ignored his motion and faced him, toe to toe.
“If you are here to kill me, just do it.” She quickly pushed her arms into her jacket and wrapped it tightly around her. “But don’t expect me to make it any easier for you.”
“I’m not here to kill you, Princess Dorthea.” He reached for her bag on the ground near his feet. He held it out between them, testing its weight and eyeing her suspiciously. “Are you carrying around the kitchen sink?”
“It’s a brick.” She grabbed for her bag, but he held it just out of her reach while removing her only means of protection. He then handed it back over to her.
“You won’t need the brick anymore. As I’ve already said, I’m here to rescue you.”
She snorted again. “Some rescue. I’m freezing and I’ve banged my chin.” She motioned where it had slammed against the windowsill. “I’ve ripped my jeans and who knows if I’ve torn skin, as well. If you were any good at your job, you could make my death quicker instead of slowly bruising me to death.”
He smiled and for the first time she really took the time to notice him as a man. Not just as a danger she needed to avoid. He was quite handsome in a rugged and ruthless sort of way.
“You are very right. If I were going to kill you, I’d have done it in a much more humane manner and much more quickly. I’d probably have shot you when you hit me in the head with your brick-loaded bag. Or perhaps a poison apple would be more your style?”
A lock of dark blond bangs fell across his forehead. Combined with the smile, it gave him a mischievous look. For a slight moment her heart warmed toward him. As a bitter north wind blew, bits of sleet began to pelt them, stinging her exposed skin before melting against her warmth.
Thea held herself in check to keep from smiling back at him. She felt a stab of guilt at the swollen gash on his forehead. A thin trickle of dried blood stained the side of his face. She shook off the feeling. There was still a chance, however small, that he meant to harm her.
“Let’s just pretend for a moment I might believe you.” She slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and looked up into his eyes. “Why are you here? What has happened to my brother? And don’t give me that ‘I’m here to rescue you’ line again. I want the truth.”
“I will always be truthful with you, Princess. As I told you before, my name is Ronin Parrish. Your brother sent me to find you and keep you safe. You are in grave 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
