The Shadow Twin

Chapter 15 - The Attack pt. 1

----Leigh POV----

“Let me guess. Kayden isn’t coming.” I told Deryn, Kayden’s righthand man, that I spoke with at the party a couple of days ago and then hadn’t seen since.

“Kayden got caught up in some rather important business and asked me to take you instead. If that’s okay with you of course? If you would rather stay here, it’s fine.” He gave me half a smile and I shook my head, not wanting him to see how pleased I were with the fact that I wasn’t going with Kayden. Sure, I sort of wanted to get to sort of know him, but right now I just didn’t want to spend the entire day with that guy.

“I want to go, with or without the Crown prince. So, thank you for taking me.” I gave him a smile, which he returned.

“It would be my pleasure… I’ll take you to the city and bring you back safely. If you at any point feel uncomfortable or just want to return to the castle, just say so.” I nodded and followed him, as he walked towards the limousine. He opened the door for me and got in after me and waited until I got settled in the set to tell the driver that we were ready to go. We did drive a while in silence, before Deryn broke the comfortable silence.

“I never answered your question…” He said and I turned to look at him.

“I do love living here and I’m not just saying that because I’m Kayden’s righthand man. The scenery is stunning, and the people are amazing. The royal family can be quite… The handful, but they are all good people. As for Kayden… He’s still young and at some point, he will grow up and realize that the world isn’t all about him. Just don’t tell anybody I said that.” He gave me a small grin, before turning his focus back to the window and the surroundings. He seemed like he was on high alert, just like the first time I meet him, but I guess it was part of his job. The car suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and Deryn reached out to prevent me from sliding forward and hitting the glass that separated us from the driver. Deryn looked me over, before pressing the button, so the glass slid down making it possible for us to talk to the driver.

“Why did you stop?” He asked the driver in a demanding tone.

“A small group of men are blocking the road sir and they aren’t moving.” The driver answered, while looking at Deryn in the rearview mirror. At that Deryn’s hand grabbed the door handle, but then froze and turned to me.

“Whatever happens do NOT step out of the car unless I tell you to.” He warned and then turned towards the door again. This time he opened it and step out.

“And lock the doors.” He then closed the door, and I unbuckled my seatbelt. I locked my own door and then his. Hopefully the men just wanted to talk with Kayden and upon finding out he wasn’t in the car, they would leave. Or maybe it where the men, that had knocked the guards out at the castle? If that was the case, I would leave the car, to tell them to leave or something. They were after me and I didn’t want them to hurt Deryn or the driver, who were still in the car with me. Something hit the car hard, making it shake slightly. My heartrate quickened and then I heard shouting. A man’s figure suddenly appeared on the outside of the window next to me. His hand then punched through the glass without any warning signs and a small, surprised scream escaped me. I covered my face as the glass came raining down and I moved towards the other door. He then reached through the window, unlocking the door and opened it. I tried moving further away as he reached into the car but one of his hands grabbed my wrist and started to pull me towards him. I turned slightly and kicked him square in the face, making him tumble back. I hurried and reached for the other doorhandle, hoping to jump out, despite Deryn’s warning to stay in the car. The man unfortunately recovered faster than I thought, grabbed my ankle, even though I kept kicking and pulled me out of the car. I was thrown on the ground next to Deryn, who here bleeding and the driver, who I fought where still in the car. The driver laid unconscious on the ground and a small pool of blood were forming underneath him.

“Well, if that isn’t the Crown princess in the flesh.” One of the other men said, chuckling afterwards. The way he said flesh sent a shiver through my body. These men sure wasn’t the ones from the castle and all of them looked rather amused. The man that had spoken then crouched down in front of Deryn, but out of Deryn’s reach.

“Someone is trying really hard not to shift. Maybe because the poor girl is human?” He inquired with a glint in his eyes, and he then sniffed the air like a dog would do. Deryn froze in place, but then a low growl erupted from his throat. I was definitely missing some key information here, like the whole ‘poor girl is human’ thing.

“If any harm is to come to the Crown Princess, Kayden will rip you apart.” Deryn warned them, but the men just burst out laughing. Rip them apart? Guess Kayden was more dangerous than I knew.

“Are we talking about the same Kayden? ‘Cause the dear Prince and mighty Alpha don’t care about this silly human.” One of the men said between his laughter. Alpha? Like with dogs?

“Our intel tells us that this girl means absolutely nothing to him. In fact… The girl is a torn in his side, so he might reward us for getting rid of her.” Another said, which made them all burst out laughing again. It hurt. Sure, I knew that Kayden didn’t like me, but the fact that others knew it to, hurt more than any physical pain I ever had experienced, and I had been shot, something that hurt like hell.

“Ignorant fools. You WILL die for this.” Deryn said, before giving me a quick glance. He was trying to protect me anyway he could, and I got the feeling that he would lay down his life for me and not because Kayden might have ordered him to do so. Never once in my life had anybody wanted to do that for me. I didn’t want it to happen, but that sense of loyalty towards me. Never felt it before and I kinda felt the same way. I didn’t love Deryn, but I trusted him, and he was… Family I guess, so I wanted to protect him to.

“Enough talking. Let’s get to the good part.” The guy I kicked said while rubbing his hands together. Deryn then growled again and this time he rose to his feet so fast I barely saw him do it. He then grabbed two of the men by their necks and smashed their heads together. Then men fell to the ground and Deryn stepped in front of me with another growl.

“If that’s how you wanna play.” Someone said and then with a loud howl the man then shifted into a huge wolf. I froze as the wolf landed on the ground on all fours and then I started to back away. What the f**k!