Chapter 52

"Sky." Lia appears from the shadows, a smile on her face as she appears beside Noir.

"Mia is watching the shack but she is there." Relief fills me as I slump in Noir's saddle. We are so close to saving her now.

"How many people?" I ask, climbing from Noir. I let his reigns fall to the ground.

"Four men. The shack only has one main room and one bath room. Hunters use it to camp out during hunting season." She takes out a dagger from her boot and motions for Mika to come join us. We all agreed Alec will stay with our horses so that we have an easy getaway.

"Alli is close to bathroom door. She is passed out on a mattress. It seems only one man is guarding the door, like he is waiting for someone." She draws the shack as best as possible in the ground, using a circle to show Allisara and triangles for the kidnappers.

"Three are inside playing a card game and drinking. I have a feeling they are drunk. It's the guy guarding the door we need to worry about." Lia continues. I study the drawing, asking about what the four bigger dashes are and learning from Lia that they are windows, one of which Allisara is sleeping under. A plan begins to form as I think about what needs to be done.

"Mika and I will go to the window to grab Allisara. Since you and Mia know this forest, I want you two to take down the man at the door." I begin explaining the plan to the others, telling Alec to move closer to the shack. We will need a quick get away and for that, we will need our horses closer. Mika hands the reigns to our horses to Alec before the three of us slink through the shadows, Lia pointing me towards the window where Allisara is. I thank her, motioning for Mika to follow me as Lia moves to find her sister.

Reaching the side of the shack, my fists clench when I realize the window Allisara sleeps under has no glass or curtains over it. Even I can see that the cold air is seeping inside. I want to kill these bastards that took her. Mika peers into the room for a moment, quietly cursing as he motions for me to follow him away from the shack.

"What?" I hissed out angrily, not liking being pulled away when Allisara is just in our reach.

"They wear our uniforms." I curse, punching the nearest tree. It seems we have traitors in our rank still.

"Go find the twins and let them know plans have changed. They need to capture the man by the door before we storm the room and kill the other three." This time Mika punches a tree in frustration before he runs off. I return to the window and peer over the ledge, stopping myself from cursing when I realize that these men do indeed wear the Royal Guard uniform. Taking out my phone, I send a quick text to Alice about this, telling her to keep an eye on Max in the dungeons as a sinking feeling overcomes me.

A sound from the front of the shack causes the three traitors to stand, weapons drawn as they creep towards the door.

"Someone go check in on Derik." One of the traitors states and I once again find myself holding back a curse. Drik was guarding the door to the ballroom when Allisara and I entered it.

"Why don't you check on him. He's your cousin Lucas." Another one pushes Lucas, the first traitor that spoke. The two men begin to argue about who should check on Derik and while they do I hear a low whistle. Lia was signalling that they captured Derik easily. I smirk, taking my gun from it's holster and carefully aim it. We had one of the traitors, the others can die for all I care.

A slight movement from the window across from me catches my attention and I notice Mia. Our eyes lock for a second and I nod before we both pop up and shoot. Lucas turns as our guns lets out a loud bang, his companions falling to the ground dead. He aims his gun in my direction but he is too slow as the door slams open and Lia fires a shot. Blood sprays out from the man's chest as the bullet pierces his heart. Lucas is dead long before his body hits the dirty floor.

Climbing through the window, I holster my gun and bend down to check on Allisara. She is still breathing but the noise should have woken her up. Scooping her into my arms, I rush out of the door with the twins hot on my heals, telling Mia to call Alice and have a doctor ready for our arrival. She takes out her own phone and I hear her bark out the request of finding a doctor as we reach our horses. Mika has Derik tied to his stallion and offers to hold Allisara for me while I mount Noir. Once seated, he carefully hands her unconscious body back to me and after making sure I have a secure hold on her I race back to the Palace.

I know the others will be fine on their own, their priority being making sure Derik arrives alive to the Palace because I plan to interrogate the fucking traitor myself. He stole the love of my life, used something to keep her unconscious. I will make sure he squeals like a pig about who he is working with and flush out the rest of the traitors hiding in the Royal Guards.

Some of the power has returned to Zalaris and I am grateful for that, it makes seeing obstacles easier as I race through the streets.

"Hang in there Allisara." I plead as I pushed my horse faster. Her breathing is light and I am worried that any moment now it will stop forever. Finally the Palace comes into view and the gates are wide open. Kolten and Taylor are waiting for me on their own horses, the two looking down at Allisara with worry.

