Read Royally Lost Online

Authors: Angie Stanton

Tags: #Young Adult Fiction, #Romance, #General, #Social Themes, #Dating & Sex, #Performing Arts, #Music, #Juvenile Fiction, #Love & Romance, #Dating & Relationships, #Social Issues

Royally Lost (15 page)

BOOK: Royally Lost
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23

Rough
hands grabbed Becca from behind, yanking her away from Nikolai’s grasp. Even though he said the men weren’t after her, she’d never been so terrified. Nikolai turned to help her as the other men caught up.

“Stand down!” Nikolai commanded with steely determination, no longer the mild-mannered guy she’d grown to love. “She has nothing to do with this!”

Instantly, the men released Becca, who ran to Nikolai. He put himself between her and the dangerous-looking men. Nikolai stared them down, daring them to make a move.

“You need to come with us now. King’s orders,” the taller man said.

“I’ve already instructed Visar that I would be more than happy to in two days’ time.”

Crowds of tourists gave them a wide berth, watching with the same shock as Becca. She clung to his arm.

“Are you okay?” Nikolai asked, training his eyes on the men.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Nikolai fired angry foreign words at the men.

Around them, cameras flashed and clicked as the crowd grew.

The taller man spoke calmly to Nikolai, again in a language she didn’t recognize. Nikolai didn’t relax his stance. Instead, he held up his hand, as if ordering them to stay back. He eyed the men with caution.

“Becca, I’m so sorry.” He turned and cupped her face with his hand, and she saw the torment in his eyes.

“Who are they? Do you know them?” She took his hand in hers, relieved to feel his strength and steady calm.

Before he could answer, two Prague police officers pushed through the crowd of spectators.
Thank God!

The officials looked past Nikolai to the men and nodded.

Suddenly two of the men from Mondovia stepped forward and pulled Nikolai away from her, ignoring the police presence.

Nikolai lashed out as they dragged him away. The men struggled to keep their hold. Becca experienced a stab of terror when Nikolai was knocked in the face as the men fought to control him.

“Help!” she screamed to the police who stood idle as if they didn’t want to get involved.

Without thinking, Becca ran into the fray, pounding on the back of one man as they lifted Nikolai off the ground. A strong hand shoved her away.

Suddenly her arms were pinned behind her.

Nikolai fought harder, bucking and kicking. His phone fell to the ground and was crushed by one of the assailant’s boots.

The men were carrying him away.

“Nikolai!” she screamed.

“Becca!” Nikolai yelled, with blood running from his nose. “I’ll find you. I promise.”

Why was no one helping them? She struggled, to no avail. “Let me go! Don’t you see? They’re kidnapping him!”

A white, unmarked van pulled up. The men shoved Nikolai inside, jumped in after him, and slammed the door. The van sped off, as people rushed out of the way, lest they be run over.

When the van was out of sight, Becca was abruptly released. She turned to face her captor—a Prague police officer.

“What is wrong with you? Those men just abducted my boyfriend! Go after them!”

The officer glared. “Miss, you are interfering with international affairs. I advise you to return to your hotel and leave this country before you find yourself in more serious trouble.”

The horrible man stood like a formidable wall. Becca turned around to find a circle of gawking tourists watching the spectacle, most with shocked expressions, others taking pictures. Becca rushed to where Nikolai had been only moments before. All that remained was his broken phone. She’d put her contact information in it so they could stay in touch.

How would he find her now?

She scooped up the pieces and looked down the street, in the direction the van had disappeared. Empty.

A glance back revealed more officers now dispersing the crowd while the mean officer watched her with an unyielding glare.

How was this possible?

Nikolai was gone.

24

Becca
was lost, literally and figuratively. All she wanted was to get back to the hostel.

And after wandering aimlessly, she finally asked for assistance. A few more wrong turns and she spotted the hostel. As she approached, she remembered Nikolai’s motorcycle. She ran around the corner, not sure what to expect.

Her heart lurched. The cycle was gone. Nikolai was gone. It felt like a death. She looked around, hoping to somehow find him peeking out behind the bushes, but she didn’t see Nikolai or any of the terrible men from Mondovia. She was beginning to hate his country.

