Fatal Princess by Ella Miles

Ri

Back and forth, I rock like a baby in a cradle. I drift left then right. For a few minutes, it’s rhythmic, but then it shifts just slightly, and I realize where I am. I’m on a boat. That’s what the rocking is.

How did I get on a boat?

What happened?

I furrow my brow, trying to think of the last thing I remember. Beckett had a gun aimed at my head. My heart broke. I was pissed at him.

My head pounds, and my lips are dry and cracked.

How long have I been out of it? Long enough to be severely dehydrated.

I sit up slowly, afraid the light-headedness is going to cause me to pass out again.

I’m below deck in a small room, only big enough for a twin bed and a nightstand. There are no clues of who took me.

I put my hand over my chest. It hurts. It fucking aches like something I’ve never felt before. The loss of him, of the man I love, rips through me, breaking me in half.

I want to sob and scream and lose my mind.

But I don’t feel safe here—wherever here is.

I pat my clothes for a weapon, but I find none. I open the nightstand drawer, but all I find is an old condom wrapper and a pen. Gross.

I close it quickly.

I need to leave. I need to find a weapon, something to defend myself against whoever is on this boat.

Carefully, I stand. My legs are shaky from lack of water and food. That may need to be my first mission—food, water, then a weapon. I need to find a kitchen. I can find all of those things there.

I stumble to the bedroom door and pull it open an inch to peek through the crack. There is no one in the hallway outside my door. Whoever has me has shitty security too.

I move quickly into the hallway, up the stairs, and find a small galley. There’s a small fridge containing a box of pizza. I grab a slice and shovel the cold food into my mouth. Falling into the sink, I throw my mouth under the faucet for water—too exhausted to find a glass first.

After I finish a slice of pizza and have had a few gulps of water, I’m feeling well enough to search for a weapon. I open drawer after drawer, looking for a steak knife or chef’s knife. I find neither, not even a butter knife.

“You were always deadlier with a knife than a gun. I couldn’t take any chances.”

His voice sends all the hairs on my arms into a standing position. The last man I want to be captured by has kidnapped me. I’ve been running from this man for years, and somehow I failed.

He must have taken advantage of my broken heart.

“You never did want a fair fight,” I say, slowly turning to face Kek.

He grins at me. His jet-black hair is cut short on the sides and longer on top; his eyes are just as black as his hair. Pits form in my stomach when he looks at me.

The rest of him is just as fit as the last time I saw him too. Muscles protrude from beneath his fitted black T-shirt and beneath his jeans.

“I don’t have a knife either, so it seems fair enough to me.”

“Not really when you haven’t fed me or given me anything to drink in days.”

He shrugs. “It’s only been one day, not days. And you seem to have found enough food and water to replenish you for now. Besides, I don’t want to fight with you.”

I raise an eyebrow and stay alert as he walks further into the galley. I’m standing next to the island in the center of the room, keeping it between him and me as he gets closer. It won’t do much to protect me, but it makes me feel better to have a chance to get away if he attacks.

“You’re always looking for a fight.”

“That was the old Kek; the new Kek just wants to talk.”

“You kidnapped me so we could talk? You could have just sent me a text or left a voicemail; that would have been easier.”

“This conversation needed to happen in person.”

“So you kidnapped me and brought me to the middle of nowhere so no one will be able to find me. You do know Vincent, not to mention countless others, will be looking for me.”

At least, I hope that’s true. I think back to my last memory of Beckett. He wanted to kill me. He might not care about saving me. How did I escape? How did I not end up dead? Kek didn’t save me, but who did?

I can’t make sense of my fuzzy memories, so I suspect someone fucked with my head. I’m guessing the culprit is the man standing in front of me.

“I know, which is why we don’t have a lot of time. Someone will come for you soon enough,” he says.

“Vincent?”

Kek laughs. “No, but someone will.”

“Are you afraid you’ll lose?”

“No. I don’t plan on fighting.”

I frown. “So you’re going to finally kill me?” I take a step back, away from him, trying to plan my escape.

Kek chuckles louder. “I’ll never kill you, Princess. What fun would that be?”

“You really brought me here to talk?”

He nods.

I suck in a breath. “What do you want to talk about?”

I’m on high alert. I don’t trust Kek; I never will. He killed someone I loved. I’ve barely survived his past games, and I can’t imagine what game he’s playing now.

He opens his mouth, and I know the phrase he’s about to say.

Fuck.

I cover my ears and start screaming at the top of my lungs. I refuse to let him control me anymore. I run out the galley and up the stairs to the top deck of the boat, not really sure what I’m going to do next. But I’ll jump in the water and start swimming if it comes to it.

I’m hoping to find a weapon, anything I can use to kill him once and for all. Or something to kill myself with because I’d rather die than let him torture me again.

Kek is right behind me. I keep screaming and yelling, trying to block out any words when I hear the rumble of an engine. Someone is nearby.

I change my screams to cries for help. I don’t know who the nearby boat belongs to, and I may be signing their death sentence if the boater isn’t from this world and prepared to fight, but I have to try. It’s my only hope.

