Damien
I SQUEEZE MY eyes shut and pull Juliet close. I will not let go of her. Even if our bodies lie broken at the base of this cliff, my wife will be in my arms. And at the very least, she will die knowing what I could not tell her before now.
“I love you, too!” I shout against the wind.
Then I feel weightless.
And then my teeth clatter as we land hard—Juliet, me and Maximus.
But we’re still on the horse. And we’re not dead.
“Are we dead?” Juliet asks.
“No,” I say. “At least, I don’t think so. Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
Her voice carries in the eerie silence. It’s so goddamn dark I don’t know where we’ve landed. What I do know is that somewhere above us, flashlights shine down. But they don’t reach our landing point. Hopefully, according to the guards above, our bodies are splattered way below. By the time they look for us at daybreak, perhaps they’ll think our remains were collected by Edenvale.
I pat Maximus on the side. “Good job, boy.”
He whimpers, and I feel him try to take a step but falter.
“Shit,” I hiss.
“What is it?” Juliet whispers.
“That was a hard landing,” I say. “On this night alone I’ve seen Maximus do things no horse should be able to do, but that fall?”
The ground beneath us shakes, and Juliet yelps.
“What’s happening?” she cries.
I don’t want to answer. Because logic says we’ve landed on a small outcropping—and that the weight of our impact has loosed the land from its precarious hold.
It appears this was only a short reprieve before the end.
Again we jerk, but there is still ground beneath us, and I don’t feel the sensation of falling. In fact, it feels as if we’re going backward.
We’ve landed on some sort of moving platform, which means whoever is at the end of it was waiting for us.
I reach for the bow and arrow, spinning toward Maximus’s hindquarters and taking aim into the dark.
“It’s the Black Watch,” Juliet says, voice shaking. “They must have tunnels inside the mountain. I never knew. Mother and Father never said. Damien, I’m so sorry.”
I want to comfort her, but there’s no time.
I can feel Maximus’s breathing going unsteady, feel him faltering where he stands. I just need light. Once I can see who our captors are, I’ll fire off as many shots as I can before they take me.
“We will not die without a fight,” I say through gritted teeth, and I realize at this moment that this is the one thing I’ve never done—fought for what I loved.
With Victoria, I ran.
When Nikolai practically disowned me, I ran.
When Father decided to make an example of me through banishment, I ran.
I never fought to make things better. I never fought for what I wanted. I just. Fucking. Ran.
Not today.
We jerk to a halt, and the sound of a mechanical door closing echoes behind us.
And then—light.
I pull on the bow’s string as soon as a figure takes shape before me. It only takes seconds for my eyes to adjust, and when they do, I drop the bow and arrow to the floor.
That’s when the last of my lost memories takes hold, one I didn’t even know was missing until now.
“We’re going to let you live,” the guard from the penthouse had said to me months ago. “Because you’re going to lead us straight to Queen Cordelia so we can do what should have been done decades ago.”
Not dead. She’s—not dead.
“Mother?” My voice shakes. I don’t even recognize it. And though I’ve never met the woman before me, she has lived these past decades in photographs and shared memories of my brothers and father.
She sucks in a sharp breath, the gesture contradicting the form-fitting utility suit, combat boots and what looks like rappelling gear.
I slide off the horse and help Juliet down. As soon as both of us are standing, Maximus collapses.
Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. We did not make it this far for my partner in crime to give up his life.
“Hang in there, buddy,” I say, stroking his mane.
Again a whimper.
I move closer to the woman only a few feet away—a woman I almost shot point-blank with an arrow.
A woman who should already be dead.
I grab her wrist as anger rips through me, and she doesn’t so much as make a sound. I shove her sleeve up to her elbow and find what I knew would be there—the tattoo of a crow’s feather.
“You’re part of The Order?” I yell. “All these years I’ve blamed myself for your death, and instead you’ve been running around with some secret organization rather than ruling your kingdom alongside your king?”
“Damien,” Juliet says softly, her hand gripping my forearm and gently tugging me free. “Maybe she has an explanation.”
