Latvala Royals: Darkest Hours Read online

  “That’s okay. Because for my second honeymoon, I have a grand place in mind.”

  “Oh?” He arched a brow.

  “The beach house right here on Pallan Island.”

  “The one that’s been abandoned for at least ten years now?”

  “That one. I’ll have someone go in and sweep. Clean it up a little. And put a big old bed in the master bedroom. It’s so pretty. All it needs is a bit of TLC.”

  “I thought for sure you were going to say Monaco or Spain or something,” he said.

  “Don’t think for a second you’re getting out of taking me somewhere big. But after things settle here a little more. Okay? Then we can do the Caribbean or Switzerland or something. Deal?” She couldn’t have been happier in that moment.

  “Deal.”

  Chapter 2

  The euphoria Sander shared with Chey only lasted until he stepped outside the suite ten minutes later. His smile crashed into a thin line of tension as he navigated Kallaster’s hallways to the ground level. Despite his happiness in his love life, he could not ignore the strange knot growing in his gut.

  He had a feeling that the incursion on Imatra’s soil boded ill for them all. The longer he thought about it, the more sure he became.

  “Dare.”

  Sander halted halfway across the foyer. Mattias had arrived sometime overnight from the family seat on the mainland. He and his family had stationed themselves there to help the mainlanders survive the winter. “What is it, brother? More news from Imatra?”

  He had no doubt that Mattias had heard of the incursion by now.

  “No. Can I see you in your office a moment?” Mattias asked. He ran a hand through a short crop of dark hair. Silver touched the temples, giving Mattias a distinct, sophisticated air. He wore business casual clothing: pressed navy slacks, a crisp white button-down, and a thin patterned tie. To look at the two men side by side, a stranger would have guessed Mattias to be king rather than the ruggedly dressed Sander.

  “Anyone else joining us?” Sander asked as he switched course and led the way through the lower hallways. Once Mattias stepped into the office behind him, he closed the door.

  “It’s just me,” Mattias said. He did not sit, but paced a lazy path around the circumference of the office. Rich luxury and masculine themes dominated Sander’s space.

  “What’s going on?” Sander asked. He chose to lean against his desk, facing outward to track Mattias’s restless pacing. Mattias was not usually prone to pace, even when agitated.

  “Thane contacted me a half hour ago.” Mattias met and held Sander’s gaze as he walked. “He received a demand from an unknown source to remove his troops from the border between Somero and Russia.”

  Thane Ascher was king of Somero, the country to Latvala’s north. Sander had known Thane most of his adult life. “Do you think that means there will be a similar attack on Somero as there was on Imatra?”

  “It’s difficult to say for sure, but my gut says yes. Why they received a warning when Imatra did not is impossible to guess.”

  Sander considered the news. He didn’t like it any more than Mattias did. “Did Thane say he was going to comply?”

  “Thane said he was not pulling his troops from the border under any circumstances, especially now.”

  “I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t either.” Sander rubbed the tips of his fingers over his whiskers. He hadn’t shaved in days. “What are the odds that we are the next to receive an anonymous note? First an attack on Imatra, then Somero receives threats. It seems likely they’ve got something planned for Latvala, too.”

  “Very high odds, in my estimation.” Mattias quirked a brow.

  “I agree. So if all three of our countries are receiving notifications or outright attacks, that suggests a common enemy.”

  “All roads lead to Russia. They have the most to gain by taking over our territories, as they’ve wanted to do for decades. However”—Mattias held up a finger as if to emphasize his next point—“we have been deceived by others pretending to lay blame at Russia’s feet before.”

  “Indeed, we have. Russia tends to be a convenient scapegoat. Who else other than Russia has the motivation to attack all three nations?” Sander ran through suspects in his mind but came up with precious few alternatives.

  “I thought about that after the call. So far, Dare, I have come up with no one. Unless it’s a rogue group like the one we took down during Elias’s amnesia situation,” Mattias said. “And for a group to go after all three countries, maybe more if Latvia and the others are contacted, they have to be well established—and large. I have not heard of such a sophisticated operation in this region.”

  “Neither have I. Then again, maybe we haven’t had our ear to the ground long enough to detect movement.” Sander watched Mattias while he considered their options. “Maybe we should dig a little deeper. See if any of our allies have heard rumors of such a group.”

  “I agree. I think we have to leave no stone unturned. I’ll—” Mattias paused to pull his phone from his pocket. He glanced at the illuminated screen and frowned.

  Sander straightened from his lean. “What is it?”

  “Well, we were right. Our ambassador received word moments ago that we should pull our troops back from the border with Russia. We’ve just received the same warning as Thane.”

  Sander retraced his steps from the downstairs office to his bedroom suite. He moved quickly but without the urgency that might have set off alarm bells for the guards stationed throughout Kallaster. Inside the suite, he found Chey sitting at the desk in the main room, phone to her ear. He gestured that he needed to talk, and she ended the call within seconds.

  “Hi,” Chey said as she rose from the chair. She quirked her head in a way that meant she wanted to know what was on his mind.

  He did not mince words. He told her about Somero’s threat, and then Latvala’s own.

