Royal Reckoning by Stephanie St. Klaire
9
Ryla hadpeople assisting them the whole way off the palace grounds and along the way to the airplane, where Cally was waiting for him. Though it was just them on the long winding road back to their rendezvous point, he knew help was only moments away should they get in trouble along the way. She’d thought of everything, and at that moment, he was more grateful for her than he’d been the entire trip. There was no way he could have anticipated or prepared for what they witnessed.
It was a clusterfuck, to say the least. To complicate matters, they got word that the king had died just moments after Jonas. He wasn’t saddened by the news. In some ways, he was relieved because he could no longer pose a threat. The complication came in the form of lacking information. Jonas was vague and mysterious, and his father was gone and couldn’t be interrogated. Eli wanted answers – deserved them – and now he wasn’t going to get them.
Did this mean the threats were now neutralized? Or was this just the beginning of something much larger? Time would tell. And until he’d dotted every i and crossed every t, this case would remain his top priority. Protecting Cally and their son was everything.
Eli had only come to one conclusion, and that was, he had a score to settle. But with who? Again, time would tell. He’d find the answers he was looking for because if he walked away knowing anything, it was that Jonas didn’t act alone – neither could his father. Even a joint effort between the two didn’t add up. There was more to this story, and he’d write the ending himself.
But first, Cally.
This was the closest he’d been to her in days, yet he felt the farthest from her. As if time was standing still and working against him. That was the real enemy. Despite the miles traveled, it felt like he was getting farther and farther away from her.
Eli needed her. He needed to see her, feel her, smell her even. He’d hold her in his arms and never let go again. She was all that was good, and he wanted to be good for her and their son. What was once casual between them quickly grew to a deep-seated passion that was so consuming they needed each other like they needed air. It was raw. It was striking. It was real. More real than anything he’d experienced.
He wasn’t a relationship guy, though he enjoyed relations when the moment suited and the right lady was available. But Cally was so much more than that. She was everything. The feelings he had for her were foreign but welcome. Losing her like he did generated a sense of rage he didn’t know possible, and hearing she was found and safe gave him an equally consuming sense of peace and joy.
Cally had become the missing piece he didn’t even know he was looking for. Eli Clayton was a lot of things, and at the very top of that list was broken. But she made him whole. Somehow. In her own special way, she made him feel deserving, worthy, and even…loved. At least that was what he thought that was.
Lines had been crossed. Loyalties and alliances had been declared. He knew who he could count on, and most of them were in the vehicle with him and the rest with Cally. He didn’t know who he couldn’t count on, though. He didn’t know who was lurking in the shadows, pulling strings, making bad shit happen, but he knew they were there. Regardless of his father and even Jonas, there was more to this story, and he was determined to figure it out because she was worth it. She was worth every risk he would take and every bullet he’d dodge to get to the truth. And keep her safe. Keep them safe.
“Jonas has been taken care of,” Ryla said. “Wow. That is not how I wanted that to sound. He has been moved and respectfully tended to.”
“Thank you,” Eli said as he stared out the window. “He deserves that.”
“He kidnapped Cally and poisoned the king,” Carter said, confused by the sorrow Rylan and Eli seemed to share over Jonas.
“No, he didn’t.” Eli turned to Carter. “That was what he was trying to say. This wasn’t him.”
“Then why not just say that instead of the dramatic monologue?” Carter implored.
“Because that was Jonas. He makes you think. He wants you to figure out the answers for yourself so they’re more clear.”
Carter pinched his brow. “That doesn’t make sense to me. Especially when lives are on the line.”
“That was the point. If you’re handed the answers, you stop looking, and you miss the details. If you only have a clue, you hunt for all the pieces and see them from all angles. Nothing and nobody can get past you.”
“No blind spots,” Ryla said, quoting Jonas.
“No blind spots,” Eli repeated.
Carter was beginning to understand. “He wants you to see your enemy coming from every angle.”
“And my enemy’s enemy,” Eli said.
“That was deep but still a little dark and sketchy.” Carter snorted, amused but still in disbelief. The day’s events were a lot to process. “You know what this means, right? There’s still a threat. This isn’t over.”
Eli nodded. “I’m afraid it’s only just begun.”
“Was it Jonas who sent you the pictures and video of Cally then?”
“It had to be, so I’d know exactly where to look and show up with a theory to start working at,” Eli said.