She entered the hostel. Kristoff was working behind the counter. He stood up, alarmed, when he noticed her defeated face.

“Miss, what has happened? Have you been hurt?”

She looked down at her dirty shorts, scraped knee. “I’m okay,” she said, with a controlled breath, willing herself not to fall apart.

“Where is your friend?” he asked with concern.

“He’s—gone.” She didn’t know if she should say anything or not. She’d been trying to hide his identity and protect him, but it hadn’t mattered. He was gone, ripped from her side.

The door opened and the group from Minnesota poured in. “There she is! I told you!” Claire said.

“You’re right,” said Brian.

“You’re on the cover of the
Daily Enquirer
!” Andrea rushed forward and pulled the paper from her handbag. “Look! There you are with Nick. I mean Prince Nikolai. Where is he?”

Becca swallowed her emotions. “He’s not here.”

“What do you mean not here?” Claire asked.

“He went home,” Becca answered.

“Great. I finally meet someone famous and he’s gone before I can prove it,” Claire complained.

Kristoff came out from around the reception desk. “Why don’t you come back to the office for a minute,” he said, saving Becca from more of Claire’s annoying comments.

Becca followed, still too shaken to know what else to do. Kristoff indicated a chair and offered her a bottle of water. He sat across from her.

“Are you sure you’re all right? Because you don’t look all right.”

Becca gripped the water bottle. How could she explain? None of it made any sense. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“How about you tell me how you came to look so disheveled. Did someone hurt you?”

She swallowed. “Some men came and took Nikolai away. I think they were from his country.”

Kristoff’s eyes widened. “People from Mondovia?” he asked, wide-eyed.

She nodded silently, her eyes watering.

“Well, that’s not an everyday occurrence. Is there anything I can do to help?” Kristoff asked.

“I don’t know. My wallet and passport were stolen, but I pick up my new passport tomorrow.”

“Do you have someone who can wire you money?”

She really didn’t want to think about this right now. “Yeah, I could call my brother.” She sure didn’t want to alert her dad to more problems.

“I can provide you information on where he should wire it.”

“That would be great, but can I get it from you later? I’d like to be alone for a while. I’ve got to figure some things out.”

He nodded. “Please let me know if there is anything I can do. I’ll be on until five this evening.”

“Thank you.” Becca left the office, relieved that Claire and her friends were gone, and that the common room was empty.

Her eyes rested on the locker in the hall. She unlocked it with the key from her pocket, pulled out Nikolai’s backpack, and carried the pack up to the dorm room. The other beds were bare. The guests must have moved on. She unzipped his pack and touched the clothes inside. They smelled like Nikolai, fresh and earthy.

Lying down on his bed brought back memories of last night when they’d slept snuggled together. She had woken up to his warm kisses.

Becca hugged his backpack close and stared into space. She had no money, no passport, and no Nikolai.

What was she supposed to do?

25

Nikolai
arrived at the palace late that night under the cover of darkness. He’d been taken to a private plane at a landing field outside Prague, where he met Visar. Now, back in Mondovia, a car with tinted windows delivered him home.

The brightly lit majestic palace appeared all too familiar. Nikolai longed for Becca, but knew he wouldn’t be seeing her any time soon. He smoothed down his hair and wiped his hands on the back of his shorts. Visar didn’t allow him a moment to clean up. Instead, he escorted Nikolai down the long hallway of sculptures to his father’s drawing room. The eyes on the busts of each of his ancestors seemed to follow his walk of shame.

Visar rapped firmly on the thick door. He grabbed Nikolai’s arm.

Nikolai glared back at the man. “I think you’ve done your job here. I am fully capable of entering a room without your
assistance
.”

The head of the Mondovian security released Nikolai’s arm, but held his position. Nikolai took a fortifying breath. This was not how he hoped to return. He opened the door and entered.

His parents looked icily across the room at him.

“Thank you, Visar. As always, you can be counted on to complete an assignment,” his father said. “However, causing a scene on public streets was not what I had in mind. Complete discretion would have been ideal, but I’m sure my son was the cause of the disruption.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Visar nodded and disappeared, closing the door behind him.

