will help obscure us. And you need to keep your head down. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble.”
Isabelle obediently ducked her head against his shoulder, pressing her cheek against the smooth cotton of his shirt. She could feel his pulse beating awaywith a steady, reassuring rhythm as they paused in line, waiting to leave the plane.
Her own pulse had kicked into an anxious staccato as she tried to anticipate what might be waiting for them. Much as she wanted to believe that they were almost to safety, she’d thought the same thing when they’d entered the Embassy in Sardis. And she’d been so very wrong then.
As they stepped into the airportthe crowd shifted, and their fellow passengers dispersed. Although she’d flown into JFK more than once over the years, Isabelle hardly knew her way around the vast complex of gates. She kept her eyes on the floor and focused on matching Levi’s stride as he made his way through the terminal, trusting him to find the way and avoid trouble.
The muscles in his shoulder tensed.
“What?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure—” he kept moving and didn’t look down “—so many people are moving in the same direction, it’s difficult to tell if any of them are following us.”
Isabelle didn’t know what to make of his comment, but she took it as a bad sign. She doubted Levi would have admitted his concern if he hadn’t sincerely suspected someone was showing them undue interest. But there was little she coulddo other than keep her head down and keep moving.
She let herself breathe a small sigh of relief once Levi had completed his phone call to the Sanctuary office for a ride. “How are we doing?” she asked, keeping her face in his shadow as she looked up in an attempt to read his expression.
The slight smile on his lips was warm, but his eyes lookedwary. “We’re going to have to play the couple,”he said, leaning down to nuzzle her forehead with his nose.
The contact surprised her, but she also found it comforting and had to remind herself that he was only acting. She leaned into him slightly. “You think we’re being followed?”
His nose traced her hairline until his lips hovered just beyond her ear. “There are two men who’ve been behind us ever since we left the plane. One of them tookyour picture a moment ago, though I can’t imagine he got much more than your hair.”
Isabelle’s breath caught and she rested her forehead against Levi, needing the comfort his presence offered, even if they weren’t really the couple they wanted everyone else to see. As a member of the royal family, she’d had her picture snapped by strangers many times—but none of those strangers had been out tokill her.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly, aware that the man she spoke to wasn’t a bodyguard or even a Sanctuary International agent. He was a lawyer, and for all she knew he didn’t have any clue more than she did about evading the men who were after her.
But she didn’t have anyone else to turn to.
“We’ll have to kill time before the car arrives. I’m going to try to shake them.Whatever you do, stay close to me and keep your face out of sight. As long as they’re not sure you’re the person they’re supposed to be following, we stand a chance of losing them.”
Isabelle did exactly as she was told, keeping her face out of sight and hoping she and Levi looked like a romantic couple. They paused several times with Levi’s arms around her, his face close to hers as they consultedabout their next move, hoping to give anyone watching them the impression that they were two people in love, so absorbed with one another that they didn’t care about anything beyond themselves. Theircover was so far from the truth—and yet Isabelle found herself wanting to believe it, to feel the affection Levi offered as he pressed his lips near her ear, to believe that the arms around her werenot a shield, but a loving embrace.
“Now what?” Isabelle asked
Isabelle obediently ducked her head against his shoulder, pressing her cheek against the smooth cotton of his shirt. She could feel his pulse beating awaywith a steady, reassuring rhythm as they paused in line, waiting to leave the plane.
Her own pulse had kicked into an anxious staccato as she tried to anticipate what might be waiting for them. Much as she wanted to believe that they were almost to safety, she’d thought the same thing when they’d entered the Embassy in Sardis. And she’d been so very wrong then.
As they stepped into the airportthe crowd shifted, and their fellow passengers dispersed. Although she’d flown into JFK more than once over the years, Isabelle hardly knew her way around the vast complex of gates. She kept her eyes on the floor and focused on matching Levi’s stride as he made his way through the terminal, trusting him to find the way and avoid trouble.
The muscles in his shoulder tensed.
“What?” she whispered.
“I’m not sure—” he kept moving and didn’t look down “—so many people are moving in the same direction, it’s difficult to tell if any of them are following us.”
Isabelle didn’t know what to make of his comment, but she took it as a bad sign. She doubted Levi would have admitted his concern if he hadn’t sincerely suspected someone was showing them undue interest. But there was little she coulddo other than keep her head down and keep moving.
She let herself breathe a small sigh of relief once Levi had completed his phone call to the Sanctuary office for a ride. “How are we doing?” she asked, keeping her face in his shadow as she looked up in an attempt to read his expression.
The slight smile on his lips was warm, but his eyes lookedwary. “We’re going to have to play the couple,”he said, leaning down to nuzzle her forehead with his nose.
The contact surprised her, but she also found it comforting and had to remind herself that he was only acting. She leaned into him slightly. “You think we’re being followed?”
His nose traced her hairline until his lips hovered just beyond her ear. “There are two men who’ve been behind us ever since we left the plane. One of them tookyour picture a moment ago, though I can’t imagine he got much more than your hair.”
Isabelle’s breath caught and she rested her forehead against Levi, needing the comfort his presence offered, even if they weren’t really the couple they wanted everyone else to see. As a member of the royal family, she’d had her picture snapped by strangers many times—but none of those strangers had been out tokill her.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly, aware that the man she spoke to wasn’t a bodyguard or even a Sanctuary International agent. He was a lawyer, and for all she knew he didn’t have any clue more than she did about evading the men who were after her.
But she didn’t have anyone else to turn to.
“We’ll have to kill time before the car arrives. I’m going to try to shake them.Whatever you do, stay close to me and keep your face out of sight. As long as they’re not sure you’re the person they’re supposed to be following, we stand a chance of losing them.”
Isabelle did exactly as she was told, keeping her face out of sight and hoping she and Levi looked like a romantic couple. They paused several times with Levi’s arms around her, his face close to hers as they consultedabout their next move, hoping to give anyone watching them the impression that they were two people in love, so absorbed with one another that they didn’t care about anything beyond themselves. Theircover was so far from the truth—and yet Isabelle found herself wanting to believe it, to feel the affection Levi offered as he pressed his lips near her ear, to believe that the arms around her werenot a shield, but a loving embrace.
“Now what?” Isabelle asked
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