“And?” Carter continued to question Eli because it was thought-provoking and perhaps would unlock information they didn’t even know they were sitting on.
“And my theory is correct, but my enemy unclear now,” Eli admitted.
“What’s next?” Carter asked
Eli looked out the window at the airplane in the distance where Cally was waiting. He recalled what Jonas had said at the very end and answered, “I wait for the storm.”
The last few minutes of the ride were quiet as they all let those words settle in. The storm. None of them knew what that meant, just that it was going to be as sinister as it sounded.
Eli could hear the engines roaring as they approached the waiting jet, ready for a quick takeoff. He wanted quick too, yet nothing was happening quick enough. Cally was right in front of him and still felt so far away. The closer he got to her, the harder it was to be patient. For the past several days, he’d been waiting for this moment – to have her at his side or in his arms – and despite finally being brought to safety, she was neither. Not yet.
It was a sickness. A painful obsession. He didn’t just want her. He needed her. Desperately. To feel her, to smell her, to know she was real and truly safe. Once he had those things, he’d never let her go again. What was this, he wondered. Eli had never felt such a strong emotion, and he was beginning to think it was unhealthy how badly he needed just to see her. This was unfamiliar territory, frightening territory. It meant he could break. Something he thought impossible until her.
Cally held his whole heart, soul, and every inch of his being, and that was both freeing and haunting. To realize he had the ability to feel so deeply for another person was the freeing part. That he could give a part of himself – the most important part – without hesitation meant he wasn’t the product of an ugly cycle and had broken it. But the haunting part… it was brutal. That kind of deep connection and emotional bond was what heartbreak was made of. She had the ability to take him to his knees and ruin him. As often as she wanted to because he wanted her so badly, he’d let her ruin him over and over again.
It was like a sickness that most men would define as weakness. But most men weren’t this strong. The kind of strong that allowed you to be vulnerable and love – because this had to be what it was, deep, heart-wrenching love – without limits. Without boundaries. Without conditions and rules that could be broken. That was what made him strong. What made them strong. And what would protect them from any harm that came their way from this moment on.
Unapologetically and hopelessly in love. It was as much a blessing as it was a curse. The joy and rewards of such were the blessings – and their unborn son a sign of both. But the curse…it was like the storm that hadn’t hit yet. This was all just the beginning. He’d already lost her once, and it felt like the end of everything good. That was the price you pay, though. That was the curse. That was the risk you took and the risk you fling on those who are a part of the blessing. Cally’s abduction was a part of the curse. A consequence of loving Eli and Eli loving her. It made her a pawn, something he’d never allow again. Something he hadn’t realized, until now, was just as real as how he felt for her.
Jonas had been a distraction. Eli’s hate for his father had been a distraction. An elusive and nameless enemy would be a new distraction if he wasn’t so wide-eyed on the subject now. No more distractions, just focus, justice, and making it through a proverbial storm that had now been forecast, yet to make landfall. It was coming for them. He could feel it to his core. Dark, cold, menacing…it was coming.
But now, as the vehicles were slowing on their approach, the only thing that mattered was Cally. She was everything – his entire focus until they arrived home safe, and he could lock her away where nobody could find her while he hunted a savage enemy that was certain to meet his maker when Eli was done. Now he sounded like the menacing storm, a villain out for vengeance. Hell, maybe he was. He didn’t care. He only cared about getting to her and seeing for himself that she was alive, real, safe.
The vehicle had slowed to a roll but hadn’t stopped just yet. Once they cleared the engines, Eli jumped out and ran up the steps to the jet. He was met by Israel, who Eli nearly knocked over as he ran past him, searching the plane, unapologetically pushing through anyone in his way. He didn’t see her.
Eli turned to Israel as the rest of the team started to board. He nodded to the back of the plane. “She’s in the back, lying down. She’s fine.”
He’d see for himself if she was fine. He wouldn’t take anyone’s word for it at that moment. His lungs were burning, his head felt faint, and the room around him tilted as a rummy sensation coursed through him. He was holding his breath and couldn’t let it go. This wasn’t healthy, or maybe it was. He didn’t care.
When he pushed through the final barrier, the door to the suite at the back of the plane where Cally was resting, he stopped dead in his tracks while he stared down the barrel of a gun that met him on the other side.