“But you don’t,” he said, catching on. “Because I don’t know what you look like?”
“Because to you I look like her.” She wanted to try to get him to understand, yet she didn’t know how to. It was simple in her mind, but clearly he didn’t feel the same way, because his frustration was apparent.
Suddenly he cocked his head to the side, listening to something she couldn’t hear. It took her a moment to realize someone must have connected with him telepathically. She thought about asking how far the connection stretched but figured now wasn’t the right time. That was even more apparent when he started for the shore.
“Something’s come up,” he told her, already dressed by the time she’d joined him. Bending down, he snatched her dress and held it out to her, avoiding looking her way. “I’m needed back in the joint room.”
She’d ask what a joint room was later as well. It took her longer to strap her shoes back on than it did to pull the dress over her wet suit. Either Ruckus hadn’t thought about bringing towels, or in his haste to get away from her, he just didn’t want to bother with them. He was waiting by the door when she finished, and she walked over.
There was no real reason for her to do it, but at the last moment she found herself looking up. Her heart froze in her chest when her eyes locked on cornflower-blue-and-crimson ones.
Trystan was standing in the glass hallway, staring down at her.
CHAPTER 14
“Olena!”
Delaney rolled over, swatting at the hands shaking her arms. In her groggy dream state, she couldn’t understand the words, but she knew she wanted to be left alone.
“Olena!” The person shook her harder, cursed, and then yanked her off the bed and onto her feet.
Letting out a yelp, she snapped fully awake and blinked up at a pair of yellow-green eyes. Strong arms banded around her, one at her waist and the other around her shoulders, holding her up. He wasn’t dressed in his uniform, and even though that confused her, for a second she didn’t understand who he was or where she was.
Then he shook her again, and she gripped his shoulders to keep her head from snapping back by the force.
“Damn it, Ruckus,” she growled, it all rushing back to her.
He’d brought her back from the pool and had left her in Olena’s rooms without a word. She’d spent the rest of the night pacing. Glancing up, she saw that it still wasn’t fully morning, a shadowy glow cast around the room. She couldn’t have been asleep for more than two hours.
“We need to go, now,” he bit out, turning to drag her toward the door.
That was when she noticed Lura was also standing there, wearing a thin silver nightgown that barely reached her knees. That explained why Ruckus had been calling her Olena. The other girl was pale, and was wringing her hands in front of her. Her gaze kept shifting from them to the open door where Pettus was waiting.
Delaney could hear shouts from the hall, and every few seconds a group of soldiers rushed by.
“What’s going on?” She tried to loosen his hold as he practically dragged her away from the bed. She’d gone to sleep in one of the gold nightgowns from Olena’s closet. The damn thing was even shorter than Lura’s, and barely covered anything.
“We’re under attack,” he growled.
“What?!”
“Just get moving, Olena!” Ruckus got them out the door and moved his grip to her arm so that she was standing on her own feet. Without sparing her a glance, he began leading them down the hall, trailing her behind him so quickly, she kept almost tripping.
“Report?” he asked Pettus, the other soldier moving up to the right.
“They’ve been held back at the entrance. After the explosion security swarmed in. Tellers are holding them off as we speak. It shouldn’t be long,” Pettus informed him. They reached a four-way stop, and Pettus took a step to the right, giving a nod, before heading away and blending in with another group of soldiers dressed in forest green.
“There’s been another explosion?” She hadn’t understood anything else he’d said, but she was pretty sure that was the most important part anyway.
“Yes.” Ruckus pulled them down another hall, this one narrower than the rest. “At the front of the building. A supply craft had a bomb hidden on it. By the time the men at the gate picked up on the device’s signature, it was too late. It took out the fountain.”
“There’s a fountain?” She hadn’t seen the front of the castle yet, the only time she’d been outside being at the Tandem game. Now that she was thinking about it, though, all the explosions seemed to be happening out there. Maybe sticking indoors was the smartest way to go.
“There was.”
They came to a sudden stop in front of a painting of a tall man with blond hair dressed similarly to how the Basileus was dressed yesterday. Curling his fingers around the left edge of the gold frame, Ruckus unhooked a latch and the painting swung outward.
“This is you.” He motioned toward Lura, who’d been following quietly behind them.
She moved forward and reached up to pull herself into the dark cavern that the painting had revealed. It was another hallway of a sort, with no lighting. There was no way of telling how deep it went.
“Wait.” Delaney stopped him when he went to close the painting after Lura. “We’re leaving her?”
“This leads straight to the basement,” he explained, shrugging off her hold so he could finish.
She and Lura stared at each other until the hidden door clicked shut once more.
“Shouldn’t she stay with us?” she couldn’t help but ask, thinking that being with him was safer than anywhere Lura could be going.
“No,” he said, and started forward again. “The royal family has a different security location. That’s where we’re going. I’ll drop you off and then—”
“Absolutely not.” She dug her heels into the floor so that he’d either stop or drag her. He stopped. “I want to stay with you.”
Another blast went off before he could respond, and this time she felt it. The walls actually shook around them, and her eyes widened. Without knowing what she was doing, she’d stepped closer to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her tinier form for the second time. Huddled against his chest, surrounded by him, she was able to take a breath.
“Something else just happened,” he told her, as if she hadn’t already figured that out. “I need to go out and check on it, help my men. I’m the Ander, Delaney. It’s my job.”
“I thought your job was to keep me safe,” she mumbled against the smooth black cloth of his shirt. She inhaled deeply, letting his familiar scent of crackling firewood comfort her. On some level she knew she was being childish, asking him to stick around, clinging to him like she was.
“It is,” he said calmly. She felt him hesitate, then his chin dropped to the top of her head and his voice lowered huskily. “I’m going to bring you to the Basileus. His security team is made up of the strongest and best-trained soldiers in Vakar. They’ll protect you until I come back for you.”