  Chey’s posture grew tense with alarm. “So what do you think will happen? Because I’m pretty sure you’re not going to pull our military off the border.”

  “You’re right, I’m not.” Sander wasn’t surprised Chey came to the right conclusion on her own. She’d been married to him for decades and knew his mind on matters of battle. “We’ll hold for now and see if whoever is making the threats decides to act. Mattias and I discussed taking a smaller team down to the border to get a better feel for what’s going on. For now, we’re going to hold off on that.”

  Chey’s brows arched. “Really? That’s what I would have guessed to be your next move. One of those secretive missions that always make me nervous. You aren’t telling me that you’re not going but are planning to go anyway, right? To throw me and everyone else off?”

  Sander couldn’t prevent a smile. “No, I promise we’re staying here. Although if Aleksi wants or needs assistance, Mattias, Leander, and I will head to Imatra.”

  “Do you think it’s wise to put yourself in a dangerous position like that? I assume you mean that you’ll all be going to the border of Imatra to investigate. Knowing we’ve received a warning to pull back the troops changes things, Sander. To me, it means that you have more of a target on your back than normal, and if you were caught skulking around an incursion site, things wouldn’t go well,” Chey said.

  “You’re not wrong. Yes, we would be going to investigate the attack site and, yes, I’d be compromising my safety. But this is what we do. Me, Leander, and Mattias, among others. It’s no different than any other mission we’ve been on except there is a much bigger adversary at work. I’d want to see the evidence for myself because it helps me make a more informed decision regarding all of our safety. It’s possible one of us might pick up on a detail that others missed, too, which could alter the course of Aleksi’s retaliatory action. Again, this is if we’re called for aid.”

  She eyed him pensively.

  Sander withstood her scrutiny. He braced his feet apart for better balance and crossed his arms over his chest, prepared to wait her
out. After the recent event of them all thinking he’d died in a fire, Sander understood her reservations. That had been a scary time for his entire family. His capture was only months past, before the onset of winter, which was still too recent in their memory. It had left scars that were slow to heal.

  “Well,” she finally said. “You’ve lived this long. I suppose I can deal with another mission.”

  He surprised himself and laughed. “That I’ve lived this long through all those other missions should be a point in my favor.”

  “It is . . . and it isn’t. I mean, I know you’re wily and can usually get out of tough scrapes.”

  “But last time you all feared I’d died, and I know that changes things. It wasn’t pleasant to actually get caught,” he admitted.

  “The benefit of that, though, is that I think you would all do things differently if that scenario came up again. And I mean I suspect Leander or Mattias would give their life to spare yours. What also concerns me is that if you do go, and we fall under a severe attack—one that hits the heart of Latvala—you won’t be here to take control.”

  Sander refused to consider someone else dying to save him, even though that was what his personal security was paid to do. Despite that, he also thought Chey was right. Mattias and Leander would pull out all the stops to prevent him from being taken again. He chose to address her concerns about a bigger attack instead of his brother and best friend dying to save him. “This is where Elias steps up to make the decisions with you. I’ll have a talk with him before I go, if I go, so he knows what to do in that unlikely event.”

  “He’ll want to go with you,” Chey said.

  “He will, but I’ll make him see the reasons to stay. We can’t have both the king and the heir in the line of fire. He needs to learn how to make the decisions he’ll have to make should the threats become real, and I trust him to do the right thing. That’s the next step in his training.”

  “You don’t really think that’s where this is all heading, do you? Bombing and all-out war?” she asked in a quieter voice.

  Sander considered the question. The long years of saber rattling between larger nations and the recent uptick in military movements on both sides. He also considered the pressure Russia had put on the Baltic states to subvert the land to a higher power. The entire world had been balancing on a precarious precipice of late, and all it would take was one more chess move to set a third world war in place.

  “I think if Russia is behind the recent attack, as well as the warnings to Somero and ourselves, that, yes, it’s all one step closer to outright world war. That’s a big if, however. I’m not prepared to charge Russia with invasion, an attack, or threats until I know for sure that they are behind it. We all know that there are other players on the world stage who would love nothing more than to get the ball rolling. Men and corporations with much to gain from war.” He uncrossed his arms and turned to the side bar, where he procured a cold bottle of water from the small fridge behind the counter.

  “And the only way to find out if Russia is behind it is to wait for another attack or a formal letter, rather than ones sent anonymously, right?” she asked.

  “Or to look for clues near the attack site. Aleksi is doing that now, though he won’t send his troops over the border. If we went, over the border is exactly where we would go.”

  “Because it’s likely that you’d find some sort of proof one way or another?”

  “Likely, yes. Not for certain.” He drank deeply from the bottle but watched Chey’s expression as she absorbed the news. Her thoughtful silence told him that she was contemplating all the angles. The suggestion of going across the border into Russia might change her mind about the trip.

  “I know you’re not the type to sit in a proverbial ivory tower, Sander. I know you’ve been trained for these kinds of missions, that you’ve gone on many in the time I’ve known you. Too many to count. My mind understands that your experience gives you an edge, but my heart has issues with the idea of you actually stepping foot in Russian territory,” she said. It sounded like a confession.

