Chapter 4 Theo
THEO
DESPITE MY CURRENT hellscape, I was surprised to find myself relatively…calm. Waiting. Biding my time for the right moment to get the fuck out of here.
Shep would be so proud.
He also would’ve known better than to use handcuffs on me if he didn’t want me to escape. Really, cuffs were child’s play, and I was almost insulted that the hired hand didn’t think I needed some heavy-duty rope work.
Not a very smart guy, this one.
He was also a noisy eater, and whatever he’d unwrapped and was currently shoving down his throat was enough to cover any sound I made as I carefully slid out of the handcuffs.
I was still pretending to be knocked out with my head hanging down, eyes slammed shut, though every now and again I’d crack one open to get a sense of where he was and what he was doing.
I set the handcuffs on the ground between my ass and the rock wall, and the relief was instant. They’d been too tight, and straining against them meant the wetness I felt there was probably blood.
Just add that to the list, then, since I could feel the warm trickle from my head wound as it dripped down the side of my face.
I was the picture of royalty, wasn’t I? The world knew I was rebellious, but they had no idea getting taken in the jungle was just another Tuesday night.
The sound of several somethings squeaking echoed in the shallow cave, and then I felt a rush of air over my head and heard a string of curses from the merc.
“Goddamn bats,” he said, and I made the mistake of peeking to see him jumping to his feet and swinging on the flying bloodsuckers.
I should’ve just kept my eyes shut, because now it was next to impossible to sit here and not run for my life.
Really, the priorities, Theo, I thought. Fear of death by merc? Nonexistent. Fear of bats? Ready to burn the world down to get the hell away.
A shudder ran through me as the merc continued to swat at them. His attention was off me now, and I took advantage by opening my eyes and scanning for a weapon or anything I could use.
Putain, really? The idiot was swinging at the bats with his crowbar, which meant that was off the table for me to grab. He had a couple of guns strapped to the sides of his pants, but I didn’t know if I could get close enough to steal one of those.
What else, what else…
I quickly scanned the cave floor, which was nothing but packed-down dirt.
There were a few small rocks scattered about, but nothing significant enough to cause the damage I wanted to.
Blood flow was just now coming back into my hands after being practically cut off for however long I’d been taken, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to use them to full capacity.
At least, not in the next thirty seconds.
I wiggled my toes and shifted my legs a little, making sure they were in working order. Other than feeling a bit numb—which hopefully wouldn’t fuck me when I stood up—they seemed okay.
“Yeah, and stay out, you fuckers,” the merc grumbled as the last of the bats flew out of the cave.
I quickly grabbed the few small rocks within my reach—pathetic, but with good aim it could buy me a few seconds.
Since my body obviously wasn’t in great working condition, I didn’t know if I could overpower this asshole the way I usually could.
My head was throbbing so bad my vision was starting to blur a little around the edges.
Maybe that was from blood loss. Either way, it wasn’t good, and though I was a reckless fool most of the time, I wasn’t about to die in the middle of the jungle.
I tried to keep hold of the rage I felt, but even that was slipping through my fingers.
All I could focus on now was getting away. Getting myself free and back to Shep. That was the plan, and I would make it happen.
“Still sleeping, Your Highness?” the merc said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he turned his attention back to where I was “knocked out” again.
I could hear his footsteps as he moved closer, could feel his presence looming over me like a shadow.
“I heard you were more of a fighter, but you’re just a pussy like the rest of them, aren’t you? ”
It was all I could do to keep my body still, especially when he kicked my foot.
I want to tear out your heart with my bare hands and make you eat it.
Then the idiot did exactly as I hoped—he crouched down in front of me.
I took my shot then, swinging my arm around and smashing the motherfucker square in the jaw with the rock I held. A howl of pain ripped from his mouth as he careened to the side, and I shoved up from the ground with every ounce of energy I could muster.
Once on my feet, I turned and landed a hard kick to my captor’s stomach, then one to his head.
He groaned and spat blood onto the ground, but when he started to stand, I knew I needed to get out of there.
He had more muscle than me and more fuel in the tank, and if a rock to the face and a boot to his temple hadn’t slowed him, nothing would.
That was when I did the one thing I loathed more than being on my best behavior—I ran away from a fight.
Merde. There was nothing I hated more than being weak, but I was also smart enough to know when I was at a disadvantage.
I hightailed it out of the cave and straight into the one place I promised myself I would never, ever visit again if I survived this horror show—the jungle.
I shuddered at the thought, trying not to think about the fact I was leaving behind one nightmare for another kind altogether. God only knew what I was running into, and with blood all over me as well.
My head was throbbing like a bitch, and so was my arm for that matter, as I bolted toward the thick, tangled vines up ahead. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. I didn’t have the safety net of weapons or even sight, as I ran headfirst into the black void that seemed my only option.
The debris crunched under my feet as I pushed through the thick leaves and branches, trying my hardest not to imagine all of the creepy-crawlies that came out at night. There were bats and, I knew firsthand, leeches, and Shep had mentioned monkeys and…fuck, jaguars.
Had he been serious? I wasn’t sure. But with blood plastered all over my face and who knew where else, I was sure I was as inviting to them right now as a royal banquet dinner would be to me.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.
The last thing I needed to do was worry about all the things that might want to kill me in the jungle as I ran from the asshole who would no doubt kill me once he took me out of the jungle.
