Page 50 of A Girl and HER Prince
Livvy screamed. The horror of what she’d seen freezing through her limbs and resonating through her body until every part of her was trembling.
The shadow coming at them in the darkness had a knife.
Chapter Sixteen
Venice nearly jumped out of his skin at her scream.
He swung around, just in time to see the knife coming down at him.
Time stood still.
He threw up his arm, sucking in his breath at the strange stinging sensation when the blade sank into his forearm.
Livvy screamed again and suddenly everything whipped back into motion. The tank Venice had already slipped from her back was somehow flying into his attacker’s neck. And Livvy held it like a gangster.
The man grunted and fell back. The knife clattered to the side somewhere in the cave and Venice lunged at him before he could get to it again.
They both crashed into the water.
Venice could only be glad that he’d taken off his tank earlier or he’d be too weighed down to fight this guy. His fins were a different story, and they were getting in the way. His attacker lost no time taking every advantage he had, slamming Venice’s aching arm, sending bursts of pain through the nerve endings as they struggled in and out of the water.
This brutal hitman had been sent to assassinate him. Venice was positive the Myrdons were behind it. Who else, but those terrorists who wanted his father’s heir dead? But how had they known he’d be here?
The man was in a hood and wearing a diving facemask. After losing his light to Livvy, Venice could only see his menacing shadow, not a face or any distinguishing features. He couldn’t recognize who the killer was. It didn’t matter—they could’ve paid any stranger to do the job.
“Who sent you?” he shouted.
The man’s only answer was a fist going into Venice’s side again and again. His attacker must be wearing brass knuckles because every punch cut into him.
Venice shouted out, which was only echoed by Livvy. Her cries were a cruel reminder of her presence. If he was killed, she’d be going down next as the only witness to his murder.
He couldn’t let that happen. He fought back harder.
Splashes followed as she landed into the water to go after them. This man wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. “Stay back!” Venice held his hand out to her, hoping she’d listen. “Livvy, do not com—” His words bubbled through the water as the man shoved him under with a rough elbow digging expertly into his neck.
If the assassin couldn’t stab him to death, he’d drown him.
Panic made him twist. One of his fins floated away. He kicked at his attacker, feeling his toes dig into the man’s hard shin. Nothing budged him. Livvy carried the light. He could see her face shimmering and moving above the water. She dropped the heavy flashlight and it sank next to his shoulder. His fingers wrapped convulsively around it. The light illuminated her. She held the tank over her shoulder and cracked it down over them.
And just like that, the terrible grip of those hands loosened over him. Venice came sputtering out of the water, still gripping the heavy flashlight like a weapon. Livvy grabbed at him. He half-crawled to her, feeling her fingers dig into his shoulder as she tugged at him. He collapsed over the rocks on the bank. His arm where he’d been stabbed throbbed with indescribable pain.
Livvy scraped up their diving supplies. “C’mon!” She pulled on her mask, yanking him to the exit of the cave where the line led.
Did she really expect him to go back into those tight caverns without a tank and missing a fin? She could lend him her alternate air source, but it had been such a tight squeeze to get in here in the first place, would they both fit side by side, just so they could share?
A roar behind him made him turn. The assassin held the knife again. Somehow he’d found it. Cursing, he turned to block Livvy from the worst of it, even as she screamed for him to follow her into the water. She grabbed his shoulder.
Seconds later, a loud splash signaled that the assassin had come out of the water to join them. He turned to face him. The jagged edge of the knife ripped into Venice’s stomach. Livvy jerked him away, and they dove into the water. The assassin was after them again. Venice kicked back, feeling his heel make contact with a jaw. Nothing had felt so good.
Livvy’s hands found his shoulder again as she urged him to the line that led from the cave into the water-filled caverns. They had no choice. They were going through these tunnels without his tank and with Livvy leading on her first dive.
He was also missing his mask and a fin, and he’d been stabbed twice—the only thing going for him was his dive experience.
That wouldn’t be enough.
He plunged through the entrance after her, forcing his eyes open through the water as she pushed her alternate air source at him. His open wounds stung in the salty water, and he tried not to cry out. She twisted back around and swam ahead. He did his best to stay near her, and not let the tube between them get caught on any of these overhanging stalagmites. It was a feat with only the one fin, but she was slower because she was new at this… and terrified.
The light she held in her hand shook against the walls. That meant she’d be taking in more air too.