I spin toward Juliet, seething. “An explanation? For deserting her family? For letting her youngest son live with the guilt of taking her life just so he could be born? Do you know what kind of living that is, knowing every breath you inhale belongs to someone else? There is nothing she could say—”
“I wasn’t always part of The Order,” she interrupts. “In fact, I was born on a farm a stone’s throw from the very cliff you jumped from, the Lovers’ Leap.”
I shake my head. “The late queen of Edenvale was not Nightgardin born,” I tell her, even as the slight accent in her voice registers.
“Come now, Damien,” she says. “If you’re going to be the ones to unite our two countries at last, I suggest you stop trying to explain away the obvious. Because you’ve already figured it out.”
She’s right. I am trying to explain away the obvious.
“You were Black Watch,” I say.
She smiles. “Very good.”
“Sent to kill Father,” I add.
She nods. “But I failed my mission, and instead of ending Nikolai’s life, I fell in love with him and bore him three sons. Three strong heirs. It was when the Watch started threatening my children that I knew something had to be done. At the time I had found I was pregnant with Damien—and I’d also recently found out about The Order.”
“X,” I say.
“Yes. He was so young when we met. Younger than me, yet already one of the most influential members. While his origin is still a mystery, I do know that he is the only agent of The Order raised in the organization since he was a teen. He brought me in, helped me stage my death, and in these past decades I’ve risen in the ranks to European director. But now, Damien. Now I can come home thanks to you and Juliet.”
“I don’t understand,” Juliet says, breaking her silence. “My country wants me dead.”
My mother grins and shakes her head. “Your crazy mother wants you dead. Pity she’s forgotten how little power women in royalty truly have in this country if they are not supported by their king.”
It’s then that another figure appears, one I realize now was absent from the melee in the square.
“Oh my God,” Juliet says. “Father.”
Juliet
“Daughter.” My formal, distant father steps forward, wrapping me in a giant bear hug. “Thank God. I thought I’d lost you for good tonight.”
“You mean this wasn’t what you wanted?” I ask. “Where were you? Why didn’t you help me?”
A dark look crossed his features. “She drugged me.”
“Mother?”
He nods once. “She has been for weeks. I’ve only now learned the truth. She’s spread rumors of me taking ill when it’s been all her, keeping me bedridden and docile in the palace while she set her plans in motion.”
Damien’s mother steps forward, the same woman who questioned me in The Hole. “We rescued him two hours ago. Once we were able to administer an infusion to counteract his sedatives, he returned to full health and full mental capacity.”
“And now we will put an end to my wife’s mad ambitions,” he says. “For too long I haven’t taken her words seriously. All her talk about finding Edenvale’s hidden Spring of Youth, of wanting to rule forever. At first, years ago when she started speaking of such things, I thought they were silly daydreams. But then came the daily injections, the plastic surgeries, these strange longevity diets. Finally, when I realized she truly thought she could rule eternally, I told her she was raving, that perhaps she needed psychiatric care. That’s when I conveniently took ill, and from there on out, she’s been coming into my chambers every six hours to keep me in a stupor while putting out official word that I was sick. There’s no time to lose now. Nightgardin needs a king tonight.”
“And Edenvale will come to your aid,” Damien says, glancing to his mother. “You still have much to explain, Mother, but tonight we will destroy the monster who threatens my family and create a safe future for my wife and child.”
“Damien.” His mother’s voice is husky, and I’m struck by how similar they look in manner and expression. “I am so proud of the man you’ve become—and the father you will soon be.”
“Speaking of fathers...” He gazes at her with an intense expression. “Tell me this one thing, does the king know that you still live?”
A look of raw pain cuts the grooves of her face. “No. He has no idea. I couldn’t put him in danger. I sacrificed everything I love for my family, and I don’t regret or apologize for that choice.”
“Not even when he remarried our stepmother?”
Her shoulders stiffen. “He couldn’t be expected to live like a monk.”
