Page 25 of Royal Salvation

Once in the car, she began to look through some of the images she’d taken from the morning, her camera a near-constant part of her now and smiled at one of Justice surrounded by some of the mothers, a grin on his face as he looked at her and the camera.

As she went through them, she almost missed it but something made her flick back and there, clear as day in the background, was Felix. Her gasp drew Justice’s attention.

His whole body went alert as he glanced around him and then back at her through the rear-view mirror. “What’s wrong?”

“Felix is in this picture I took of the children!”

“What? Are you sure?”

Lucía glared at the back of his head. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Seconds later Justice was on the phone and turning the car around in the road. “Bás, it’s me. I need you to find Felix and have him brought in so I can question him. He was hanging around the Books for All charity headquarters and Lucía caught him on camera.”

She couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but she got the gist of it as Justice hung up.

“Bás is going to find Felix and have him secured. Valentina is heading our way as backup.”

“Is that necessary?”

Justice glared at her, all the heat in his eyes that of fury now and she had a feeling he was blaming himself for not spotting Felix.

Sitting back in her seat she sighed as they sped back towards the Palace. “Okay, I get it.”

About a mile out from the city Justice swore as he glanced in his mirrors. “We have a tail. I need you to hold on, angel, this might get a bit bumpy.”

Lucía turned, spotting the black Audi barrelling towards them at speed. “Wait, that’s Felix’s car.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, he gloats about it all the time.”

Justice went quiet as if he was summing up the plan of action he’d take next and running through the outcomes. “I’m heading back to the Palace. I’m not taking any chances with you.”

As she went to answer, an explosion lit the afternoon, and she was thrown around as the car went flying, the seat belt the only thing keeping her in place. Screams and shouts sounded as she heard her name being called, lights flashed as pain lashed through her shoulder. She caught sight of Justice as he held on as best he could with glass shattering around them both before the car came to stop right side up in the middle of the road.

Stunned, she looked around, wincing as pain pierced her skull. Lifting a hand she touched her head and found her fingers covered in blood. She could hardly hear a thing as her ears rang with the tinny, muffled sounds from the crash.

“Lucía!”

Looking up she saw Justice looking at her anxiously as he tried to get free of the seat belt that had most likely saved his life. He had a huge gash on his forehead and blood was dripping down his face.

“Justice, are you okay?”

“Yeah. We need to get out of here quick. I don’t know how stable the car is or if another attack is coming.”

Her hands were shaking as she tried to disengage the seat belt, but it was jammed. The sounds of sirens in the distance were a soothing reminder that help was coming as she tried to stop the panic building in her chest. A hand on her shoulder made her jump but when she looked up, relief and a sense of security swept through her making her lightheaded. Justice was somehow out of the car and beside her, having pulled the door open without her realising it in her panic-induced cloud.

“Let me take a look.”

Reaching over, he tried to unclip the belt and when it didn’t work, he used a knife from his pocket and cut through the harness holding her captive.

“Just breathe, angel. It’s okay, you’re going to be fine.”

Her eyes on him she tried to match her breathing to his, copying his regular deep in and out breaths until the light-headedness began to ease.

“That’s my girl, just keep breathing.”

“I think my arm is broken and it hurts when I breathe.”