Chapter 35

Xan enjoyed walking in the gardens. It reminded him of his childhood as well as his time with Sloan. Laying on the grass and holding her in his arms was a feeling he never wanted to forget. He often replayed those memories when he felt that he could no longer go on. Xan cursed his birthright at that moment. As if the responsibility of being a king was not enough, to know that it had cost him the woman he loved meant Xan didn’t know if he would ever be able to cope.

Xan saw his brother striding toward him with a phalanx of his personal guards.

“Brother, I’m glad I found you,” Ragon said, extending his arm for a brother’s clasp. Xan grabbed his forearm, and they shook.

“Cain sent me here with my guard to relieve yours.”

“What do you mean relieve my guard?”

“My guard will be providing additional security for your coronation, and Cain thought it best to provide them with additional opportunities to protect you before the coronation.”

“Why is that?”

“They have served as my guard for some time while I was the heir apparent in your absence, but they have not been under as much training since my coronation was not as close as yours.”

Xan’s head guard, Masd, reached for his comm to confirm with Cain. Ragon interrupted.

“You won’t be able to reach him.”

“And why is that?” Masd questioned.

“He is indisposed at the moment.” Ragon gave Xan a knowing nod. Not wanting the rumors of his sister’s involvement with Cain to spread, Xan intervened.

“Masd, it is fine. Giving Ragon’s guard a chance to practice is a good idea. The more guards trained to protect all the imperial family, the better.”

Masd opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he quickly closed his mouth gave a slight bow before ordering the other guards to return to the palace. Xan watched as they moved farther and farther away. Ragon slid his arm around Xan’s shoulder and guided him farther up the path to the D’Auriel grove.

They walked into the garden and talked about how things had changed since Xan left. They hadn’t had much time to catch up.

“So, what will happen now with the coronation? Mother hasn’t sent out comms yet to let everyone know it’s canceled.”

“Why would it be canceled?”

“Sloan’s gone. If you’re not married before the coronation on your thirtieth birthday, then you cannot be crowned king,” Ragon said, a sly smile turning the corners of his mouth.

“I know that.” Xan spat. “But I’ve decided to go along with mother’s little plan. She will choose a bride for me in time for the coronation. I couldn’t force you to bear the weight of this crown when I know it’s my responsibility because I can’t marry the woman I love. And she’s left me. Waiting for her to return would only damage the lives of more people.” Xan kept walking. Ragon was no longer at his side. He’d stopped.

“You should have stayed gone, brother. Had I known that the Kirill wouldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, I would have killed you in your sleep.”

Xan stared at his brother, paralyzed by what Ragon had revealed. Ragon whipped around to his guard, who reached for his blasters.

“How could you do this? You’re my brother,” Xan said through gritted teeth. He needed a plan. Masd would return once he realized Cain hadn’t sent for him.

“I should have been king. I should have been the one to take the throne. You were always too scared to wield the power that came with being part of the imperial family. I will not make that mistake.”

“You mean you wish to be a tyrant. Is that why Mother has been so reluctant to allow you to make any decisions? She can see through you and what you’ve become. You will never sit on the throne,” Xan said, his eyes staring hard at his brother.

“I will once you’re dead.” At that moment, the engine blast of a ship diverted both their attention. The landing blast knocked everyone off their feet. Xan was one of the first to recover. He stood, unsure of what to do. Was this another piece of Ragon’s plot? No one should be able to land in this area. It was off-limits to anyone without imperial override codes. The ship landed, and Sloan came running down the ramp of the shuttle. Xan’s heart soared as he realized she’d come back for him. Then her eyes shot open, her hand outstretched as she reached out for him.

“Xan, behind you,” she shouted. Everything went black as Xan felt the blast sear through his body and he heard her primal scream.

***

Sloan held on to her captain’s chair as the ship shuddered and jerked its way into D’Arian space. The long-range comms had been knocked out in the miracle jump that Neven had made possible with his ridiculous brain. Since Sloan couldn’t communicate directly with the palace, she would have to take the shuttle closer using the short-range comm. She ran down the corridor, taking the stairs where possible.

When she reached the shuttle bay, Dev was already there waiting. He had the shuttle loaded and ready to go. Blasters ready, Dev helped Sloan prep.

“Take care of my ship while I’m down there, Dev.”

“Of course, Captain.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Worry about Xan, Captain. We’ve got this up here. Once we get propulsion limping along, we’ll try to land on D’Arian.”

“Thanks, Dev.”

“No problem, Cap.”

Sloan raced up the shuttle ramp and jumped into the pilot’s chair. She initiated prelaunch protocols and made sure Dev was out of the shuttle bay as she activated the shuttle bay doors to open. She took off from the shuttle bay at a faster rate than she should have, Sloan had one goal in mind. Make it to Xan. Please don’t let me be too late! Please!

She punched in the landing protocols that Venu had given her before she left, and it was a few minutes before Sloan entered the atmosphere. The landing tower, seeing her imperial landing protocols, didn’t give her any issues with moving into palace airspace. Finally, close enough, Sloan sent a comm to the palace.

“Cain? Cain? Are you there?”

“Sloan, glad to hear your voice. Back already?”

“Cain, Ragon is going to try to kill Xan.”

“What?” he shouted through the comm.

“He’s the one who arranged for Xan to be taken. He’s the one who fabricated the video of the murder of the imperial family. He’s behind it all.”

“Where is Xan now?”

“He’s in the gardens. Hold on a second. Xan’s guards have arrived in the station for some reason,” he said, seeming distracted.