Nikolai crossed the Aubusson rug and approached his parents. They sat in the casual seating area, each holding a cut-crystal glass of port.

His father wore a crisp button-down shirt, open at the collar, with no tie or jacket, his jaw stern with irritation. His mother wore a simple blouse and slacks, her steady expression unreadable.

They had waited up for him. Nikolai remained standing and silent. This was the moment he’d been dreading.

His mother set her port on the table and reached for a stack of newspapers and magazines. “Swimming in your underwear with random girls, public scuffles,” she said with disdain at the condemning photographs as she dropped each publication to the table.

Nikolai held his tongue.

His father shook his head. “Look at yourself. You are unshaven, unwashed, with a black eye and blood on your face. You look like a homeless street beggar. Have you lost your mind? You assaulted your own guard, and in public!”

“They certainly didn’t act as my guard. They assaulted me!”

His father tossed back the remains of his drink. “Clearly you are not ready to accept responsibility for this country.”

Nikolai approached them. “No kidding! And as long as things stay as they are, I never will be!”

“I’ve heard just about enough from you.” His father stood so they were matched eye to eye.

Nikolai huffed. “No, I’m afraid that’s the problem. You never listen to me.” He looked away, unable to hold his father’s hostile stare.

As if Nikolai hadn’t spoken, his father continued. “Do you realize the media storm you have created? These pictures are everywhere. The world is enjoying a good laugh over your irresponsible behavior, including your loose relations with that girl you traipsed across Europe with.”

“She’s not just any girl! She’s very important to me.”

His father turned his back on Nikolai and refilled his glass.

“And you sent your goons after me in broad daylight, putting her in the middle of it all.”

“I hardly believe she’s a delicate flower. From these pictures, she was half the problem.” His mother slapped down a news article that must have been recently printed from the internet.

The photo showed Becca, with a fierce expression, pounding her fists against one of the guards as Nikolai was held back by three men. The photo proved Nikolai had been taken by force.

His mother read the headline aloud. “‘The Prince Dukes It Out in the Battle Royale.’ What were you thinking! You have disgraced your country and embarrassed the palace.”

“I was reminding myself that there is more to life than protocol and public relations.” All he knew was that Becca had fought for him. It made him proud, but he also worried for her.

“No wonder you ignored Visar. Your mind was on a wild girl instead of your responsibilities. What kind of girl takes off with a complete stranger? But then again, the Crown Prince of Mondovia would be an irresistible temptation to a girl like her,” his mother said.

“What the hell were you thinking, Nikolai?” his father barked. “That girl better not end up pregnant!”

“It’s not like that! You’re the one who had me dragged off the street and locked into a van without a chance to say good-bye, let alone make sure she’s okay. Because of you, that girl is stranded in a foreign country. You have to let me contact her and make sure she gets out okay.”

“I think you’ve done quite enough. If she can stand up to the Royal Guard, she can certainly find her way to the airport,” his father said.

“We will deal with the repercussions of your actions and decide on your future tomorrow.”

“Go to your room and clean yourself up,” his mother snapped.

 

Nikolai slammed the door to his suite. Nothing had changed at all. His efforts to send a message to his parents were a huge fail. If anything, he’d made things worse. He dropped onto his sofa and lay back. He covered his eyes with his arm.

Somehow, he needed to get a message to Becca before she left Prague, and the only way to do that was through the hostel. The moment in the van when he discovered his phone missing, he wanted to scream and punch something. That phone was his only link to Becca. If she left Prague before he could track her down, he didn’t know how he’d find her.

 

Becca woke up in the hostel, alone, in Nikolai’s bed. The emptiness of the vacant dorm room echoed in her heart. Somehow she hoped he’d magically appear in the night and say there had been a crazy misunderstanding. She caressed the T-shirt she’d pulled from his pack. She kept imagining Nikolai and the way he smirked whenever she said something he didn’t agree with.

No wonder Nikolai wanted to be Jason Bourne. Here she’d been feeling she had so little choice in her life, being forced on this trip, and pushed to go to Northwestern. Her father was never at a lack of direction for her life, but compared to Nikolai’s life, hers was a breeze.

