“You would keep going.” Galen took a turn and entered the village. It was larger than the last one, more of a town really, sprawling at twice the size of the place where he’d picked them up. “You are more important than any one part, Theo. If you fall, then Phillip wins. Edward becomes puppet king to your uncle, and Phillip twists him into a man of his own making. He’ll marry Camilla off to some douchebag who will break her spirit, because he can’t afford for anyone to rise up against him.” Not that Galen could see sweet Cami leading a rebellion, but stranger things had happened.
Theo was silent for several breaths. “Stop throwing my role in my face like it makes me special. I have a job to do, same as anyone. Just because you’re not a Fitzcharles doesn’t mean you’re expendable. You arenotfucking expendable, Galen. If something happens to you…”
“It won’t.” He had no business making promises, and he knew better than to try. “And even if it did, you’d finish this. You’d connect with the other people loyal to you and you’d see this plan through.” He parked and turned to meet Theo’s gaze. His blue eyes were filled with anger and something like despair. Galen leaned forward and lowered his voice. “You are going to bethe motherfucking King of Thalania, Theo. Every single person can be sacrificed except you. Every. Single. One.”
For a long moment, he thought Theo would argue with him. But he finally gave a short nod and sat back. “Let’s get this over with.”
It wasn’t a win, not by a long shot. In fact, this whole day was a mark in the loss column. They were down and hurt and Phillip had obviously decided to stop pussyfooting around and take out Theo directly. All of that translated to one undeniable fact.
Things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Meg wokeup as Theo tried to carry her out of the car. She shook her head. “I can walk. Just hold me up.” A girl could only handle being carted around so much, and his arms had to be exhausted after their earlier trek. She caught sight of Galen and went still, running a critical eye over his body. No outward signs of injury and he was moving okay as he rounded the front of the car. “You made it.”
“Youmade it.” He neatly stepped between her and Theo and scooped her into his arms.
“Hey! I can walk.”
“You’re about to fall over, and Theo is weaving on his feet. Don’t make my job harder than it has to be.” He slowed and lowered his voice. “I’m glad you’re okay, baby. We’re going to make sure you stay okay.”
A wave of dizziness left her lightheaded as he picked up his pace. “Galen?—”
“Hush.” He stalked to the building they’d parked in front of, a cheery little house with white walls, flowers growing from every available surface, and a charming brick walkway leading up tothe bright red front door. Galen shifted her closer and spoke in her ear. “Keep your mouth shut in here, no matter what she says. She’s the best doctor around, but her help comes with thorns. Got it?”
She started to tell him exactly where he could stick his advice, but Meg forced herself to stop and think instead of jumping straight into conclusions. Galen could be a dick, but he wouldn’t give her instructions like that unless they were walking into a dangerous situation. They’d just been run off the road—or whatever happened that resulted in their car in that ravine. She wasn’t playing in the shallow end anymore. She wasn’t even in the deep end. She was in the fucking ocean.
Meg finally nodded. “Okay.”
“We’ll get you through this. Trust me.” He half turned to look at Theo. “Ready?”
“Not in the least. Let’s go.” Theo took the lead, shouldering open the door and holding it so Galen could walk through with her after him.
Meg wasn’t sure what she expected, but the adorable factor from the outside spilled over into the interior. They stood in a small living room with cozily worn furniture that spoke of a lot of time spent there. On the other side of the room, a tiny kitchen with perfect white cabinets and not a dish out of place overlooked an equally small backyard that appeared to have some sort of garden. It was perfect, the kind of house Meg would have built for herself if she was interested in living in a small town again, but she wasn’t.
Theo crossed his arms over his chest, every breath conveying barely concealed aggression. “We’re here, Alexis. Let’s get this over with.”
Footsteps above them and then the narrow stairs to their right creaked. Galen tensed as if expecting an attack. None of this made any sense. If this person was so dangerous, why hadthey brought her here? They were acting like they’d stepped into hostile territory, instead of somewhere they were safe enough to recover from the crash.
What’s going on?
The woman who walked down the stairs a few seconds later was as out of place in the cute little house as a shark in a kiddie pool. Meg automatically sized her up. Understated designer clothes—jeans and a blouse. Blond hair that likely cost several hundred dollars an appointment to maintain, if not more. Bright red lipstick and low-key day makeup. This woman had money up to her ears, and she’d probably been born into it because she didn’t feel the need to show it off. She moved with a confidence that blatantly ignored how both Galen and Theo tensed at the sight of her. Meg placed her age somewhere around forty-five, though she could very well be over fifty with the kind of money she sank into her appearance.
None of that explained the men’s reactions.
The woman, Alexis, walked up to Theo and pressed an air kiss against each of his cheeks, once again ignoring the fact that he didn’t return the gesture. “It’s been too long, Theodore.” She had a faint German accent that gave her words a pretty lilt.
“With respect, we’re not here to catch up. You said you’d help.”
“Of course.” She turned bright blue eyes on Meg and smiled, though there were glaciers warmer than her expression. “Darling girl you’ve got here.”
Galen tightened his grip on Meg as if he wanted to yank her away, but he held still as Alexis prodded the bandage on Meg’s arm. She frowned. “This isn’t a half bad patch job. I’d say I was proud if the sentiment wouldn’t curdle your stomach.”
“Alexis,” Theo warned.
“This way.” She headed through the living room and down a short hallway to what was probably a spare bedroom or officeat one point. It contained a bed, but that’s where the familiarity ended. The bed was more hospital cot than a place for sleeping, and there was what appeared to be a full medical set up. Meg avoided hospitals like the plague unless shehadthe plague. Doctors were expensive and being a bartender didn’t come with benefits. She used the clinic at NYU if pressed, but she had to be knocking on death’s door to even consider it.
Galen set her down on the bed and gave her hand a squeeze. Then he moved to stand just inside the door. Theo took the chair on the other side of the cot, apparently so he could glare daggers at the woman helping them. There was a history there, but hell if Meg could make sense of it.
Alexis took her blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, and then checked her eyes. “She shouldn’t need a transfusion.” She put on gloves and unwound the bandage, her touch cold and careful despite the light mocking in her eyes. “Theo is something of a drama queen, but I’m sure you know that.” She tossed the bandages into a nearby trash can and probed the wound. “I’m going to wash this out to make sure we’re not closing it up with glass still in there. It’ll be a bitch, but you’ll thank me for it later.”
