Chapter 26
Randi
Randi had never been good at sitting quietly when something was wrong.
As the car sped through unfamiliar roads toward Noriveille with armed men surrounding them and Bryn trembling faintly beside her, she found that every ounce of restraint she had ever learned was being stretched to its absolute limit.
Her hands were clenched so tightly in her lap that her knuckles had gone pale. She tried to keep her breathing steady even as anger burned hot and sharp beneath her ribs.
“This is a mistake,” she said for what felt like the tenth time.
Her voice was controlled but laced with steel as she looked at the men across from them.
“Whatever you think you’re accomplishing here, you’re not, I promise you.
If you have even a shred of self-preservation, you’ll turn this car around and let us go before you make things worse for yourselves. ”
None of them responded. Not a glance, not even the courtesy of an acknowledgement that they had even heard her.
Randi’s temper flared hotter.
“Do you even understand what you’ve done?” She leaned forward despite the way Bryn’s hand tightened around her sleeve. “You’ve taken the Queen of Stagholt. How do you think King Sven is going to react? And me? I’m the woman connected to the man who just publicly declared war on your king.”
Still nothing. The silence was almost worse than if they had argued back.
Beside her, Bryn shifted and placed one hand protectively over her stomach. Her face was pale but composed in a way that made something protective twist fiercely in Randi’s chest.
Randi turned toward her and lowered her voice. “Hey,” she said gently. “You okay?”
Bryn nodded but she refused to meet Randi’s eyes. “I’m fine.”
Randi didn’t believe her but she also knew Bryn well enough to recognize when pushing wouldn’t help.
Instead, she reached over and took her hand. She gave it a light squeeze. “This is going to be okay. They don’t want to hurt you. I don’t even think King Gunner wants you hurt. You’re too valuable and he won’t want to face Sven.”
“What about you?” Bryn asked quietly.
Randi’s mouth tightened. “I’m a problem,” she said. “Which means I’m useful in a different way.”
By the time they reached Noriveille, Randi’s anger had settled into something colder and far more focused.
They were dragged from the car and ushered through stone corridors that felt narrower with every step until the air grew damp and stale.
The light dimmed into something oppressive as iron doors came into view.
The dungeon.
Of course. Randi didn’t fight when they pulled the heavy door open. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she knew better than to waste energy on a losing battle when she didn’t yet understand the rules. She also wouldn’t risk Bryn getting hurt.
Instead, she stayed close to her sister. Their shoulders brushed as they were shoved into a cell and the door slammed shut behind them with a final, echoing clang.
For a moment, there was silence. Then Bryn let out a shaky breath.
Randi turned to her immediately and closed the small distance between them. “Hey,” she murmured and took Bryn’s hands. “Look at me.”
Bryn’s eyes were bright with fear.
“I need you to promise me something.”
Bryn frowned faintly. “What?”
“If this turns into something worse,” Randi said and held her gaze, “you let me take it.”
Bryn’s expression tightened immediately. “No.”
“Yes,” Randi insisted. She tightened her grip.
“This is about me, Bryn. Whatever Gunner thinks he’s doing, whatever point he’s trying to make, it’s aimed at me, not you.
I don’t think he’s stupid enough to provoke Sven directly unless he absolutely has to, which means you’re his line he won’t cross. ”
“And you think I’m just going to stand by while he—”
“I think you have to,” Randi cut in, her voice sharper now. “You have to think about the baby.”
The words hung between them. Bryn swallowed, her hand instinctively moving to her stomach.
Randi gentled her tone. “I can handle him. I’ve handled worse. I work in corporate America, remember?”
It wasn’t entirely true, but it was enough.
After a long moment, Bryn nodded, though reluctance lingered in every line of her expression. “Fine,” she agreed softly. “But I’m not going to make it easy for him.”
Randi snorted. “Wouldn’t expect you to.”
They made themselves as comfortable as they could in the dank environment. The cell door opened again sooner than Randi expected. The harsh scrape of metal against stone before guards stepped inside.
“On your feet,” one of them ordered.
Randi rose slowly. Her posture stiffened as she moved in front of Bryn when King Gunner entered the cell.
His presence commanded in a way that had nothing to do with kindness and everything to do with control.
His gaze locked on her with an intensity that felt like she was being pinned in place. She refused to break the stare.
“So,” he said, his voice low and edged with something sharp, “we meet again.”
Randi lifted her chin slightly. She refused to flinch. “I don’t think we really met the first time.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re the reason my son has declared war on his own home.”
Randi blinked once before she let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“That might be the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day.
He’s been gone for years, and I’ve only known him for a fraction of that, but I’m pretty sure he hasn’t counted this place as home for over half his life.
