Please be okay. Please be okay.
The mantra ran through my head like a prayer.
When I passed the main control tower, the huge red medevac chopper came into view. Rafe was at the side, and it looked like they were stabilizing his father.
Thank fuck. He was okay, and his dad wasn’t dead yet. I could tell by the way everyone was crowding around him hooking up all the shit. I could get back now, comfort Jordan, check on Nolan, and find Mattie, who’d better be okay.
Just as I turned, the sound of another chopper drew Rafe’s attention. Mine too.
Looking up, I was surprised to see it wasn’t red with the distinct medical logo on the side.
It was black, stealthy-looking, with a sharper nose and wicked-looking blades, the kind that could go into the types of terrain the medi-chopper couldn’t.
Was this some sort of specialist…?
Before I could even finish the thought, half a dozen black-clad people repelled off the side, landing right near Rafe and surrounding him in seconds. Turning from his dad, he shouted something, and the medevac took off, dodging the black helicopter with ease. Rafe immediately launched into action, throwing swift fists and dodging blows from the other men. That was my best hint that they weren’t friends.
This was the enemy, and he was vastly outnumbered.
I hurried forward, determined to help, even though I was dressed terribly to be of much use in a fight. This would be the last time I wore a ballgown, no matter how amazing they were.
The urge to shout his name was strong, but I knew that distracting him could prove deadly. So I refrained, instead planning my attack as I approached on silent feet.
Rafe had managed to take out half of them by the time I dove onto the one closest to me, disabling him in seconds. Then I moved onto the next. For a minute, I had hope that we could take them out together.
But we hadn’t planned for the black helicopter though, the one that clearly held more people than the six who had dropped. Two more repelled out, one of them shooting Rafe right in the neck with a dart.
I saw it fly. I screamed his name. And our eyes met for a moment before he crashed to his knees.
Then it was all over. The two black-clad figures scooped up the prince, struggling to hold his bulk. But they got to the ropes and the helicopter hauled them up, moving higher than I could reach.
“Rafe!” I screamed, racing along the roof in the hopes I’d find a spot with enough elevation that I could get to him.
I almost made it too, but the dress caught around my feet, and I sprawled just when I might have been able to jump. Sobs caught in my throat as the beast took off into the night; the last thing I saw was the light on its tail disappear as it faded into the darkness.
Getting to my feet, I called Jordan on my palm reader.
“Violet!”he answered after one ring.“Where the fuck are you? I’m going to smack your ass, sweetheart.”His voice was somewhat playful, but I heard the husky tone. He was not doing okay.
A sob escaped me, but it died under a torrent of rage. “I’m on the roof. Helicopter pad. Can you get up here?”
I could feel his confusion in the extended pause. “Yes. We’ll be right there.”
“Hurry,”I said before ending the call.
With red tinting my vision, I slowly made my way back to where the black-clad bodies were strewn. Rafe and I had hurt them, but they weren’t dead. That meant they could tell me where the fuck Rafe had gone.
Reaching the closest, I ripped his mask off to find a dude a few years older than me with blond hair, pale skin, and a long scar on his right cheek. His eyes were closed, so I slapped him once. He jolted back to consciousness a few seconds, and a few hits, later.
“What the…?” he coughed out in a heavy accent. “Who are you?”
My hand wrapped around his throat, cutting off words and air. “You have five seconds to save your life,” I murmured. “Tell me where they took Rafe, and I will let you live.”
He struggled and bucked against my hold, but I’d positioned myself on his body so he couldn’t get free. When he was fairly purple in the face, I released my hold, allowing him some precious oxygen.
“Where is Rafe?” I repeated, barely resisting the urge to choke him out again. Unfortunately, it was hard to talk when being choked, and I needed him to answer me.
“Resistance,” he coughed. “They’re waiting for you.”
