Claiming My Duchess

by Jessica Blake

  But not yet.

  Right now, I needed to find the princess. I needed to find Iliana. My baby.

  I looked around the room. The entire security team was in place, except for one person… the Minister of the Interior, one Anjou Alaine.

  “Where is Anjou?” I asked the room.

  General Fieldsis met my eyes, his expression grim before he turned away and began barking orders.

  The weight of the crushing responsibility seized my chest so hard that, for a moment, I thought I was having a heart attack.

  “Breathe, Sebastianos,” Nate said, steering me into a chair. “We’ll get them. All of them.”

  I’d always been good in a crisis, I thought to myself as the world buzzed around me in a blur of activity and fear. The first one to take control of a situation and make the hard calls when they needed to be made, the first one to cut through the fear and the bullshit and see the situation for what it was: a series of decisions that needed to be made with a clear head and an end in mind.

  But now, watching Nate and General Fieldsis handle the initial burst of chaos, I realized that in this instance, I had too much to lose to think clearly anymore. If something happened to Iliana and our baby, if something happened to Penelope, I’d be a lost man.

  I loved her. I loved them all but especially her.

  Iliana. The only woman to break through the walls I’d so firmly held in place.

  “I love you,” I whispered to the monitor that was replaying the snatch frame by frame.

  Now, I just needed to find her so I could tell her that to her face.

  ***

  Ten hours later, I was still staring at the damn screens. Still searching CCTV cameras for clues.

  We had been very thoroughly set up.

  The Cassian borders had all been closed, but something told me that the van holding my family didn’t care about borders. Something told me these were one of those Amurian tribal groups that knew the northern mountains like the back of their hands and could disappear into nothingness in the blink of an eye.

  My stomach curdled at the thought of it.

  For two more agonizing hours, I was glued to the screens of the computers, watching and rewatching each frame until I wasn’t even able to blink anymore, my eyes were so dry.

  I didn’t care.

  From the computer in front of me, I watched along with the rest of the security council the footage from various drones, helicopters and dash cams.

  Somehow, the news had caught wind of it, and now the international media was spreading the news of our missing princess and future duchess to every corner of the globe. News reports from China, Russia, America, and South America scrolled across the screen as people everywhere speculated what we already knew… the Amurian regime had declared war and weren’t afraid to play dirty.

  We were in full crisis mode, and with each second that ticked away without hearing from Iliana, the chasm in my chest deepened, threatening to pull me into darkness forever if she or the baby or my cousin didn’t make it home without an ounce of damage to either of them.

  Infantry units were heading to the northern borders, but with Iliana and Penelope still prisoners, we dared not attack.

  So we waited.

  Searched.

  Waited.

  Searched.

  “Drink this, or I’ll pour it down your throat.”

  It was a protein shake, the kind I used to drink in the army. I took it from Nate’s hand and downed the entire thing in a few seconds, knowing he was right. When the liquid hit my empty stomach, it churned but I ignored it.

  When I didn’t throw it up, Nate thrust an energy bar in my hand. “You’re no good to her half-dead,” he said. I didn’t want to eat. I didn’t want to do anything but find my fiancée and cousin, but the adrenaline crash had been hard on me, and I was struggling to keep my eyes open.

  There was no taste and no joy in the food, though I was grateful for the practicality of it. I just couldn’t be bothered to allow my brain to process anything that wasn’t related to getting Iliana back in my arms immediately.

  Where was she right now? Was she hurt? Was she scared? If I knew anything about Iliana, she was probably trying to keep Penelope calm and safe, and it gave me a small amount of comfort to think about it.

  But as additional hours passed, and I could do nothing but pace the floor, I started to lose hope. The kidnappers should have called by now. Why hadn’t they?

  I staggered, and a hand pressed down on my shoulder. It was Nate. He’d gone off to catch four hours of sleep and looked better for it.

  “Sleep.”

  “I can’t.”

  But when he pressed me into a chair then pushed my head down on the table, my body proved me wrong.

  Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept in god knew how many hours.

  Or maybe it was my brain’s way of helping me escape from the nightmare I’d found myself in.

  As sleep claimed me, I had one thought.

  Please, God… please bring them back to me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Iliana

  It was some sort of bad dream I couldn’t wake up from, no matter how hard I tried. I kept seeing Penelope’s terrified face and then everything would go blank. But it was the smell of food — corn chips? — that finally dragged me from my stupor. I was suddenly aware that there was food nearby and that I was ravenously hungry.

  I sat up from whatever pile of blankets I’d been laying in and took in my surroundings. Having no idea where I was, I tried to think back from what I remembered. The fireworks. The image of Penelope’s face. Reina. Then nothing.

  I swore as I struggled to my feet and swayed, putting both hands on the wall to steady myself and keep from falling over. They’d drugged me. Had it hurt the baby? I put my hand to my stomach.

  Please be okay.

