Chapter 16 Aurelia
Aurelia
I jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans.
Medusa seemed to know that something serious had happened, because she never got up when I peed in the middle of the night or when I doomscrolled on my phone because I couldn’t sleep. But she jumped off the bed and stood beside me—like she was guarding me.
I pulled on my bra and a top, not caring what I wore or if it matched.
I slipped on a pair of flats, my heart racing so fast it made me dizzy.
Constantine gave me no context in his phone call, but I assumed something bad had transpired if he felt pressured to move me somewhere else.
The place was already surrounded by a wall, tall and thick like the one around the Vatican, and armed guards were everywhere.
If it wasn’t safe here, where was it safe?
I shoved my essentials into a bag and zipped it closed—and that was when I noticed how hard my hands shook. I didn’t know where Constantine was. I knew he was okay at the moment, but how long would that moment last? Who had threatened him enough to make him move me?
I looked at Medusa, who was still seated beside me. “He’ll be okay . . . he’ll be okay.”
She continued to stare at me with those dark-brown eyes . . . eyes that reminded me of Constantine.
I took a breath before I got to my feet and threw the bag over my shoulder. “Okay, let’s go. I’m guessing they’ll pick us up outside.” We left the bedroom and stepped out of the golden doors into the hallway. We were only halfway down it when we heard it.
The sound of gunshots.
A lot of gunshots. Automatic weapons, hundreds of rounds passing through the barrels in just a few seconds. It was hard to know where it came from because the palace was enormous, but if I could hear it so well . . . that wasn’t a good sign.
“Shit.”
Medusa released a low growl as she stared at the door at the end of the corridor.
“Fuck, what do we do?”
She growled again, baring her teeth as she stared down the door.
“Think, think, think.” I could call Constantine, but if someone had hit the palace, he probably already knew about it. I had to survive long enough for him to get here. “I need a gun.” I dropped the bag and headed back to the suite, knowing Constantine had stuff in the closet.
I made it back into the bedroom and stepped into the walk-in closet.
I flicked on the light and looked around frantically, opening the drawer where he kept his watches, trying to open the locked safe in the back.
I felt like there was a gun around all the time, and then when I actually needed one, there were none to be found.
“Maybe his nightstand.” I headed back to the bedroom and opened the top drawer of his nightstand.
There it sat, a large black handgun. I picked it up, felt the weight of it in my hand, and checked the safety to make sure it was off.
I had no idea if it was loaded and didn’t know how to check, but I assumed it was.
Medusa came back to me.
“Okay, we’ll just lie low—”
There was more gunfire, and this time, it was loud. Loud enough that I nearly jumped out of my skin. Medusa didn’t bark, but she released a vicious growl as she turned back to the door.
I dropped down and squatted by the bed, dropping the gun on the rug beside me as I gave a loud cry in sheer terror. The only reason the sound of gunshots was getting louder was because they were coming closer, and they were getting closer because they were coming for me.
This was what Constantine warned me about. The price I had to pay to be with him.
He promised nothing would ever happen to me, but I had to fight like he wasn’t coming. Had to buy him enough time to get to me. Because I knew he was rushing through the streets that very moment to stop whoever had come for me.
“Come on, Aurelia.” I picked up the gun again and rose to my feet before I headed to the double golden doors. Medusa was in the hallway, looking down the corridor, growling and baring her teeth like she was prepared to take them all down by herself.
“Medusa, get over here.” I looked at the double gold doors, the ones that were so heavy I could barely move them. “They won’t be able to get through these. Come on.”
To my surprise, she came right away.
And then I heard voices in the corridor, like they’d rounded the corner at the end of the hallway.
“Oh shit.” I set down the gun and started to push the doors shut, using my entire body to make the doors that weighed tons creak shut. It was like moving a car in neutral, except I couldn’t get any momentum because the doors were on hinges instead of wheels.
“Anyone home?” a guy taunted from down the hallway. “Empress?” he mocked.
These were not the kind of men I wanted to face.
That gave me a burst of energy, and I finally got the doors shut in the center.
I threw the handle and enabled the lock before I scooted back and grabbed the gun again.
