Back here I can brace myself along the vehicle’s exposed metal frame as the jeep jumps and dips over the uneven terrain. I peer at the crate filled with explosives. It’s a dangerous thing to have in an automobile, especially when there’s going to be a shootout in the near future, but I can’t bear to dump them. Not when Montes and I are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of enemies.

I flip the lid off another crate, one I haven’t yet looked into. Several grenades are nestled amongst wood shavings. I suck in a breath at the sight. This car is a moving bomb. One nicely placed gunshot and we’re all going up in flames.

Ahead of us, two more military vehicles barrel down the dirt road towards the estate.

I don’t wait for them to recognize us. Bracing myself against the top metal bar of the jeep, I begin to unload my round of ammunition, holding down the trigger as the bullets spray across the vehicles.

The shots tear through metal and glass, but none of the cars slow. If the soldiers were confused about why one of their own vehicles was leaving the estate, they are no longer.

The enemy begins to return fire, and bullets ping against the jeep’s metal frame.

“Montes,” I call out, crouching down to grab a grenade. His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “Slow down when we pass them.”

“What are you planning?” he says, his voice rising to be heard over the engine and the gunfire

“You’ll see.”

He doesn’t show any signs that he’ll do as I ask, but I have to trust that he will.

I return to gunning down the vehicles. One enemy bullet whizzes to the left of my head. Another pings against the metal bar I’m holding onto.

“Serenity!” Montes clearly sees who our enemies are trying to eliminate first.

“I’m fine!” I yell, keeping my eyes fixed on my targets. “Worry about yourself!”

I manage to take out the front tire of the first car, along with its driver. The second slams into it.

We’re almost upon them. Out of habit, I kiss the grenade I clutch for good luck. It’s a macabre custom of mine, but after you live through enough battles, you become superstitious.

Like I asked, the moment we begin to pass the row of cars, Montes slows. I pull the grenade’s pin and throw the explosive into the second enemy jeep, which is now entangled with the first.

“Gun it.”

I have time to see the passengers widen their eyes, and then we leave the car in the dust.

The explosion rocks our vehicle forward, and I cover my head as the scorching heat rolls over me.

Once the initial wave of the explosion dissipates, I glance over my shoulder. Both cars are smoldering, and no one inside the vehicles is moving.

I move back to the front of the car and take a seat next to Montes.

He looks at me like he’s never see me before. There’s a healthy dose of shock on his face, and no little amount of awe.

I work my jaw. I don’t want his respect. Not for killing.

At this point, we have two options: to attack our opponents head on, or flee. The problem with the latter is, even if we managed to get to the hangar undetected, Estes has likely paid off the staff that mans the aircrafts. We’d never make it out.

The problem with the former is that Estes has potentially thousands of men backing him. Montes and I, deadly though we can be, are no match to the sheer quantity of our opponents.

It’s an impossible situation.

We’re quiet for a minute.

My hand slides to my stomach, and I glance down at it. It’s rounder than it usually is, but I attributed that to being well fed.

Montes’s hand covers mine.

“You are so lucky I have other people to kill at the moment,” I say.

“I know.”

When I look up at him, I see he’s serious.

“How far along—?” I begin.

“About two months.”

I pinch my eyes shut. Fighting for your life has a way of throwing things into perspective. And really, what’s bothering me is not that Montes kept this from me; it’s that I never tried to prevent this from happening in the first place, and now that it has …

I have few fears left, the king gift-wrapped me a new one.

CHAPTER 24

The King

I’VE ORDERED EXECUTIONS, waged wars, withheld antidotes, neglected people into early graves, and now I’ve delivered death myself.

I didn’t see the soldiers as targets like Serenity advised. I saw them as people. And I didn’t distance myself from the violence like I know some killers do. I was there in that moment and I savored watching my enemies die.

Serenity is right to think I’m evil. The last salvaged bit of my soul burns for her. Other than that, I’m cruelty formed into the shape of a man, and I have no qualms about that.

“We need to leave the country immediately,” I say.

Serenity looks out the window and rubs her belly absently. It’s a knife to the gut, watching her come to terms with what is, and it’s making me want to pull over, hold her to me, and force her to rejoice over the news the way I did.

“The hangar may be compromised,” she says.

I nod. That very worry has plagued me since we left our villa.

Even if the airport isn’t compromised, we could be shot out of the sky.

“And you think all of this is because …” Serenity glances back down at her stomach.

She can’t bear to say it. As much as I would normally enjoy her being squeamish, right now it does nothing but worsen my mood. This is the last thing I want her uncomfortable with.