The Missing Monarch Read Online Free PDF

us.”
    “That fits.” Monica gulped air. “From the moment Octavian’s men
kidnapped me, I never had the slightest chance to escape. I’ve always felt like
someone was watching me. It’slike he was paranoid that I might slip out of his
grasp, even with the threat he made against Peter.”
    “He’s been too close to getting what he wants, and lost it
before,” Thad confirmed. “He doesn’t want to let us out of his sight.”
    Moments later the plane bore down on them again, this time from
directly in front of them. The whine of the engine grew louder, impossiblyloud
as it had before. But this time, instead of fading away without a glimpse of the
jet, the nose sliced through the air not ten feet in front of them.
    “Down!” Thad scooped Monica into his arms as he lunged for the
ground.
    Light flashed around them, and the sound of the plane began to
fade again.
    Unwilling to risk standing when their attackers could takeanother swipe at any second, Thad rolled onto his side so he could see
Monica.
    “Are you okay?”
    She panted heavily, but lifted her eyes to meet his. “A little
banged up, but I’ll live.” Thad leaned toward her, as she sagged forward, still
gulping air. He pulled her against the padded arm of his jacket.
    Thad told himself the move was simply meant to insulate herfrom the cold ground while shielding her from the plane above. It wasn’t as if
he was hugging her. He knew better than to do that.
    But as she took hold of his jacket with trembling fingers and
clung to him while she caught her breath, Thad felt the long-dead parts of his
heart lumbering back to life. He could kiss her lips and still their trembling.
He could holdher until her terror faded away.
    Thad pulled away. His love for Monica had created this
situation. If Peter had never been born, Thad would never have left the rig.
What would happen if Thad allowed his old love to be rekindled?
    Octavian would use it against him. Monica would be a target. He
couldn’t let that happen, even if it meant denying the longing he felt.
    As he rolled to his side, away from her, Thad reminded himself
of the discipline it had taken for him to forget her the first time around. When
he’d left her behind six years before, he’d given Monica clear instructions to
move on as though he’d never been a part of her life. He’d tried to put all
thoughts of her behind him, but in the lonely barrenness of the frozen north,his thoughts had turned to her more often than he’d have liked. In her absence,
those thoughts did little more than torture him. But with her here, close enough
to touch, even his most deeply buried feelings of attraction became as dangerous
as the enemy he ran from.
    Octavian had a history of using honorable traits like love and
devotion as weapons against those who opposedhim. He’d tried to trap King
Philip by threatening his family. He’d dangled marriage before Princess
Isabelle, like a worm on a hook. Octavian clearly suspected that Thad still had
feelings for Monica. That’s why he’d sent her.
    The stronger Thad’s feelings were for Monica, the more useful
she’d be to Octavian. The madman would threaten her, endanger her, tie her tovirtual railroad tracks like the moustache-twirling robber barons of old if he
thought he could use her to manipulate Thad.
    Thad couldn’t let his enemy have that advantage. The only way
he could protect Monica, and ensure the safety of Lydia, was to feel nothing for
her.
    “Are they gone?” Her words pulled his thoughts back to the
present, and Thad realized the soundsof the plane engine had faded while he’d
been lost in thought.
    “Sounds like it. For now.”
    “What was that bright flash?” Monica pulled herself to her
feet.
    Thad shook his head as he rose slowly, his body weary from
their frantic flight, and a little banged up from diving to the ground. “Maybe
they took our picture.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “Octavianmust have asked for proof that we’re still