"Alice told us to wait for you." Taylor shouts as I race past them. I nod, not bothering to answer as their nudge their horses behind me, the three of us racing towards the main entrance of the Palace. A crowd is already waiting and Eathan is the one to greet me at the base of the Palace steps. I hand Allisara to him before dismounting, the two of us racing towards the open doors while a Butler takes the reigns of Noir. I want to take Allisara back, but after riding like the devil was chasing me with her in my arms, I know my body can't handle carrying her right now.

Blaine is waiting for us on the third floor where our wing of the Palace is, her ball gown switched into a pair of jeans and a sweater I have seen in Allisara's closet.

"The Doctor is in her room with Millia and Clarice." She explains, running with Eathan and I towards Allisara's room. True to her word, an elderly man in a lab coat is preparing a table full of medical equipment as we rush in. He turns to face us as Eathan carries Allisara to her bed, Millia and Clarice quickly jumping in to remove her jewelry, all but the necklace she has had for fourteen years and the bracelet I gave her.

"I never thought I would see her again." The old man mutters out in awe as he comes to her side.

"You're Doctor Tomas, the-"

"The one who took her memories for her safety? Yes." Doctor Tomas confirms, placing his stethoscope onto Allisara's chest.

"Now what happened to her?" He demands. I bristle at his attitude but none the less he is the man that will save her, so I begin recounting what happened from the moment I realized she was abducted to when I found her. My eyes stayed glued onto the Doctor, watching each and every one of his movements. He is thorough in his examination and does not try anything that could harm Allisara further.

"Looks like she was injected with a sedative." He sighs out, his body slumping as he moves a lock of hair from Allisara's neck, pointing out a pin mark.

"Clarice, hand me a syringe so I can take her blood." He orders the Maid and she does as he says, reaching for a sterile syringe from the equipment on the table. The Doctor thanks her before he carefully inserts the needle into Allisara's elbow, drawing blood. With the syringe half full, he walks towards the table and inserts the needle into a machine, depositing the blood inside it. I recognize it as a poison analysis, like the one used at the ball her grandparents hosted where she was poisoned. Worry gnaws at me as we wait for results, Millia working on removing Allisara's shoes as Clarice moves to her closet, coming out with a night gown. They will need to change her from her ball gown soon if an I.V. drip is needed.

Finally a small ding sounds from the machine, the results quickly being printed out within seconds. Doctor Tomas rips it from the machine, bringing the paper closer to his eyes. Another minute passes as he reads the results. He sighs with relief, collapsing into a chair as he holds the results out for me to take.

"She will be fine." He states with a grin as I take the results from his grasp and read them.

"It is a strong sedative that will leave her unconscious for a few days. Her body will have to work it out of her system naturally." I collapsed where I stand, tears falling from my eyes as relief fills me. She will be alright.

"Thank you." I whisper, looking into the old Doctor's eyes.

"For what? I just did my job." He chuckles out, thanking Millia as she hands him a water bottle.

"You saved her fourteen years ago and you were hear to save her again." I answer, fist clenching the results.

"I did that because Juden needed to be stopped. He is a vile man and I hate that he used the safety of my wife over my head to do is bidding." Doctor Tomas admits. My eyes widen as I look at him, seeing a coldness in his eyes that I have only seen on battle hardened soldiers.

"Why come forward now?" I ask, realizing that this Doctor could have hidden away for the rest of his life as we had not been able to find him no matter how hard we tried till now.

"My wife died of cancer the same day Allisara took that DNA test. I swore that I would come and save her if anything happened that day. Now if you'll excuse me, that Guard Alice wants to interrogate me and I have years of dirt Juden gave me on a USB to give to her." With that, the Doctor packs up his equipment, Clarice helping him. I realize that she is very familiar with the man and I give her a questioning gaze.

"Doctor Tomas is our Uncle. He trained Millia and I in medicine. We did not know he was the one to help the Princess." Her eyes stayed glued to mine and I can sense nothing but honesty in her words. I nod, asking the two to change Allisara into some clean clothes before climbing to my feet and making my way to my own room. I take a quick shower, changing into a fresh pair of pajamas and grabbing my gun before returning to Allisara's side. Ellisia is watching over her, her face filled with worry as she uses a damp cloth to wipe at Allisara's brow.

"You can head to bed." I tell her, Ellisia giving me a soft smile as I climb into bed and lay beside Allisara.

"I was just waiting for you to join her. I will be here in the morning with Adam to watch over her as she sleeps as I have a feeling you will be busy the next few days." I thank Ellisia, telling her to have a good night. She leaves the room, turning off the lights as she does. Exhausted from tonight's events, I carefully wrap my arms around Allisara and place a gentle kiss on top of her head. I don't know how long she will be asleep and as worried as I am about this, I am just grateful that she is still alive and in my arms.