Chapter 46

Caleb

A woman’s blood-curdling scream erupted ahead of me.

Goddess damn all! My feet pounded against the grass as I sprinted into the gardens, terrified of what I was going to find.

I saw her less than an hour ago, how could she possibly have already gotten into this much trouble?

I leapt over a line of bushes and felt the rough branches scratch my forearms. It didn’t matter, I had to find Ruby. If she was hurt, it could only be my fault for pushing her away without cause, and I refused to be the reason she was in danger.

I could hear the gurgling sounds of the Lily Fountain just up ahead, and I swung into the small courtyard shouting for her. “Ruby, where the fuck are you? What’s going on?”

There was no response, just wind-blown leaves dancing above the trees.

“Ruby!” I called again, circling the fountain entirely. It was named the Lily Fountain because of the sacred ring of lily flowers growing around it, but by then I was desperate enough to begin searching through the plants.

I heard something snap behind me, like a broken twig coming apart. Before I could turn I felt something rough and metal smash into the back of my head, knocking me down face first into the lilies.

“Yeah, we got him…I don’t know, he wasn’t really that much of a fighter…Lucas said we’d have to be careful, but he went down with one blow.”

I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came-to I was lying on my back with my neck twisted painfully to the right. A large black boot was pinning me to the ground at the throat, keeping my cheek smushed into the mud beneath me.

It took me a few moments to regain my bearings, but I soon recognized the voice speaking into a cell phone above me. I strained to look up at their faces, but they were both wearing thick, black ski masks.

It was one of Lucas’s bodyguards. I cursed myself for getting stuck in this mess. Of course it was a trap, Ruby would never send me a desperate message like that if she was in trouble. Honestly, I didn’t believe she would ever ask me for help at all.

“Yeah, we’ll take care of it,” the second bodyguard said, crouching down to look me in the eye. He hung up on the call, and looked at me like a fish he had just pulled out of the water. “We’re not here to kill you, your royal highness,” he said in a mocking tone.

“We’re just supposed to rough you up a bit and make you late for the rest of the party.” The first chimed in, pulling out a switchblade from somewhere on his belt.

I grinned, incredibly amused by their confidence.

“Rough me up?” I repeated, wrenching my left arm free and grabbing the ankle at my neck. It took barely any effort and the bone in his joint crunched in my hand.

They no longer had the element of surprise, and I had the upper hand.

The bodyguard collapsed into the fountain, howling in pain and clutching his leg. His partner went deathly pale, watching me with wide eyes as I circled him like prey.

“Come on, Lucas thinks you can do it.”

The bodyguard snarled and leapt at me, his switchblade slashing at my face. I blocked the blow with my forearm, and used the momentum to twist his wrist, nearly making him drop the blade. He recovered just in time to swipe at me again, this time catching on my suit jacket and tearing through the black fabric.

“Really? There’s no way Lucas is paying you enough to cover repairs on this coat,” I said, casually dodging a series of quick jabs.

“You dog,” he hissed out, his brow already damp with sweat.

“Was that really all Lucas’s plan was? To ‘rough me up’?” I threw my head back laughing while the guard froze, uncertain.

Faster than he could blink, I clutched at his throat with my fist, driving my fingers into the flesh there. He gasped for air, immediately dropping the knife and clawing at my hands. “You can tell Lucas, that if he is going to make childish moves, he’s going to lose like one.”

The bodyguard’s eyes bulged. I saw the man on the ground beginning to move again, so I drove my heel into his bad ankle to finish him off.

With a single motion, I drove my knee up to take down the remaining man. It connected with his sternum, knocking the air out of him so he fell limp on the ground.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead and looking at the mess in front of me. The two men were barely conscious, but they would recover fully from their injuries. There were broken and cracked stones in the fountain as well. The groundskeepers would not be pleased with me.

My suit was torn to shreds, but at least I didn’t have any major scrapes. I poked through my pockets, and found they hadn’t thought to take my phone or any of my other belongings. Lucas really hires some clever guys.

Ah, sarcasm. Thor responded. I rolled my eyes.

I rang up Joseph, who answered in seconds. “Where the hell are you?” He exclaimed, so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“I’m going to need some cleanup,” I said, as a groan drifted from one of the bodyguards.

“What was that?” Joseph asked, his voice dripping with suspicion.

“Nothing, just the remains of a fight.”

“You really just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” Joseph said.

I laughed sourly, “It’s not my fault that Lucas loves starting things.”

Joseph’s tone became more serious. “You should know that there seems to be divided opinion among the guests, and if you don’t show soon, they’re going to start to wonder if there’s something wrong. This night could make or break your campaign.”

“I know,” I responded, “trust me, getting derailed like this was not the plan.” I strained my chin to look over the bushes back at the palace, realizing I was a lot farther than I thought.

“Actually, can you send someone into the gardens to pick me up? I’m pretty far out, it’ll take a minute for me to get back.”

Joseph scoffed, “The gardens? Wait, where are you actually?”

“Oh, and a new suit, I’ve completely shredded this one.” I said holding up a piece of loose cloth.

“Alright, I’ll have Gleeson go out with the cart. Seriously, Caleb, where are you?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but the only sound I heard next was the ringing of metal at the back of my head.

I was just conscious enough to tell when my body hit the ground, and all I could think was, Not fucking again.