Page 30 of Inevitable
I was exhausted emotionally and physically. I’d been sedentary and unable to walk for days now, but I wanted to keep moving.
“I can walk,” I told him. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“I second that,” Nate said. “I don’t think any of us are fond of this damn country. We’ve all been here too many times, and none of them were for anything pleasant.”
As we all started the final trek, I thought about Nate’s comment.
Lania had been a country engaged in a bitter civil war for a long time.
It made sense that the three men had all been here before.
They were all previous special forces.
Once the rebels had been forced out of Lania, Nick had tried to turn everything around.
I kind of wished that my friends could see the other side of the island nation.
It was beautiful and tropical.
I’d actually been enjoying my visit to Lania before the kidnapping had occurred.
I could see why tourists were flocking to the capital city and the surrounding beaches.
There were almost no signs of the previous civil war there, and it was the closest thing I’d seen to paradise.
“We’re here,” Brock said as we finally stopped in the middle of a clearing in the woods. “I already signaled Nick. I can hear the helicopter in the distance.”
I took a deep breath and released it.
I could hear that helicopter, too, and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever experienced.
I watched as the lights of the aircraft came into view, and as soon as it landed Colin boosted me into the helicopter.
I landed in the arms of a man I’d called my friend for several years now.
He put on the headset that I was already familiar with from my previous ride in the same helicopter.
“Emma,” Nick said in a relieved voice as he hugged me. “Bloody hell! I was worried about you. I’m so sorry this happened to you. This was all my fault.”
Prince Nick had a pronounced British accent because he’d spent most of his life in England. The king had sent his only son there to protect him from the dangers of the war in Lania.
“It wasn’t your fault, Nick,” I scolded him. “You had no way of knowing that someone was going to try to assassinate you.”
I pulled back and looked at his handsome face.
Nick was younger than I was and incredibly handsome with his dark hair and beautiful brown eyes.
Unfortunately, that male beauty was marred by the stress he’d been through since the kidnapping.
He was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, and he looked nothing like the crown prince that he actually was.
There was nothing pretentious about Nick.
Most of the time he preferred to act and dress like a normal guy.
“I brought you here,” he said as the men boarded the helicopter. “I promised you it was safe.”
“Lania is safe. This wasn’t your fault, Nick. Stop blaming yourself. I’m fine.”
