-Chapter 13-

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My heart was practically beating out of my chest. An alarm was blaring throughout the whole palace like booms of thunder. Adrenaline was coursing hastily through my veins and my eyes were on high alert of any palace guards that would appear. I jogged up to Aries side. Her pale face was flushed red from the sudden burst of exercise and her eyes were wide with fear. "We need to get to the palace holding center. They may have Angelo and Sofia. I'm not leaving without them." I stated and Aries just nodded, afraid that one word would make her lose her breath. We hurried to the control center. We had to be in the west wing. A part of the palace I had never even touched.

Aries scanned her thumb and hurried us inside the small room, pausing  to do something to the scanner that jammed it. "That should hold off any guards for a couple minutes if they try to get in." As Aries got to work, I let my hand run over the injury, wishing my dagger was strapped there rather then a bullet wound.

The alarm had stopped. The lights had gone out completely. "Come on." Aries said somewhere in the darkness. "I know my way well enough in the dark to get us to the holding rooms and then out of here." She reached for the door handle but I grabbed her hand, "Can you message Leo somehow really quick. Tell him I'm okay?" As my eyes adjusted to the darkness and the light from the holopad lit up her small face, I saw her blue eyes swirl with confidence before she gave me a curt nod.

Leo's POV

"Where the fuck is she?!" I yelled at my head guard, Xev Hurron. His mouth was set in a hard line, his eyes emotionless. "I don't know, sir. But we also have notice of the disappearance of soldiers Sofia Martino and Angelo Grey." I growled as I ran my hand through my unruly hair. It's been over twelve hours since the disappearance of my fiancé.

"If anything, and I mean anything, happened to her, I will fuck you all up. What the fuck happened? Aren't Angelo and Sofia supposed to keep her safe?!"
The guard cleared his throat, "Yes sir. But we checked the cities surveillance. We found something. Would you like to see the clip?" I collapsed in my office chair and nodded. My holo screen lit up and the clip started playing immediately. There she was, radiant as ever, laughing at something Angelo had said. A hover pulled up and Sofia reached for the door. Before she could even open it, it busted open, a masked man jumping out and instantly pointing a gun at Athena's head.

I rose from my chair angrily. Her face was contorted with fear, but also confidence. She never showed weakness. Some words were shared before Sofia fired her gun. At the same time, the man fired, hitting Athena in the thigh. She crumpled, a scream erupting from her throat. The sound horrified me but not in the usual way. The way that I was the one meant to make her do that. I was the one meant to kill her.

My fists balled up and I couldn't even finish the clip when more hovers pulled up. I walked up to the wall and shut the screen off. "So where are they?!" I shouted at Xev. "We don't know sir. We are currently tracking Sofia and Angelo's chips but they seem to be corrupted."

"You couldn't even invent a tracking chip strong enough to withhold some bitch who stole my woman?" The anger was easily detectable in my voice but my soldiers still showed no fear. "We still have our best hackers digesting the chip. There's a chance we will be able to locate them."

"Not good enough." I let my face fall into my hands and groaned in despair. That was until my head assistant came in. "Sir, you've received a message. It's from Princess Athena."

Athena's POV

Aries and I had broken out into a full-blown sprint. Guards were infiltrating every area of the palace in search of their beloved princess. "We are almost there." Aries whispered and I picked up pace, eager to see my friends. We reached the holding rooms and I started calling for Angelo and Sofia. I could care less if the guards could hear us, at least I would know they were safe. And alive.

"Athena?" A tired voice croaked from one of the cells. I followed the voice and approached the cell quickly. "Sofia?" Hands grasped at the bars and Sofias perfect face came into view. Even through the darkness I could see her face was slick with sweat and a bruise was under her left eye. "What happened to you?" I said gently as I clasped my hand over hers. It was cold and clammy.

The cells weren't exactly grimy and nasty but they weren't homey either. Made up of sleek white marble and only holding a twin size bed and toilet, it wasn't the most comfortable. "Angelo..." she said softly, "They took him away. I think they might hurt him." My heart stopped and I hissed angrily. "Aries, hack into the lock thingy and get her out. I'm going to talk to my dad. He can't keep getting away with doing this shit."

Aries complied with no comment and no less than a minute later was Sofia out of the cell. A wave of relief washed over me but was cut short when I heard the rhythmic steps of guards coming down to this floor. "I'll go. You guys stay hidden back here. When I get them away, you run." I looked at Sofia with hopeful eyes, "I'll get him to release Angelo." Sofia gave me a warm smile, "Thank you."

With that, I ran straight to the commotion of guards and they all halted when my figure came into view. "It's only me. Now take me to my father."

Sofia's POV

The steps of the soldiers became only a distant noise. I finally took a moment to glance at the small redhead next to me. She had taken out a small holo pad and started rapidly tapping on its floating screen. She could be no taller than 5 feet and her scarlet ringlets clouded her round face, which was covered in a generous sprinkle of freckles. "Who even are you?" I questioned. She looked up at me with big blue eyes, swirling with fear. "I- I helped the princess find you. I'm the one who hacked the lights"

"Hm. Impressive. What's your name?" "Aries." She stammered and I couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. Her focus went back to the holo pad and she tapped one more time before the lights flickered back on. "I thought this would help Athena out a little more. The cameras are still disable though so we should be able to escape easily." Aries jammed the little device back into the side of her nurses coat and stood up, gesturing me to follow.

We made our way back up the steps, each step a little more cautious than the last. The soldiers had taken my gun and without the cool metal pressing against my back, I felt empty. Good thing every Gaiden solider went through intense training and I knew quite a few fighting techniques. The girl stopped abruptly, almost knocking us both over. A shadow passed the top of the steps and when we went unnoticed, I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in.

As we crept down the palaces halls, my eyes kept darting in every direction, prepared for any surprise attack. But just as Aries said, we went unnoticed. The main hall was now empty but left signs of being previously occupied. Scuff marks of multiple shoes were strewn across the white floors and I knew it had to be the guards. Aries peered around the corner into the main entrance and turned around to face me, her body completely paralyzed, her eyes wide with shock.

I myself peered over the corner. What I saw terrified me. My body froze in place. My lips set in a hard line, not a singular breath passing through them in fear of being spotted. Right in the center of the pristine palace entrance was Athena and King Stefen. The problem was, Athena was tied to a chair, her hands and ankles bound down and cloth over her mouth. Her tear stained face was strained at the horrid sight before her. The Kings face only held a sign of victory.

"You brought this upon yourself, child. It seems you need a little more... motivation." Athena's head snapped back in forth is retaliation as more tears fell from her green eyes. Angelo was sitting right in front of her. One knife already pierced through his abdomen, and a gun aimed at his head.

-AUTHORS NOTE-
This book is absolute haywire but hey, that's the fun of writing. I hope you are all enjoying it and don't feel afraid to message me and give commentary or ideas for the book
Love you all <3

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