Chapter Four
Sven
Sven squinted against the glaring light as he tried to open his eyes.
He gave up the attempt as pain shot through his head.
He knew he was in his chambers by the steady tick of the grandfather clock that stood in the corner.
He also knew that Lars was close by so he remained still.
There would be questions, accusations, and lectures.
He needed a moment before it all started.
He needed to remember her.
Even in his weakened state, he knew the woman who had helped him was the same one he had watched enjoy the sun. The same one who had instantly bound herself to him by a simple touch. He inwardly groaned. The same one who had made him…reckless.
He needed answers, and he could no longer avoid the inevitable.
Sven forced his eyes open. His first thought was that death felt like pins and needles stabbing his brain from the inside out.
His second was that the ticking of the clock was harsh and painful.
Normally the sound soothed him, but now, the incessant noise made him suffer.
He blinked again against the burn of harsh light and tried to make the room focus.
Lars’s low voice came from somewhere behind him. “You’re awake.”
Sven swung his legs off the bed and attempted to sit up. Every muscle in his body protested. Lars stood near the doorway with his arms crossed and one foot against the wall. Beside him, Sven could see through the window that it was dark outside.
“How long?” His voice was dry and hoarse.
“Several hours. Most of the day, actually.”
Sven held his head in his hands as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Where’s Erik?”
Lars walked closer and sat in a chair next to the night stand.
When he didn’t answer, Sven glanced up at him. Lars’s jaw was clenched with tension and even though his words sounded calm, his eyes gave him away. Dark, piercing, and edged with fury.
“Where is he?” Sven asked again and dry coughed as his throat protested.
“Here.” Lars handed him a glass of water. “Drink it slow.” He hesitated. “And we have no idea.”
The water was cold and soothing. Sven ignored the warning and drank heavily. He gagged when his stomach protested.
“Easy,” Lars warned. “I told you to drink it slow.” He snorted. “But since when do you listen to me?”
There it is. Let the lecture begin.
Sven held up his hand. He needed just another minute of peace and took another sip of water, much smaller this time. He glanced at his bloody hands and torn shirt that had been ripped away and hung crookedly from his shoulders. The wound itself was almost healed, but not quite.
“What is going on? My dragon should have healed me already.”
He searched his memory for any pieces that might be missing.
Staring at the woman. Getting out of the car.
Looking back at her and making eye contact that shot right through him.
Then the sickening punch in his chest and falling to his knees.
But where most had run, she had run straight to him.
He remembered just before darkness threatened to swallow him, her tenderness and scared voice urging him. I’ve got you. Stay with me.
Sven blinked, fighting through the fog. “I’m lucky I didn’t shift when I was hit.
” He wondered what the woman would have done if he had suddenly turned into a dragon while she comforted him.
It would have been a nightmare if he had.
Stagholt had no idea they were ruled by dragon kings and queens, and the repercussions could have been great.
“They dipped the arrow in that new toxin that prevents shifting.” Sven’s royal medical team had been working on a vaccine that would make the toxin ineffective.
“Luckily, even though our doctors haven’t figured out exactly what it is, they know enough about it that they were able to reverse some of the effects so you could heal. ”
“I should have listened to you.” Might as well meet the wrath head on.
“No shit.” Lars leaned forward in his chair. “You have no idea how close you came. The archer had to be on the roof, straight on to you, and how he missed your heart is beyond me. It was an easy shot.”
“It was her.” The words slipped out before he thought.
“Her? Her, who?”
“The woman who helped me.” There was no hiding anything now. “She had walked behind the car and I turned to see where she went.” His breath hitched. “If I hadn’t turned to look at her…”
“You’d be dead.”
The words hung in the air.
Sven suddenly remembered his brother. “Did you say you have no idea where Erik is?”
“He never came out of the airport as far as we know. He was still on the passenger manifest, but we can’t confirm if he was on the flight or not.”
“You think this was Skelvarns? Magnus?”
Lars shrugged. “Could be. Arrows are their weapon of choice.” He cleared his throat. “Could have been Erik.”
