UPDATED! Sorry apparently when you are tired 7s and 9s are the same thing! Here is the real chapter 29!
Thank you soo much for all the feedback and requests for a sequel! There will be one more chapter after this one before the sequel, which will be entitled, "A Brother's Rivalry II: New Beginnings".
Chapter 29: A Whole New World
Rio's POV
"Hold on!" Damon yelled as he charged towards the edge of the building with me on his back.
Has he ran, bullets whizzed past us and men screamed obscenities in our direction. It was complete chaos and I had no idea what was happening. How had they found us so quickly?
The next thing I knew, we were flying through the air. The wind screamed in my ears and blew my hair into my face as a blur of gray flashed before my eyes. I watched as Damon's free hand stretched out toward the gray mass, but only scraped against the wall. We fell faster and faster as I screamed, clutching his muscular body tightly.
"Oof," I said as my body suddenly collided with something, skidding to stop. "Damon?" I asked wearily, looking around for him.
"Over here," he said looking over at me with those stunning blue eyes. "Thank god for this awning," he sighed. He rubbed his scraped hand on his jeans, leaving a small smear of blood.
"Are you okay?"
"Me? Of course! You?" His eyes were full of concern and something else that I couldn't put my finger on.
"As good as I can be." I sighed, feeling my back burning from the fresh wounds. The white t-shirt Damon had thrown over my head in our escape was stuck to my back with plasma. It ripped slightly with each movement but I tried to ignore it; there was not fixing it now.
I watched as Damon lay back and let out a low sigh of relief. He stretched out his arms and legs and then put his hands behind his head. "We could hide out here all— "
"There they are!"
We both looked up to see guards pointing down at us with their guns. I gasped and quickly sat up, feeling the skin and t-shirt pulling tight on my back. I winced at the pain but continued to fight through it.
"We have to go," Damon said, quickly pulling me onto his back.
Before I could retort, he was climbing down the terrace. I marveled at how quickly he moved with all the extra weight on his back. He must have had some major muscles and I instantly wondered what he looked like without his shirt on.
"Do you know where you're going?" I yelled as we ran away from the chaos erupting behind us. The streets soon became quiet to match the early morning.
"No, do you?"
"Not a clue." I held on a little tighter, knowing that we were both venturing into the unknown. There was no turning back now. "Have you ever been outside of the palace?"
"Once or twice with Caleb." His voice was slightly breathy from running but strong. "We snuck out with Dad's car last year to see what it was like. We ended up getting lost downtown and getting arrest for being out without IDs. They didn't believe that we were the Schreave princes. Mom and Dad had to come down and bail us out. I'm surprised you didn't see it in the tabloids." He laughed. "It was an awesome day."
Suddenly, Damon got quiet for a moment and I felt guilty for taking him away from his family. He might never get to see them again, and it was all my fault. I would never forgive myself if the queen passed away and he didn't get to say goodbye. No chance at a romance was worth losing your mother.
"But other than being out with Caleb, I've only been to my Grandmother's house outside of the city. Now Aunt May and her husband live there. I used to dream of being out here and on my own. No one telling me what to do. No bans, no rules, no meetings, no reports! We are free to do as we wish!" He looked happy, marveling in the beauty of it all. "Free to fall in love properly with no distractions…"
I was quiet for a few minutes, letting his words sink in. Damon had given up everything for me and no one had ever done that for me before. I didn't know what it was like to come first. Growing up, my mother always chose alcohol before my sisters and I. When she did choose me, it was to beat me for doing something wrong or something that didn't go right. I never knew what being important was, until I met Damon Schreave.
"Damon," I said, realizing that we were now on the outskirts of the city. "I think we lost them."
Damon whipped his head around, looking and listening to the silence before setting me on the ground. He bent over with his hands on his knees, taking in some slow deep breaths. I watched as he slowly stood up and wiped the sweat off his brow. Damon's shirt and hair were wet from perspiration, causing his curls to form tightly and his shirt to cling to his chiseled body.
I chewed on my bottom lip as I watched him catch his breath. He was definitely the most handsome man I had ever encountered, and even more so now that he had saved my life.
"What?" Damon raised his brow at me with a knowing smile. Caught.
"Erm…nothing," I said quickly turning away from him and looking at the wood line. "So where are we going next? They are going to be putting out bulletins looking for us soon."
"Unfortunately they already put one out…" Damon said with a sheepish smile and his fingers tangled in his wet curls. "It was in the paper before the safe spot was raided. I hope Harper doesn't catch too much heat for helping us."
I bit my lip and looked at the ground. "What are we going to do when the whole nation is looking for us and they have all seen our faces?" I could feel the tears forming in my eyes from the exhaustion, the pain of my wounds, the sheer terror of the past few days, and the uncertainty of it all.
"Rio," Damon said, taking my face in his hands. "We will get through this. I will keep you safe and we will be together." His eyes were full of hope and so reassuring. I felt even more guilty.
"But what about your family," I urged as the tears started to fall. "What if you lose your mother while you're out here? I cant go back, but you can. You can leave me here and turn around and make sure you're mother makes it out alive. She needs you."
"You need me too." Damon placed his forehead to mine, staring into my eyes. "We will both go back, we just need proof that you are innocent. I left the security tapes for father so he could watch them to clear your name. Its only a matter of time until we are safe. I am not going to leave you, Rio."
I bit my bottom lip as he wiped away my tears. "But neither of us know how to survive out here in the open. Everyone knows our faces! How did we think that we could get away and live freely?"
"Just stop!" Damon said. "We will get through this together. Have some faith, Rio. Did you forget about my charm?" He wagged his eyebrows at me and I couldn't help but smile. "Trust me, okay?"
