Waverly

The scent of mildew, and earth fills my head when I finally wake. My arms ache and wrists burn from the rough bindings around them. I tug and hear the clank of metal against metal. Glancing up, I see the chains connected to my shackles. Shackles. Like a prisoner. I am their prisoner. A fresh wave of panic hits me. What are they going to do with me?

“There she is. Wide awake now, princess?” That voice. That familiar voice makes me shudder. It’s the man who took me, but now with my head clear, I can make out his features.

“Lord Waystrom?” How could he betray me like this? “What have I done to deserve this?”

He sneers. “You haven’t done anything, princess. You’re nothing more than collateral damage in a bigger battle.”

My heart hammers and nausea creeps up my throat. “Does Ryder know you have me?”

He shakes his head. “They’re all still blissfully unaware. Once we get ahold of your sister, we’ll have all the leverage we need to get what we want.”

“And…” I swallow back the fear in my voice. “What do you want? You certainly don’t need money.”

“Power. Hasn’t your brother told you there’s a movement to abolish parliament? He’s been fighting to keep our country a democracy. It’s time to take things back to how they were before. The king and his advisors running things.”

“And I suppose you think you’ll be one of the advisors?”

He chuckles. “No, silly girl. I’ll be king. After we take out your brother and you marry me, I’ll take the throne.”

I nearly vomit. “You’re already married.”

“I can be rid of her easily enough. And once we’re married, if you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill your little sister.” A cold sweat breaks out over my body at the look he gives me. “Perhaps I should try out my new toy?”

He comes closer, hands already working his belt, and I kick out, my heel connecting with his knee and sending him to the ground. Victory sings in my blood, until he lashes out and slaps me hard across the face. Blinding pain blossoms behind my eye which quickly changes to a harsh throbbing. Then there’s a pop-pop-pop sound from above us, shouts and crashes, and his eyes go wide.

The door bursts open and I see Archer, blood dripping down his hand, pain in his eyes, and his pistol trained on Lord Waystrom. “Back away from the princess,” he growls.

My captor doesn’t argue. He’s unarmed. He drops to his knees and hangs his head, but I catch the movement of his hands behind his back. In a moment, I’m sure will forever be locked in my mind, he lunges for me with a blade in his grasp.

“Waverly!” Archer’s scream is punctuated by the explosion of gunfire, and Lord Waystrom lands in a heap with the knife still in his hand.

Archer rushes to the man’s body and digs in his pockets until he produces a key, then my rescuer frees me and pulls me to his chest. I breathe him in, committing this feeling to memory and praying it will overshadow the rest of this night. “Can you walk?” he asks, his voice gentle. “We have to get you home.”

I nod. “Yes, I think so.”

In truth, I don’t want him to let go of me. I want to be in his arms for the rest of my life. He holds me close as we make our way upstairs. “Don’t look,” he whispers when we pass the living room. I listen to him, not wanting to see what became of the rest of my kidnappers.

When we get in his car, I finally give in to the adrenaline coursing through me. My body shakes uncontrollably. “Who?”

“Lord Windsor and…” he hesitates but locks eyes with me. “The Duke of Longmire.”

All the air leaves my lungs in a rush. “Are they…dead?”

He shakes his head. “Incapacitated.”

“But the gunfire?”

“I took them out at the knees. They told me where you were after that.”

I nod, strangely grateful he hadn’t killed them. He starts the car and takes me away from this nightmare. In all honesty, I can’t wait to get home, to wash off this horror. But Lord Waystrom’s words echo in my head. Everyone I love is still in danger. “We can’t go back. Not yet.”

“What? Why?”

“There are more of them. We have to protect Alina. They want to kidnap her to get to Ryder. They’re going to kill him.”

“The whole palace is on lockdown. I assure you, the princess is safe.”

“We can’t know who else was in on this plot. If you take me back, who knows what they’ll do.”

He nods, his jaw ticking as he considers our situation. “I’ll take you to a safe place.”

“Give me your phone,” I say, holding out a hand.

“What? No.”

“I have to call my brother.”

“I’ll alert the king.”

He pulls the car to the side of the road and takes his phone out of the pocket of his suit jacket. A hiss of pain escapes him with the movement, and I remember the blood on his hand. “You’re hurt.”

I reach out to touch him, but he jerks away. “I’m fine. Just a nick.”

“What kind of nick?”

He groans. “The knife wound kind.”

“Get out.” I’m surprised by the commanding tone of my voice.

“No.”

I sigh and grip his arm. The man grunts, but doesn’t back down like I think he will. “Get out of the damned car, Archer. You’re losing blood, hurting, and I’ll not have you driving us off the road because of some misguided sense of duty.” He opens the door and gets out without further argument. We switch places, and I have to adjust the seat in order to reach the pedals, but he doesn’t give me grief about it. “Now, where are we going?”

“My flat. It’s only about twenty minutes away.”

“Good.” I pull the car back onto the road and head the only way I can…straight. “Can you call my brother now? He needs to know there’s a plot against him. He needs to know I’m safe.” I hate the wobble in my voice.

Archer doesn’t answer me, instead, he holds the phone up to his ear. “Your Majesty, I have her. Lord Waystrom is dead and the Duke of Longmire and Lord Windsor are both detained. I’ll send someone to collect them shortly, but you have to keep the palace locked down, and we have to keep quiet about her safety. No one should be trusted. There’s more to this than your sister being taken. They’re after the whole family. They want the crown.”

The car is silent as Archer listens to my brother. “Yes, I understand, Your Majesty. I’ll guard her with my life.” He hangs up and looks at me. “You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.”

There are worse things in the world than being stuck with the man I’ve been in love with for years. “I’ll survive. I’m sure you’ll see to that.”