I wave my hands frantically in the air as the boat nears, and I see blonde locks sticking out from under a man’s ball cap.

I let out a sigh. It’s not entirely who I was hoping for, but he’ll do.

Kek grabs my arms and whips me around to face him. I’m still yelling, still trying to block out his words—just a few seconds longer, and I’ll have help. Kek is a good fighter, but his best strength is being able to control me. He already said he doesn’t plan on fighting. I have to hope he was telling the truth.

Kek’s eyes are wild and desperate. There’s a flicker of fear in them.

I’ve never seen him like this. I don’t understand it.

“Stop, just listen. I won’t use the phrase. I just need you to hear me.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I know, and you shouldn’t.”

The boat lurches—Caius’s boat must have hit ours. We have seconds, not minutes, until he’ll be here.

Footsteps make their way onto the top deck, and I know Kek is about to make his grand disappearance.

“Don’t trust them, any of them.” Kek pushes me away toward Caius when he says one last phrase that doesn’t make sense to me. “Give him up.”

And then Kek is gone.

I frown. That was what was so important? For Kek to tell me not to trust anyone? I already knew that. There had to be something else I’m missing.

Caius runs to me and pulls me into his arms. I let him. It feels good to be held again.

“Are you hurt?” Caius asks.

“No.”

“We need to go after him.” He pushes a gun into my hand.

I take it, but it’s no use; Kek is gone. It’s one of his greatest abilities—to be able to disappear without a word. He can just be gone like a shadow in the night.

Caius won’t believe me, though, and I want to see with my own eyes that Kek is gone.

“Stay close to me. I don’t want to let you out of my sight,” Caius says.

I want to argue that I can defend myself, but when it comes to Kek, I don’t feel comfortable being by myself. So I follow Caius as we check the top deck and then the rooms below.

“I don’t understand; he’s just gone,” Caius says.

I nod. “I never understood it either, but he’s very good at disappearing when he wants to.”

I look at the boat Caius brought. “Anyone else come with you?”

He shakes his head. “Just me. We all followed separate leads. The Retribution Kings are doing everything they can to try and find you.”

He doesn’t mention Beckett.

“Even when they almost had me killed before?”

“They realized their mistake.” Caius looks at me with longing eyes as he searches mine for something. He’s probably looking for any amount of affection that I might have toward him.

“Thank you for saving me,” I say.

He holds out his hand toward me, and I take it. “Anytime.”

He helps me onto his boat and wraps a blanket around my shoulders. I sit down in one of the two captain chairs, and we start driving toward shore. Looking around now, I realize we’re on Lake Michigan.

“What do you remember?” Caius asks.

I stare out at the water. “I remember Beckett almost killing me and then nothing. I don’t know how I got from that point to Kek taking me.”

Caius sighs. “We helped you—Lennox, Hayes, Gage, and me. Beckett didn’t tell any of us his plan, but we knew it couldn’t be true. We got you out of there, and then Odette came back, so we knew we were right.”

I’m holding my breath, I realize.

“And Beckett?”

He turns his head to look at me slowly out of the corner of his eye as he holds the helm. “He only has eyes for Odette. They’ve been inseparable since he got back. I think he realizes his mistake when it comes to you, and he’s sorry, but all he cared about was being with her.

“Odette’s the love of his life. He thought he lost her. It broke him in a way we didn’t think was repairable. He used you as a distraction and to help get her back. But now that she’s back, he’s consumed with her and making sure that no harm comes to her.”

My throat closes up, and my heart seizes. I’m not even sure if it’s pumping blood anymore; it doesn’t really see the point.

I close my eyes, trying to remember, but I can’t find anything in my memories that could contradict Caius’s words.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, slowing the boat down until he can walk over and wrap his arms around me.

It’s then that I release the tears—full out sobs into his shoulder. I can’t hold them back any longer.

I’m embarrassed with how long I cry, but it’s nice to have Caius holding me in his arms. It’s nice to feel loved even if I don’t love him back.

“I’m sorry,” I say, rubbing the tears and snot on the corner of the blanket.

He chuckles. “Don’t be. I care about you, Princess. I’m here for you whenever you need a friend or more.”

There’s so much hope left in his voice when he says ‘more.’ I don’t want to squash the hope of my savior, but I’m not sure anything can change my feelings for Caius. He’s a nice guy, but not someone I could love. Maybe that’s what I need, though. A man who’s strong and kind, but not a man I could fall in love with. A man who can’t hurt me. A man who could be a partner, not a lover.

There aren’t many men left in the game. If I had to choose one of them, Caius wouldn’t be a bad choice. I wouldn’t be surprised if Beckett bowed out of the game now that Odette’s back.

It’s between Caius, Ryker, and three others.

Caius might be my best choice.

I lean into his shoulder, now damp with my tears.

“What would I do without you?” I ask.

He pushes my hair back and then kisses my forehead. “I don’t know what I would do without you either.”

It feels right and wrong at the same time to be in his arms, but I need the strength right now. I need the support, so I take it.

Then Caius whispers something into my ear that I can barely make out. If I wasn’t sure where Caius’s loyalties lie, I am now.