Kingston shrugged and said, “Okay, you got me. Let’s just say I’m not used to speeding in a city I don’t know in a car that isn’t mine.”
I loved these moments in the chaos when we were all unapologetically just ourselves. When we could take a few minutes for some good-hearted ribbing and keep that bond between us going.
I couldn’t imagine losing it, and I wasn’t about to start now.
Kingston drove, Archer navigated, and Valen climbed into the backseat with Ryker in between us.
As we left the underground garage, I wondered how long we’d have to run before Ilya stopped chasing us.
And I realized it was forever unless we stopped him permanently, once and for all.
We went slowly to the garage doors, and they automatically opened for us when the vehicle hit a pressure plate on the floor. Kingston was careful leaving the safety of the garage. We could be lucky enough if they thought we were just a resident. Then again, they could be trigger-happy and attack us on sight.
Kingston had pulled his hoodie up, with his hood over his head to obscure his face. Archer did the same, and he was slumped over with his phone in his hands to tell Kingston where to turn in order for us to find the private airfield we had set up for our trip.
I’d somehow remembered in the midst of all this craziness to contact the pilot and let him know we were leaving sooner than expected. Of course, it helped that I’d promised a nice bonus if he could take us to Prague immediately.
The back windows of the SUV were blacked out, keeping the three of us from Ilya’s people, but we still ducked down just in case.
Ryker wasn’t fully aware of everything that was happening. His head injury was worse than I’d thought, and my heart was a constant tight pain in my chest as fear wrapped itself around my body and squeezed. I didn’t know what I would do if anything happened to him. In fact, I couldn’t even give that thought any weight, or I worried I would jinx our fate and bring bad luck to us.
“We’ll be okay once we get to Prague,” I whispered to Ryker, stroking his head and telling him to stay with me. He was starting to get sleepy again, so I started talking dirty to him. “After we get you to the doctor and you get the okay, I want to ride that big hard dick of yours, babe.”
His eyes flipped open, and he made contact with me. He grinned and said, “Okay, I can hang around for that.”
“You’d better because I might even want to get that pretty little ass of yours broken in even more,” I chuckled. “I know you liked it. I know I did, anyway.”
“I’m only gonna admit this because my head feels weird as fuck, but yeah, I liked it,” he admitted.
“We all do,” Kingston said from the front seat. “Our little queen just gives us the space to say it.”
“You can say that again,” Archer said with a chuckle, and Valen agreed.
“Then it’s official, I have a pack of hot, sexy Kings who love being dirty with me,” I said and sighed contentedly. “How could life get any better than this?”
“We’ll have to keep going and find out,” Ryker replied. “Don’t worry. I’m going to stick around to see. I’m not going anywhere.”
I smiled down at him as Kingston pulled out onto the side street near the apartment building. Everything seemed clear, so he sped up, and we made it to the busier street in front of the place.
I honestly thought we made it out unscathed. I truly believed we’d gotten lucky for once that we’d circumnavigated danger and were going to drive without any further issues.
I was wrong.
Just as he turned onto the street, the glass in the rear passenger window exploded, and I threw up my hand to instinctively protect myself.
Pain shot through my arm, hand, and face as I cried out. I saw blood, lots of it, and everything went to hell.
CHAPTER17
“Oh god, princess, are you okay?”Ryker asked over and over. Kingston was yelling and driving fast, and Archer was barking directions in between calling my name. Valen was calling out to me, and confusion reigned in my head. Everything was a dark swirl of pain and havoc. Blood covered my vision, and I began to cry.
“I think I’m okay!” I called out and began to assess myself, pinpointing the pain. “It’s just glass! The glass hit me. I’m not shot!”
I wanted them to know immediately that I wasn’t dying, that we still needed to focus on getting us out of the city and to the airfield.
“I’m okay!” I repeated and concentrated on ending my tears. I had called on Ryker to push through his pain so we could leave. I needed to do the same. I had to push through and rally for my Kings.
“Thank god,” Kingston exhaled. “Now, let’s get us out of here!”