Page 17 of Princess Broken

One side of Blade’s mouth twitches up like he’s fighting a smile, and I decide that the very handsome man, who obviously has at least some African heritage in his ancestry, is the one with the most potential to become my ally. Perhaps I should try honey instead of vinegar.

“Will you take me to DEFTA, Blade?” I step toward him. “I’m sure if we encounter any danger, you have a sharp weapon to protect me.”

A blade appears in his hand, coming out so quickly I can’t figure out where it came from. His sleeve?

He grins. “I will gladly shred anyone who threatens you—Ana.” He glances toward Phil. “But Crusher’s right. You can’t go Above until we evaluate the threats.”

He says above, like it’s a specific place.

I sigh. “Fine. Someone do this threat evaluation quickly, then. I have a job to get back to.”

“Sitting on a throne?” Phil says. “You call that a job?”

“What is your problem with me?” I ask the big redhead.

“No problem, Ma’am. No problem at all.” He stares into my eyes and, through the darkness, his amber eyes flicker with light as his square jaw twitches. His body holds so much restrained power.

It’s obvious that Phil will never become my ally.

I turn to Crusher. “You’re clearly in charge. Tell me, where are we? Where does this tunnel lead? And please, how and when will you return me home.”

“I’m not in charge,” Crusher says sharply.

“Then which of you is the boss?” I sure hope it’s not Phil.

“We already told you,” Crusher says. “We don’t have a boss.”

“Okay. But please, can one of you at least tell me where we are?”

“Listen, princess,” Phil steps forward. “You’re clearly used to telling people what to do, getting your way. And while we’ve pledged to protect you with our lives, kill for you if need be, you can’t tell us what to do.”

I clear my throat. “First, there will be no killing on my behalf. No crimes of any kind.”

“More orders?” Phil shakes his head.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “I wasn’t issuing orders. All I did was ask a question.”

Flame claps Phil on the back. “She’s got a point, brother.” He turns to me. “We’re in the underworld.”

I take a step back without meaning too. “Underworld?”

Phil laughs. “Not like you’re thinking. We’re just under the world, in a literal sense.”

“Oh. Yes.” I laugh at my reaction. “And…you four know your way around this underworld place?”

“It’s where we live,” Phil says.

“Our home is down here.” Blade gestures around. “One of our homes.”

“Well, I love what you’ve done with the place.” I want to bite back my words, but the men chuckle, and I’m flooded with relief.

“Speaking of home—” Blade glances toward each of the three men “—should we…?”

“Huddle,” Crusher says.

In a flash, all four men form a tight circle about twenty feet away from me.

I tune in to listen, but they’re talking in code, or some language I don’t understand, although I know many languages.

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