“But...” Realization dawns on me. “Your Highness. Queen Cordelia. You are the lawful queen. You have to tell King Nikolai the truth.”
A small muscle twitches in her jaw. “He’ll never understand. While I have loved him all these years, I don’t expect he has done the same. And I don’t think I can bear to have him look at me with the hate or anger or betrayal I know he will feel once he learns the truth.”
Damien laces his fingers through mine and pulls me closer, planting a kiss on the top of my head. “Trust me, Mother, if there is one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that love works in mysterious ways. I cannot promise he will forgive you. But if you do not give him—and your sons—the chance to know the whole truth, how can we see your deception as anything other than a betrayal?”
Queen Cordelia nods, her piercing eyes glossy with the threat of tears, eyes so like my husband’s. “We shall see. But for now, we need to focus. The mission is to get into Nightgardin Palace and allow the king to gain control the situation.”
“And how will we do that?” I ask. “Mother’s not going to go without a fight.”
“What did I miss?” X appears, zipping up his tactical vest.
“You’re here too.” Last I knew, he was taking the fake doctor to The Hole.
X smirks, tapping his earpiece. “I’ve been listening to events unfold in real time. The helicopter is on standby. It’s time to strike hard and fast.”
I arch a brow. “Don’t you ever drive a car like a normal person?”
“I’m an excellent driver.” He gives me a cryptic wink.
“Good luck, my son. I will be here, too, inside your ear.” The queen hands Damien an earpiece microphone. “We have eyes in the palace. Follow my orders, and we’ll be reunited by sunrise.”
“And you will then come back to Edenvale with me, and see my father? My brothers?” My husband is nothing if not persistent.
She shuffles her feet, her features locking into an unsettled expression. “Yes. It is time. I only hope that...” She draws a shaky breath and forces a smile. “The next twelve hours shall be most interesting.”
“And Maximus,” I ask worriedly. The stallion rests behind us, trying to appear brave, but from the way his large nostrils flare, it’s obvious he is in incredible pain, pain he endures for saving our life. “What will happen to him? I think his leg is broken.”
The queen squares her shoulders. “He saved your life, and the life of my son and grandchild. I’ll personally ensure that he receives the best vet care that money can buy and a long retirement in a meadow filled with clover.”
X turns to us. “Time to fly.”
* * *
X expertly lands the stealth helicopter in the southern corner of the palace grounds.
“Princess, would you like to remain here? It will be safest,” he says as Damien helps Father leap four feet to the ground.
“Not a chance,” I say, jumping too. “My body might be bruised, but there’s no way I’m going to let you boys have all the fun. After what my mother has done to me—to Damien’s family—I want to make sure she is stopped for good. And I want my face to be the last she sees before she is imprisoned—or killed.”
An owl hoots, and X cups a hand to his mouth and returns the eerie call.
“That’s a good sign,” he says with satisfaction.
“What does it mean?” Damien asks.
“The Order is assembled at their positions throughout the castle. Right now they are locking your mother in the throne room and laying siege to those members of the Black Watch who pledged loyalty to the queen.”
“They shall pay for their treachery,” my father growls.
“Soon,” I say, placing a hand on his arm. “We will make sure they are locked away and can never threaten the peace here in this realm again.”
Father’s eyes grow misty. “I’ve made so many mistakes with you, Juliet,” he says. “But once I’ve made the way clear for you, I’d like nothing better than to abdicate, allowing you to bring Nightgardin into the twenty-first century alongside your husband.”
“Oh, Papa!” I cry, throwing myself at him.
“Let’s roll,” X says.
Damien reaches out and extends his arm. “Princess, are you ready to take back your kingdom?”
“With you by my side? Absolutely.” I grin and place my hand on his elbow. “Are you ready to become a king?”
He brushes his lips on my temple. “I’ve always thought I’m not worthy of anything other than a lifetime of banishment and regret. But meeting you has changed everything, Juliet. I know now that with you, anything is possible.”
“Then let’s not wait another minute,” I say, and we race toward our future.