Sara Larson - Defy

“Well, I’m very sorry that I was unable to reach that level of skill on my own. It’s unfortunate that your father doesn’t believe in that type of training. It might have saved us from getting into this mess.” My already bad mood was rapidly deteriorating into something even darker.

“Yes, unfortunate indeed.” Damian’s gaze was unwavering on mine.

Rylan broke in suddenly. “As long as we’re all alone in here, don’t you think we should be making a plan to escape and return to the palace? Have you had any clues about which direction we’re headed while Alex and I were unconscious?”

“We will not be attempting to escape,” Damian responded.

“But, my lord — I mean, Damian,” Rylan corrected himself. “I don’t understand….”

“They’ve kept me ignorant of the route we’ve taken, but I’m fairly certain we’re heading toward Blevon. My decision is to wait and see what happens. We will continue to do as they tell us until we find out who is behind all of this, and then we can make a plan.”

I stared at him. “You don’t seem very upset for a prince who has just been abducted from the palace and dragged halfway across his country, possibly to his death.”

“That’s my decision, and it’s final.” Gone was the pretense of being friendly with us. He was our prince suddenly, giving us an order, and we recognized it.

“Of course, Your Highness,” I said. “We will do as you wish.”

He lifted an eyebrow at the use of his title again but didn’t tell me to call him Damian this time. Instead, he stood up and strode out of the tent without another word.

“Didn’t that woman tell us to all stay here if we didn’t want to be knocked out again?” Rylan asked.

“Apparently, he didn’t think that threat applied to him.”

There was no sound of fighting, no impact from his body hitting the ground unconscious, so he’d obviously assumed correctly.

“Do you get the feeling that something strange is going on here?” I asked Rylan.

“Yes. I just have no clue what it could be.”

I sighed. “Neither do I.”

THAT NIGHT, I lay on my back, staring up at the canvas above me, willing myself to fall asleep in the muggy humidity, which lingered even though the sun had gone down hours ago, when the entrance to our tent rustled. Alarmed and instantly alert, I sat straight up on the hard ground, straining to see in the dark. Beside me, Rylan’s breathing was steady and deep.

It wasn’t Eljin, or even Lisbet. Instead, I stared up at the tall, shadowed form of Prince Damian in the darkness. A wave of heat cascaded over my body when he met my startled gaze and silently motioned for me to follow him out of the tent. Before, when he’d come to speak to me at night, I’d believed that he thought I was a boy. He was right — having the truth out in the open changed everything. My blood pulsed through my body as I rose and crept out after him.

The camp appeared to be asleep, except for two men who stood watch by a campfire across from us. The flames undulating in the black shadows of the jungle reminded me of the jaguar attack and I shuddered. Damian passed one finger across his lips and silently walked between a few tents and then out toward the line of trees beyond the small clearing in which our captors had made camp.

Had he changed his mind? We couldn’t leave Rylan. I refused to. And there was no way I was heading into the dark jungle completely unarmed.

Finally, Damian stopped and glanced back at the camp. No one was coming after us; we’d managed to slip away unnoticed. Above us in the trees, a bird screeched, making me jump.

The scent of plants and earth and even a hint of something floral surrounded us. My skin was sticky from the humidity and I reached up to push my damp hair off my forehead.

“What is it — what do you want?” I asked, at last, when Damian didn’t speak. I never would have dared be so bold before, but I was exhausted, embarrassed, and frustrated. With him in particular. He hadn’t returned the rest of the night, leaving me to vacillate between being worried about him and angry with him for not getting sent back to our tent with his tail between his legs. So much for Lisbet’s threat.

“I needed to talk to you,” he said, his voice low. “To apologize, first of all. I am sorry if I made you upset. But how was I supposed to tell you that I knew my best guard — the undefeated Alex — was a girl ?” He looked down at me with those piercing eyes of his, and an unfamiliar heat blossomed deep in my belly.

“How long have you known?” My body thrummed with tension.

He lifted one hand slowly and I froze. He took a lock of my short hair and rubbed it gently between his fingers. “I’ve always known.”

“Always?” I repeated dumbly. His gaze was so intense, I was having a hard time concentrating.

“I know you believed me to be spoiled. Arrogant. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t observant — more so than most. I watched all of you. I had to. As I told you before, I’ve been trained not to trust anyone.” He paused, searching my face. My mind flew back to the night when he told me how he’d been raised, when he said he wanted to trust me. When he asked me if I had any friends to confide in. “From the moment you joined my guard, I knew something was different about you. Just because I seemed oblivious didn’t mean that I actually was that callous and uncaring. That I didn’t see you .”

I stared at Damian, my mouth suddenly dry. “I … I don’t …”

“Tell me about the jaguar attack,” he said abruptly, dropping his hand and taking a step back. “What happened — why were you gone for almost two days?”

Relieved to be on safer footing, I quickly told him everything that had happened, including Borracio’s cryptic message for him. He listened intently, his expression pensive. When I was done, he sighed.

“If they hadn’t found you in time …” A shadow crossed his face, and he continued, his voice lower, “I’m so relieved they were able to heal you. I … I need you, Alex — Alexa .”

Hearing him speak my true name sent another jolt through me. My heart thudded in my chest at his words. The prince — Damian — needed me? I felt my mouth part, but no words would come. Finally, I managed to force out just one. “Why?”

He hesitantly stepped closer to me. His fingers brushed mine in the darkness, sending a bolt of heat up my arm. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. “Because you understand. More than anyone. Because you know what it’s like never to trust anyone — to be completely alone, lost in a disguise of your own making. Because … because for quite some time I’ve —”

“Don’t move!” a woman shouted suddenly.

We jumped apart and I spun around to see someone aiming an arrow directly at my chest. At first, I couldn’t quite believe it, but as the figure walked closer, there was no denying who it was. What was she doing? My heart raced, and I wished there were some way to go back in time, to stop her from interrupting us. Damian had been so close to admitting something —

“I found them,” Tanoori shouted over her shoulder, then she met my disbelieving gaze directly. “Hello again, Alex .”

“Tanoori?”

“You know her?” Damian looked at me in shock.

“We grew up in the same village,” I admitted.

“Funny how quickly the tables can turn, isn’t it? One minute, you’re threatening me and waiting for me to hang. The next, I’m the one who might shoot you.” Tanoori glared at me in the darkness. Gone was the trembling girl tied to a chair. This Tanoori seemed very capable of murder.