Page 19 of Polestar (The Global Paranormal Security Agency #3)

“We don’t have much time,” Ana blurted, latching on to the most obvious. “Analiese Ortega,” she said, shoving her hand toward the prince.

The corner of his lips quirked—like Magnus’ did—before he accepted her proffered hand and shook it. “Elias Magnusson.”

“Should I curtsy?” she whispered to Magnus.

Elias laughed, releasing some of the tension in his broad shoulders.

Ana glanced toward the door where the guards hovered, scowling.

The registrar remained at the threshold of the doorway, hands clasped so hard her knuckles were white.

“You don’t have much time,” Ana reminded them and moved away to give them a sense of privacy as she put her backpack on.

“No, we don’t. The guards will have gone to fetch my mother,” Elias said, scorn lacing his voice. “She forbade me from seeing you when the messenger announced your arrival at the village.”

“Yet here you are,” Magnus said.

Elias dipped his head, looking like the youth that he actually was.

Ana’s heart swelled as their sense of longing overwhelmed her. Their desire to embrace for the first time in a decade.

Oh God, please hug each other before I crumble .

Before someone comes to pull you apart again .

It was all they wanted. That, and to leave Barentia.

She ground her teeth as they continued to face one another, neither reaching for the other.

Footsteps echoing in the stone corridor filtered in through the open door.

Damn it!

Just hug, damn it!

She desperately wanted to shove them together or blurt out what each was feeling to the other as they stubbornly remained silent.

The footsteps were louder now.

Her fingers dug into the straps of Magnus’ pack gripped in her hands.

“I’m glad to see you again,” Elias said to Magnus.

“As am I,” Magnus smiled at his son, letting all his barriers melt away. A true, open smile.

The footsteps stopped. “Elias, I forbade you from coming here today,” the woman’s voice snapped through the room.

Elias stiffened.

Magnus’ smile disappeared before he slowly turned around to face her.

“Ulla.”

Ana looked from Magnus to Ulla’s barely suppressed triumphant expression.

Her heart dropped.

This can’t be good .

Her gaze met the apology in Magnus’ eyes.

She slowly closed her eyes, resolved, and returned his gaze.

I trust you .

His face tightened, but he locked his feelings down before they gave him away.

Regret .

“Elias, you are to remain in your room until I decide your punishment,” Ulla’s hard voice made the boy flinch.

He said nothing to his mother.

His expression full of longing as he spared Magnus a last glance, he strode out of the library through the main door at the far end, rather than squeeze through everyone gathered here.

Poor kid .

Ulla ignored Ana, walking up to Magnus. “The banished are forbidden to speak to anyone in Barentia without official cause. Especially the royal family. I charge you with treason for attempting to influence the true heir of the realm.”

Satisfaction roiled off of her like a heavy perfume.

Ana’s fingers curled into a fist, as she wanted nothing more than to punch the woman in the face. Twice. No, twice wasn’t even enough.

Ulla had used the prince to entrap Magnus.

Of course, Elias would defy her order to see his long-lost father. Possibly a once in a lifetime chance. What youth wouldn’t rebel against an order like that?

They’d both expected it—Elias and Magnus. Both accepted the risks.

Did Elias understand the magnitude of the risk for Magnus?

Ana didn’t think so.

“Lock these two up separately until I decide what to do with them,” Ulla said to the guards and walked out.

Rage ripped through Ana. She shook with it. Struggled to control it.

It wasn’t Magnus’ feelings.

They were her own.

She’d never ever felt that about anyone in her life before.

How dare this piece of shit be so cavalier?

A guard reached for her.

Magnus snarled at the guard, then shoved him so hard he bounced off the stone wall with a crack. “Leave, Ana; take the plane and go home.”

She was shaking her head before the words came. “No.”

“Havard is marked. Like Aksel. Come back with Kane and the others.”

Rooted to the stone floor, her gaze swept the scene before her. Magnus blocked the guards’ access to her. She had a clear path out if she could remember the way.

“If you don’t, they may kill both of us.”

Would they?

Still, she remained frozen for what seemed minutes when, in reality, it was mere seconds.

She stepped toward Magnus and he roared in her face, allowing his features to morph into the fierce polar bear he was, sending shocks of terror through her nervous system.

She was running before she knew she was moving as she passed through the door to the first courtyard.

Kane.

She had to let Kane know they had confirmation that other Barentians were marked.

Kane would get Magnus out.

The Organization wouldn’t abandon one of their own. Ana didn’t know Aaron Connor very well, but she knew Raya Burns enough to know that she’d never leave Magnus to rot in a Barentian dungeon. And where Raya went, so went Ian, her formidable mate.

And Carson. She had no idea what his relationship to Magnus was, but Ana knew he’d help her, as would Lirikai.

She clung to the absolute knowledge that she wouldn’t be alone. If she could get to the plane. A plane she didn’t know how to fly, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

Magnus, the banished, was still inside the stronghold. Everywhere outside of the stronghold remained deserted.

She passed through the curtain wall and across the last sheltered space toward the final exit, not daring to look back at how close any pursuers were. Her hammering heart, whooshing breath, the swish of her pumping arms and frantic boot falls made hearing anything other than herself impossible.

Belatedly, she realized she’d dropped Magnus’ pack at some point, as her own bounced on her back. She ran harder, putting as much distance between herself and the stronghold as she could.

Her initial terror-fueled jump-start was fading as regular adrenaline rushed her veins.

It was a long, long way back to the village where they had docked their little seaplane.

As her muscles strained, she finally spared a glance over her shoulder. If anyone were pursuing her, surely they’d have caught her by now. They were shifters with far more strength and speed than any human.

The expanse of road between herself and the stronghold was empty.

Why hadn’t they stopped her? Ulla had said to detain both of them.

Was she just not important enough to waste their time?

God, I hope so .

She never wanted to be so unimportant in her life.

Ana kept going as she considered her options, should someone try to stop her. She had her gun and her taser. Her pack held some few supplies, but not much.