24. Ari
24
ARI
D amon brushed his hands along my edges, trying to smooth out my hair while we dressed, but my hair had a mind of its own. I’d tried to knot the massive braid into a bun, aware that some of the puffs had made a break for it and were trying to unravel. As I pulled my clothes back on, I glanced around. “Damon, where is my underwear?”
The corner of his lips lifted into a smirk. “I don’t know. We were in a very big hurry to take them off.”
I scowled at him. “Now is not the time for jokes. Seriously where is my underwear?”
I was forced to slide back into my slacks without them, and I sat there uncomfortably until he pulled them from his pocket.
“Oh, these things?”
I tried to snatch them from his grip. “Give them to me.”
He kept them just out of reach. “No, I think I’m going to hold on to these,” he said as he stuck them back into his pocket.
“You’re impossible.”
“Yeah, but you love me.”
When he’d said he loved me earlier, I hadn’t been able to process a response. The slow smile that spread over his lips now was catching as I said it back to him, “Yes, I love you.”
He took my hand before kissing it. “It’s going to be okay, you know.” He pulled me into his big body, and I knew he was trying to shield me from the coming horror that was going to be our lives. He knew what to expect, but I did not. And I was scared.
I checked my watch and saw it was four-thirty in the morning. Still at least an hour from discovery. After the festivities last night, everyone was probably completely hungover.
In that moment, the big vent grate above us creaked, and Damon immediately tucked my face into his chest and backed me up against the wall. He turned his back to me, his arms splayed behind him, and I noticed a knife in his palm.
“Damon, you promised, for fuck’s sake.”
“Just let me make sure you’re safe, then you can lecture me.”
I kept my gaze trained on the door, but no one was coming that way. The sounds were definitely coming from that grate overhead, and shortly, a pair of feet dangled, then gave way to calves, thighs, and a tool belt, all in black. My heart hammered against my ribs. Damon’s whole body went stiff, ready to pounce. I could feel the tension as he leaned over slightly onto the balls of his feet. The person who dropped down had a black mask over their face.
I wished to God I had a weapon now too. I wasn’t going to let Damon fight alone. Then the thief grabbed his mask and tugged it off, revealing Lucas Newsome.
The relief hit me so fast that my knees gave out, and I slumped against Damon’s back. “You just saved our lives, bro.”
“When you two missed your checkpoint, I figured I needed to come in for a rescue. We don’t leave teammates behind.” Lucas eyed the knife. “If you two don’t mind, I figured you wanted to get out of here before anyone came looking for you and asking questions.”
When Damon still didn’t sheathe his knife, Lucas put his hands up and turned around slowly, showing Damon he had nothing up his sleeve. All I cared about was that he’d come to get us and there was hope of not getting arrested.
“You can see my tool kit from here,” Lucas said. “I just have the ropes and rappelling equipment to get us all up and out of here. I’m unarmed, Damon. I’m your friend.”
Suddenly I could feel the tension ease out of Damon. He cleared his throat and then nodded, tucking the knife back into his boot. “Thank you, Lucas.”
The prince nodded. “Did we get the necklace?”
I lifted the top part of my shirt where I’d taped it back to my sternum as Lucas put a harness on me, then clipped something to the rope. With the gloves Damon had given me, the climb up was pretty easy, but I was also helped along the way.
Up at the top, Lucas had left glow-in-the-dark markers showing the path. It was a tight fit, and I worried about Damon making it through. But if Lucas had, Damon would. At least I hoped he would.
I had been thinking about never seeing daylight again and worrying about who to call for a lawyer. I’d let my guard down and showed my true feelings because I hadn’t thought I would get another opportunity.
Meeting Damon’s eyes on the outside was going to be tricky, especially if he didn’t still feel the same way. I heard his muttered curses as we worked our way through the vents and eventually to our original escape tunnel. The route popped us right back out where we’d expected, and I inhaled deeply, relishing the fresh air.
Above us, thunder cracked and the sky opened up.
Around the bend a quarter mile into the woods, we’d be home free. The rain pelted in hard fat drops, stinging my skin. Behind me, Damon bellowed, “Wait for us.”
