Chapter 20
NATASHA
Istared out my window at the streets of Lyonestra. Traffic filled them as people bustled about even though the sun had yet to crest the horizon to start a new day.
My fingers absentmindedly drummed against my forearm as my mind raced, my thoughts centered on Kyle.
He’d accepted who I was, at least so far. Would he accept everything else?
I considered slipping into the secret passage and visiting him, but I worried that I’d make things worse.
What if after a good night’s sleep, he’d reconsidered. I didn’t want to find him packing his bags. Would it be better to know or to merely get the news second hand as Alex Stone’s jet whisked them away from Belvaria and all of its drama.
I slid my eyes closed, forcing my heart to stop its frantic beating. I wasn’t certain I could bear it if he walked away, but perhaps it was better now than later.
Sucking in a deep breath, I crossed the room, my eyes lingering on the sconce that opened the secret panel.
My fingers wrapped around the cold brass, and I slid it sideways. The panel popped open, and I stared into it, my heart hammering harder. With a shake of my head, I shoved it closed.
I couldn’t sneak to his room right now. Instead, I had another secret matter I wanted to attend to. I’d been away from Belvaria for longer than I’d liked, been away from what truly mattered.
I slipped into my closet and crossed to a large wardrobe. Pulling the drawer open, I removed the simple black, hooded cape. With it settled around my shoulders, I tied it and pulled the deep hood over my hair.
With the sun still not risen, I could easily slip into the streets unseen.
I pulled the cloak tighter around me as I hurried from the closet, hesitating as I passed the secret panel again. Every fiber in my being wanted to hurry through the passage, let myself into Kyle’s bedroom, and throw myself into his arms where I felt safe and secure.
But I had other things to attend to.
I passed it, crossing my sitting room, and reaching the double doors. I pressed my ear against one, straining for any sound.
Hearing none, I cracked the door. Two guards stood outside, dutifully. I eased the door closed and twisted the lock. Despite their constant protection of me, they had no idea of the secret I shared with Nadia and a select few of her team.
My cape flowed around my ankles as I crossed the sitting room toward a stick chair placed against the wall. I shifted it aside and pressed on a slightly worn spot on the wallpaper. A spring-loaded panel bounced back toward me.
I pulled it open, slipping inside. With no cell phone, I had to move through the darkness by memory, but it was a path well-known to me.
I navigated it with ease, arriving on the opposite end without trouble. After a bit of fiddling, I opened the panel and stepped into a hallway at the back of the palace.
My breath caught in my throat as I peered out, finding it empty, even of servants.
I stepped out, sliding the panel closed before I darted down the hall toward the door leading to the back garden.
Cool morning air swept past my skin, and I pulled the cape tighter around me as I skirted around the shrubs to a locked gate leading to the streets of Lyonestra.
I input the code and let myself out among the general populace. With my head down, I moved among the early risers without anyone recognizing that I walked among them.
I hurried through the streets, one destination in mind: Lyonestra Memorial Hospital.
The large ten-story structure sat less than three blocks from the palace, making it easily accessible. I rounded the corner, spotting the rectangular structure.
I craned my neck as I approached it, staring up at the stone facade. Medical professionals bustled about as the shift change approached. I waited in the shadow of the neighboring building until an unsuspecting doctor arrived, using his keycard to gain entry to an employee-only door.
As it slowly closed behind him, I dashed across the alley and grabbed hold of the handle, slipping inside behind him.
I sucked in a steadying breath as I pulled the hood further down around me and lowered my chin, hurrying to the service elevator at the end of the hall.
Jabbing at the call button, I danced around from foot to foot as I waited an agonizingly long amount of time before the doors whooshed open.
The second they did, I stepped inside, allowing the doors to shut me from sight.
In the abandoned elevator, rather than pressing a floor button, I pressed the door closed button, followed by the floor buttons eight, three, five, then one. With a final press of the door closed button, the elevator lurched, rattling me right along with it.
I glanced at the floor indicator that now read Speak Passcode.
“Seventeen. Forty-eight. Twenty-three,” I said.
The elevator banged before it shifted again then began its descent deep into the underground below the hospital.
The floor indicator counted backward until it reached B10. A bell dinged and the doors slid open.
The familiar but pungent scent of antiseptic hit me the moment I stepped into the sleek halls of the underground lab. The fluorescent lights hummed above me as I traversed the long hall, finally pushing the hood off my head.
Anyone here was well within the circle of trust. I had nothing to fear from those occupying this secret lab.
I reached the door marked Cryo Chamber and pushed inside. A lump formed in my throat as I stared at the cylindrical tube in the center of the room.
My fingers found the cold metal as I peered into the frosty window. Tears formed in my eyes.
“Hello, Papa,” I whispered. “I’m home.”
He didn’t answer, obviously, his frozen face looking peaceful though a tad blue.
“I may have found a way to save you.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?” Nadia asked.
I twisted to find my sister hovering in the door.
She sashayed her way into the room, her heels clicking off the polished, cement floors. “You are not supposed to be here.”
