I choked on my next breath, the dust and tears making it next to impossible to breathe. “Okay,” I murmured. “I’ll find him.”
I helped him lift his dad, even though we knew we shouldn’t be moving him. In this situation though, he would definitely die if we didn’t move him. This way there was at least a chance.
“I should come with you,” I blurted out as Rafe turned away.
He shook his head. “As fucked up as it sounds, you’re safer in here with all these people around. Those assholes might be lying in wait, and you’re not a member yet.”
So much of that didn’t make sense. If these guys were huge extremists, no doubt they gave zero shits that Rafe was a part of their group. He was a prince, and all royals must die or something. He couldn’t fight while carrying his dad, who was no small dude.
Everything was adding up to him needing my help.
Before I could argue, and we really didn’t have time for that, Jordan and Nolan appeared beside us. “There you are,” Jordan exclaimed, worry in his voice and face.
By the time I turned back, Rafe was already gone, and all I could do was cry and pray he made it to the medevac in time.
“Felipe?” Jordan asked, grabbing my hand.
I shook my head. “He’s hurt bad. Rafe called in a helicopter. I—I don’t know if he’ll make it in time.”
He hugged me closer. “He will. Felipe is as tough as his son, and I’m pretty sure nothing in this world can kill Rafe.”
I had to have faith that what Jordan said was true, or I wouldn’t mentally survive the next little while.
“Where is Mattie?” I asked Nolan, giving him a hug at the same time because I was so relieved to see him alive and somewhat uninjured. Outside of a scrape on his cheek and some blood on his hands, he looked okay.
“She’s alive,” he said in a rush. “She sent me a message right after the quake, but I haven’t been able to find her anywhere. And now she’s not answering her palm reader, either.”
Fuck. “We should keep looking,” I suggested. “Maybe she got hurt or lost afterward in all this chaos.”
As we moved away from the bar, a bloodcurdling scream, louder than the dozens of other screams, drew my attention to what probably used to be the center of the room. A familiar figure stood there. At first I thought Claudette was alone, her red dress shimmering in the low light from a few scattered candelabras that had managed to survive the quake. A shadow rose up beside her, and it was clear that this had caused her panicked shriek.
“What the fuck?” I asked, lurching forward as that figure swung a blade, slicing right through the princess’s neck, silencing her in one swift move.
Jordan and Nolan took off, and once the shock of what I’d just seen passed, I did the same. Did someone just kill Claudette?
Rafe was right. This was definitely a planned event to get rid of the royals, and that could only mean one thing.
He was in big fucking trouble out there on his own. I was torn, though; I had to leave Jordan and Nolan to go after Rafe, but… They could both hold their own, and having seen that murder, would be aware of the danger. Plus they were together.
At this moment, Rafe needed me more, and if I stopped to tell them what I was doing, it might be too late.
Not to mention they’d never let me go.
Chapter 37
It was surprisingly easy to get out of the main ballroom area. The majority of the carnage was focused toward the back of the room, where all the seats and special thrones for the royals had been. Once I got free from the crowd, I found myself in familiar hallways that were barely touched by debris at all.
How was it possible to have such a destructive and accurate weapon? It had been able to pinpoint to the very fucking room. Even as I tried to imagine it, it seemed impossible not to take out the entire building at the same time.
While I hurried in the direction of the school’s helicopter pad, I tried to call Mattie. The palm reader was still so foreign to me that it was never my first thought when trying to find my friends, and in this case, it proved useless with no answer on the other side.
God, I really hoped she was okay. I needed her and Felipe to be okay.
A buzz drew my attention, and I quickly read the message.
Jordan: Where are you? There’s resistance everywhere; get your ass back here.
I didn’t stop running. He’d only reiterated what I already knew: Rafe needed my help.
A second later it buzzed again.
Jordan: Meghan is dead.
No! Fuck. As much as I hadn’t wanted to meet her, this would devastate the New American prince. And I couldn’t even be there to comfort him.
Me: I’m so sorry, Jordy. I’ll be back in a second. Stay safe.