"Alright, Mr. Shag," I teased before taking his hand. "You're all I've got."
"I love the sound of that."
Before I could take another step, Damon quickly turned me back around and kissed my lips. My head spun as he pulled away and looked at me with that intoxicating smile of his. I felt a flush spread across my face as we started to walk again hand-in-hand. Something felt right about this even though we were both scared to death.
"So we should start to look for an abandon house?"He asked as we entered the woods.
"Something like that but we also need supplies." As if in perfect timing, my stomach rumbled.
"So in other words, you're starving," Damon chuckled, swinging my hand.
I smiled sheepishly as my stomach answered his question. "Well, hopefully your charm will work on some elderly citizen who will cook us the most amazing meal," I laughed though we both knew we were now outlaws.
"What's so funny? You're underestimating the Schreave charm!"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh yeah? I think you are all talk," I challenged. "I'm going to need some proof."
"Challenge accepted," Damon said, pointing at a small yellow house. "I bet I can get whomever lives in that house to give us something to eat, if not a place to stay tonight. If I win, you owe me something."
"What's that?" I asked with a raised brow as we started towards the small house. It was nestled neatly into the woods and was not visible from the road. It would be the perfect place to hide out. I would give him that.
"You owe me a real date when we get back," he said with a cocky smile. "I promise it will be better than any planned date with my brother."
I laughed at him. "The wilderness has really brought out your cocky side. I'll take that bet but if I win, my little sisters get to stay at the palace with me. Granted we get to go back that is…"
"Deal," Damon laughed as we reached the door. "Get ready to be amazed."
Damon wrapped at the door three times before a petite redheaded woman answered the door. He flashed a wicked smile at me before the little woman pulled him into a ravaging hug. As I stood gapping like an idiot, a tall man and a toddler appeared behind her. What was going on?
"Damon! What are you doing here?" the woman cried, pulling him back at arm's length to get a good look at him. It was then that I could clearly see the woman's face and she looked like a younger version of the queen. "We weren't expecting you but its definitely good to see you! Is everything okay?"
I tried to keep my composure as Damon continued to talk to his aunt. He had tricked me.
"Everything's fine, Aunt May. We just thought we would come out to visit you," Damon lied, giving me a look to follow along with his story. How did she not know what was going on? Did they not have a TV? "But we are starving. Would you mind if we stayed the night tonight?"
"Of course, anything for my favorite nephew!" she squealed as the struggling toddler started to cry. "Sorry all the excitement has got Nathan in an uproar! I'll be right back." May quickly swept the baby up into her arms and left Damon and I alone in the living room.
"You sneaky devil, you!" I whispered at Damon as he laughed and sat down on the couch. "You knew exactly where we were! I could strangle you!"
"You agreed the terms," he chuckled and put his hand up behind his head. "Don't be a sore loser, Ri. Told you she couldn't resist my charm!"
"What charm? She's your aunt! She would have let you in no matter what!"
"Are you sure about that?" Damon asked, pulling me down to sit on his lap. My resolve and anger was melting away with his touch. I tried to hold strong.
"Yes," I said, moving off his lap and onto the other side of the couch. "How does she not know what is going on?"
"Aunt May and her husband Michael like their privacy, especially with Nathan. They don't have a TV and don't watch the report. My mother tends to write her letters but they have slowed recently. Caleb and I have been taking turns writing to her instead and telling her that mom was just very busy. Which does happen from time –to-time." Damon let out a light sigh. "But can we do something else besides talk about this?" he asked, inching towards me.
I shook my head and put my hands up in the air. "How long is it going to be for they look here or contact her?"
"Rio, please relax and enjoy for a little bit! We will find somewhere else to go but we are safe here for the day," Damon said, once again taking my face into his hands and kissing the tip of my nose.
I sighed, knowing that he was right. I had to relax and trust him or else nothing would ever work out between us. Leaning over to him, I let Damon pull me over to his lap again. His lips instantly met mine and I quickly became lost in his kiss. I wanted this more than anything and I had to stop trying to control things and just let them happen.
"Can I get you guys—whoa!"
Damon and I quickly pulled apart and looked to see Aunt May standing in the doorway. She instantly put her hands on her hips and raised her brow.
"Damon, what is going on?"
"Aunt May, this is Rio Parker. She was—"
"One of the Selected. I know that, I'm not stupid." May's face turned serious quickly. "But why is she with you? Isn't she off limits?"
Damon and I turned and looked at each other before he answered. "Because we want to be together…it's kind of why we are here."
"Damon," May sighed and putting her hand on her head. " You guys are in so much trouble. Are they looking for you?"
"Yes."
"Ugh!" May cried. "Damon. Damon. Damon. Why did you run away? I'm sure if you talked it out with your mother and father that they would amend something to make you happy."
"That's the problem," I said slowly, speaking for the first time. "They think that I was poisoning the queen…erm your sister—but I promise that I'm innocent and I would never touch a hair on anyone's head! You have to believe me."
"Relax," May said, trying to soak everything in. "I know and honest person when I see one and you too look amazingly cute together! I'm not going to turn you in but the guards will come here looking for you. I still think you should go back, but if you must keep running, I'm not going to stop you. I will cover for you as long as you need."
"You're the best, Aunt May," Damon said, jumping up and embracing her in a hug. "But what do you have to eat?"
"Some things never do change," she laughed, leading Damon and I into the kitchen.
However, as soon as we sat down at the table with some slices of toast, there were three loud raps on the door.
"Open up! Police!"
Hope you liked the new chapter! Let me know what you think and I will answer each individual review with the next chapter! Remember only one chapter left before the sequel!
~Kay
