Chapter 33 – Sebastian
SEBASTIAN
Isit in the car, my hands gripping my thighs so tightly my knuckles turn white. Javier and Rowan are with me, their faces tense as they stare at the tracking app on Javier’s phone. We’re waiting for Charlotte, the woman I once trusted to care for my children, to hopefully leave the palace.
All I can think about is Bellamy and how I desperately need to find her.
“Sebastian, relax,” Javier says softly, trying to calm me down. But how can I relax when my world is being turned upside down and my wife is potentially in danger?
“You’re kidding with that, right?”
“I’m not. We have to stay calm and levelheaded. With Samil, not doing so nearly cost you your life.”
“Like I give two shits about my life right now.”
He gives me a side-eye that attempts to remind me I am not only the king of a country but also the father of three with more on the way. And while I’d give my life equally for my country and my children, it’s impossible to rein myself in.
“I know,” I reply, my voice hoarse from worry. “It’s just… What if she doesn’t lead us to Bellamy? What then?”
“Then we’ll keep searching until we find her,” Rowan chimes in firmly. His fierce determination reassures me, but only slightly. He loves Bellamy like a sister, and when Rowan is determined, nothing gets in his way.
The tracking app linked to Charlotte’s phone blares out an alarm, making me start. “What the fuck is that?”
“She turned off the tracking on her phone.” Javier turns and gives me an evil grin. “That’s what we want. It means she doesn’t want us to know what she’s up to. Good thing I have a tracking device planted in her car.”
Rowan makes a gruff noise. “Good thing is right.”
Suddenly the device linked to her car pings through his phone, and we watch as Charlotte’s location begins to move. My heart races, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
“She’s in her car,” Javier announces, and I immediately slam forward against the dashboard, needing to move at light speed. “Give her a minute. We won’t lose her. She doesn’t know we’re watching her.”
“Let’s go,” I growl. “Hit the gas. We can follow Charlotte from a safe distance.”
“The last thing we want is for her to somehow spot us and know we’re on to her,” Rowan admonishes.
“Yes,” Javier agrees. “Stay calm, Sebastian. We’ve got this.”
“Easy for you to say,” I mutter, forcing myself to take deep breaths. My mind races with thoughts of what might have happened to Bellamy while in Charlotte’s grasp. Or even worse, what could have already happened to her. I can’t bear the thought of her being hurt or worse. Not again. Not ever.
“Sebastian, focus,” Javier orders, his voice cutting through my anxiety. “We need to be patient. She’ll lead us to Bellamy, and we’ll get her back.”
“Right.” I nod, trying to remind myself that my wife is strong and resourceful. She always has been. She never needed me the way I needed her. She’s smart and brave and bold and so fucking beautiful and perfect.
And I fucked up.
So, so badly with her.
I need the chance to make this better. To mend the hurt I inflicted. To show her she is mine forever. My wife, my heart, my soul.
Finally, we start to go, and as we follow Charlotte’s car, it feels like time is moving unbearably slowly. I just want to race ahead, grab Bellamy, and bring her back where she belongs. With me and our children. But I know we can’t afford to make any mistakes.
My heart thuds in my chest as I force myself to clear my thoughts and maintain slow, steady breaths. For the sake of my family, I need to keep my emotions in check and see this through to the end, no matter how much it kills me inside.
Charlotte drives west, skirting along the border of where the Alps rise from the earth as she heads into open land.
This part of Messalina is among the most uninhabited in the country.
Nothing like the southern farmlands or the busy towns and cities.
If we keep heading straight, eventually we’ll hit France, but before that, about fifty kilometers from here, is the city of Alves near the border, but something tells me that’s not where she’s going.
And I’m proven right as we watch her car stop in what appears to be a forest on the map.
“She’s stopped five kilometers ahead of us, so we’ve got her.”
I give Javier the nod and we drive into the forest, over rocky terrain and unpaved roads. Up ahead there’s a clearing, and Rowan grabs my arm, squeezing it tight, the three of us silent as we slow so our car isn’t heard approaching.
Abandoned ruins loom before us, a haunting reminder of a time long gone.
“That structure has to date back to medieval times,” Rowan states, and he’s likely not wrong. The building, if you can even call it that, is made entirely from stone, half of it broken down from disuse and weather. But it’s the fortress nature of it that gives me pause.
