“You’re later than I thought you would be,” she commented, throwing the glass door wide open.
“Sorry, your highness. I did the best I could. Come out here.”
She pushed the door back into place quietly then crossed her arms. It was freezing cold out, and the wind at that height rustled swiftly past them. “How did you…?”
His smile was disarming but his words sent shivers down her spine. “How are you with heights?”
Her eyes were enormous in her face. “Heights? Huh? As in …?”
“As in you’re going to need to climb down here.” He nodded towards the rope. She stared at it with a growing sense of disbelief.
“Oh my God. You must be mad.”
“I know it seems risky.”
“Risky? It is something only a mad-man would contemplate. You actually want me to go over the edge of this building?”
“You can’t look down. Imagine you’re simply a few metres off the ground. You wouldn’t feel afraid then.”
“Wouldn’t I?” She snapped, wrapping her manicured hands around the railing.
“Think of it as an adventure.”
“Yes. My last adventure,” she grimaced, shaking her head.
“I’m going to help you,” he promised calmly. “I’ll help you climb over, and then I’ll go down first. I will hold the rope. So long as you keep your hands on it, you’ll be fine.”
She sobbed. “I really can’t. We are way, way, way up in the sky. This apartment is on the forty second floor of the hotel.”
“Listen to me, Lilah.” He lifted his hands to cup her face and held her steady. “You need to do this. Kiral is counting on you.”
“But I know my own strength, Will, and I could never …”
He made a sound of frustration. “You won’t if you keep talking like that.” He looked over his shoulder then pulled on the other end of the rope.
“What are you doing?” She whispered, as he pulled the very end of it around her waist and formed another knot.
“It’s a harness,” he said. “Of sorts. You still need to climb down, Lilah, but this rope will hold you, and I will keep this end. You must be brave.”
“Come on, Will. Is this some kind of joke? There must be another way. I can tell my guards …”
“Your guards are the problem,” he snapped, then made an effort to soften his tone. “You need to go now.”
The shock of his statement brought a jolt of adrenalin to her. Shakingly, she pushed one leg over the railing, and then the next, until she stood on the wrong side of the protective barrier. “I cannot believe I am doing this.”
“It will be quick.”
“A quick death.” She muttered, the joke not at all funny.
“Go, Princess.”
Stepping off the edge of the building was the scariest moment of her life. As she forced herself to give her life over to a piece of tethered rope, she sucked in a deep breath. It was agonizingly painful to support her body weight with her arms. The wind was fierce, and she felt her body sail away from the building. Nausea perforated her gut. “Will!”
“Just wait. It will calm down,” he promised, praying he was right.
Her eyes sparkled with stars as she looked down at the enormous distance to the ground. It was a mile away, surely. “I feel sick.”
“Don’t look at the road.”
“Easier said than done.” She ran her hands a little lower and let out a scream.
“Shush,” he warned, throwing a look over his shoulder. “Go faster.”
Lilah felt that she might pass out at any moment. “You’re speaking as though this is easy.”
“It’s imperative,” he corrected.
“My hands are killing me,” she groaned, moving lower still.
“You’re almost there. Just a little further and your feet will be on the balcony.”
“Really?” She let her hand drop by degrees, her heart pounding unbearably as she went a notch further. Then, with blessed relief, the tip of her shoes hit the balustrade with a reassuring clunk. Another rush of wind threatened to pull her from the building and she hooked her feet together around the railing, holding on for dear life.
“Oh, thank heavens. I’m here, Will.”
“Good. Now, keep going. Swing into the balcony.”
“Yes. Yes, I will.” She did as he said, pushing herself with enormous relief into the safety of the balcony downstairs. But she kept her hands gripped on the railing, staring up at him. Will’s shadow loomed above her, as he deftly began the same descent.
He made it look so easy, one strong hand pushing lower and lower, his body dangling with all the appearance of control and predictability.
Lilah was shaking like a leaf when he dropped down beside her. He had no time to comfort her. His hands moved with almost clinical detachment as he unhooked the rope from her waist.
“Okay,” he nodded at her in a sign of approval. “Let’s go.” He stalked inside without checking that she was following. The woman had just thrown herself off the top floor of a hotel at his request. She wasn’t going to balk at walking into a room with him.
“Put this on.” He lifted a parker out of his fishing kit and a pale red snapback cap.
She looked at it with distaste.
“I know, I know. It’s not your style. It’s just until we get to my car.”
She swallowed. Vanity was a stupid concession at a time such as this. Lilah tucked her hair under the cap and then slid her arms into the jacket. It swum on her.
“Keep your head down as we leave here.” He lifted a hunting knife out of his fishing kit. “No matter how scared you are, walk as though you’re doing nothing wrong.”
“I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“No, but I am.” He grimaced. “At least, that’s what’s about to be all over the news.”
Lilah’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”
“As far as everyone’s going to think, I’m kidnapping you, Lilah.”
“Kidnapping …?”