“That should stop them . . . right?” They had to be bulletproof.
And the lock was concealed within the golden metal, so there was no way they could shoot it.
Medusa stood at the door and growled louder, her stance tense like she was prepared to rip someone’s throat out.
I was so glad she was there. I couldn’t imagine doing this alone.
Then I heard the spray of bullets on the other side, machine guns firing against the golden doors. Even with the barrier between us, it was so loud I couldn’t hear my own scream. I covered my ears to protect my eardrums before I crawled away.
Medusa came with me.
I crawled to the threshold of the bedroom, then looked back, seeing the dents form in the metal from all the bullets.
Then the sound stopped.
“Please tell me it’s over.” Crouched on the floor like a bullet would fly over my head any second, I waited with Medusa, hoping Constantine and his men were on the other side, neutralizing the threat that came right to my door.
But then the gunshots resumed.
I covered my ears again and closed my eyes.
Guess they just needed to reload.
Minutes later, they did enough damage that one of the golden doors fell back and collapsed on the floor, the force so strong it literally shook the floors as if an earthquake had struck Rome.
I’d hoped Constantine would get there before they made it through, but I really was on my own.
“Empress, I’d like a word.” I couldn’t see what he looked like because I was still hidden around the corner, but his voice was deep like Constantine’s—though it was far more sinister. “Come out on your own, or I’ll drag you out by your ankle. Choice is yours.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
What the fuck do I do?
I gripped my gun until my knuckles hurt, but it was useless against their automatic weapons. I didn’t know how many guys there were, but even if it was just the guy who threatened me, I was still outmatched. I could tell from his voice alone.
“Was hoping you’d say that.” His footsteps came as he stepped into the entryway with the round table in the center. He could have gone to the right, where the dining room was, but he seemed to somehow know I was to the left. His footsteps grew louder.
And then Medusa aimed to kill. She rushed him with a speed I’d never seen her use before. She jumped right on him and sank her teeth into his arm.
He didn’t cry out, but he grunted from the bite.
I jumped from around the corner and fired my gun in his direction, not sure if I hit my mark because I’d purposely kept the lights off so it’d be harder for them to see. I fired several times, knowing one of those bullets had to hit my target.
He flung Medusa off him like a 150-pound dog weighed nothing—and she soared across the room until she hit the wall.
“No!”
She collapsed on the floor but didn’t get up right away. She was alert and aware but disoriented.
I looked back at the man who’d thrown her like a Frisbee and saw he was enormous, like a mountain. But unlike Constantine, his strength was utterly terrifying. With dark hair and midnight-black eyes, he looked like a demon in human form. Just one look at him told me this man was pure evil.
He glanced at his arm, which was badly gashed and bloody, then shrugged it off and looked at me.
He looked at me like he fucking hated me. A snarled curl to his lip, vengeance in his eyes like I was the one who’d provoked him when he was the one who’d broken into my home.
I caught Medusa moving in the corner of my eye, seeing her try to get up but struggling to do so. When I looked at her fully, I realized her leg was broken, but she was still trying to protect me. Still growling. Still fighting the agony she must feel everywhere. Then she started to limp toward us.
My assailant pulled out his gun and aimed it at her.
“Wait, wait, she’ll stop.” I made the hand gesture I’d seen Constantine make last week. Some kind of sign that told her to heel.
Her growls quieted and she lay back down, but she continued to bare her teeth like she couldn’t suppress her rage.
“She’s not a problem. Just leave her alone.”
He lowered the gun and gave me his full attention. “You do realize I’m going to shove my dick in your ass, torture you, and then kill you in the most painful way possible . . . and you care about a fucking dog?”
I inhaled a sharp breath and couldn’t hide the terror that gripped my windpipe and didn’t let go. I knew I was in trouble, but I’d been in trouble before with Pierre and his crew. Though, this . . . this was something else. “I’ll go without a fight. Just let her go.”
“Does it look like I’m worried about a fight?” He slipped the gun into the back of his jeans. “Drop the gun and let’s go.”
I could try to shoot him again—and not miss.
He stared me down. “You’re out. But go ahead and try it. Every bullet you pump into me, your dog will get two.”