“Twice? Do you have a death wish?” Issa scowled.
She blinked. “Have you been talking to Junayd? You're starting to sound like a carbon-copy.”
“I have, but not about you getting shot, stabbed, and kidnapped by drug lords and gangs,” he muttered.
“Living on the streets gives you a different perspective. My—Ilearned at an early age how to survive,” she quietly replied.
“I hope that will never be necessary ever again. You are a princess now. Your security team will always be here to protect you and Junayd,” Issa stated.
“What’s the story between the two of you? Everyone else is always 'his highness' this and 'his highness' that.”
Issa smiled. It was amazing how a smile changed his face from stern and aloof to handsome. Issa wasn't a pretty-boy. He had the rugged, bad-boy good looks that women all over the world fell for. She didn’t understand why she had missed that before.
“Ziya, Hyder, and I were running a mission with Junayd when we literally crashed and burned. The three of us came from different backgrounds and couldn’t stand each other at the time. Yahya and Junayd have the most in common, though I didn’t know either of them at the time. I was on the verge of being kicked out of the Jawahir military for my undisciplined behavior. Hyder had already spent time in the brig and Ziya was about to be court-martialed for dancing with a general’s daughter—dancing without any clothes on, you understand. I don’t know how Junayd found out about the three of us, but he did. He requested that we be reassigned to his unit. The rest is history,” Issa replied.
“Something tells me there is a bit more to the story,” she said, studying his face.
He shrugged and looked away. “The crash involved a helicopter. We were on a humanitarian mission and went down during a sandstorm. None of us were in great condition. I had three cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Ziya had a concussion and a fractured femur. Hyder a dislocated shoulder, a fractured radius, and some internal bleeding. Thankfully, Junayd wasn’t as banged up as the rest of us. He had bruised ribs and a slight concussion. If it hadn’t been for him—and Yahya—we wouldn’t have made it out alive. Junayd turned the inside of the helicopter into a mobile field hospital. I’ve never been so happy that we had some serious pain medicine and someone who knew what they were doing.”
“Was Yahya with you guys when you crashed?” she asked.
“No, he was the one who finally found us. We were in the middle of the desert, but he came out of nowhere with a line of damn camels. It was the sweetest thing I ever saw. Spending a week in the desert and almost dying will either break a man or make him realize that there are worse things in life than being in the military,” he said. “The three of us all grew up a lot out there.”
She took a step forward to squeeze his arm at the same time as a piece of the decorative sandstone pillar exploded next to her. If she hadn’t moved when she did, the bullet that blasted a two-inch chunk out of the pillar would have gone through her.
She and Issa reached for each other at the same time, diving for cover on the patio. Shock held Midnight immobile for a moment as she tried to work out who would be shooting at them and from where. Her eyes widened with dismay when she saw Badr hurrying out to see what the noise was.
“Badr, no!” she cried out.
Issa saw the older woman at the same time as she did and lunged for her. Another shot rang out and Issa twisted with a grunt. His arms wrapped around Badr and the two of them fell back inside the house.
“I’m hit,” Issa cursed.
Midnight nodded, noticing the blood on his leg. “How bad?”
“Bullet went through,” he gritted out.
“Badr, where is Kalil?” Midnight asked urgently.
“He went into Bahija to get some supplies. He won’t be home until late afternoon,” Badr replied.
“We’ve got to get Issa further into the house, get locked down, and stop the bleeding.”
“The security room is the safest place in the house,” Issa replied, his voice laced with pain.
“Okay, that’s where we’ll head. Maybe we can get an idea of what we are dealing with. I’m coming over there,” she said.
“It’s too dangerous. You saw what happened to me,” Issa protested.
Midnight nodded. She leaned her head back against the beam and looked up. The ceiling of the porch had a traditional scissor truss design.
“Badr, can you get Issa to the control room?” Midnight asked.
“Yes, but what about you?” Badr replied.
Several shots rang out. Midnight curled up smaller against the support pillar while Badr leaned partially over Issa.
“Get him inside. I’ll hide somewhere else,” she promised.