Chapter 154

ADAN

The others had been sent away on their assignments.

Only Adan and Kerr remained behind in the mansion after they concluded their meeting with the inner circle. Only the two of them knew precisely what was happening tonight, and where, and how.

They had set up their control room with two leather armchairs facing a big wall-mounted TV, on which a video feed was streaming live. The camera was attached to their assassin’s glasses, and right now the feed showed nothing but an empty room.

The assassin was as still and quiet as a living person could possibly be. The video held perfectly steady. The man’s breathing was slow and shallow.

He had been lying in wait inside an air duct for nearly fifteen hours before the prince finally arrived at the orphanage, and had squeezed his body out of the chamber, inch by inch, only after the Gamma warriors had swept the building and determined it was all clear for Nolan’s arrival.

Now the assassin was hidden behind a thick red curtain. Lying with his stomach to the ground, he had his rifle in position, ready to aim and fire.

The armchairs in the control room were vacant – both Adan and Kerr were too excited to sit. Kerr stood behind one of the chairs, leaning his elbows against the back of it. He had another half-empty glass of whiskey in hand and was gently swirling the liquid inside it while staring ahead at the TV screen.

Adan was pacing. His cell phone rang and he answered, “Is he inside?”

“Affirmative. The target is inside the building.” This was one of Adan’s other hired hands, one that was stationed inside an empty office building across the street, watching the front of the orphanage through a portable telescope. “I’ve got eyes on him still. He’s in the lobby. Standing and talking with a woman and a group of children. The old man in the wheelchair in the middle of the group.”

“Call back when they’re on the move again.” Adan hung up the phone and paced to the center of the room. He pushed a button on the speakerphone unit – they were still connected to the assassin on that line. Adan spoke very quietly into the mic, passing along the message. “No more audio response,” he said in conclusion. “Nod once to confirm.”

On the TV screen, the picture of the empty room bobbed up and down once, then became perfectly still again.

Adan went and stood next to his friend. “Nervous?” he asked.

Kerr met Adan’s eyes. He shook his head slowly. “Just kind of can’t believe it’s actually happening. After all this time.”

Adan grinned. “Well, believe it,” he said. “Tonight we change the world, my friend.”

YENA

My brother could not have looked any more uncomfortable with all of the attention and service we were receiving as we checked in for our flight and made our way to the tarmac.

A small army of royal attendants had met us at the gate, taking away every bit of our luggage from our hands, all of them smiling and being overly polite to the both of us.

“So this is what it’s like to be royalty, huh?” Evan asked. “God, do they ever let you do anything for yourself?”

I pursed my lips, holding back a smart reply. Evan was stressed out on a day when he was doing something huge for me, so he got a pass. I wasn’t about to snap at him.

But I really didn’t love it when he said stuff like that. I think those kinds of comments were meant to be condescending. And he had said it loudly, too, in front of all the royal servants and all the airport staff around us, which was just embarrassing.

We watched from the ground as the attendants then carried all the luggage up the moveable staircase and into the plane. “Don’t worry,” I told Evan quietly. “I won’t be royalty for much longer.”

My brother looked at me and frowned. Then his eyes dropped to my left hand. He looked at my wedding ring, which I had still been wearing every day.

“I know,” I said. “I’ll take it off at some point. I just haven’t been able to do it yet.”

Evan nodded, trying to be understanding.

Just then the captain appeared in the yellow rectangle of light at the top of the stairs. The man, clad in a complete pilot’s uniform, met my eyes and smiled. He removed the hat from his head and performed a stiff bow.

Then a younger man appeared behind him, a giant smile on his face. He wore a neon yellow safety vest over a white button-down and tie. He hurried down the stairs and bounced over to me and Evan, buzzing with excitement.

“We are all ready for you to come aboard!” the young man called out cheerily, pressing his hands together into a steeple. “You two can head on up the stairs.” He motioned behind him, as if we would not know which stairs he was talking about. “The pilot would like to greet you before you get yourselves settled in for the flight. Then we’ll be taking off shortly. Shall we?” He bared his teeth in a too-big grin and held his arm out toward the jet in a gesture of welcome.

Evan exhaled heavily then started following the yellow-vested man.

I suddenly felt paralyzed.

I tried to take a step forward, but found that my feet were glued to the ground.

“Turn around,” Lily said to me firmly.

My wolf’s voice was clear as a bell and so loud that I actually looked around, half expecting Evan and everyone else nearby to have heard her as well.

She stirred inside me, pressing underneath my skin. I had to close my eyes and focus hard to keep from shifting. Her patience was wearing out.

My stomach was in knots now. My heart started beating so fast I thought it might explode.

And my balance was about to give out. I dropped down to my knees, hardly feeling anything as they hit the pavement.

Then Evan was beside me, putting his hand on my shoulder. It felt heavy, like he was going to press me down into the ground, and I wished he would take it away.

“What’s going on, Yena?” he asked.

I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “I can’t do this,” I said. “I can’t get on the plane. Evan, I’m so sorry for putting you through all this. But I don’t think that I can go.”

“Really? Why?” He knelt in front of me and put his other hand on my other shoulder. “What’s going on, Yena? You’re freaking me out.”

Lily screamed: “Turn AROUND!”

The sickening smells of exhaust and jet fuel were suddenly overwhelming. The sun overhead seemed to turn its brightness up. People were starting to gather around me now, but they were just a blur of voices and movement in my periphery.

I wobbled on my knees, and had to plant both my hands to the ground, palms flat, to keep from falling over. The asphalt was burning hot. It didn’t matter.

It was getting harder to resist shifting. And harder to respond to Evan.

“What the hell just happened, Yena? Are you okay?”

“Something’s wrong,” I said. They were the only words I could get out.