Page 56 of A Girl and HER Prince
“Helena of Tirreoy is your cousin,” she said. “Deedee never told me that wasyourfamily!”
“She’s the rightful heir.”
“Why are the Myrdons going after you, not her?”
He hesitated, then shook his head, looking despondent. “I’m next in line for the throne.”
And like he’d said, Atreus Mnon was getting rid of anyone who stood between him and ruling. This was serious stuff. They had to find the boat and get out of here, and failing that, a place to shelter. Nodding, Livvy stood, noticing her scraped knees and bruised thigh and toes. There was a gash in her shin where that man had thrown a rock at her in the fishbowl. Yet, she wasn’t the one who was in bad shape.
She extended her hand to Venice. “We’ve got to find shelter. The trees will be dangerous if that storm hits.”
He seemed to steady himself before taking her hand, and his forehead wrinkled as he pushed to his feet. The heavy flashlight beat against his chest. She noticed how pale he looked behind his olive-toned skin. Who knew how much blood he’d lost? She ducked under his arm, careful of his injuries, forcing him to lean against her shoulder as they walked.
At this pace, whoever was after them could loop around the island to catch up to them. It would be open season on princes. Nothing was going their way, and she prayed to God they were meant to live another day.
Chapter Eighteen
Venice couldn’t remember ever feeling so tired. He let Livvy help him up the hill as he huffed and puffed like an old man. The blood he’d lost was starting to make him woozy, though he noticed that she’d stopped the bleeding on his forearm, at least temporarily. That was a relief. It was where the knife had gone in the deepest, and his whole arm throbbed like it had its own blistering heartbeat.
They pushed through the leafy trees to see the view of the water below. His boat raced around the perimeter of the island beneath them, and everyone was back on it, peering over the railings like they’d be able to spot them in the water. Their high spirits from the morning were gone. Achilles paced the deck. Deedee stared into the water while Bris sat next to Turner, frozen. The bodyguard ran his hands down her arms.
Who was it? Who could’ve sent that assassin? To think it wasanyof them was almost unthinkable, unbearable even.
Livvy’s breath came out in a whoosh of relief when she saw them in the water. “There they are!” She raised her voice, “Hey!” They couldn’t hear her over their motor. She waved her arm, trying to catch their attention from above.
“No,” Venice could barely catch his breath to stop her. “Don’t.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know who on that boat wants me dead. If they pick me up, they’ll finish the job.” And it would be easy to make it look like an accident. He was so dizzy right now.
She stiffened. “None of them are responsible. I can tell you that! And we’ve got to get you to a hospital or—or I’m worried about you, Venice. You’re not looking good.”
He didn’t have enough energy to tease her about that, though the fact that he wanted to wasn’t saying much for his presence of mind at the moment. “You have to listen to me, Livvy.” His brain was turning foggy and he didn’t have the wits to make much sense, but he tried. “No one else knew we were coming here today and that guy was waiting for us in the caves. It wasn’t some random attack.”
“I get that!” Her attention went back to his bandage. Her brow furrowed with worry. “But what about your arm? It’s in bad shape.”
“It’s stopped bleeding. I’ll survive. I promise, okay?” She watched him, torn. “There are buildings on the other side of the island,” he said. They were on top of the mountains, practically in the clouds. No use bringing that up right now. “I think they’re houses. We can call someone to help us. My father will know what to do.”
Her gaze swept back to the boat. “Deedee and the others will be stuck out there in this storm looking for us.”
Clearly, she didn’t believe that they were in any real danger from their friends. She must think he was rambling with fever, which was a bit of a possibility, but he had to go with his gut on this. “Believe me,” he said, “Turner will never let them try to ride out the storm. He’ll talk sense into them. Achilles too! He knows these waters, and he’ll hate it, but he’ll go to keep everyone else safe on that boat.”
“What about Deedee?” her voice cracked under her stress. “She’dneverleave me.”
“She’ll have no choice,” he said. “She’ll know what has to be done… and we do too.” All the times his father lectured him on his duty rose to the surface of his memories until he pushed them down. He didn’t need his father in his head at the moment.
Livvy’s eyes were now trained on her friend and they glistened with worry. For all of his ex’s faults, she must’ve done something right to find such a loyal friend.
“I know—it’s horrible…” he said. His heart hurt for all of those on the boat who weren’t in on this despicable plot. “Deedee will be gutted about…you.” She’d probably roll her eyes over the loss of Venice. “She’ll have a few lousy hours before we can get to a phone. All of our friends will.”Especially the ones who happened to be innocent.“But when she sees you’ve survived in the end, she’ll have a great story to tell her viewers.”
And maybe some good dramatic ones in the meantime. Deedee never did let a tragedy go to waste. Their breakup was evidence of that.
Livvy made a sound of indecision. She ran her hands through her hair and finally consented with a groan. “Okay, but you’re wrong about them. None of them had anything to do with this.”
He hoped she was right, but if he was? By now, the assassin would’ve reported the failed mission to whoever had orchestrated this, which was a good thing… because that would keep Bris safe. She was next in line for the thronebeforeAchilles.
He groaned. They needed to get to a phone ASAP. If they were targeting him, all of his friends were in trouble. Turner, tragically, was as good as fired. Venice would never be able to convince his father otherwise—they’d made their bodyguard a part of their group. Bris even dated him. And now things were never going to be the same again.