I turned back to my frozen father. “I have been away for too long.”
“He can’t hear you,” Nadia said as she arrived next to me at the cryo tube.
“I’d like to think he can,” I answered.
Her arm wrapped around me, pulling me closer to her in a rare moment of sisterly support.
“Has something come up on Kyle’s background check?”
“No. Everything looks all right there. But I’d like to tie up a few loose ends before we allow him to take a step closer.”
I buried my face in my hands. “I want to tell him everything.”
“I know you do, Natashka. But we must proceed with caution. Just a little longer.”
I lifted my head, my chest heavy with disappointment and longing. “It has already been too long.”
“Give me the morning. Just that,” Nadia answered.
I swallowed hard, desperately trying to keep my emotions in check. I bobbed my head, fluttering my eyelashes in an attempt to get my tears to recede.
Nadia massaged my shoulder. “If it helps, I think he is viable candidate. He’s used questionable methods in the past. There does not seem to be a line he wouldn’t cross. He knows how to work outside of the confines of normal behavior.”
“And you intend to use all of those things to force him to our side,” I surmised.
Nadia dropped her arm from my shoulder, stalking around the tube to stand on the opposite side. “If I must.”
“Nadia–“
“Do you want Papa back or not?” she interrupted.
I curled my fingers into fists. “You know I do.”
“Then we must do what we must do, right?” Nadia retorted.
I heaved a sigh. “I just wish you would allow me to handle this my way. He will agree.”
“You don’t know that. And fine, but if he does not, I will ensure that he does what we want.”
“Give him a chance,” I begged as the door opened behind me again.
Stefan stepped into the chamber, hovering just inside as he arched an eyebrow. “Well, malenka, I did not expect to see you here this morning.”
I twisted back to face my father, my fingers pressing against the clear panel.
“She is eager to bring Dr. Carter on board.”
“We have not yet finished–“ Stefan began.
“I know,” I interrupted. “I already know. I do not need to hear it again.”
Stefan and Nadia shared a glance as he joined her on the opposite side of the silver tube. Their connection irritated me since my own was being dismissed.
“Have you told her about the latest development with Nikolai?” Stefan asked.
The words made me pull my eyes from my father’s frozen features to Nadia’s face. “What?”
Nadia shifted her weight, heaving a sigh. “A councillors loyal to us has revealed his ploy.”
“Which is?”
“Something we can handle,” she assured me.
“Damn it, Nadia, I demand to know what he is planning. How does he mean to steal the crown from me?”
Neither of them spoke, and my lips tugged into a deep frown. “I can find out on my own, you know?”
“There is really no need,” Nadia said. “We can handle it.”
“Nadia–“
“Fine,” she answered, raising her hands in defeat. “Mother has supplied Nikolai with an ancient decree that suggests a female regent must be married before ascending the throne.”
“But that’s absurd! Those laws haven’t been relevant in over a century,” I protested, my hands trembling as I clutched the edge of the cryo tube.
“Absurd or not, the decree is legitimate,” Stefan interjected. “If Nikolai can rally enough support from the councillorss, they can invoke the law. You’ll have two choices: marry immediately or relinquish your claim to the throne.”
“And if I don’t marry?” My voice cracked as panic began to take hold.
“The councillorss would declare the throne vacant,” Nadia said, her tone grim. “Which means Nikolai would be next in line.”
The words struck me like a ton of bricks. The laws about female ascension had long allowed for a princess to become a queen, but marriages in older times had occurred at a much younger age than they did now.
My great-great-grandmother had wed at the tender age of sixteen, making her eligible to rise to the throne at only twenty-four.
My breath hitched as Nadia’s words sank in. The decree—previously hidden from my knowledge—wasn’t just an inconvenience—it was a slap in the face, a reminder of the antiquated rules that still governed my life. My chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath the surface.
“They would never demand this of Nikolai,” I said, my voice low and trembling. “He can ascend the throne without question, no matter how unfit he is. But because I’m a woman—”
“It’s unfair,” Nadia admitted, her expression softening for the briefest moment. “But it’s the reality we’re facing. We have to work within the rules if we’re going to win.”
I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. I hated the rules. I hated the throne. I hated that, no matter how hard I tried, I was always one step behind Nikolai simply because of my gender. But most of all, I hated that she was right.
I heaved a sigh, my mind whirling. This needed to be fixed, one way or another. There was no reason for me to ascend to the throne if my father could be saved.
But if that couldn’t happen before this was called into question…I would need a husband. And I would need him quickly.
“A husband,” I whispered, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. “That’s what it will take to secure the throne?”
“Not just any husband,” Nadia said, her gaze sharp. “He would need to be someone we can control. Someone trustworthy—or at least useful.”
Stefan arched an eyebrow at me. “And who, malenka, do you trust that much?”
Kyle’s face flickered in my mind, unbidden, sending a jolt through me. I shoved the thought aside. He couldn’t be part of this—not now. Not like this.