King's Ransom (Man on a Mission 2)

The sudden stiffening in Niko’s body betrayed him, and Andre nodded with certainty. “That was your plan all along. To kill me and have Zax blamed for it. You would have made sure there was evidence pointing to him, evidence that he had arranged my murder to look like an accident or a politically motivated assassination. Just as you tried to have Juliana killed and make it appear to be an accident—an accident that pointed to your brother as the only one with a motive. But you failed all across the board. You failed to kill me, just as you failed to kill Juliana.”

“I did not fail!”

“Do not lie to yourself. You failed.” Andre’s assertion seemed to be deliberate provocation. “Juliana is still alive.” He took another step forward. “And so am I.” He shook his head a third time. “No, Niko, you will not shoot me. No matter what, you cannot afford to show your hand in my death.”

“But you will be dead,” Niko grated, and Juliana wondered how it was no one had ever heard the insanity in his voice before. “It would almost be worth it.”

“Yes, I will be dead,” Andre agreed, taking another step. “And your brother will sit on the throne in my place, not you. You will not even be his heir, because you will be dead, too, in the most gruesome way imaginable. Zakhar’s laws have not moved with the times, not where high treason is concerned. You should know. You have blocked me on the Privy Council every time I have attempted to change that law. Do not forget,” he said softly, “regicide—even attempted regicide—is high treason.”

The gun wavered in Niko’s hand, and Juliana wondered what Andre meant. She didn’t have long to wait for an explanation. “Hanged. Drawn. Quartered.” Andre’s voice was cold and calm, sounding almost disinterested. “Not a pretty prospect, is it. Disemboweled while still alive. Emasculated. Watching parts of yourself burned before your eyes. Would you be dead before they cut your body into four parts, then beheaded you, I wonder? Or would you still be alive at that point?”

Juliana flinched at the description of the execution awaiting Niko should he succeed in killing Andre. She didn’t want anyone to die like that, not even if Niko managed to kill both of them.

“No one has died that way in more than three hundred years!” But fear joined the note of insanity in Niko’s voice.

“But no one committed high treason during that time,” Andre explained reasonably. “So there was no need.” The next step he took brought him almost within arm’s reach of the gun aimed at his chest.

Cursing, Niko stepped backward, dragging Juliana with him, the gun still pointing at Andre. “Not another step. Or I will shoot you.”

Niko’s attention was distracted as the bound bodyguard staggered to his feet at that critical moment—blood trickling down the side of his neck—and tried to thrust himself between Andre and Niko’s gun even as he fought the belt binding his hands. In that instant Juliana realized Niko’s grasp had loosened. She knew he thought her of little consequence, just a pawn in his deadly sparring match with Andre. Like most men he believed her seemingly fragile appearance was all there was to her. But he was wrong. Dead wrong.

She twisted suddenly in Niko’s hold, using a move Terry O’Dare had taught Tessa in Jetsam. A move Dirk had taught her. And as she twisted she knocked Niko’s arm up just as he fired. But Andre had already moved lightning fast, hurtling himself at his cousin, taking both of them down.

The two men struggled on the ground for possession of the gun, but it was an uneven contest. Andre wrested the gun from Niko’s hand, then skittered it across the floor as he pressed his right forearm against his cousin’s throat. “I should kill you,” Andre said in a deadly voice, not even breathing hard. Niko whimpered in fear, futilely clawing at the arm cutting off his oxygen. “Give me a reason why I should not.”

Juliana raced across the room and picked up the gun, then turned to the two men on the floor, ignoring the bound bodyguard in her desire to prevent Andre from making a fatal mistake. “Don’t, Andre. Please don’t.”

“You plead for his life?” he asked her, still in that same deadly voice, but without taking his eyes off his cousin. “When he would have taken yours without hesitation?”

“I don’t care about him. I just don’t want him to die at your hands. Not like this. Please,” she added softly.

The decision hung in the balance for seconds, then Andre cursed under his breath. With a swift motion he jumped to his feet and jerked Niko to his, holding his cousin prisoner with a death grip on his shirt. A sudden pounding on the locked door to her suite made Juliana realize someone must have heard the gunshot and come running. Andre’s bodyguard? One of the palace guards from the floor below? Or just someone from the palace staff? Whoever it was, they didn’t know about the secret passageway. They only knew the entrance off the corridor.