So unless you think I’ve mastered time travel, you might want to rethink that accusation. ”
A flicker of annoyance crossed Gunner’s face. “Love makes people stupid,” he said coldly.
Randi’s jaw tightened. “Is that what you’re calling it?” she shot back, before the words could stop themselves. “Is that why you killed your wife and your son, because you loved them?”
The impact came fast. Her head snapped to the side as his hand struck her cheek. The force of it rang through her skull as a burst of pain followed.
Behind her, Bryn gasped and tried to step forward. “Don’t you dare hit her.”
Randi moved to block her. “Don’t.” She straightened and turned her head back to face Gunner while fury burned in her veins.
“That all you’ve got?”
The second slap came harder. Pain flared again, sharper this time, but Randi didn’t let herself fall or look away. If he wanted a reaction, she wasn’t going to give him the one he expected.
“You’re a genius at making mistakes,” she hissed, her voice edged with something dangerous. “And other than the fact that you kidnapped us in the first place, you just made a really big one.”
Gunner’s gaze darkened. “And what mistake would that be?”
“You dared hurt me, which means when Chance gets here, he’s not going to hesitate to retaliate.”
A faint, dismissive smile touched Gunner’s lips. “My son doesn’t have the backbone for that.”
Randi ignored the throbbing pain in her face. “You really don’t know him at all, do you?”
Gunner spun on his heel and stormed out. Randi turned and hugged Bryn while fighting back tears. Her bravado almost slipped, but holding her sister, she knew she had to hold on.
They didn’t stay in the dungeon long after that. Within the hour, the guards returned. Their movements were more urgent this time as they hauled both women back through the corridors and out into the night where another car waited with its engine already running.
Randi stared at Gunner as they were pushed inside. His expression was tight and cocky as he sat across from them, but there was something else there too.
Something almost like unease.
As the car sped away from the castle and into the mountains, Randi leaned her head back against the seat. Her pulse raced as she watched him.
“You’re afraid.”
Gunner didn’t respond.
Bryn clicked her tongue. “If I knew Sven was after me alongside Chance, I’d be afraid, too.”
Randi snapped her fingers. “That’s why you’re moving us. Because keeping us locked up in plain sight suddenly doesn’t feel so safe anymore.”
His jaw tightened, but he still said nothing.
Randi let out a huff. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
They drove on through the night. The cave was high in the mountains, hidden well enough that it might have gone unnoticed under any other circumstances. But even as they were dragged inside, Randi knew it wouldn’t matter because Chance would find her.
She didn’t know how he would do that, but she just knew that he would.
They were moved deep into the cavern. The wind howled faintly outside and the air inside the cave remained cold and still. Every sound was amplified by the stone walls. Time blurred after that and without being able to see outside, Randi had no idea if it were still dark or if the sun had risen.
Bryn sat quietly on a bench in the corner with her eyes closed. She just patted Randi’s hand and reassured her everything was fine.
When the guards suddenly alerted and headed toward the entrance, Randi heard voices outside. Her head snapped up as something changed in the atmosphere of the cave. It was something electric and immediate that sent a sharp awareness through her entire body.
“He’s here,” she whispered.
Bryn looked at her, wide-eyed. “Maybe Sven is here, too.”
They had been found. Someone must have talked. A flicker of realization cut through her thoughts. One of Gunner’s men was a traitor and had betrayed their king.
The idea barely had time to settle before everything exploded into motion. The men rushed outside shouting. The sound of something massive bellowed and the ground trembled faintly beneath their feet.
Randi moved toward the cave’s entrance before she could stop herself with Bryn close behind her. When they reached the opening where she could see the valley, her breath caught.
Dragons.
Massive and powerful, their wings cut through the sky as they circled and clashed above the mountain. Fire and fury colliding in a storm of movement and sound that was both terrifying and awe-inspiring all at once.
Her eyes searched frantically for Chance. She knew it was him without a doubt, even in the middle of the violent sky.
“There’s Sven.” Bryn pointed and then suddenly turned. “Wait. You know?”
“About their dragon personas? Yeah, I know.”
“And yet you don’t know that you’re in love with the man.”
Randi almost smirked at her sister’s snark. She watched as Chance almost took a stream of fire to his neck. Fear hit her then in a way that stole the breath from her lungs as she watched the battle unfold.
He could get hurt, or worse. Her hands curled into fists at her sides and her entire body tensed as she stood there, unable to look away even as terror gripped her chest.
Because suddenly, it wasn’t the danger that mattered. It wasn’t the war, or the kingdom, or even the fact that she had been taken.
It was him. Bryn was right.
The realization hit her with a force that left no room for denial and no space to hide from it anymore.
Loving Chance had never been the dangerous part.
Losing him was.