Melody Anne - Scorched

River showed himself, and the remaining four men tried to surround him, leaving the girl unattended.

Shane bolted toward her, slicing through the ropes holding her to the chair, then grabbing her without saying a word, flinging her over his shoulder and rushing toward safety.

The men turned just as he reached the wall, and a bullet shattered the wood just above his head. Sweat broke out on his brow. That was too damn close. But wasn’t it always?

“Please let me go,” the girl sobbed as she pounded against his back.

“We’re the good guys. Just trying to get you out of here alive,” Shane said, not taking any more time than that to explain. If she resisted, he’d have no choice but to knock her out. It was either that or let her be killed.

Hell, they could still all be killed. That was a part of their job.

River, after taking out the last four men, joined Shane as he and the girl were making their way back to the front of the warehouse. There, more of the enemy group was still exchanging gunfire with the rescue team.

Now the difficult part was going to be getting through the enemy and back to his men. It would have been much easier without carrying a girl over his shoulder — even a small one.

“I’ll cover you; make a run to the men,” River said.

Shane took a deep breath, alerted his men through his coms that he was coming, then took off, saying a quick prayer that he made it with no bullet holes in him or the girl.

He felt the heat of the gunfire as he wove his way back to the men, knowing River would cover his back. When he reached the men, he said a silent but fervent thank-you to them and to the powers above, then left the girl with his men as he got into position to help cover River.

Once River returned to their unit, they could get the hell out of there and have a cold beer to celebrate their success. Nothing had ever sounded so great.

“We’ve got you,” Shane said into his mouthpiece.

River popped up, and began the treacherous journey through the front parking lot, diving behind whatever he could find to take cover as he wove toward them. This mission had turned out to be easier than others, making Shane a happy man.

Of course, he knew not to think that until they completely were in the clear. It was just bad luck.

“Easy as usual…” River said as he turned the corner and began to kneel down with his team while they got into formation for their exit. That’s when their smooth mission went from easy to instant hell.

Before River could finish his sentence, blood spattered from his mouth as a bullet went through the back of his head.

“No!” Shane screamed, jumping up and firing in the direction the bullet had come from, wiping out the shooter, who had just rounded the corner of the warehouse.

“Shit! Where did he come from?” Doug yelled as he jumped up to look around, shooting down another man running from the same direction.

“We need to go now!” Shane yelled, gathering the girl.

But it was too late.

River was dead.

Their mission had just failed in all their eyes, even if they did get the girl to safety. They’d let down one of their own and Shane took the full burden on his own shoulders. It was his team — his mission to keep that team safe.

The men grabbed their fallen brother, who lay at their feet, his eyes empty. Doug threw him over his shoulder and they made their escape to the booming sound of gunfire. Three of their guys covered their backs, returning fire as they exited the industrial area.

Once they were all out of the danger zone, it was a solemn journey back out of the field as they carted the girl away. Yes, they’d completed their objective, but they’d lost one of their own.

There was no victory for them today.

“You did what?”

Adriane stood frozen as his mother berated him, making him feel like a child once again, a child who had just been caught undoing the straps on the guards’ horses for the third time. It had been amusing to watch the men fall off their steeds in front of the king when they’d been so determined to look and act worthy of guarding the royal family.

His mother, Queen Octavia, hadn’t been amused back then.

And she wasn’t too thrilled with him now, though he didn’t understand exactly why.

“I told her we would be wed — that there was no other way,” he said again. Maybe his mother had misunderstood him. Surely she could understand and support his refusal to let Rachel go. After all, Rachel carried the royal heir, his mother’s first grandchild.

“Oh, son. Where exactly did I go wrong in raising you?” she asked, shaking her head in disapproval and bafflement.

“I don’t understand why you are upset. Rachel cannot leave. Surely you can see that,” he said, raising his voice just the slightest in his frustration.

The withering look his mother sent him calmed him immediately. He was speaking disrespectfully not only to his mother, but also to Corythia’s queen. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“Hmm, if you are talking to me this way, I shudder to think how you have been speaking to poor Rachel. No wonder she is less than enthusiastic about your proposal,” his mother told him.

“Do you think that I should let her leave?” he asked, with his fingernails biting into his palms.

“I think you should try courting her instead of giving her orders,” Octavia replied.

“I am doing that!”

“Really? From what you have told me, you have kidnapped her, demanded she marry you, and not even allowed her to speak to her family.”

“I have just let her know that there’s no other choice.”

“There’s always a choice, Adriane. This isn’t the old days; things need to be done a bit more diplomatically now. Yes, I understand that you don’t want your child to grow up elsewhere. I agree with you on that. What I disagree with you about is the way you are going about it. If you want this woman to stay loyal to you, you will have to give her a reason to be so.”

Adrian turned and looked at his mother. What was she trying to tell him? He was lost. Was his courting not up to snuff? If not, what exactly did she mean by the word? He’d never had to woo a woman before; they just naturally wanted to be with him. Of course they did; he had been a prince of Corythia, and since age seventeen, the future king. Now that he was king, there was a line of women who would be more than willing to be his wife.

A line of women that didn’t include the one who carried his child.

It was exasperating!

“How did you and my father come together?” Adriane had never cared to ask such a question before now.

“Now, that is a good question.” She sat back with a soft smile on her face. “I’m surprised that I haven’t told you this before. Your father was visiting the United States to get advice on improving Corythia’s economy, and he was a featured guest at a glittering fundraiser. I and a number of other American actors and actresses were there, and when I met him, his dark eyes, his stature, and his strong personality swept me off my feet.” Octavia stopped for a minute or two, and sighed. “Yes, a very strong personality. He did the barbaric thing that you’ve done: he kidnapped me. Not smart.”

“But you married him, Mother.”

“Yes, I did. But his actions almost turned me completely against him, attracted to him as I was. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t an object, a treasure he could add to his collection. When he calmed down and actually courted me, I fell in love almost instantly. The story is longer, of course, but the bottom line is that he didn’t win my heart until he showed me he had one of his own. Once he did that, I didn’t leave his side.”

“Why do women need this? I don’t understand. I will provide well for her, give her a life most women would envy. Why isn’t that good enough?”

“Because women should be cherished, son. A good woman at your side will complete you, make you the ruler you are meant to be. She will be strong when the rest of the world has abandoned you. She will know you better than anyone else. She will embrace you when the weighted decisions of this country hang heavy upon your shoulders. You need to cherish her, love her, and give her a reason to hold you tight even through the strongest of storms.”

“How do I do that?” Adriane could figure out his country’s problems, but he didn’t know how to open his heart to Rachel. Hell, he didn’t feel a need to.

“How did you win Rachel’s affections in the first place? You must have done something right if she carries your child.”

Adriane stood silent for a moment as he thought back to his time on the beach. “I didn’t do anything different from what I normally do. She was swimming. I thought she was drowning and I ‘rescued’ her, though when she stopped laughing at my valiant attempt to save her life, which irked me just a bit, there was an obvious connection. I invited her for dinner. She didn’t leave for a week.”

“What did you do that made her want to stay with you for the week?”

Why all these questions? He didn’t want to think about the past. It was time to move forward, think of their future. But he knew his mother wouldn’t stop interrogating him until he gave her something.

“We just got along well. I spoke to her more than any other woman I’ve taken for the night. I wasn’t expecting to be with her all week. It was just that one day melted into the next.” Adriane threw up his arms.

“Then be that man again — the man who made her choose to stick around for a while,” she said, as if speaking to a young child.