“No.” His voice didn’t leave room for argument, only acquiescence. “It will only take me a minute to check her injury, and it’s best I do it now. I’m a doctor. I know what I’m doing.”
The man bowed down his head and nodded. “Y-yes, Your Highness.”
Shit. Ethan hated acting like a dick and talking to down to anyone, but he couldn’t worry about people’s feelings right now. He had to focus on getting himself and Anda out and averting what could be something more dangerous than they’d initially suspected. If something chemical in nature was involved, it might not be localized to just this theatre; it could become airborne and spread throughout the city depending on the chemical agent used.
The leader of the squad spoke up and pointed at three in the squad. “You stay behind, the rest of us will scout ahead.” He turned to Ethan. “One minute, Your Highness.” He gestured with his hand, and the leader and three others moved out.
Though they still had three to deal with, it would be easier to slip away from three than seven, especially if there was a secret chamber in this room.
He made a bit of a production about picking her up, pretending to be extra careful about her foot and her dress—this fucking dress was way too fucking revealing, and he didn’t want anyone else catching a glimpse of the beauty she had underneath.
She deftly slid his phone out of his pocket without anyone the wiser. If he hadn’t been watching her do it, he might have missed it himself.
While Ethan held her close to his chest, she quickly typed out a message to Marcello and then slipped the phone back into his breast pocket where she could easily get it again if she needed to.
He set her down inside what looked to be another dressing room but was filled with props and other equipment. He made another production out of checking her foot, then asked a couple squad members to check the other rooms for shoes. It took some convincing, but when there was only one squad member left who stayed outside, they went into action.
They went over their plan, coordinating their actions as they’d done in Berlin, while they scanned the walls to find a latch or mark notating a hidden room. He found it in the far corner from the door. “It looks like a corridor. Great, now we can both get out.”
She opened her mouth to respond when suddenly gunshots rang out, and they both reached for their guns, her custom garter gun holder tearing in the process.
So much for Berlin. Gunshots meant that plans were moot and they’d now have to improvise.
Ethan immediately stepped in front of her. “Get inside.”
She stepped in front of him. “You get inside.”
“Don’t fight me right now.”
“Where’s the prince?” a voice called out, followed by the sounds of grunting, more gunshots, and he could sense the life being snuffed out nearby.
The sound in the voices grew closer and a voice called out. “Where is the Prince? We know he hasn’t left the premises yet.”
“We haven’t seen him,” a squad member called out.
“Lies.”
Another gunshot.
The footsteps came closer.
Anda shoved him inside the passage, and pushed her gun and garter into his free hand. He was so shocked at the unexpected movement that he didn’t fight back at first.
He quickly stowed both guns and reached for her to drag her in with him, but she gave him a pleading look and began speaking in rushed whispers. “I can distract whoever’s out there. Leave. Please.”
He reached for her again, but she shook her head and stepped back. “Save yourself.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
Sadness flicked across her face, and he knew she was remembering their past. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave her before, hadn’t he? And he hadn’t kept that promise. Three months ago he’d broken it, but he wasn’t going to do that again.
He reached for her again but, this time when she backed up, she bumped into a table and knocked something over.
For two seconds, everything was still—their breath, the footsteps outside—then time seemed to speed up.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again, then shut the door and closed the latch.
He looked frantically for a way to open the door, to drag her in with him, but he couldn’t find one and there wasn’t time and he had to get out and he needed to help Anda…Anda. “Goddamn it, Anda.”