Sven’s head snapped up and he instantly regretted the quick movement. “How dare you.”
“How dare I?” Lars stood up so fast the chair skidded backwards.
“You insisted on going alone to see a brother who has been missing for two years doing who the hell knows what. Someone who knew you would be at that airport. Nothing from the Skelvarns in months and suddenly they choose today to pull off an assassination attempt?”
“Erik had nothing to do with it.” Sven refused to even contemplate the option. He snapped his fingers. “What if they took Erik?”
He could read the doubt on his friend’s face. Lars shook his head. “We’d have known by now. There would be demands.”
“Not if they think I’m dead.”
“Pretty sure they know you’re not dead. If that woman is working for them, she would have told them that you were alive when she last saw you.”
“That woman was not involved. She helped me.”
“Pretty convenient, don’t you think? She just happened to be there to distract you?”
Anger rose. Sven slapped the bed. “If she hadn’t distracted me, I’d be dead, remember?”
“Mistake on her part.”
Sven almost growled. “She had nothing to do with it. I’m sure Coben has talked to her.”
Lars’s shoulders dropped a bit of the tension.
“He did. He cleared her. Everything she said was true, and he checked with the family that she claimed to be her new employers. Other than they were surprised she was a couple days early, they confirmed her story. They were expecting her to start working for them on Monday. She was on the same flight as Erik but we have no idea if they knew each other, although their seat numbers were close together.”
“I need to know who she is.”
“Why? Everything has been handled. Coben wants to talk to you, of course, and I told him that I’d let him know when you were up for questions.”
Sven exhaled, but didn’t argue. At least when he talked to Coben, he could get some answers about who the woman was. He understood Lars’s reluctance where she was concerned, but he also remembered the feeling of her brushing his hair back and her calm strength. She hadn’t left him.
“She wasn’t hurt, was she? Did the archer shoot at her?”
“No,” Lars replied, “another worrisome detail. She blocked you from the shooter’s position, whether intentionally or accidentally, so either they didn’t shoot to avoid hitting her, or Magnus told them no collateral damage.”
“We’ll go with the second option. Magnus may be a terrorist, but he’s an honorable one.”
At that, Lars let out a laugh. “Well if that isn’t an oxymoron.”
Sven tried to gather all of his scattered thoughts. “Maybe if we find the woman, she can tell us if Erik was on the plane.”
“How would she know that? And what is it with this woman?” Lars stopped pacing and stared at him.
Sven’s pulse spiked. He couldn’t explain it himself yet. “She saved my life.”
“And again, she may just as easily have been a part of the setup,” Lars shot back. “Think, Sven. Crowd panics and who conveniently ends up at your side? Some stranger from Alabama that nobody knows? Smells wrong to me.”
At least now he knew where she was from. Sven tried to stand but pain flared white-hot through his ribs. “We really need to figure out what this toxin is,” he hissed. “I’m not used to feeling like this when we heal so easily.”
“Agreed,” Lars said flatly. “And as far as the woman goes, I don’t trust coincidences.”
“She wasn’t part of it.” Sven’s voice was harsher than he meant and he was sick of the repeat argument. “I know it.”
Lars’s brows lifted. “You know it? You exchanged what, five words? You were bleeding out, Sven. You had no idea what you were doing.”
Sven knew that he didn’t have logic on his side. Just instinct. “She was there when I needed her.”
Finally Lars muttered, “Maybe to keep you alive long enough for someone else to finish the job later. Maybe you should put as much attention on Alitta, the woman who could very well be your mate.”
“She’s not my mate.” Sven finally got to his feet and took a few steps. “I need to move around and maybe work the toxin out of my system so I can finish healing.”
The door opened and Sven’s personal doctor, Martin, walked in. “Well, look who’s on their feet already.”
“It’s going to take more than an arrow to keep me down.”
Martin folded his arms across his chest. “It almost did. Don’t downplay the fact that you almost died. I’ve doubled the team to figure out what the hell this toxin is before we have another, err, incident.”
Lars coughed in the background.
“Yeah, I know,” Sven conceded. “No more going off by myself. Listen to the head of my guard. Take precautions. I know.”