  “Iliana?” Penelope’s scared whisper came from behind me somewhere in the dim light, and I saw that she had two plates of untouched food in front of her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked as I knelt beside her and checked her for any injuries. There were bits of dried blood on her forehead and splattered on the front of her shirt, but she seemed healthy. She nodded. “How long have I been asleep?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. There aren’t any windows, but this is the third time they’ve brought food.” She wrinkled her nose at the plates in front of her. “I was scared. Every time you started to wake up, they put the white cloth on your face again.”

  I pulled the frightened girl into my arms. “Have you been okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

  She shook her head. “They put us in here and locked the door. They’ve been arguing upstairs ever since.”

  Listening hard, I heard a voice. It sounded angry. Feet scuffled on the floor.

  “Do you know what language that is?”

  Penelope nodded. “Amurian,” she said, and my heart sank at the realization that Sebastianos had been right all along.

  “Can you tell what they’re saying?” I was incredibly grateful at the princess’ extensive education, which included regional languages and cultures.

  “Something about money,” she said. “Another voice thinks money is evil and said that instead of being greedy, they needed to make a point. I can’t really understand.”

  I pushed myself to my feet and looked for the door. It was apparent we were locked in a basement, but we must have had a guardian angel shining down on us at some point today, because the basement not only had a door that led to the house upstairs, but there was a separate door that led to what I could only guess was the outside.

  “When were they last down here?” I asked as Penelope came closer. She was about to answer when we heard a car pull up on the gravel outside the door we were pressed against. Someone had just arrived, and after the telltale sound of a car door slamming and then a few moments later another voice joining the fray upstairs, I realized the car was still running.

  “This c
ould be good,” I whispered and turned to Penelope.

  “They just brought that food a little while ago,” she said. “One of them checked your neck for something before saying that it was good and went back upstairs. Then they argued about putting the white cloth on your face again.”

  They’d likely checked my pulse to make sure they hadn’t killed me.

  “That’s good news,” I said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “What do you say we try our luck and get out of here.”

  Penelope’s eyes widened at that. “How? They’re locked. I already tried.”

  I was still in my ballgown, and while my hair was falling everywhere… I searched inside the strands and found what I was looking for. Bobby pins.

  My heart began to pound as I tried to decide what to do. The sedation was wearing off quickly, and I was able to move faster now. But if they came back down here and found me awake, they could sedate me again.

  It was now or never.

  “If this works, and we get out of here, someday I’m going to teach you how to do this.”

  She gave a shy grin, though her eyes were still round with fear.

  The lock was better constructed than the one in Sebastianos’s office door, but a pin was pin, and a locking mechanism was a locking mechanism, and after four failed attempts to get the right bolt to give, the lock finally gave the satisfying click when the last pin was pushed free and slid all the way home, allowing me to open the door quietly into the darkness.

  “Oh my gosh,” Penelope breathed in a small voice. “That was amazing.”

  Not knowing what was on the other side, I peeked out, not daring to breathe. I took Penelope’s hand, wishing with all my heart we weren’t dressed in gowns that resembled Christmas ornaments.

  “Your dad and your cousin will always come for you,” I said against her ear. “But sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be able to save yourself, right?”

  She nodded enthusiastically, and I poked my head out into the darkness again. The doorway was somewhat below ground, and a set of cement steps led up to the flat ground. There was no sign of anybody on the outside of the house, and there was, indeed, a sleek black car about two hundred feet from us, left running with both windows down. Taking Penelope’s hand, we dashed across the distance in the darkness and made it to the driver’s side door where we crouched.

  I knew better than to celebrate our victory too early, so I stayed vigilant.

  “Crawl through the window,” I whispered.

  “Open the door,” Penelope whispered back.

  “Sorry, Your Highness,” I said, trying to keep my voice light, hoping to ease some of her fear. “I’m afraid the inner light might come on and alert someone of our presence.”

  “Oh… that’s a good idea.”

  Pushing her royal butt through the window, I followed, glad for once to be tiny. The skirts hampered my movements but I managed to get in.

  Adjusting the seat so I could reach the pedals, I tapped the brake only long enough to slide the transmission into neutral. I wanted to keep the lights from the brakes from glowing as much as I could, maybe buy us some time.

  With one eye fastened on the rearview mirror, I said, “Buckle up, sweetie.” I was still whispering, although I wasn’t sure why.

  She turned around in the seat and did what I asked without question, thank goodness.

  “Did we make it?”

  “I don’t know,” I said as we continued to roll. In a few moments I’d be forced to use my brakes, but so far the incline was being our friend. “Maybe we should see if we can get GPS directions.”

  Penelope began to fiddle with the car’s computer screen on the dashboard, and it was all in a foreign language that had mystifying characters.

  “How do we use it?” I whispered, frantically trying to figure out which way to point the car that would lead us back to Cassia or some friendly territory.

  To our left, the sky was brightening the sky. That would be east, and I knew Amur was north, so that meant I was heading south, the direction I needed to be heading. Until we could figure out the right way, we were going to keep going in this direction and hope we didn’t run into any bad guys.

  “Thank you, sun.”