I wanted to add so much more, but there wasn’t time. I had to focus on my current task, and the rest would have to wait.
My legs were aching so I kicked off my shoes, yanking the dress up, as I sprinted up the stairs that led to the roof. Thankfully it was on this side of the academy—that would have given Rafe a shot at getting his father there in time.
My hands smashed against the security door, one that was locked from the outside only, so it opened easily for me. I burst out into the night, the fresh air assaulting me after being inside with all the dust.
Gulping in lungful’s, I hauled ass across the wide expanse of roof, following the distinct sound of a helicopter.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
The mantra ran through my head like a prayer.
When I passed the main control tower, the huge red medevac chopper came into view. Rafe was at the side, and it looked like they were stabilizing his father.
Thank fuck. He was okay, and his dad wasn’t dead yet. I could tell by the way everyone was crowding around him hooking up all the shit. I could get back now, comfort Jordan, check on Nolan, and find Mattie, who’d better be okay.
Just as I turned, the sound of another chopper drew Rafe’s attention. Mine too.
Looking up, I was surprised to see it wasn’t red with the distinct medical logo on the side.
It was black, stealthy-looking, with a sharper nose and wicked-looking blades, the kind that could go into the types of terrain the medi-chopper couldn’t.
Was this some sort of specialist…?
Before I could even finish the thought, half a dozen black-clad people repelled off the side, landing right near Rafe and surrounding him in seconds. Turning from his dad, he shouted something, and the medevac took off, dodging the black helicopter with ease. Rafe immediately launched into action, throwing swift fists and dodging blows from the other men. That was my best hint that they weren’t friends.
This was the enemy, and he was vastly outnumbered.
I hurried forward, determined to help, even though I was dressed terribly to be of much use in a fight. This would be the last time I wore a ballgown, no matter how amazing they were.
The urge to shout his name was strong, but I knew that distracting him could prove deadly. So I refrained, instead planning my attack as I approached on silent feet.
Rafe had managed to take out half of them by the time I dove onto the one closest to me, disabling him in seconds. Then I moved onto the next. For a minute, I had hope that we could take them out together.
But we hadn’t planned for the black helicopter though, the one that clearly held more people than the six who had dropped. Two more repelled out, one of them shooting Rafe right in the neck with a dart.
I saw it fly. I screamed his name. And our eyes met for a moment before he crashed to his knees.
Then it was all over. The two black-clad figures scooped up the prince, struggling to hold his bulk. But they got to the ropes and the helicopter hauled them up, moving higher than I could reach.
“Rafe!” I screamed, racing along the roof in the hopes I’d find a spot with enough elevation that I could get to him.
I almost made it too, but the dress caught around my feet, and I sprawled just when I might have been able to jump. Sobs caught in my throat as the beast took off into the night; the last thing I saw was the light on its tail disappear as it faded into the darkness.
Getting to my feet, I called Jordan on my palm reader.
“Violet!” he answered after one ring. “Where the fuck are you? I’m going to smack your ass, sweetheart.” His voice was somewhat playful, but I heard the husky tone. He was not doing okay.
A sob escaped me, but it died under a torrent of rage. “I’m on the roof. Helicopter pad. Can you get up here?”
I could feel his confusion in the extended pause. “Yes. We’ll be right there.”
“Hurry,” I said before ending the call.
With red tinting my vision, I slowly made my way back to where the black-clad bodies were strewn. Rafe and I had hurt them, but they weren’t dead. That meant they could tell me where the fuck Rafe had gone.
Reaching the closest, I ripped his mask off to find a dude a few years older than me with blond hair, pale skin, and a long scar on his right cheek. His eyes were closed, so I slapped him once. He jolted back to consciousness a few seconds, and a few hits, later.
“What the…?” he coughed out in a heavy accent. “Who are you?”
My hand wrapped around his throat, cutting off words and air. “You have five seconds to save your life,” I murmured. “Tell me where they took Rafe, and I will let you live.”
He struggled and bucked against my hold, but I’d positioned myself on his body so he couldn’t get free. When he was fairly purple in the face, I released my hold, allowing him some precious oxygen.