She got up and noticed her reflection in the mirror. Mascara stained her eyes, and her hair tangled around her face due to a fitful sleep. She stood like a zombie in the shower as the water pelted her skin, and tried to digest all that had happened since meeting Nikolai.

She had started out this trip hating Europe. But then she met the most amazing guy on the planet, only to have him literally ripped from her side.

What should she do next? This was all too much. She wanted to run away and hide, but with no money, no passport, and no Nikolai, that wasn’t possible.

After dressing, repacking the two backpacks, and locking them in the cabinet, she climbed the narrow stairs to the rooftop patio. The morning was crisp and bright with the sun rising over the buildings, promising a gorgeous day, a sharp contrast to her mood.

She pulled out her phone, grateful to have it after everything else she’d lost, and called her brother.

He didn’t answer. She sighed and left a short message. “Hey, Dylan. Everything is falling apart here, and I desperately need your help. Please call as soon as you get this. Bye.” She held her head in her hands, willing herself to hold it together.

A few tourists she hadn’t seen before entered the patio. She forced a smile and went downstairs to avoid conversation. With nothing better to do, she decided to go see if her passport was ready.

Behind the counter, Kristoff read the morning paper.

“Hi,” Becca said.

“Good morning.” He set the newspaper aside. “You made the paper!” He held up the local news.

There on the front page was a picture of a struggling Nikolai being dragged away while Becca fought to save him.

“You are famous now, too.” He grinned.

She sighed. “No. I’m not famous. I’m just a girl with no passport who needs to go home. Can you show me on the map how to get to the U.S. Embassy? I was there yesterday morning, but I’m afraid I’ll get lost without a map.”

“Don’t look so sad. You are in the most beautiful city in the world. Things could be worse.”

“I don’t think they could get much worse than they already are. I also need my brother to wire me some money. Can you help me, please? Someplace close by would be best.”

“Of course. There is a place near your embassy. I will show you,” he said, reaching for a map.

 

Becca counted off the blocks until she reached the correct street. Walking by herself was lonely and kind of scary. Suddenly, her phone rang. She hoped it would be Nikolai, even though she knew he didn’t have her number. It was Dylan.

“Hi,” she answered with a sigh.

“I leave you alone for two days and you make international headlines,” he laughed.

She stopped. “What! How did you know?”

“Becca, you’re on the front page of the national paper here. Apparently, when a prince makes a public scene, it’s big news.”

“Dylan, it’s not funny.” Her voice broke with emotion.

“Aw, relax. I was just kidding.”

Some workmen across the street leered at her, so she continued walking. “I know. It’s just that the last day has been pretty horrible. My bag got stolen with all my money and my passport. Nikolai was paying for everything, but now he’s gone, too. I’m really hungry, I’ve got a headache, and I think I missed the cross street for the embassy. Dammit!”

“Shit, Becs. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I don’t like being here by myself. I just want to go home.”

“What happened with Nikolai? The paper was speculating everything from terrorist abduction to his own security jumping him.”

“He said it was his father’s men. That’s all I know. We didn’t get a chance to talk much as they dragged him away.”

“That sucks. Well, I’m sure he’ll call you as soon as things calm down.”

Her heart ached. “No, I don’t think so. He dropped his phone during the fight, so he won’t know how to get ahold of me.”

“Aw, don’t count him out yet. He’s a smart guy and will figure something out.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, I do. So do you have your airline tickets or did those get stolen, too?”

“I’ve got them. They’re just e-tickets, so I left them in my bag at the hostel. But Nikolai and I were going to ride to Nuremberg on his cycle. How am I going to get there now?” She looked at her map and at the street sign, then turned right.

“You’ll have to take a train. It’s not hard. And I’ll figure out how to wire you money from my credit card as soon as we hang up.”

“Good. I’ve got the information on where to pick it up.”

“Okay, I’ll call you back as soon as I get to a bank. Listen. I know this is hard, but you can do this, Becca.”

“Thanks, Dylan.” She spotted the familiar, beautiful sight of the American flag up ahead. “Oh my God, Dylan! I found the embassy!”

“See? You’re going to be fine.”

BOOK: Royally Lost
2.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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