It’s the perfect place to hide someone you don’t want to escape or be found. And if Charlotte hadn’t led us here, we never, ever would have found Bellamy.
Charlotte’s car is parked nearby, and my heart races with anticipation. “Look at this place,” I breathe out, my fingers tingling and my muscles charged and ready for whatever is coming.
“Bellamy has to still be alive,” Rowan states. “No other reason to return so quickly.”
“Yes,” Javier agrees. “But it also makes her more dangerous to Bellamy that she did so. Stay sharp.” He pulls out his gun, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger.
“Let’s go get her,” Rowan exclaims, anticipation evident in his voice, his movements steady as he pulls out his own gun, and I do the same with mine.
I hate that my brother has a gun. I hate that I have one too.
I’ve been trained to shoot, but it was never one of my favorite things nor something I ever relished.
Now we’re hunting a woman, and while I’ll show her no mercy for what she’s done to my wife, it doesn’t sit well with me.
As we step out of the car, the air feels heavy, filled with the weight of what’s at stake.
The old stone walls of the ruins are cold and uninviting, but I know that somewhere within them, Bellamy is waiting for me.
The thought sends fire through my veins.
Not from fear, but from an overwhelming need to get to her.
We move quietly, our footsteps barely audible on the cracked, overgrown path leading into the ruins. I swallow hard, trying to keep my nerves at bay, but it’s difficult when every fiber of my being is screaming to rush in and rescue Bellamy.
“Stay behind me, Your Majesty,” Javier instructs, using my title to keep me in line and force me to remember my purpose.
It works, but just barely, and I do as he asks, especially when his gun is at the ready.
I swallow, gripping my own weapon tightly, my heart hammering in my chest, threatening to burst through at any moment.
I take a deep breath, steadying myself as we continue forward. The closer we get to where I believe Bellamy is being held, the stronger my nerves become, like an electric current coursing through my body.
“Stay low,” Javier warns in a whisper as we step over the threshold of the dilapidated building. It’s larger inside than I anticipated, cool, dank, and dark. I can barely see what’s in front of us, but a noise at the far end of the building has all three of us shifting in that direction.
As we edge closer to it, my mind races with thoughts of what I’ll say to Bellamy when we’re finally reunited. How I’ll hold her in my arms and never let go. But I know there’s no time for sentimentality. Not yet. First, we have to ensure her safety and disarm Charlotte.
My palms grow sweaty on the grip of my gun, and I’m reminded of that night with Samil.
I barged into the third floor of the library and found my wife bleeding from her neck.
I had no gun that night and foolishly played games with the knife I took from him.
I made a lot of mistakes that night. I’ve made even more since, and I’m determined to prove to Bellamy—and myself—that I will always fight for her and our family, no matter the cost.
Creeping through the shadowy corridors of the abandoned ruins, sweat drips down the back of my neck.
Each step we take feels weighted with anticipation and dread.
The sound we heard before—something similar to a bang—is gone, replaced with an eerie, suffocating silence as we navigate deeper into the heart of this forsaken place.
“Stop,” Javier whispers urgently, motioning for us to crouch behind a crumbling wall. Peering cautiously around the corner, I spot Charlotte standing in a dim room as she says things we can’t hear to Bellamy. My blood runs cold at the sight.
I stand, ready to charge in when Javier grabs me, holding me back. “Let me handle this,” he murmurs, his eyes never leaving the scene unfolding before us. His voice is firm, resolute.
“Fuck that!” I snarl, fury lacing my words. “She’s my wife—”
“And I told you after Samil, I wasn’t going to let you do anything stupid again.”
Charlotte raises a gun and points it at Bellamy, and my heart stops.
Instinct takes over, and I stand, moving into action before I even know what I’m doing.
On my next breath, I fire my gun with deadly precision.
The bullet strikes Charlotte’s gun arm at her wrist, causing her to scream in agony.
Her gun clatters to the ground as pieces of bone, blood, and tissue spray around it.
Javier’s bullet splinters the wall right beside Charlotte a second after mine hits her.
If I hadn’t already fired, making her react, it would have hit her right in the head.
Bellamy’s terrified scream pierces the air, echoing throughout the ruins.
But I knew I wasn’t going to miss. I knew I’d hit my target.
“That is not what we talked about,” Javier gripes, but he’ll get over it.