CHAPTER FOURTEEN
When Kentario had chosen to head for Oris Izarius’s house, three miles had seemed a trifling distance. It was a mere half an hour at a fast jog, and both he and Ryu should have been able to cover the journey easily.
Of course, on a normal day, they weren’t attempting the feat in the middle of the night, on the back of little to no sleep, and with Ryu apparently having sprained his knee in the fall from the roof.
He’d insisted three times now that he was fine, but Kentario was well aware that his limp was getting more pronounced the further they went.
In addition to the extra physical strain was the mental stress of not knowing just how bad the situation really was.
Every time a car came down the street, Kentario had them both ducking behind hedges to stay out of view.
He chose a path that wouldn’t let them get cornered anywhere without an easy exit, which meant that instead of cutting down a narrow laneway, they had to take the longer route around.
Fear was gnawing at both of them, and Kentario knew that even if they made it to Oris’s house, they were by no means out of the woods.
Best case scenario, this was an isolated assassination and Maro would have the culprits arrested – or judging by the gunfire at the palace, possibly killed – by morning.
Worst case? Galandeen was lost, a full-scale revolution was underway, Maro had betrayed them, and they’d be forced to flee not just the city, but the entire country, if Ryu was ever to be safe again. The thought made Kentario feel sick.
Deliberately, he put that particular scenario out of his mind for the moment. No point dwelling on that kind of nightmare until they had more information. The first thing was just to get Ryu to safety. Then they could reassess their next move.
Car headlights appeared in the distance, causing Kentario to swear, his eyes darting about to find likely cover. “Over here.” Ryu, used to these sudden interruptions to their journey, came without protest, crouching down behind a brick wall until the car passed them by.
But when Kentario stood up again, Ryu remained where he was. “Ryu?”
He didn’t move.
Kentario crouched down again. He put a gentle hand on Ryu’s shoulder, feeling his heart ache at the pale weariness on the young man’s face, along with a stark and worldly sorrow that shouldn’t ever exist on one so young.
The need to get to Oris’s house was pressing, but Kentario forced himself to stop and reassess his charge’s condition. The whole point was to get Ryu there safely, after all. There was no point dragging his unconscious body into Oris’s house and calling it a victory.
Ryu was shaking, shivering inside his thick sweater despite the frantic run.
One hand rested on his knee, though Kentario knew better than to ask if it was hurting.
Ryu would only deny it again. But his pants were half-drenched – a consequence of their trek through the marsh – and with the time now well past midnight, the air was noticeably cool.
“I keep thinking this is just a bad dream,” Ryu murmured, his voice barely audible.
“And if I could just wake up…” His voice wavered, his eyes closing for a moment.
In the still night air, his scent was light and woody, not quite the citrusy tang of an omega in distress, but nonetheless, it served as a clarion call to Kentario’s protective instincts.
Not for the first time, he wondered why he had such a strong response to Ryu’s scent in particular.
Alphas were supposed to have that reaction to omegas, weren’t they? Not to other alphas.
Kentario hooked one finger beneath Ryu’s chin, nudging his head up until he could look him in the eye.
“You are my world,” he said. It wasn’t quite what he’d been intending to say, but fuck it, he decided in an instant.
It was far too late to go back, and he was sick of pretending.
“I am not going to let anything happen to you. I will walk through hell itself with you, if that’s what you need me to do.
I know you’re tired. I know you’re hurting in ways I can’t imagine.
But right now, we are not safe. Oris’s house is just past the end of the street. Can you make it that far?”
Gamely gathering his courage, Ryu nodded. He pushed himself to his feet, though Kentario didn’t miss the way he steadied himself against the wall. “Let’s get this over with.”
Kentario decided to walk the last bit of the way, rather than run, though he kept a constant eye out for impromptu hiding places as they went.
A shadowy nook beside a hedge. A low garden wall.
A trailer parked at the side of the road.
They turned the corner onto Oris’s street, and he began checking the property numbers to find the right house.
“This is it,” Kentario whispered, as they came level with an elegant two-storey house.
The outside was painted white, the interior currently dark, which was no surprise given that it was past midnight.
Low shrubs rose out of the garden like dark beasts waiting to pounce, and he felt Ryu shudder beside him as they crept towards the front door.
The poor kid had barely let there be more than three inches between them the entire way here, and now there wasn’t even that much space, the prince pressed against his side like he was afraid Kentario was going to vanish into thin air.
Kentario paused halfway up the path, looking over the house to check for any signs of unusual activity. Though he trusted Oris with his life – more than that, with Ryu’s life, right now – there was no sense in getting sloppy.
The house was quiet and untouched, and if anyone had gotten here before them, there was no sign of the intrusion.
Well, here goes nothing, he thought grimly.
But even so, he pushed Ryu away as they reached the front door, pressing him in against the wall so he would be out of sight of whoever opened the door.
Then, heart in his throat, he pressed the doorbell.
The bell chimed inside the house, and for good measure, Kentario pressed it two or three more times. Perhaps Oris was a heavy sleeper? Or perhaps he would be reluctant to open the door at this time of night without adequate incentive.
He waited… and sure enough, a light came on upstairs, behind thick curtains. A minute later, another light came on, visible through the frosted glass panels beside the door, and footsteps tapped lightly on wooden floorboards.
The porch light came on. Kentario stared at the peephole, certain that Oris would be checking who was outside, particularly at this unusual hour. A moment later, the door opened, revealing Oris himself, clad in a dressing gown, hair mussed, eyes bleary with sleep. “Kentari-”
In a split second, Kentario had his gun up and aimed straight at Oris’s head. The man froze. He brought his hands up in surrender, taking a tentative step backwards.
“You know why I’m pointing a gun at you?
” Kentario asked, letting all his pent up rage at the attack on the palace come pouring out like acid over his tongue.
The way Oris responded to the threat would be telling.
If he had actually had anything to do with it, he might start with a placatory ‘Look, I can explain…’ It was a response that would get him a bullet between the eyes.
Or, if he was a little more self-deluded, he might take the tack of ‘But I had to do it…’
But instead, he glanced briefly from Kentario’s face, to the gun and back. Then he stated simply, “I have absolutely no idea.”
Kentario waited. Sometimes, just giving people the space to talk could elicit all sorts of useful information. But Oris said nothing, only attempting a cautious “Kentario?” when the silence dragged on.
“Good answer,” Kentario said, swiftly holstering his gun.
He grabbed Ryu from where he was sheltered out of sight and dragged him inside.
He closed the front door quickly but quietly behind him.
Ryu still had his hood up, and Oris was staring at them both in wide-eyed shock.
So Kentario pulled the hood back, revealing Ryu’s face, pale with shock, his eyes dark with exhaustion.
“The palace has been attacked,” Kentario said.
“The king and queen are both dead. And we’re rapidly running out of allies. ”