Page 85 of Legacy of Glass
“Precisely.” Cade didn’t wait for agreement, taking off for the entrance of the lane and jogging down the street.
Both girls took off after him, and Julius brought up the rear. He hadn’t even been given the chance to voice his concerns—including that they didn’t know how many men the abductor might have guarding the kidnapped girls. While he understood Cade’s desperation, he didn’t want to be part of leading any of them to their deaths.
But he couldn’t restrain all three of them at once. And he knew when a royal command would do no good. All he could do was accompany them and do his part—and keep his eyes peeled for guards along the way.
They didn’t pass a single pair of patrolling guards until they reached the northeast corner of the city, and he’d almost despaired of any appearing. Putting on a burst of speed, he overtook the others and stopped in front of the armed men.
“You’re with me,” he barked out. “We have trouble and there might be fighting. There’s no time to explain.”
“Excuse me?” one of them asked coldly, but his companion elbowed him hard, his eyes wide.
“Yes, Your Highness,” the second man said. “We’re at your disposal.”
The first speaker’s eyes also widened, and he gave a deep bow. “My apologies for not recognizing you, Prince Julius.”
“Never mind that.” Julius’s breath came fast after his dash through the city. “For now, follow me. We’re being left behind.”
The others hadn’t slowed or stopped, although Olivia was looking back for him over her shoulder. But he knew they would slow to a walk soon. They had only made it so far by alternating jogging and walking since none of them were professional runners.
When the group did slow, Julius quickly caught them up before dropping to a walk himself and quickly filling the two guards in on the bare bones of the situation. He didn’t mention Marigold by name, but both men were incensed and ready to assist, although they respectfully suggested that Julius himself should stay back and allow them to take his place.
“I thank you, but no,” he said. “And that’s not up for debate,” he added when one of them looked inclined to argue.
Cade led the small group through a maze of back alleys, amazing Julius with his sense of direction. If it had been up to Julius to lead them, he would have been hopelessly lost by that point.
His friend finally stopped beside a building that gave every appearance of still being abandoned. The windows had been boarded up, and weeds grew around the back door, broken bricks scattered among them.
“We should wait for the abductors to leave,” Julius murmured in an undertone. “We can lay an ambush and take them by surprise in the open.”
Cade shook his head, stubbornness radiating from every line of his body. “If she’s not in there, I have to know it now. There’s still time for me to make the rendezvous point if I was wrong about this warehouse.”
“And what?” Julius whispered, exasperated. “Find the abductor yourself? On your own?”
“If I have to.”
Julius sighed. There was clearly no talking Cade down. Julius now had two guards on his side and could order for the young lord to be restrained, but he didn’t think Olivia and Daphne would just accept it if he did. And in truth, now that they were there, he could feel some portion of Cade’s eagerness coursing through his own veins. If Marigold was really on the other side of that wall, it was time they rescued her.
Cade tried the back door, rattling the latch, which didn’t open.
“Maybe we should try—” Julius began, but Cade had already picked up half a broken brick and thrown it through the window.
The sound of breaking glass made everyone except Cade flinch. He was already in motion again, knocking out the remaining glass shards using the other half of the brick.
“Really?” Julius hissed, but there was no time for him to get angry at his friend’s reckless haste. Cade had just announced their arrival, and they needed to act quickly.
Cade reached through the now empty window frame and unlatched the door. As soon as he’d done so, he wrenched it open and rushed through. Julius ran at his heels, one of the guards right behind him. The second guard had been instructed to remain at the rear, keeping Olivia and Daphne in the center of the party.
The two girls both wielded daggers, although he had no idea where they had come from. Had they been carrying them in their boots?
The door opened directly into a large, empty space. On the far side, he could see a couple of doors that likely led into offices, but the wreckage of the collapsed upper floor partially blocked both doors. The fallen ceiling still lay scattered across half the warehouse, along with smashed shelves and broken glass, making it unlikely their quarry was in the blocked rooms.
He swung around to examine the other half of the warehouse.
“Cade!” a piercing voice screamed, and his eyes settled on Marigold.
She was shackled to a heavy table but had somehow removed the gag that now hung limply around her neck. A short way away, a second girl, perhaps a little younger, stood staring at them, each of her arms restrained by a burly man. Apparently they had arrived just as Elisabeth was being led from the room.
One of the men abandoned Elisabeth and faced off with the newcomers, three other men appearing to join him. One of them ran past Marigold’s table, and she gave a loud scream and tried to sweep his legs out from under him.