Why was this happening? I still had no idea. But for some reason I’d been put on some sort of hit list. A hit list put together by the man on the phone. That was who was behind this. The man who’d made last-minute changes to the plan.
Mott…
“That’s not where you told me. Yeah, yeah, okay, so Mott. Got it.”
I kept that on repeat as the only piece of actual information that was useful. It meant something, it had to, and I’d be damned if I died before working out what.
That thought gave me the extra boost of adrenaline I needed to keep going, but as I veered off to the right, my foot snagged on a vine and I pitched forward. I landed with a resounding thud and cursed as pain splintered through what felt like my entire body.
It ricocheted up my arm, and that was when I realized there was a whole lot more going on there than just the cuts from the handcuffs.
I rolled to my back and pulled up my sleeve, and saw the deep cut up my arm.
I’d been so preoccupied by my fucked-up situation that I hadn’t noticed it before.
My capture and the marching band inside my head had taken precedence over everything else.
But as I pulled up my sleeve and got a good look at the mess on my arm, I knew exactly what that fuckwad had done—he’d cut out my tracker.
Putain. Now I was really fucked. I’d thought by getting away and heading out here to the jungle, Shep would at least be able to track me. But as I stared at the jagged scar up my forearm, a red haze of fury clouded my vision.
It was one thing for me to remove my tracker, but a whole other kind of violation that this piece of shit had done it. That he’d even known to do it was also a new piece of information I filed away. One that pissed me off with every second I lay there on the ground.
Get up, I told myself as I stared up at the canopy above. Get up, get moving, and get the fuck out of here. But as I moved to sit up, the jungle started to spin.
I clutched at my head, willing it to slow, as I struggled to get back on my feet and stay upright. The lack of food and loss of blood now overpowered the initial surge of adrenaline that had fueled me.
I blinked, trying to get some sort of idea of where to go next, what direction to head in, but it was no use.
Every choice looked as formidable as the next.
A black void of nothingness, filled with predators of all kinds.
Usually I’d be excited by that idea; I would revel in the hunt.
But the odds were against me, and that meant I needed to come up with a better plan, because my body wasn’t going to let me run much farther.
The sound of a gun cocking behind me had me going dead still.
“They said you weren’t the smartest of your little group,” the merc said, his voice a little slurred before he spat on the ground beside me. “They were right about that.”
I didn’t hesitate, swinging my arm around to knock the gun from his grip and sending it flying.
He must’ve pulled the trigger as it left his hand, though, because the sound of a gunshot echoed through the night air, sending up a flurry of birds or bats or whatever the fuck up out of the trees.
I didn’t wait around to see if I’d gotten hit before turning and slamming into his torso, knocking him back a few feet as I took him by surprise.
Merde, even with my adrenaline pumping, it was harder than it should be to tackle him. Normally he’d be on the ground already and I’d be making that ugly mug my punching bag.
But he stayed on his feet, which instantly put me at a disadvantage when he didn’t go down. He tried to wrap his arms around me, but I dug my boots into the mud, hoping that would make it impossible for him to lift me.
Balling my fist, I reached back with all my strength and pounded into his side, one after another, unrelenting.
He groaned with each hit, trying to push me off him, but I was like a dog with a bone.
I wasn’t stopping. He could’ve just let me go, but now it was going to come down to one of us leaving this place alive.
I didn’t like my odds, but I’d never go down without giving him every piece of rage I had inside me.
If I could get my hands on the other gun he had strapped to him, I had a chance. I didn’t know where the hell the one that went flying went, and I didn’t have time to look, so with every strike of my fist into him I lowered my hold on him with my other arm, feeling around for the gun.
Or a knife. Anything, really, to give me an advantage.
But suddenly my head flew back as the merc’s knee connected with my chin so hard I swore I could feel my brain rattling in my head. I fully expected to hit the ground, but when I didn’t, I realized it was only because he gripped my shirt tight in his fist, holding me off balance.
He sneered down at me with pure loathing, and then his fist connected with my jaw so hard I did hit the ground.
I couldn’t think. I couldn’t see. All I felt was pain, and it wasn’t just physical. Because if I stayed down, I’d never see Shep again, and that was more devastating than the realization that my body was failing me right now.
Putain—Shep. He’d blame himself. Even though none of this was his fault.
I just wished we hadn’t wasted time fighting our feelings instead of acting on them. We hadn’t gotten enough time.
“I was supposed to bring you in alive,” the merc said, standing over me now—with the gun I’d been searching for pointed down at me. “But you’ve pissed me off now.”
Well, that was something we had in common.
He held on to his side with one hand, like I’d done some damage there, and motioned with the gun for me to move.
“On your knees, Your Highness.”
“Fuck you, you ugly bastard.”
His swift kick to my ribs had me wincing, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of killing me the way he wanted.
He reached forward, gripped my shirt again, and hauled me to my knees. As he pressed the muzzle of the gun to my forehead, I could see blood staining his teeth and dripping down the side of his mouth from the hit I’d gotten on him.
Good. Maybe Shep and King would find him and finish off the job.
“I’ll send my regards to the palace,” he said, giving me a sinister smile.
His face wasn’t the last thing I wanted to see, though. So I closed my eyes, bringing Shep’s handsome face to my mind. He and my brothers, my fellow Kings, would avenge me. Everyone would pay.
I braced myself and, seconds later, heard the gunshot.
But I felt no pain. Maybe I was already dead?
Then the heavy weight of the man who’d shot me fell down on top of me.