Royal Rescue. Tammy Johnson

danger.”

      Her heart lurched in her chest. The name was familiar, but she didn’t have time to place how she knew it. Her brother was her focus. Leo wouldn’t send someone to her unless something was terribly wrong. Images of him suffering, lying near death or worse, flooded her mind. She closed her eyes and prayed for the gut-wrenching fear to be replaced with peace. She prayed for her brother and that he would have the same peace and strength to get through whatever had happened to keep him away.

      “My brother wouldn’t send someone unless it wasn’t possible for him to come on his own.” Confusion flooded her. She needed Leo. More so this year than any of the others they’d met here. “Is he...?” She couldn’t bear to finish the sentence or the thought.

      “No.” The simple word sent a flood of relief and thankfulness through her. Ronin reached for her, but she pulled away. “I’m here to bring you home.”

      “Home?” The word was a mere whisper on her lips. She hadn’t set foot in her country of Portase in fourteen years. All she had left of her home were the memories that had grown more and more unclear with time. At first she’d dreamed of the day she could return, but as the years had passed, thoughts of home had brought only fear. “I can never go home.”

      As badly as she still wanted to, a part of her was afraid to accept it. So many happy memories had been buried beneath the ash that had once meant everything to her. Quickly on the heels were the bad memories, the knowledge that someone there wanted to see her dead.

      “You still haven’t answered my question.” He’d done a fine job of dancing around it. His evasiveness did nothing to ease her suspicion of him. “Tell me. What has happened to my brother?”

      Thea held her breath waiting for the answer she needed to hear even though she was certain she wouldn’t like it.

      “He’s been shot.”

      * * *

      Ronin Parrish had anticipated a few different scenarios of his first meeting with Princess Dorthea. In all of them he’d save the day and she’d come along with him with very little argument. He hadn’t expected the woman standing in front of him, who looked as if she wasn’t sure whether to run or pummel him again with her bag.

      At least he’d had the foresight to remove the brick from it if she did.

      “Shot?” She choked the single word out on a fragile whisper.

      The pain he heard in her voice made him want to take her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he couldn’t. Not only would she not let him within two feet of her without running, but he wasn’t convinced himself. He was many things, but he wasn’t a liar. He wouldn’t sugarcoat the situation just to gain her cooperation.

      “He’s in the hospital, but his condition is stable and the doctors expect a full recovery.”

      “Take me to him.” Her words sounded very much like a command, but there was a slight waver in her voice. She was strong. Much stronger than he’d imagined. That characteristic could be both good and bad all wrapped up in one tiny princess package.

      “I can’t do that.” Having both the royal heirs in the same place at the same time now would only lead to disaster. Every means possible must be used to keep them apart until the threat against them was identified and eliminated.

      “I don’t believe you.” Suspicion lit her mossy-green eyes and she shuffled backward. “How do I know you aren’t the one who shot him?”

      She was still afraid of him. Not that he could blame her. It would be difficult to trust after the pain and suffering she’d already endured in her twenty-four years. Her mother had died years before, during the birth of her younger sister. Her sister had only been three years old when their father, the king, had been killed, and she’d been lost in the fire that had been set in an attempt to cover his murder.

      Leo was all she had left. Being separated from him these past fourteen years had probably taken its toll on her. The next few weeks wouldn’t be any easier than what she had already faced, but there was too much at stake to risk losing her now.

      “I didn’t shoot your brother.” Even to him the words seemed like too little. He could only hope she would believe the sincerity in his voice. Now that he finally had the truth within his grasp, he would not let it go.

      She was thinking of running again. He could sense it. Feel it as tangibly as the tiny shards of frozen rain beating against his skin. Ronin took a deep breath and squelched the urge to step toward her. Her eyes widened with apprehension. She was ready to flee. He knew she would run until there was no strength left in her. Her instincts were on target. She was in danger.

      But not from him.

      She took a larger step away, then another.

      His mind raced. He could grab her and haul her to his car. There would be kicking and screaming involved. Not exactly the best way to go about gaining her confidence. Short of knocking her unconscious, which was really not an option, he had one shot at swaying her over to willingness.

      “There is only one way you are ever going to see your brother again.” He hated using her brother and her need to see him as bribery. But it was the truth. Whether she knew it or not, she really only had one option.

      Him. He just had to convince her of that.

      She stopped in her tracks but made no move to step in his direction.

      Her stillness gave him hope.

      Icy pellets crunched beneath his feet as he took a small step toward her.

      A gust of bitter wind blew wisps of hair free from her cap. Russet strands danced across her face but didn’t hide the uncertainty that swept over her features. He couldn’t blame her for not trusting him. A tiny part of him admired the way she followed her instincts.

      “And what way is that?” Her voice was a soft whisper. Gone was all the gusto she’d tossed at him mere moments ago.

      “Come with me.”

      “You must think I’m a fool.”

      Ronin thought her many things, but a fool was not one of them. She was one of the only people alive who could tell the truth of what had happened the night her father, the king, had been killed. Since that night she’d not spoken of what she’d seen or heard. The secrets buried somewhere in her mind made her an even bigger target than her brother. Not only was she heir to the throne as the firstborn, but she also held the power to condemn the real person responsible for the king’s death. The wrong man had been imprisoned. Ronin knew that to be absolute.

      She held the knowledge that could free his father.

      “Come with me and you’ll see your brother again. Arrangements are being made this moment for you to reclaim the throne that was taken from your father.”

      “That is lunacy.”

      “Is it?” he asked.

      “Why now?” She stared at him. Her face was nearly devoid of any emotion. Her lips parted, then closed. An argument of pros and cons seemed to war behind her questioning eyes. He could only hope he was close to gaining her cooperation. “We were safe before last week. What has changed to make someone come after me after all this time?”

      So many things, he thought. He was unsure of where to begin.

      A car passed by them on the street, reminding him of their surroundings. The streetlights crackled and flickered to life just beyond where she stood near the curb. The icy snow mixture was falling heavier, and it was getting darker. He’d hoped to be on the road before night fell.

      “Princess Dorthea, there is a lot to explain. But not here.”

      She needed to know the truth. She deserved it. He would not keep that from her. He had nothing to hide. He was finished hiding. When he had been sent to bring Leo in, it had taken weeks to gain his trust. Once he had, they had become close friends and Leo