“Your brother needs it that way until he can get Alain here.” He slipped the knife into his pocket. “Ready?”
She nodded, beginning to comprehend the enormity of what this man was sacrificing for her.
“Will …”
“No time,” he shook his head and wrapped his fingers around her upper arm. “Come on.”
They walked through the corridor – it was identical to the one above – until they reached the bank of elevators.
“Stand with your back against the wall until I tell you you’re clear,” he said softly, before pressing the down button. The elevator appeared seconds later and was, fortunately, empty.
“Okay,” he breathed. “Head down.”
She moved with her trademark grace into the lift, keeping her eyes on the ground.
It moved quickly, not stopping until it reached the foyer.
“My car’s around the corner,” he said, nodding towards the doors.
Lilah fell into step beside him. There were people everywhere and in the midst of the dramatic moment, Lilah thrilled at her nearness to humanity. It was one of the first times she had been so close to crowds without having a guard at her elbow.
Though she had Will and she suspected that was almost the same thing.
“This way.” He guided her to turn left as they exited the building, hustling down the sidewalk without breaking his pace. It would be only moments, surely, before the rope was discovered. Moments before the princess’s disappearance was realized and the alarm raised.
“Hurry,” he moved his hand to curl around her waist so that he could pull her at his pace. His legs were far longer and he moved with a natural efficiency.
To keep up she had to practically run.
They reached a black SUV parked just around the corner and he flicked a switch. The lights buzzed to signal that it had been unlocked. Lilah stood on one side and Will realized with begrudging amusement that she was waiting for him to open the door.
>
He sent her a fulminating smile and slid his fingers over the handle. “It works like this,” he teased, enjoying the blush that spread over her face.
Lilah cursed under her breath and shrugged away his hand so that she could climb up into the seat unaided.
“I know how a car door works,” she said as soon as he took the seat beside her.
“So you say,” he quipped, spinning the car to life. It purred hungrily.
“Where are we going?” Her voice was husky. She peered out of the window as though police might already be in pursuit.
“Somewhere safe.”
CHAPTER THREE
“Now can you tell me what’s going on?”
They hadn’t spoken for ten heart-stopping minutes. Lilah would have sworn she’d held her breath almost the whole way. The usual hum of Manhattan seemed to swirl around them, but Lilah barely noticed. Despite wishing, earlier, that she was down from the sky palace and amongst the cars and people and shimmering street signs, she now felt incapable of enjoying it.
She angled her head to face the man who had rescued – or abducted – her. His eyes were trained on the busy road ahead and a tension emanated from his body that Lilah completely understood.
“What did you tell my brother? Why have you broken me out of the apartment? And where are we going?”
His smile was lopsided. “Which question do you want answered first.”
“All of them,” she responded coldly. She was thirsty, and she hadn’t realised until that moment.
“The guard who cleared your tray –,”
“Abdim,” she supplied, her expression blank as she thought of the man in her detail.
“If you say so,” Will shrugged.
“What about him?” She prompted, after a nervous beat had passed and the journalist had failed to elucidate.
“He’s a member of an outlawed political faction.”
“An outlawed … what are you talking about?” She derided with a shake of her head. “I have known him for months. He had to jump through three thousand hoops to get the job in my team.”
“That might be true, Princess, but he’s not a good guy.”
“I don’t believe it,” she murmured, furrowing her brow. “Abdim is nothing but kind. He’s most certainly qualified for the role.”
“Sure, okay.” His sarcasm was spread thickly over the false admission.
“Don’t do that,” she implored, settling back in her seat and staring distractedly ahead.
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t infantilize me. If you think he is a danger to me then explain your reasoning.”
Now it was Will’s turn to look surprised. “I had no intention of infantilizing you. But if you want to believe a fiction rather than the facts then I’m not sure I’m particularly interested in arguing.”
Lilah’s cheeks flushed pink. “I beg your pardon, sir, but where I come from, people do what I ask of them.”
His laugh filled the cabin of his car, and it had the effect of making Her Royal Highness Jalilah Mazroui feel ever so slightly ridiculous.
“Why is that funny?” She enquired tightly.
He turned to face her, his eyes roaming her face with curiosity. “You really don’t think the statement is absurd?”
“No.”
“So you think the fact you happened to have been born to someone who happened to have been born to someone else and so on and so on gives you a special ability to command and inspire obedience?”
She heard his doubt and it made something strange swell in her chest. Embarrassment or annoyance? “I don’t feel that I’m inspiring your obedience,” she muttered.
He laughed again, then shook his head and looked back at the built-up traffic. He swore under his breath before yanking the steering wheel and pulling the car out of the lane. Lilah wrapped her fingers around the handle of her door as he weaved in and out of the bicycle lane, narrowly missing a parked moped.
“Would you please slow down?” She demanded, swallowing quickly. “I did not jump off a building only to die in something so pedestrian as a car accident.”