“What is he doing without his guard?”

“Hold on. I’m trying to find out.” Sloan heard loud talking, then shouting, through the comm as Cain spoke with Xan’s guard.

Sloan changed course and set out for the imperial garden.

“Sloan! Ragon arrived not too long ago and ordered Xan’s guard to come back here at my direction, I never gave that order,” Cain roared, sounding as if he was running with a full squad behind him. “Xan is with Ragon and Ragon’s guard now.”

“Shit! I’m on my way to the garden now in my shuttle.”

It was the longest ten minutes of her life as Sloan navigated the D’Arian landscape to get close to the gardens. Coming over the D’Auriel grove, Sloan spotted the group, with Ragon and Xan at the front. Finally, close enough now, her descent was going to be rough. She spotted the perfect location to set her shuttle down. Sloan engaged the auto-land and ran to the back of the shuttle.

She activated the door-open protocol even though the shuttle hadn’t landed completely yet. As the doors of the shuttle opened. Sloan rushed through the door and saw his eyes lit up with happiness. She smiled as well, but as she peered over Xan’s shoulder, her faced dropped. Ragon was pointing a blaster directly at Xan’s back.

Time seemed to slow as Sloan reached out her hand and shouted, “Xan, behind you!” Xan saw her glaring past him and spun in time to get a blaster directly to his chest as he fell to the ground. Sloan reached for her own blaster and returned fire. But she was one person against Ragon and his entire guard. Sloan jumped out of the shadow of the shuttle and behind the massive D’Auriel trees.

Breathing heavily, she stood there slamming her head against the tree. She was too late. She should never have left, and now Xan was at the mercy of his psychopath brother. Peeking out from behind the tree, Sloan sized up Ragon and his guards. Xan’s body—Sloan struggled to keep her emotions under control and channeled her rage at his attacker into focus.

“Come out, come out, Sloan.” Ragon taunted her. “You should have never come back, Sloan. You could have lived a perfectly happy life had you simply stayed away.” The footsteps and rustling of Ragon and his men moving in the cleared area beyond the tree had Sloan on edge. She breathed through the adrenaline rush pulsing in her as her hands shook. Sloan tuned her comm to Cain, leaving the channel open.

“If I’d stayed away, I never would have known about your deception and involvement in Xan’s capture and assassination.”

“That should have been none of your concern.”

“None of my concern?” she said. “You are seriously insane.” Gathering her bearings, Sloan slid her comm down onto the ground to assess the positions of Ragon and his men. Looking for her way out of this, Sloan saw an arm come into view at the side of her head. She shot off her blaster without even thinking. A direct hit. She watched as the guard dropped to his knees before falling to the ground with a sizzling hole in his chest. Through the comm on the floor, she pinpointed the location of the others.

Taking a deep breath, she moved from her cover of the tree to the next one, firing off five shots. She hit three of Ragon’s guards and hit Ragon in the arm. She relished the shout of pain she heard wrenched from him. Three guards down, five to go. Where the hell was Cain?

“You stupid harn!” Ragon shouted out.

“Stupid harn who seriously fucked up your arm,” she said with a smirk. She heard the pounding footsteps of the imperial guard finally arriving. At least she hoped it was them. The blaster fight that took place in the next moments led Sloan to believe it was indeed Cain and his men.

She peeked out from behind the tree and saw Xan lying in the same spot on the ground. She needed to get to him. Completely focused on Xan’s body, Sloan avoided the blaster battle taking place as Ragon’s men ducked for cover and tried to hold off Cain and the other guards.

Crawling over to Xan, Sloan attempted to drag him to the cover of the trees, but she was unable to. His eyes fluttered open, and Sloan let out a sign of relief as she realized he was alive. He came to slowly, and Sloan kept her body covering his, aware of the battle taking place not too far from their location.

“Sloan, you came back,” he croaked.

“Yes, I did. Now we need to get you out of here,” Sloan said, the sense of urgency clear in her voice. Sloan tried to put Xan’s arm around her shoulder, and he cried out in pain. She saw the blaster hole in his chest. Thankfully, it looked like it hadn’t gone through him completely. Putting down her blaster, Sloan attempted to put pressure on the wound and move him. Xan cried out as she put pressure on the bleeding wound. Apparently, his clothing had been reinforced in some way, but it hadn’t been able to stop the blast completely. With no time to investigate, they began their half crawl, half run to the copse of trees.

As they made it to the first tree, Ragon popped out from behind it and leveled his blaster at Sloan’s chest. Xan and Sloan froze at his abrupt appearance. Ragon’s eyes skittered between the both of them and his movements were jerky. A sick deranged smile showed off the blood that filled his mouth. His arm hung limply at his side.

“I should have known you would be a nuisance. I should have killed you when I had the chance. The both of you,” he snarled. Xan removed his arm from around Sloan’s shoulder and put himself between Ragon and Sloan.

“What you should have done was never betrayed your brother,” Xan said loudly as he took a step toward Ragon. Ragon took a step back, eyes wild, trying to find his exit.

“It’s over, Ragon. This is done, and you will be jailed for your betrayal.”

“I will never see the inside of a cell. But I’ll ensure that the rest of your life feels like you’re living inside one.” He sneered as he let off two blasts past Xan, one into Sloan’s stomach and the second into her chest. Sloan felt the blood drain from her face, and the last thing she heard was the shout ripped from Xan’s mouth as he attempted to catch her before she fell to the ground.