Chapter 12
Galen didn’t breathe until he saw Theo and Meg walk into town.
Leaving them had been the hardest fucking thing he’d had to do, but with someone hunting them in the trees, Galen was the best equipped to handle the problem.
He started the car he’d stolen from the guy and drove to them.
Theo carefully set Meg in the backseat and followed her in.
Good. She looked three seconds from passing out, though the patch job on her arm was well done.
Theo scrubbed a hand over his face. “Let’s go.”
“No.” Meg shifted on her seat like the car might explode around them. “Theo needs to get the birth certificate.”
Theo spun on her with a curse. “We talked about this. You need a fucking doctor and probably a blood transfusion.”
“Probably.” She sank back into the seat and closed her eyes. “But I’m just going to keep fighting with you until you do what you need to do, getting weaker all the while.”
It was a brilliant play.
Theo glared at Galen, but he just shrugged.
The truth was they needed that damn birth certificate and as much as he wanted to gather up them both and get the fuck out of this country, they’d come here for a reason.
The cause was greater than all of them as individuals.
But he knew his friend and he knew that Theo wouldn’t agree to shit without some kind of compromise. “We know a doctor.”
Theo’s jaw went tight, his thoughts obviously following the path Galen’s had taken. “Not her.”
“She’s all we have.”
“Fuck. Fine. Call her.” He turned back to Meg, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Hurry.”
Galen made the call, got the address. It was two villages over, which was the only silver lining in what had become a shitshow of a day.
“She’s asleep,” Theo murmured. “Tell me.”
“One man. He was trained too well to give up who sent him, and I didn’t have time to convince him to see things my way.
He went for his knife. I got to mine faster.
” He kept his voice monotone. Theo didn’t like the lengths Galen was willing to go for him—for them—but Galen had made his peace with his role a long time ago.
No monarch made it through their reign without getting their hands bloody.
He spared Theo as many of those hard decisions as he possibly could.
It was the least he could do after what Theo had done for him.
“It’s not safe to go back to the house.”
Galen checked the rearview and kept driving.
“I’ll take care of it.” He didn’t trust this doctor, but he could bank on her hating Phillip enough that she wouldn’t turn over information about them.
That was all he could bank on. After they dealt with the marriage certificate, Galen could stash them somewhere to rest and circle back to the house to get the things they needed.
They weren’t going to get far without their shit.
“No. No more risks. You’ve done more than enough. I’ll do it.”
He tightened his grip on the wheel. Theo wasn’t normally squeamish about letting him handle shit, but this morning had shaken all of them.
When he’d wrestled himself out of the seatbelt and turned around to find Theo unconscious and Meg bleeding out from a huge gash in her arm…
Galen hadn’t known fear like that in years.
Not since they were nineteen and Theo’s horse had thrown him.
He shuddered at both memories. “We can’t risk you, and you damn well know it. Learn to delegate.”
“Don’t you dare talk to me about delegating. You would carry the whole fucking world if I let you, and it’s not right. If something happened to you—”
“You would keep going.” Galen took a turn and entered the village.
It was larger than the last one, more of a town really, sprawling at twice the size of the place where he’d picked them up.
“You are more important than any one part, Theo. If you fall, then Phillip wins. Edward becomes puppet king to your uncle, and Phillip twists him into a man of his own making. He’ll marry Camilla off to some douchebag who will break her spirit, because he can’t afford for anyone to rise up against him.
” Not that Galen could see sweet Cami leading a rebellion, but stranger things had happened.
Theo was silent for several breaths. “Stop throwing my role in my face like it makes me special. I have a job to do, same as anyone. Just because you’re not a Fitzcharles doesn’t mean you’re expendable. You are not fucking expendable, Galen. If something happens to you…”
“It won’t.” He had no business making promises, and he knew better than to try.
“And even if it did, you’d finish this. You’d connect with the other people loyal to you and you’d see this plan through.
” He parked and turned to meet Theo’s gaze.
His blue eyes were filled with anger and something like despair.
