I believe in you, Ryu had told Kentario, after that difficult day with the attempted kidnapping. But Maro had indeed kept him safe that day, despite his harsh treatment of Kentario…
“We go to Oris,” he said, mind made up an instant later. There was no point in waxing lyrical about trusting his bodyguard if he wasn’t willing to put his money where his mouth was. “How do we get out of the gardens?”
“This way…”
The next ten minutes passed in a series of dashes from cover to cover. Kentario expertly chose a path that avoided both attackers and guards, waiting silently between hedgerows for a patrol to pass, taking cover beside a potting shed when two more attackers crossed their path. Finally, when both of them were breathless and sweating, they made it to the rear gate. It was only ever used for the staff to take out the garbage, and beyond the bank of bins, the gravel drive gave way to a marshy swamp. They’d have to cross it to get to safety.
“Over the gate. I’ll give you a leg up.”
The lights from the palace didn’t quite reach this corner of the garden, but Ryu hesitated a moment anyway, waiting until a burst of shouting near the western wing faded out. Then he paused a moment longer, staring up at the lights that lit the wall of the only home he’d ever known. A fire had started at the far end of the eastern wing, guards rushing around as they tried to douse the flames. More gunshots sounded in the distance. His parents were dead. Felix was dead. The Kingdom of Galandeen itself was under threat, and Ryu felt completely helpless. Should they go back? Shouldn’t he be trying to bring order to his wounded city?
“Ryu?”
Kentario was waiting by the fence, down on one knee to lift Ryu over the gate. Deliberately silencing the doubts in his mind, Ryu rose to his feet. He placed one booted foot in Kentario’s hands, shocked for a moment by the ease with which the powerful man thrust him upwards, like he weighed no more than a child. He grabbed the top of the gate and hauled himself over, landing with far more grace than he had in the fall from the roof. Kentario made the leap easily, landing with barely a sound beside him.
“We head south for a mile or so. The marshes back onto houses once we climb the far hill. Once we reach the street, we go west. Oris lives in Bellview.”
“Got it,” Ryu confirmed. Then Kentario moved off into the scrub, blending into the darkness like a ghost.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
When Kentario had chosen to head for Oris Izarius’s house, three miles had seemed a trifling distance. It was a mere half an hour at a fast jog, and both he and Ryu should have been able to cover the journey easily.
Of course, on a normal day, they weren’t attempting the feat in the middle of the night, on the back of little to no sleep, and with Ryu apparently having sprained his knee in the fall from the roof. He’d insisted three times now that he was fine, but Kentario was well aware that his limp was getting more pronounced the further they went.
In addition to the extra physical strain was the mental stress of not knowing just how bad the situation really was. Every time a car came down the street, Kentario had them both ducking behind hedges to stay out of view. He chose a path that wouldn’t let them get cornered anywhere without an easy exit, which meant that instead of cutting down a narrow laneway, they had to take the longer route around. Fear was gnawing at both of them, and Kentario knew that even if they made it to Oris’s house, they were by no means out of the woods. Best case scenario, this was an isolated assassination and Maro would have the culprits arrested – or judging by the gunfire at the palace, possibly killed – by morning.
Worst case? Galandeen was lost, a full-scale revolution was underway, Maro had betrayed them, and they’d be forced to flee not just the city, but the entire country, if Ryu was ever to be safe again. The thought made Kentario feel sick.
Deliberately, he put that particular scenario out of his mind for the moment. No point dwelling on that kind of nightmare until they had more information. The first thing was just to get Ryu to safety. Then they could reassess their next move.
Car headlights appeared in the distance, causing Kentario to swear, his eyes darting about to find likely cover. “Over here.” Ryu, used to thesesudden interruptions to their journey, came without protest, crouching down behind a brick wall until the car passed them by.
But when Kentario stood up again, Ryu remained where he was. “Ryu?”
He didn’t move.
Kentario crouched down again. He put a gentle hand on Ryu’s shoulder, feeling his heart ache at the pale weariness on the young man’s face, along with a stark and worldly sorrow that shouldn’t ever exist on one so young.
The need to get to Oris’s house was pressing, but Kentario forced himself to stop and reassess his charge’s condition. The whole point was to get Ryu theresafely, after all. There was no point dragging his unconscious body into Oris’s house and calling it a victory.
Ryu was shaking, shivering inside his thick sweater despite the frantic run. One hand rested on his knee, though Kentario knew better than to ask if it was hurting. Ryu would only deny it again. But his pants were half-drenched – a consequence of their trek through the marsh – and with the time now well past midnight, the air was noticeably cool.
“I keep thinking this is just a bad dream,” Ryu murmured, his voice barely audible. “And if I could just wake up…” His voice wavered, his eyes closing for a moment. In the still night air, his scent was light and woody, not quite the citrusy tang of an omega in distress, but nonetheless, it served as a clarion call to Kentario’s protective instincts. Not for the first time, he wondered why he had such a strong response to Ryu’s scent in particular. Alphas were supposed to have that reaction to omegas, weren’t they? Not to other alphas.
Kentario hooked one finger beneath Ryu’s chin, nudging his head up until he could look him in the eye. “You are my world,” he said. It wasn’t quite what he’d been intending to say, but fuck it, he decided in an instant. It was far too late to go back, and he was sick of pretending. “I am not going to letanythinghappen to you. I will walk through hell itself with you, if that’s what you need me to do. I know you’re tired. I know you’re hurting in ways I can’t imagine. But right now, we are not safe. Oris’s house is just past the end of the street. Can you make it that far?”
Gamely gathering his courage, Ryu nodded. He pushed himself to his feet, though Kentario didn’t miss the way he steadied himself against the wall. “Let’s get this over with.”
Kentario decided to walk the last bit of the way, rather than run, though he kept a constant eye out for impromptu hiding places as they went. A shadowy nook beside a hedge. A low garden wall. A trailer parked at the side of the road. They turned the corner onto Oris’s street, and he began checking the property numbers to find the right house.
“This is it,” Kentario whispered, as they came level with an elegant two-storey house. The outside was painted white, the interior currently dark, which was no surprise given that it was past midnight. Low shrubs rose outof the garden like dark beasts waiting to pounce, and he felt Ryu shudder beside him as they crept towards the front door. The poor kid had barely let there be more than three inches between them the entire way here, and now there wasn’t even that much space, the prince pressed against his side like he was afraid Kentario was going to vanish into thin air.
Kentario paused halfway up the path, looking over the house to check for any signs of unusual activity. Though he trusted Oris with his life – more than that, with Ryu’s life, right now – there was no sense in getting sloppy.
The house was quiet and untouched, and if anyone had gotten here before them, there was no sign of the intrusion.
Well, here goes nothing, he thought grimly.