He didn’t respond. His full concentration was taken up by the task of getting past the backlog of vehicles waiting for the tunnel. Somewhere near the mouth, he pushed in front of a driver distracted by her cell phone and then turned to face Lilah.
“Have you heard of the Arabic Unity Coalition?”
“Yes,” she muttered. “They were an embarrassment to all three words. They were not Arabic, they did not represent unity and they certainly didn’t seek any kind of coalition. They were disbanded some time ago.”
“Two years ago,” he nodded. “And in fact, while the party was criminalized, there were some men remaining who were willing to fight under its banner. They continued to thrive and disseminate its hateful rhetoric.”
Lilah waited a moment, letting his words not only sink into her mind but to plant roots and develop. It was something her uncle had taught her as a young child. Her temperament was naturally reactive, and Sheikh Desi had taught her that a considered response always succeeded better than a rash reaction.
When she spoke, her voice was level. “You’re saying that Abdim is a member of the UAC?”
“Yes.” He pressed onto the accelerator and took the car inside the tunnel with relief.
“No.” It was Lilah’s turn to laugh now. “That’s madness. He’s a decent man. I have spoken to him at length. There’s no way …”
“Believe me, he is what I say.”
“Oh, because you are some kind of expert in such matters?”
He didn’t respond at first. Images flashed before him as if they were taking place in that moment. The explosion. The captives. The questioning. The threats. The hiding. The feeling that he was on the run and would be forever. “Yes.”
“Why?” She muttered, her voice thick with rich sarcasm. “What do you know of our people and our wars? What do you know of the threats that we face?”
“Enough.” He overtook a cement truck and then weaved back into his lane. “You were in danger. You’re not now.”
“That is a matter of perspective,” she chipped arrogantly, crossing her legs and arms in a gesture of complete discomfort.
He noted it with a wry smile on her face. His jawline was so chiseled it was almost square. “Your brother agrees with me.”
“And that is the only reason I’m here.”
The car emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel and Lilah let out a breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding. “So why do you suspect this then?”
“I don’t suspect it. I know it. Are you always this curious?” He flicked the indicator on, keeping the car in the centre of a busy main road.
“Me, curious?” She retorted, shooting him a look of surprise. “You don’t think I have a right to be? You’re the one who had me leaping off a building because of some ridiculous, half-baked, fantastical theory.”
“If I were a wagering man, I would bet you all that I own that you’re friend Abdim is a soldier of the UAC.”
“He is not my friend. He is my servant.”
Will hid his laugh behind a cough. “Of course, your highness.”
She wanted to ask him why he was so scathing but she didn’t. It mattered far more to Lilah to ascertain just why he’d affected such a dramatic escape from the building. “Tell me your facts. Tell me how you know.”
His hands gripped the steering wheel and he pretended for a moment that he hadn’t driven these roads a thousand times. He squinted at the overhead signs to ward off the bubble of panic that was making it difficult to breathe evenly. “He had a tattoo on his wrist,” he said finally. “I recognised it.”
“A tattoo?” She frowned. “I’ve never …”
“It was faded. He’d had it lasered, I guess.”
She nodded, but her mind was shuddering to a worrying conclusion. “You kidnapped me and worried my brother all because some good, law-abiding man got a tattoo that he lat
er regretted and tried to remove?”
“One does not simply …” He shook his head with frustration. “I saw the tattoo and acted on instinct. Believe me, I’m starting to wish I’d kept my mouth shut.”
“That makes two of us,” she agreed, clamping her mouth shut and glaring straight ahead. A fulminating silence filled the vehicle. He drove fast but he drove well.
“Where are you taking me?” She asked after almost twenty minutes of sullen quiet.
“I told you, somewhere safe.”
“Yes,” she feigned patience. “But where?”
Will couldn’t tell her. This woman had grown up in the same luxurious manner Ki had. If she knew he was planning to take her to a tiny cabin in the middle of the woods with flickering electricity and patchy running water he had no doubt she’d leap from the moving vehicle.
“I’m swapping cars in a few minutes.”
She flicked her eyes to his face; he kept his attention on the road so that she could only stare at his profile. “Why?”
“Your absence will have been discovered by now. There’ll be an APB out for me. My car’s plates will be tagged in the system. The tunnel security cameras will have picked us up. I’d say we have about an hour, at the most, before police catch us.”
“Unless we swap cars?”
“Exactly.”
She swallowed, settling back against the upholstery. “I guess this isn’t your first kidnapping.” It was an attempt at humour to lighten the dense mood of the vehicle, but it fell flat. He simply flicked the indicator on and pulled the car off the highway, into a street that was delineated by billboards and trash cans.
And though she was disgruntled and afraid, Lilah leaned forward a little to study the unfamiliar streetscape. “This is so …” Her sentence trailed into nothing as she watched a group of young men ride their skateboards down the footpath. At the last moment, one crossed the street and did a flip into the air.
“Not exactly what you’re used to,” Will surmised.
“No. But I was going to say that it is very urban. Not like the parts of New York I usually see.”
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