  We were rolling more quickly now, and with no lights, I was forced to hit the brakes when we came to a curve. The moment we were around the bend, I pressed the accelerator, knowing I couldn’t rely on stealth any longer. Speed would have to be my friend.

  Beside me, Penelope was tapping away at the screen, her face screwed up in concentration.

  “It’s no use,” I began to say, but was interrupted with a blink of the screen and everything changing to English. “You’re a genius, Princess.”

  She beamed and called up a numbered keypad. “I used English so you could read it too.”

  So clever. “How do you know all this stuff?” I was amazed at how adept she was at this. I’d have been lost and given up minutes ago.

  “I love tablets and electronics,” she said as she typed in a phone number. “I have a safe phone number I’ve had memorized for two years for something like this. If I’m ever lost, I’m supposed to call this number with my safe word.”

  The system took a moment to connect, leaving me with enough time to worry about signal strength and Wi-Fi blockers, but soon enough, the car’s speakerphone began to ring.

  Penelope beamed and clapped her hands.

  “This is Mr. Rosen, what is your word, please?”

  “Tulip,” Penelope said.

  “One moment.” The operator left the line, and I looked over at her. “What is he doing?”

  She gave me a shrug. “Maybe connecting me to my dad?”

  Seconds later, a voice came on the line. “Your Highness, are you there? This is General Fieldsis speaking.”

  “It’s me. I was kidnapped, so was Iliana but we escaped and now we need directions,” she said, blurting everything out at once. “We don’t know where we’re going.”

  “One moment, Your Highness,” he said. “We’re tracking your connection and seeing if we can connect with your vehicle’s computer, just give us one moment.”

  In the background, we heard a door open and slam and then the king’s voice shouting, “She’s on the line? Where is she? Where is she?”

  “Hi, Daddy,” Penelope yelled into the air. In the gray light of the morning, I could see tears in her eyes. “We made it out. Iliana picked the lock and stole a car for us.”

  It sounded like the king was crying and when he came back on the line, his voice was cracking. “Baby, I am so happy to hear from you. We’re sending help. Don’t worry, Daddy is coming for you.”

  “Okay, Daddy,” Penelope said, all tears and smiles.

  I smiled too, but I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror. We weren’t out of the woods just yet.

  The first voice returned. “Miss Costas, are you there?”

  “I’m here.”

  “We have one of our agents inside your car’s computer, and he’s uploading coordinates to your map function. It should be in place in a moment. You’re going to want to follow the directions to that location. We also have people coming toward you, so you won’t reach that destination, but go toward that point.”

  “I understand,” I said, relief flooding through me.

  “We’re launching a drone from the nearest border checkpoint to scout ahead for you, but you should have an easy drive ahead of you. We’ll stay on the line from this point on, okay?”

  I sucked in a breath. “Yes, sir,” I said, still scared that some bad guy was going to pop out of a bush and derail us. I pressed the accelerator harder, inching the needle close to one hundred miles an hour once we hit straighter roads.

  “Miss Costas?” It sounded like the king.

  “Yes, sir?”

  I knew “sir” was wrong. I knew it the instant it came out of my mouth, but I thought he might be willing to forgive my faux pas quick enough.

  “Sebastianos is on his way to yo
u.”

  The news made me want to cry, but I held it together. I’d see him soon enough and cry and snot all over his shirt to my heart’s content.

  Two helicopters came flying toward us, and my chest loosened a little more.

  “Miss Costas?” the general said.

  “Yes.”

  “We have you in sight, and these helos will offer you an armed escort to the border. Maintain your current speed. You’re doing great.”

  A thought occurred to me.

  “General?”

  “Yes?”

  “Is this the anti-terrorism training Seb told me about?”

  The general chuckled. “No, ma’am, and I’ll have to warn our men that you have a few tricks up your sleeve when that occurs.”

  I groaned. “Can that wait a few months?” Six to be exact.

  He chuckled again but made me no promises. Then his voice grew more serious. “Miss Costas, you have two cars a couple miles behind you. They are picking up speed and gaining time on you. I want you to be aware of that. We think they might be your kidnappers.”

  I felt like I was already going much faster than I was comfortable with. Was I supposed to speed up?

  “Don’t drive recklessly,” he said. “At your rate of speed, they likely won’t catch you until you reach a small outpost just south of the Cassian border. They’d be fools to follow you there, but if they do, there are two full infantry units waiting and two more helos are on the way. Don’t worry. You’re still safe, I just don’t want you to panic when you see lights in your rearview.”

  Sure enough, a few minutes later, there were tiny pinpricks of light in my mirror. Two sets of them. Penelope had loosened her seatbelt and was turned around in her seat, watching them grow closer too.

  “You need to sit down,” I said as I pressed my foot down.

  Slowly, she did as I asked, then pointed in the distance in front of us. “Helicopters.”

  She was right.

  “Are we going to make it?” she asked, the fear creeping back into her voice.

  “We’re going to be fine,” I said, mostly feeling it was true. There was still a sharp pang of worry that something would go wrong and they’d drag the two of us back to that basement — or worse.