  “Could I arrange a top secret strike team to go in my place? Yes. But you’re right, Chey. I’ve never been the type to sit back and lounge on my throne while other men do the dirty work. I like to be involved, like to see the circumstances with my own eyes. Yes, it’s risky. But I think in this case, when it possibly involves a nation like Russia, that it’s a risk worth taking. I’d feel better about accusing them if I’d seen the evidence myself. Or maybe we’ll find a lack of evidence, or even clues that point us in another direction altogether. I promise I’ll be as careful as I can be if we wind up going over there.”

  “I know you will,” she said. “And not to change the subject, but something else is on my mind. How confident are you that we’ve routed all the traitors from our ranks here at Kallaster after Elias’s accident?”

  “I think we did a thorough purge. Though I have to be honest; the attack on Imatra and the threats to Somero and Latvala change everything. If Russia is making a major move to dethrone our three countries, I have to consider that they might have planted a mole or two on the inside here. A sleeper who has been waiting to be activated. It could even be someone who has been recently compromised. I’d like to think that we’ve vetted the security and the guards to the best of our ability, but that doesn’t account for blackmail. It’s a strong motivator to force people to do what you want them to. Coups don’t happen unless people on the inside help make it happen.”

  “If I’ve learned anything about monarchies, it’s that there is always a lot of subterfuge going on,” she admitted.

  “We’re not the only country who deals with it. You just don’t usually hear about the moles and spies in the headlines. That kind of activity increases the closer we get to war. We’ll have to be diligent and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.” He tossed the empty bottle in the trash and crossed the room to stand before his wife. When he cupped her precious face in his hands, her lashes fluttered as if she enjoyed the feel of his callused palms against her skin.

  “I’ll admit that I’ve not really let my guard down since the barn incident,” she said.

  “That’s a good thing, Chey. If someone takes a wrong step, or does something suspicious, you’re more likely to notice if you’re already looking for it.” He kissed her forehead.

  “And you can bet I’ll be looking for it. By the way, you mentioned vetting earlier. I have to say, and I know I’ve brought this up before, that I think the system of how the councilmen and advisors are chosen for their seats is outdated. It’s a good ol’ boy arrangement that amounts to handshakes and sly winks and, more often than not, gives preference to generational candidates. Where’s the vetting in that? I think you should work on a better system after we find out what’s going on at the borders.”

  “The process has been in place for centuries. It won’t be easy to change, but I promise to look into it when things calm down. Okay?”

  “Okay. I think it’ll make everyone more accountable.” She set her hands on his hips and kissed his chin. A lengthy pause followed before she began again. “Things were so good for so long, you know? We had years and years where nothing like this happened. No attacks, no spies, and world war seemed farther away. Now all of a sudden Elias was in an accident, you were taken, and Imatra has been attacked. We’ve received warnings that I somehow don’t think are fake. It all seems so cyclical.”

  “I think that’s just life in a nutshell, Chey. Life itself is cyclical. We’ve had a good run. A really good run. With any luck, all this will fade and the warnings will cease. The bigger powers will return to insults rather than actual troop movements. It’s the best we can hope for.”

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” she said.

  The phone in Sander’s pocket vibrated, interrupting his reply. He had a bad feeling even before he answered the call.

  “It’s me,” Leander said down the line. “Imatra has suffered another atta
ck.”

  Chapter 3

  In the gloom of his bedroom suite, Sander donned a tactical vest and tightened the straps across his chest and abdomen. He pushed two guns into their holsters and tucked away several extra magazines.

  From the direction of his private work space, Chey appeared with an armful of weaponry: another handgun, three more magazines, a seven-inch knife in its sheath. She’d also brought three flash-bangs. One after the other, she set the items on his desk in a neat row for him to load upon his person.

  Once she had committed to an idea, she was all in. Sander admired her grit despite her reservations about his imminent departure.

  He loaded up the weapons in silence. The only sounds were his breathing, her breathing, and the hiss of metal on leather. Once he was fully kitted out, he drew the top half of his hair back and secured it with a band. He didn’t want any of it in his way later.

  “I’ll call you as soon as it’s safe to,” he said, pushing a black skullcap into his back pocket. “Might be twenty-four hours or so.”

  “Okay. I’ll have my phone with me. Be careful.” She came around the desk and stood on her tiptoes for a kiss.

  Sander snagged her with one arm and hauled her up until their mouths met. He kissed her hard, leaving no doubt of his affections. “You be careful, too.”

  “I will.”

  He set her down and headed for the door, where he paused to look back. Their eyes met across the room. He appreciated the single nod she gave him, as if she approved of his plans.

  I’ll be back soon. He mouthed the promise in lieu of goodbye.

  He hated goodbyes.

  The door closed in his wake.

  He stood there for a solid minute, centering himself. The second attack on Imatra had been as brutal as the first: ten soldiers had been slaughtered at a makeshift encampment a half mile over Imatra’s border with Russia. No note had preceded the attack, and no one had claimed the massacre in the aftermath. It was just a field of death and blood. King Aleksi had promptly called for the aid Sander had offered.