Page 40 of Trapped with the Undercover Prince

Chapter Seven

Anna stared up intoZar’s smiling face and had to smother the irrational urge to shake him. “Why are you smiling? Someone just tried to kill you.”

His grin got even wider, but before she could check him for a fever, because he had to be delusional, several members of his Guard came running up to surround him. The leader, Nicolas, practically shoved her aside in his haste to get to Zar.

She stumbled away, lost her footing, and would have fallen on her ass, except the man grabbed her before she could make it more than halfway to the ground.

He didn’t say anything to her, just pushed her up against Zar’s chest.

“Are you injured, Your Highness?”

“No, Anna knocked me aside. If she hadn’t...” He let the end of his sentence hang and smiled at her again.

“You need to come with me and the medics,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him then Nicolas. “One of the medics can lend him their uniform jacket or something.”

Nicolas’s gaze sharpened on her, and something in his eyes told her she’d surprised him. “Yes. No one will look for him there.”

“We have to go now.”

Almost simultaneously, they moved as a group up onto the platform, through the emergency area, and onto the waiting train. Only Nicolas didn’t join them.

“Keep him with you and away from the press,” the man said to her as the doors closed. She didn’t even have time to wave at him before they were moving.

Zar was grinning now.

“Stop that,” she hissed at him.

“Stop what?”

“Smiling. You look like you’ve lost your mind.” She looked for Luke and found him and the medics ten feet farther into the rail car.

She and Zar moved to join them. She explained to the medics their plan for hiding Zar among them, and one of them gave Zar his jacket, which when zipped up, covered more of him than the suit jacket had done.

She checked Luke’s vitals and wasn’t happy with the boy’s blood pressure or pulse. “How long until we get to a hospital?”

“Twenty minutes,” one of the medics said. “As soon as we clear the tunnel, a helicopter is waiting for us to transport the boy directly to the hospital.” He glanced at Zar. “There should be room for you both in the aircraft, but the boy’s mother might have to get there by ground ambulance or police car.”

“You go with my son, Your Highness.” Marie had tears streaming down her face. “I can’t believe that man tried to shoot you.”

“If you hadn’t tripped and Anna hadn’t knocked me over, he would have shot me.”

Luke moaned, and everyone turned their attention to him.

The boy blinked groggily and asked for his mother. She held his hand and told him how proud she was of him for being so brave.

“Indeed,” Zar said. “Such bravery has earned the highest of honor. You shall be treated like a visiting prince.”

Luke’s eyes got wide. “Can I have a puppy?”

With an oops, did I just say that glance at the boy’s mother, Zar answered, “Of course. All princes have at least one hound. What kind of puppy would you like?”

“I don’t care what kind of puppy he is. I’ve already got a name for him—Jacques.” His eyes closed, and he fell unconscious again.

Zar glanced at Anna, one brow arched in question.

She had her hand on Luke’s neck. “The medications for pain we’ve given him often result in the patient coming in and out of consciousness.”

“Any idea on the extent of his injuries?”

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