.’” She repeated God’s promise softly, kneeling on the floor beside the couch where he rested. “‘I will give you the land again.’”

  “Those verses are part of the Mission Statement of Sanctuary International.” Levi turned his head slowly toward her. “God was a sanctuary for the children of Israel. And we try to help people find sanctuary today, with the hope that someday some of them might be able to return to their homeland.”

  “I’d like to return to Lydia.” Isabelle cleared her throat. “I’d like Lydia to be returned to my family.”

  As she spoke, voices echoed down the hall, and moments later several figures entered the room. One of the men who’d helped her get Levi to the couch led the way, explaining, “I didn’t think to ask who they were. How was I supposed to recognize them covered in blood?”

  As he spoke, a handful of men surrounded them, and a silver-haired man extended his hand. “Princess Isabelle?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She rose and shook his hand, warmed by his use of her title, in spite of her fear that it might no longer apply if the insurgents had taken over her government.

  “I’m Nicolas Grenaldo, president of Sanctuary International. On behalf of our organization I’d like to welcome you and thank you for rescuing my son.” He looked down at where Levi lay on the sofa. “He was supposed to be rescuing you.”

  Isabelle looked quickly back and forth between father and son, putting together the missing pieces. Levi hadn’t told her that his father was the president of Sanctuary International. Even as she absorbed that news, she hurried to set the record straight. “Thank you for your kind words of welcome. I’m afraid I did very little to get us here. Levi fought off many assailants and carried me more times than I can count. We were nearly overcome in the alley when I was lucky enough to find a length of steel pipe to knock out the man who tried to kidnap me. Other than that little bit of effort, all the credit goes to your son that I’m alive at all.”

  Through the weary lines that had engraved themselves on his face, Nicolas Grenaldo beamed at her. “Praise the Lord for that length of steel pipe then and for your escape from those who would have harmed you. Our office has been turned upside down by the events of the past day, and we’re making every effort to determine the fate of the rest of your family.”

  At his mention of her missing family members, Isabelle felt her heart catch, and her hands began to tremble. “Please, sir, do you know what has become of them?” She braced herself for the news. She’d been resigning herself to a grim outcome ever since she’d seen the first fiery blast sear the sky, but now she felt as though the gavel hung suspended in the air, ready to drop.

  Sympathy filled the man’s face, and Isabelle feared for the worst.

  “You are the first member of the royal family to be recovered. We have no evidence to support the insurgent claims that your entire family is dead. There have been no bodies identified as members of the royal family. Our agents in Lydia have confirmed that none of those killed in the attacks fit the description of any member of the royal family. Indeed, the three dead have all passed preliminary identification. They were two drivers and a guard.”

  “Three bodies?” Isabelle heard her voice speaking, but she felt as though she was watching the conversation from somewhere else. No doubt, even if they weren’t her family members, the drivers and guard would have been people she’d known. She grieved that they’d died so needlessly.

  The man who’d stood by Nicolas’s side now spoke up. “We believe that if the insurgent forces had any proof any member of the royal family had been killed, they would have made that news public knowledge. Moreover, they would have touted that as evidence of their victory. They have nothing to gain from hiding that fact, if it were true, and everything to lose.”

  “So my family may still be alive?”

  Nicolas Grenaldo placed his hand on her shoulder. “We pray they are alive. More than that, we pray for their safety. You have overcome many obstacles in your efforts to reach us. The fact that the other members of your family have not yet made public the news of their survival means they likely are in no position to make their whereabouts known.”

  Isabelle struggled to untangle the meaning of his words from the decorum with which he’d spoken. “They’re in danger,” she realized aloud. “Likely greater danger than we have already faced.”

  Nicolas nodded solemnly. “We must continue to pursue every avenue for their rescue. But now, I must report the good news of your survival—”

  Before the Sanctuary president could continue, Levi sat up straighter and interrupted him. “No. Don’t let anyone know she’s alive.”

  “What?” Father stared down at son in disbelief.

  The act of sitting up must have b
een nearly too much for Levi because he wavered unsteadily before speaking. “We believe the American ambassador to Lydia, Stephanos Valli, may be in league with the insurgents.”

  Nicolas’s face clouded. “That would be most unfortunate. We’ve been freely sharing information with his office.”

  “Stop sharing,” Levi ordered, his tone much stronger now. “We cannot risk giving away anything. Not yet. Not until we know we can keep Her Majesty safe.”

  Isabelle felt grateful for Levi’s defense. She didn’t want Stephanos Valli to know where she was—even if he already knew she was alive.

  As she watched, Nicolas Grenaldo narrowed his eyes, and his balding head turned red. She could tell he was upset—whether with Levi or Stephanos, she wasn’t sure. But his expression was forcibly pleasant when he turned to her.

  “I’m sure you’ll want to freshen up, Your Majesty. Levi will need to update our team. Samantha can take care of your needs now.” Nicolas stepped back, and a youngish blonde woman led Isabelle down the hall.

  “Right this way.”

  Levi watched Samantha Klein lead Isabelle down the hall, and his gut churned. Samantha didn’t like him—not since he’d rejected her advances toward him a couple of years before. What if she conveyed her distaste for him to Isabelle? His father had already displayed a marked lack of esteem for his skills. What would Isabelle think of him?

  He tried to convince himself it didn’t matter what Isabelle thought about him—that he had played his role in her rescue and might never even see her again. But his heart refused to believe it.

  “Levi—” his father turned and led the men away, calling back to him as he left “—clean up and meet me in the third floor conference room in twenty minutes. I need your intel, and I need it yesterday.”