What was taking so long? Lucas was still welding the gate shut when Damon caught up to me and shouted something that I couldn’t hear over the howl of the wind. Eventually, Damon took my hand and tried to drag me back.
“What are you doing? It’s this way,” I said.
Lucas came running up. “You missed the checkpoint. Guards discovered that car a couple of hours ago. They assumed a drunken guest parked like an asshole. It’s not an option. We need to try for the boathouse.”
Just as he said that, a shifting cloud obscured the moonlight.
“Fuck,” Damon cursed as rain spattered the ground around us. “We’re not going to make it on a boat with the rain, with no light, and then through the woods.”
I turned back toward our original egress. Tiny pellets of rain fell rapidly enough to partially blind me. It was hard enough to find the way through the woods in the daylight, but it wasn’t yet dawn, and with the rain and the dark clouds? No fucking way.
Lucas was busy packing away our harnesses. “Lucas, can we steal a car? Maybe one of the diplomatic ones?”
The rain came down in heavier splats as thunder rumbled above us. “Reaper will notice if you take a diplomatic car. But maybe one of the staff ones. Let’s go.”
We headed around the house to the staff parking lot, but before we could see if any of the cars were viable, I heard a clicking sound.
Lucas and Damon stopped immediately. I turned around slowly to find Michael Lane holding a gun with a silencer on Damon. How the fuck had he smuggled a weapon in here?
“Gentlemen, Ms. Denton, as if I didn’t recognize you. You’re famous to me, darling. Your father was a worthy adversary. You’ll hand over the Royal Heart now, won’t you?”
Lucas stepped forward. “If you looked, you’d find that the Royal Heart is in the vault. But that shouldn’t matter, because it’s not yours.”
“Hand it over,” Lane gritted out as he pointed the gun at Damon.
My throat constricted, and Lucas sighed. “Hand it over, Ari.”
I went to pull up my top, but Damon shouted, “No, Ari, you and Lucas get out of here. Go. He won’t shoot me. It’s a bluff.”
I shook my head as I peeled the necklace and body tape from my skin. I opened the pack for Lane. “Put your gun away. I have what you want. Leave him alone.”
He levered the gun even higher this time and pressed it to Damon’s neck when I hesitated.
Damon growled, “Ari, run, damn it. Take the necklace and run.”
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t walk away from him.
I stood frozen for only a moment, clutching the necklace in my hand, as Michael pressed the gun harder against Damon’s neck. The rain was pounding down even harder now, turning the dirt to mud beneath our feet. In the distance, I could hear guards getting closer. But they wouldn’t be here in time to save us.
Michael’s grip tightened on the gun, and I could see the feverish gleam in his eye. He was enjoying this, reveling in the power he held over us. I knew I had to act fast before something terrible happened.
In one swift motion, I tossed the necklace just over his shoulder, and when he whirled to look at it, I dove right for him, knocking him off-balance. He stumbled backward, the gun firing wildly as he fell to the ground.
I threw myself at him even as Damon and Lucas rushed for me. Damon tried to pull me loose as I attempted to whale on Michael. Michael pulled something out of his pocket and hit Damon with it. He fell to his knees, jerking.
Christ, a Taser?
Michael crawled toward the gun, and I screamed, “No.” Landing on him before he could grab it. He turned me over, but I managed to bite his arm.
“You bitch,” he spat.
At the same time, we heard one of the guards’ footsteps on the pebbled gravel in the maze.
“Shit, I’ll deal with it,” said Lucas. “Damon, are you good to deal with him?”
While Lucas ran off, I continued to roll on the ground with Michael, then suddenly, the gun went off, piercing my left arm, and I felt like I’d downed molten heat with a pain chaser.
I screamed, tears welling in my eyes, as Michael rolled to his feet, snatched up the Royal Heart, and took off running.
Damon was on me as soon as he stopped trembling. “Oh shit, Ari. Fuck.” He wrapped his arms around me. “I’ve got you. Shit. Ari. I’m so damned sorry.”
“He’s getting away,” I croaked.
He shook his head even as he scooped me into his arms. “Doesn’t matter. You are what’s important here,” he yelled over the howling wind.
I clutched my wounded arm, trying to stop the bleeding, but the pain was too much. I’d done all this and failed him anyway.