Galen leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“You are going to be the motherfucking King of Thalania, Theo. Every single person can be sacrificed except you. Every. Single. One.”
For a long moment, he thought Theo would argue with him. But he finally gave a short nod and sat back. “Let’s get this over with.”
It wasn’t a win, not by a long shot. In fact, this whole day was a mark in the loss column. They were down and hurt and Phillip had obviously decided to stop pussyfooting around and take out Theo directly. All of that translated to one undeniable fact.
Things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Meg woke up as Theo tried to carry her out of the car.
She shook her head. “I can walk. Just hold me up.” A girl could only handle being carted around so much, and his arms had to be exhausted after their earlier trek.
She caught sight of Galen and went still, running a critical eye over his body.
No outward signs of injury and he was moving okay as he rounded the front of the car. “You made it.”
“You made it.” He neatly stepped between her and Theo and scooped her into his arms.
“Hey! I can walk.”
“You’re about to fall over, and Theo is weaving on his feet. Don’t make my job harder than it has to be.” He slowed and lowered his voice. “I’m glad you’re okay, baby. We’re going to make sure you stay okay.”
A wave of dizziness left her lightheaded as he picked up his pace. “Galen—”
“Hush.” He stalked to the building they’d parked in front of, a cheery little house with white walls, flowers growing from every available surface, and a charming brick walkway leading up to the bright red front door.
Galen shifted her closer and spoke in her ear.
“Keep your mouth shut in here, no matter what she says. She’s the best doctor around, but her help comes with thorns. Got it?”
She started to tell him exactly where he could stick his advice, but Meg forced herself to stop and think instead of jumping straight into conclusions.
Galen could be a dick, but he wouldn’t give her instructions like that unless they were walking into a dangerous situation.
They’d just been run off the road—or whatever happened that resulted in their car in that ravine.
She wasn’t playing in the shallow end anymore.
She wasn’t even in the deep end. She was in the fucking ocean.
Meg finally nodded. “Okay.”
“We’ll get you through this. Trust me.” He half turned to look at Theo. “Ready?”
“Not in the least. Let’s go.” Theo took the lead, shouldering open the door and holding it so Galen could walk through with her after him.
Meg wasn’t sure what she expected, but the adorable factor from the outside spilled over into the interior.
They stood in a small living room with cozily worn furniture that spoke of a lot of time spent there.
On the other side of the room, a tiny kitchen with perfect white cabinets and not a dish out of place overlooked an equally small backyard that appeared to have some sort of garden.
It was perfect, the kind of house Meg would have built for herself if she was interested in living in a small town again, but she wasn’t.
Theo crossed his arms over his chest, every breath conveying barely concealed aggression. “We’re here, Alexis. Let’s get this over with.”
Footsteps above them and then the narrow stairs to their right creaked.
Galen tensed as if expecting an attack. None of this made any sense.
If this person was so dangerous, why had they brought her here?
They were acting like they’d stepped into hostile territory, instead of somewhere they were safe enough to recover from the crash.
What’s going on?
The woman who walked down the stairs a few seconds later was as out of place in the cute little house as a shark in a kiddie pool.
Meg automatically sized her up. Understated designer clothes—jeans and a blouse.
Blond hair that likely cost several hundred dollars an appointment to maintain, if not more.
Bright red lipstick and low-key day makeup.
This woman had money up to her ears, and she’d probably been born into it because she didn’t feel the need to show it off.
She moved with a confidence that blatantly ignored how both Galen and Theo tensed at the sight of her.
Meg placed her age somewhere around forty-five, though she could very well be over fifty with the kind of money she sank into her appearance.
None of that explained the men’s reactions.
The woman, Alexis, walked up to Theo and pressed an air kiss against each of his cheeks, once again ignoring the fact that he didn’t return the gesture. “It’s been too long, Theodore.” She had a faint German accent that gave her words a pretty lilt.
“With respect, we’re not here to catch up. You said you’d help.”
“Of course.” She turned bright blue eyes on Meg and smiled, though there were glaciers warmer than her expression. “Darling girl you’ve got here.”