Chapter 168

Andrew’s second house was drastically different from the Alpha King mansion, though still luxurious. A midcentury modern, the house was angular with a plethora of windows and sliding glass doors to open up the space. From a security perspective, I guessed it was a nightmare, but from an architectural perspective, it was beautiful.

Three days into my retreat, I had made myself at home in the sparsely furnished space. I missed Andrew greatly, but I did not miss keeping up with his schedule, the threats to my life, or constantly watching my back around Bob and Lisa. I was even finding comfort in the quiet that often settled between Jeffrey and me.

The night of the third day, I lay down on the couch with a sandwich, a glass of water, and a romance novel. It was a cheesy piece about an angel falling in love with a human, with a flimsy plot and flat characters, but it was entertaining and gave my brain a chance to relax. Some of the steamier scenes made me want to hide the title from Jeffrey’s wandering eyes, but I did my best to remain discrete.

I had reached one of these scenes when Jeffrey made another pass through the living room. I blushed and hid my face behind the book, stuffing my sandwich into my mouth. It almost seemed like he was purposefully timing his rounds to come in on these scenes now, but I was determined to make it through my book.

As I resumed my reading, I imagined myself as the heroine, Sapphire, and Andrew as the hero, Raphael:

Raphael hooked his fingers in her underwear, sliding them down her slender legs and then tossing them to the side. His path now uninhibited, he brought his face to her mound. He inhaled her scent deeply before snaking his tongue out to her core.

Sapphire mewed in ecstasy. She clawed and clutched at the sheets beneath, desperate to gain a hold of something. Her head swayed from side to side, and she babbled incoherently as Raphael hit her most sacred pleasure points.

He pulled away, his expression blank.

“Please, don’t stop,” Sapphire panted.

Raphael grinned and leaned over her prone form, putting his mouth to her ears.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered.

“Take me,” she begged him. “Please.”

He pulled away and unbuckled his belt—

I was startled from my reading by the ringing of Jeffrey’s phone.

Jeffrey halted in his pacing and snatched his phone out of his pocket.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

I strained to hear the other side of the conversation. With my hybrid hearing, I was just able to catch Andrew’s side after some concentration.

“The odds of him finding you seem slim,” Andrew said, “but I don’t want to take any chances. Execute Plan A immediately.”

“Yes, sir. Immediately, sir.”

Jeffrey ran his hand over his face, one of the few signs of stress that I had ever seen in him.

“Trust no one. Answer the door for no one. Wait for my call and call me as soon as you have Crystal secured.”

“Of course, Your Highness. Don’t worry, I will keep her safe.”

“I know you will. Just remember what I am trusting you with here. I can’t afford to lose her.”

That final sentence sent a chill through my body. As Jeffrey hung up and headed my way, I set my food and book aside and jumped to my feet.

“What did Andrew say? Keep me safe from what?” I asked, stepping directly in his path.

Jeffrey altered his path to swerve around me and went to the front door, locking it. Then he turned around and headed for the first window he could reach, locking it as well.

“Chevalier was transferred to a jail cell the day that you left the hospital, but he has escaped,” he explained as he went from window to window to sliding glass door, ensuring that each was locked tightly. “He could be on his way right now.”

My heart leapt into my throat. My body trembled.

“Wha-what do we do?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

Jeffrey glanced back at me before he resumed his task.

“First, we don’t panic. Then, I finish locking up the house. After that, we go down to the basement and lock ourselves in there.”

“For how long?”

“For however long it takes. The basement doubles as a panic room, so there’s enough food and water down there for at least a week.”

When Jeffrey finished locking all the doors and windows, he ran over to me and grabbed me by the elbow. I stumbled as he pulled me toward the back of the house.

“Try to keep up,” he said over his shoulder. “We don’t know if or when Chevalier might show up.”

I swallowed but did my best to follow him. A stabbing pain shot through my side where Chevalier had stabbed me. Externally, the wound had healed, but internally, it was still stitching itself up, so the exercise was excruciating.

I was panting by the time we reached the entrance to the basement. That only made the pain in my side worse, but I kept it to myself.

Jeffrey released me to enter the passcode into the keypad. Just as he pressed the four numbers standing between us and safety, the power went out.

“Shit,” Jeffrey muttered the first curse I ever heard him say.

He reached for the knob of the door leading to the basement, but when he turned it, it would not give. He jiggled the knob and heaved himself against the door, but it remained closed. He muttered something under his breath—perhaps more curses—and turned to me.

“Plan B,” Jeffrey said. “We’re going to have to lock ourselves in the master bedroom instead. Let’s go.”

The sound of glass shattering froze me in my spot. Jeffrey immediately pulled out his gun. He leaned in towards me.

“Don’t move,” he whispered. “I’m going to—”

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Chevalier’s voice rang out through the empty house.

Neither Jeffrey nor I moved. We barely breathed. Yet even in the dark, I could see Jeffrey’s eyes darting about as he tried to calculate his next maneuver.

“I know you’re here,” Chevalier’s voice called out again. “I can smell you, Ms. Blanchard.”

I flinched when I heard a chair fall to the hardwood floor. Jeffrey put his free hand on my shoulder, motioning for me to be quiet with his gun.

“I never forget a scent,” Chevalier’s voice continued, this time from frighteningly closer.

Jeffrey’s free hand moved to my elbow. He gently tugged on me until I started following him towards the back door. An eternity seemed to pass before we finally reached it.

Jeffrey let go of my elbow to reach for the doorknob.

The cocking of a gun caused us both to jump and turn around, Jeffrey’s own gun raised.

The corners of Chevalier’s lips lifted in a crooked grin. He pointed a silver pistol at me.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Jeffrey pushed me behind him and trained his gun on Chevalier.

“If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me first.”