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 could 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 you.”
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.
“You’re less than ten minutes from the border now.” General Fieldsis’ voice was back. “Just keep driving straight, and you’re there. We’re going to intercept the kidnappers.”
Holy crap, this was a bona fide international incident.
“Wow,” Penelope breathed as the helicopters flew over us in a blur. In the mirror, I watched them zoom toward our kidnappers.
Boom! Boom!
I felt the explosions and jumped as a ball of fire appeared where the vans once were.
Very slowly, Penelope turned back around and sat flat on her butt in the seat. “Can you believe that just happened?”
I made a sort of choking laughing sound. “No, I can’t.”
A moment later, both helicopters were back, one flying on each side of us, and for the first time, real hope filled me. We were really going to make it.
Nine minutes later, I saw buildings ahead, and a long, chain-link fence spread out in both directions.
“Is that the border?” Penelope asked.
“It looks like it.” Pushing the pedal down even closer to the floor, the car jerked in response and sped up. “Almost there,” I whispered.
Penelope reached over and placed her little hand on my arm. I smiled but kept both my hands firmly on the steering wheel.
“A tank will become visible a quarter mile ahead of you. Stop behind it.”
Doing as I was told, I nearly cried when I recognized the Cassian uniforms. When I put the vehicle in park my hands began to tremble so badly they blurred in front of my face.
“We made it, Iliana!”
Penelope was crying. In response, I burst into tears.
We both jumped as her door flew open and Nate appeared, grinning at us both.
Then my door opened, and before I could even turn, big strong hands were on me.
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Still crying, I pulled his face to mine and kissed him. He kissed me back with an urgency that took my breath. After fumbling with my seatbelt, he pulled me out of the car and into his arms, his lips never leaving mine.
People started clapping and after a moment, I smiled against his lips. He opened his eyes and smiled back.
“I love you, Iliana. I love you, and I love our child.”
Fresh tears blurred my vision. “I love you too. We love you too.”
He exhaled. He looked exhausted.
“Let’s go home.”
I smiled.
“Yes. Home.”
***
Well, it turned out that home wouldn’t be our first stop. The hospital was our first stop upon orders from the king. And even though I protested vehemently, I found myself changing into one of those terrible hospital gowns.
Since I was dehydrated, an IV was hooked up and fluids went pouring through my system. But I already had the best medicine.
Him.
I had him.
Seb never left my side, almost never stopped kissing me. He was actually kissing me again when the doctor strode through the door.
Behind him, a woman wearing blue scrubs wheeled in an ultrasound machine. “Let’s take a peek,” Dr. Anagnos said and went through the process of explaining what she was doing as she put a big blob of gel on my stomach.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
Seb must have read my worry because he squeezed my hand harder as the doctor placed the wand on my skin and began moving it around.
“There we go,” Dr. Anagnos said with a smile.
I blinked at the monitor, trying to decipher the sea of black, white, and gray.
There was a flicker. A heartbeat.
There was a heartbeat.
Wait… there were two heartbeats. “Does the baby have two hearts?”
Before I could panic, Dr. Anagnos smiled over at me. “No, you have two babies.”
Beside me, Seb sank into a chair, his face ashen. “Excuse me?”
“Twins,” the doctor confirmed. “Congratulations.”
Seb’s eyes rolled around his head a couple of times, and I grabbed at his shoulders, thinking he was about to pass out.
He rallied, and although it was a good thing he was seated, he managed not to pass out.
Then he smiled, dimples and all. Tears rose into his eyes and slowly trailed down his cheeks.
“Twins.”
I grinned, wiping at my own tears as I processed the word. “Small but mighty.”
He lifted my hand to his lips. “Small but mighty indeed.”