“Who was the healer that helped you?”
He looked at Martin with a frown. “The healer?”
“Yeah. The one who had already neutralized some of the toxins before you got here. In ways that I have no idea how it was done.”
“Well, that makes two of us because I have no idea.”
“You really were lucky this time, Sven.” He patted his shoulder. “And I’d like to talk to whoever was there. She has something special. And in the meantime, avoid going out in public.”
He nodded at the doctor. “I know. And next time, my guardian angel,” he stressed the words for Lars’s sake, “may not be there to watch over me.”
Martin picked up a small wash tub full of towels off the dresser. “We won’t be needing these anymore. Come down to my office when you feel up to it. I want to do another round of bloodwork to make sure everything leaves your system.”
A clanking sound made Sven frown. “What is that? Part of the arrow?”
“Oh no,” Martin answered. “Coben took that long ago.” He dug to the bottom of the tub and retrieved a small metal object. “You had this clenched in your hand when you arrived, but Coben had already left with the arrow before I found it.” He glanced at Lars. “I, uhh, forgot to tell you about it.”
Sven grabbed it. His fingers clenched around the cool metal before he looked at it closely under a lamp. A small ring. Tiny sapphire dragon eyes reflected in the light. His breath caught. He didn’t remember grabbing it, but he must have in those chaotic moments.
Lars saw it too, and his eyes narrowed. “Where did that come from?”
“This is hers.” Sven closed his hand protectively. “It must have slipped off her finger when she was holding my hand.” He could suddenly feel the reassuring pressure from her fingers. “I must have held onto it.”
“Or she planted it for whatever reason,” Lars snapped. “Give it to me. I’ll have it checked.”
“No.” The word was iron. Sven met Lars’s gaze with a steadiness that surprised even himself. “It’s hers and I will keep it until it can be returned.”
Lars leaned back and exhaled hard. “You don’t even know her name.”
“I’ll find out.” His voice was quiet. “Coben will know.” And would tell him one way or the other. Sven didn’t care who found her, but he was going to find out who she was.
Lars shook his head. “You’re impossible.”
Before they could continue their looping argument, the door opened again and Freya Aftervadee rushed into the room. She ignored Lars and Martin and went straight to her son.
“I just heard. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mother,” Sven answered and gave her a hug. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Word travels so slow in this castle. I’m just now hearing about it. And on the television, of all places.”
Sven could only imagine the media nightmare. He gave her a weak smile. “You always say find the silver lining to any situation, and apparently in this case, it’s the fact that you left your apartment. You haven’t been out in a really long time.”
Freya waved her hands. “Oh, poppycock. I leave my chambers more than you know. I just don’t get caught.”
His eyes widened. “Seriously?”
She gave a quick shrug. “Don’t get me wrong. I still have no desire to do much of anything. But sometimes it’s nice to take a walk outside these walls.” She glanced at Lars. “Without a babysitter.”
Sven could feel his guard stiffen at her words. “I can see where your son gets his stubbornness from. But I must insist. After today, you need to be sure to take a guard with you.”
She patted his shoulder and glanced at Lars. “I’ve already resigned myself to that fact. I’ll stick to staying within the castle boundaries until this mess is taken care of. If they were crazy enough to shoot the king, they wouldn't hesitate to take out his old mother.”
“Have you been to see Grandmother?” If his mother had seen the story on television, chances were his grandmother had also.
“Not yet. I figured she’d send for me once she found out. You know we’ve never been overly close. When your father died, I swear she blamed me for losing her only son. We haven’t spoken much since his funeral.”
Sven yawned and returned to sit on the side of the bed. Family drama was not on the books for him at the moment. Martin cleared his throat. “Everyone out. We need to let him rest.”
Freya kissed Sven’s cheek. “I’ll check on you in the morning.”
Lars half-saluted on his way to the door. “There will be guards. Everywhere.”
“I have no doubt.” Sven watched them all leave before he laid back on the bed and held the ring up. “I’ll find you. Whoever you are.” He needed to find his brother, too. Quickly.