Chapter 25

25

Hank

When the plane touched down, two black Range Rovers were already waiting. One of Kade's men apprised him and Ramsay of the situation. Technically, Elite Shield Security (ESS) was the private military contractor that took over from the queen's royal guard. Any fuckups would reflect badly on Kade.

Garrison and I hung back, but Kade gave us a nod to ride with him in the SUV.

"Petros tried to bar us from entering Venusstean airspace," he told us.

"He knew we were coming."

"Jed couldn't keep it from him. That would only ruffle more feathers." Kade glanced at me in the rearview mirror. "Thala and the queen overruled him. Needless to say, he's not happy."

He received a text on his phone. "Go to the VNBC news website. Thala is about to go give a press conference."

"What?" I rasped. "Who's with her?"

"She's giving it from the castle lawn, so her royal guard and two of my men."

"She couldn't wait for us to arrive?" I said to no one in particular. My phone was already in hand. She hadn't messaged me since I received the authentication code.

"She didn't know when we would arrive and the headlines coming out of Venusstea had been vicious. Petros is refusing to make another statement reassuring the public of the queen's health."

"I've never met a slimier politician than him," Garrison said.

"You're only telling me this now?" I threw at him.

"I didn't want to sway your perception of Petros, but he's not even hiding his intentions now. It's also important for Thala to see her brother for who he is," Garrison said. "That's the only way we would have her on our side."

"You never trusted her."

"Not because of deception, but because of her beliefs. She and her brother have always been allies against the queen over the PragueCog deal."

"Because the queen didn't keep her in the loop…"

Kade interrupted us. "Press con is about to start."

With grim fatalism, I raised my phone to watch the press con. It was fortunate I'd been preoccupied during the long flight, otherwise I would have been this spiky ball of energy. I didn't know Kade's men. I'd never worked with them. Levi, Declan, Migs, and Garrison were the people I would have trusted with Thala's protection. And ESS was here to protect the queen, not the princess.

She was on her own.

She was the protector.

And I was hers.

I didn't know I was holding my breath until Thala stepped up to the podium. I wanted to be there. I wanted to have her back. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to breathe.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the good citizens of Venusstea. Good afternoon. I come before you with fantastic news. Queen Amadea is recovering from her migraine yesterday and is expected to make a full recovery. Because of its severity last night, we went for a second opinion. And after several scans and diagnostics, the neurologist, Doctor Pahk, has given the queen a clean bill of health."

Thala paused. If she meant it for dramatic effect, it worked. Murmurings rippled across the crowd like a wave, and more than a few reporters raised their hands, but Thala ignored them.

Kade said, "She just threw the former doctor under the bus."

"According to Ramsay, he never trusted him and thinks he's Petros's puppet," Garrison said.

Thala looked directly at the camera and resumed talking. "We know why the queen is getting migraines."

What the fuck, Thala.

"She's bluffing?" I muttered. "She's making herself a target, dammit."

"Quiet," Garrison ordered.

"Because we want to speed up her recovery, it's necessary to eliminate the stimulus from her surroundings. For us to be successful, the queen has to remain out of the public eye for a few more days, and she's agreed that I will be her spokesperson."

"Stimulus," Kade said with a tone of amusement. "A generality without raising a brow, but it'll put the culprits on notice."

"How soon until we arrive at the castle?" I asked.

"We are close to identifying the problem and we want to remain as transparent as possible to the public without compromising the investigation. That is…" Thala broke off, and touched her ear, wincing. "That is…"

She backed up a step, bent, and braced her hands on the podium. Her face contorted in pain.

Panic gripped my chest.

The two guards beside her hunched over before falling to their knees. The camera panned to the front row and chaos erupted. People started screaming.

The castle was under siege.

Thala

The buzzing in my ear intensified, and my head wanted to explode. I dropped to my knees in front of the podium. The annoying sound faded, but the throbbing in my head persisted. "Jed, do you see him?"

"Got it," he replied through comms. "He's pulled a mask over his face and is moving toward you."

"Amadea?"

"She's in the safe room." I heard Jed curse, and then, "Princess, T Man is not alone. I'm taking him out…fuck."

"What…?"

"He's taken a hostage."

"Don't shoot! Stick to our plan."

"Fuck!"

I glanced frantically at my incapacitated guards. They were writhing on the ground and seemed to have gotten it worse than what attacked me.

"He's on top of you!"

A shadow fell across me.

"Hiding, Princess?" I knew it was Theater Man—T Man—even behind the mask. He shoved his prisoner shield away, and immediately grabbed me.

Jed cursed in my ear."They're using people as shields. There are eight of them. I've informed castle security, but they're not responding."

T Man snatched away my earpiece, threw it on the ground, and then dragged me across the courtyard. "No one is going to help you. The microwave device struck them with a stronger pulse than what hit you, enough to knock them out."

With my rubbery limbs, I knew fighting against him was futile.

"Shit, forgot you're heavier than the average weight for a woman."

Fuck you. I made myself deadweight.

"Goddammit, now you're messing with me, bitch. I didn't pulse you that hard."

A tan Jeep raced across the grassy lawn and screeched to a halt in front of us.

"Did you have trouble?" T Man asked the newcomers.

"The guards are all down."

"They won't be for long. We better go. More help will be here in minutes."

"Now we have his beloved sister."

Confusion invaded my thoughts. This didn't make sense after what Jed and I discovered.

"You shouldn't have betrayed the prime minister, Princess."

T Man tore off his mask. Now that I'd given him a closer look, he did have albinism. He had light blond hair, and his skin was chalky. His eyes were light blue; I could barely see hair on his face.

"I betrayed no one," I gritted. "I did what's best for the country."

He smirked. "Well, you can say goodbye to the country you love because you're not going to see it again."

He threw a hood over my head.