Read Online Lost Princess by Dani-Lyn Alexander - Free Book Online

opposite wall. The first man appeared to be older, maybe in his thirties. She quickly averted her gaze. The second wasn’t much older than her. A pang of grief shot through her.
    The next cell’s occupant still lay unconscious, his back to her. The dark buzz cut had her passing him by. The last man standing against the bars of his cell held her gaze. Another older man. Hatred shone from his eyes.
    She froze. What could she expect? These men had been ripped from their lives and caged. She couldn’t expect they’d be happy to see her.
    The intensity of the loathing in his stare held her trapped, unable to look away.
    In her mind, she pleaded for his understanding. Yet, she couldn’t ask him to understand something that didn’t even make sense to her.
    “Ryleigh? Ryleigh Donnovan?”
    A wave of nausea washed over her. A painful reminder of why she’d come here. A brutally forceful intrusion of her new reality on her existing beliefs. The prophecy was real. The stone was genuine. Her gut clenched with the need to deny what was painfully obvious. “Noah.” The name left her lips as barely a whisper. “Oh, Noah. I’m so sorry.” Tears slid down her cheeks. Noah. The only boyfriend she’d ever had. Before Jackson. The boy who’d promised he’d stand by her forever.
    Elijah’s warning fled with the recognition. She ran to the bars, grabbed them in a white knuckled grip.
    Noah was fast. Faster than she would have expected. His hand snaked through the bars and shackled her wrist.
    She tried to pull away.
    He held fast, his grip like iron.
    “Noah?” She pulled again. To no avail.
    His hold stayed strong. “What’s going on here, Ryleigh?” Beads of sweat dotted his forehead, dripped down the sides of his face. Anger poured from him.
    “Please. Calm down.”
    “Calm down?” His voice bordered on sheer hatred.
    Her gaze dropped to the bloodstain on the front of his shirt. Oh. Right. She’d forgotten about that part, about what it must have been like for him. Of course, the memories would haunt him. “Please, let me expl—”
    Startled by a hand against her back, Ryleigh jumped. A second hand shot between the bars and grabbed Noah by the throat.
    Ah Jeez.
    Noah’s grip on her wrist loosened as he struggled to free himself.
    She backed a few steps away. “Jackson. Please. Let him go.”
    Jackson ignored her. The muscles in his arm flexed. His grip tightened. He pulled Noah’s face against the bars, leaned forward. “Don’t you ever put your hands on her.”
    All right. Enough of this. Ryleigh wiggled between the two men, her face an inch from Jackson’s. “I said…Let. Him. Go.”
    Noah stopped struggling. He gripped Ryleigh by the throat, pulling her back tight against the bars. “Release me.” His harsh rasp was barely audible with Jackson’s hand around his throat. “Now.”
    Ryleigh pried desperately at Noah’s fingers. No use. “Let him go.” A scratchy croak was all she could manage. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. “Please.”
    Jackson looked past her. “I will kill you if you don’t release her.”
    “Kill me.”
    Oh, for crying out loud. Spots danced in front of her eyes. An eddy of blackness encroached on her vision. Uh oh. If she passed out, these two morons would probably kill each other. And where was Elijah? She gave up trying to remove Noah’s hand and used both of her hands against Jackson’s chest to try and shove him back.
    He didn’t even flinch.
    “If I let go, will you release her?” Jackson stared past her, the look in his eyes dangerous, deadly.
    Noah must have nodded or acknowledged Jackson’s request in some way—Ryleigh couldn’t tell with her back to him—but Jackson stepped back.
    Noah’s hold on her throat loosened immediately.
    Her hands flew to her throat. She sucked in a deep breath, the cool air chasing back the blackness.
    Jackson didn’t even give her a second to compose herself before pinning her with a glare. “Explain. Now. Or he