Rachelle McCalla - Royal Heist

Something tugged at her hair. Fingers swiped her arm, grasping at her shirt.

She was never going to make it. The pedestrian gate lay a full twenty yards ahead, already within view, but rough hands closed over her arms, breaking her flight and tugging her backward.

Ruby let out a panicked scream a split second before a hand slipped over her mouth.

* * *

“What was that?” Galen Harris asked.

“Eh?” Elias, whose guard shift had ended half an hour before, lingered in the pedestrian gate guardhouse, chatting as he so often did.

“It sounded like a scream.”

Ever since Princess Anastasia had called ten minutes before, asking him to watch for her assistant Ruby’s return, Galen had kept his attention on the security screen, which he’d switched to show the area outside Ruby’s apartment door. There’d been no sign of the princess’s friend.

Not out back, anyway. The scream had come from down the block, beyond the scope of the security camera. Galen peered out the rear window and caught sight of two figures struggling in the distant darkness.

“Watch the guardhouse!” Galen punched the button that unlocked the door. He burst out as the woman screamed again, the sound muffled. The evening’s dying light glinted off her red hair.

Ruby.

Galen bounded through the door. He’d heard she was in town, and wondered if Ruby would let him see her again after the way her visit had ended the previous summer. Certain his company wasn’t welcome, he’d purposely avoided her.

But he couldn’t stay away now.

“Halt!” he shouted. “Royal guard!”

The attacker glanced up, his features marred by nylon netting. He moved his hand from Ruby’s mouth only to grab her by the arms.

Galen tore toward them. The masked man tugged at Ruby’s purse strap, shoving against her shoulder with his other hand as he wrenched at the bag.

With a leap, Galen threw himself at the hefty brute, slamming his arm down on the hand that gripped Ruby’s purse strap.

The man’s grasp broke as he stumbled backward, still standing, even with Galen half on top of him.

“Run to the gate!” Galen shouted to Ruby as he attempted to restrain her attacker. The thug spun on his heels to run, but Galen didn’t want the mugger running free on the streets of Sardis, Lydia’s capital city. He grabbed the man by the arm, pulling him back.

Behind them, he heard the faint buzz that meant Elias had deactivated the electronic lock on the door so that Ruby could get inside. Relieved that she was safe, Galen turned all his attention to the angry man in front of him.

Tugging hard on his arm, Galen tried to bring him down, but his massive opponent spun his arm toward Galen’s neck.

Galen saw the blow coming a split-second before it hit him and ducked to take the blow with his hard forehead instead of his neck.

The man grunted as his fingers crunched against Galen’s skull.

Taking advantage of the man’s momentary weakness, Galen threw his weight against him, heaving downward on his arm. But in spite of his strength and skill as a fighter, Galen was outweighed by Ruby’s attacker who resisted his downward pull.

Changing tactics, Galen jabbed one heavy boot toward the middle of the man’s legs, hoping to knock his knees out from under him. The thug pulled away, clear of Galen’s kicks.

Galen lunged onto the man’s back, determined to bring him down. The attacker sagged, but snapped one arm over his shoulder toward Galen’s face. This time his opponent angled his fist deeper and caught Galen full on the nose, snapping his head backward and sending tears to his eyes, momentarily stunning him.

Before Galen could pull him in again, the assailant dived toward the alleyway and fled into the night.

A gush of blood flooded from Galen’s throbbing nostrils. He squinted after the man, but his vision was blurred with tears and he could hardly see where the attacker had gone.

“Galen?” A female gasped behind him.

“Get inside.” He gestured to Ruby, who’d stepped back outside and now hovered anxiously near the gate.

She ducked back into the guard booth. As Galen staggered back to the brightly lit doorway, she reappeared with a towel in her hands. “Here.” She reached toward his bleeding nose.

“I’ve got it.” Galen accepted the towel but insisted on holding it himself, gingerly prodding the bridge of his nose; at least the thug hadn’t broken it.

“Sit down.” Ruby led him toward the chair where he’d been sitting until he’d heard her scream.

“Who was that guy?” Galen tried to look Ruby in the eye, but the fat towel clamped over his nose blocked most of his vision.

“I don’t know. Did you recognize him?”

“No. Where’d he come from?”

“The streets. He followed me, I think from as far as Stasi’s studio.”

“Followed you?” The words hit him harder than the blow to his nose. It was one thing to have Ruby attacked by a vicious purse-snatcher. It was far worse to think the man had tailed her, targeting her specifically. “How do you know he followed you?”

“I heard footsteps.” Ruby’s voice broke.

Galen angled his head and adjusted the towel so that he could see her face. He might not stanch the flow of blood as quickly with his head down instead of up, but he needed to see her. He needed to know whether she was okay.

Jade-green eyes blinked at him with fear in their depths.

Galen felt his heart twist. Part of him had been eager to see Ruby ever since he’d heard she’d stepped in to fill the role of Anastasia’s assistant, as the talented princess designed all the jewelry for the upcoming royal weddings. An equal part of him had been wary of a potentially awkward reunion. But awkwardness had become the least of his concerns.

“Are you okay?” He spotted the red marks along her neck where the strap of her bag had cut against her. “Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine, I think.” She touched her neck. “Just sore.”

Elias, who’d been hovering silently, his attention divided between the two of them and the security screens, reached for the small fridge where the gateway guards kept their lunches and beverages. “Put something cold on that,” the older guard suggested, placing a chilled soda in her hands.

Ruby held the bottle like an ice pack against her neck. “Thank you. That helps.”

Relieved that she wasn’t seriously injured, Galen went back to wondering why the young American had been followed. “He wanted your purse?”

“Did he?” Ruby gingerly touched the red mark left behind when her attacker had tugged on her purse. “I didn’t think I made an obvious target, but I guess by walking home alone...” Her words broke off again, and she took a couple slow breaths, meeting his eyes over the towel he held clenched to his nose.

“You weren’t an obvious target,” Galen reassured her, trying not to think about the way her shining eyes made his heart leap or how much he’d missed seeing her since the last time she’d visited Lydia. Ruby was heir to an American jewelry chain. He was a humble sentinel with the Lydian royal guard. Their lives were worlds apart. She’d pushed him away when he’d tried to overlook their differences before. He ignored the way he felt sitting close to her, and focused on the attack. “If that man wanted to snatch a random bag, he could have gone downtown. Plenty of women don’t guard their purses very well when they go out on the town.”

Ruby’s freckles scrunched slightly as she wrinkled her nose, visibly fighting back her emotions in order to speak. “But why would he want my bag?” She broke his gaze and turned her head away.

“Are you carrying many valuables?”

“Hardly. Not much cash, a debit card, but my bank account is nearly empty already.” She opened her purse and took a quick inventory, rifling through papers and receipts. “Lip balm, keys, cheap sunglasses—which are now broken.” Ruby’s voice faltered as she pulled out the ruined eyewear. The shades had snapped along one rim. A lens fell out as she lifted them.