"Sound the alarm!" someone called. "They're through the gates!"

"Guns at the ready!" another guard yelled over the shouts.

"Alert the king!"

And then, like bees intent on landing, small, quick things buzzed into the hall. A guard was struck and fell back, his head hitting the marble with a disturbing crack.

My mind raced, trying to catch up with the chaos going on around me. If a guard was hurt it meant that these rebels were Southerners. They were killers. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that if Maxon and I continued to stand there we would soon be killed as well.

I didn't need to think twice as I grabbed Maxon's hand, running to a guard who was gesturing for us to follow him as the others began to fight off the men pouring through the halls in endless waves.

Maxon was wincing in pain as I dragged him along right behind the guard. I was probably pulling on his arm a little too roughly. Yet, even when I eased my grip and slowed slightly, he showed no improvement. Had a rebel hit him in the back with a knife or something? I didn't have time to check; I just pulled Maxon along, urging him to move faster and threatening him every time he said he wasn't going to make it.

The guard led us along all sorts of different hallways before finally stopping and pressing a button along the wall, causing a door to slide open and reveal a safe room. He smiled at us, obviously satisfied that Maxon would be safe.

Shouts followed us though and several unfamiliar faces stormed the hall and charged right for us. Someone's arms came around me threateningly, starting to pull me back as Maxon called my name.

Forgive me, Dad, I thought bitterly.

I elbowed my captor in the face, causing them to loosen their grip. I spun and landed a kick to the man's chest, causing him to fall with a loud thump on the palace floor. I glanced at the man who had been holding me with disdain as he gasped helplessly on the ground. I could've killed him, as I knew that he would have killed me given the opportunity, but I couldn't bring myself to do it while Maxon was watching.

Maxon.

I turned to look at Maxon but gasped instead as my gaze fixed on the wall that was starting to close.

Without time to second guess myself, I pushed Maxon through the wall. His shocked expression and his pained yelp was the last thing I could comprehend and the door finally closed with a barely audible click.

Maxon is safe. Now move, kitten! Make those sorry suckers regret they were ever born!

I didn't have time to think over the past two minutes of my life before I spotted three more rebels come to a stop around me, only a few feet separating me from them.

The guard who had helped me and Maxon escape now lay dead on the floor, his sightless eyes staring into nothing and his face forever frozen in a terrible grimace of pain and horror.

You kill them or they'll kill you. Don't hesitate. Now move, kitten!

My dad's voice drove me forward, causing me to spring into action before any of the rebels could. I suppose they were surprised to find me.

I wasn't strong enough to kill them without a weapon so I simply rushed forward and forced out a roundhouse kick to one. The force causes the one man to fall into the others, crashing all three men to the floor like dominos.

I reached for the dead man on the floor, taking his gun and aiming it. I didn't think about my actions, I simply pulled back the safety and fired squarely into the head of one of the men.

He fell with a thud, his mouth open in shock and pain.

The two men left standing screeched in outrage and rushed toward me. I managed to shoot one in the leg a few times but I wasn't fast enough to shoot the other.

The last man left raised a dagger, undoubtedly to do some kind of damage. I blocked his forward thrust with one arm then twisted it so that the dagger fell from his grip. I caught the knife before it clattered to the floor.

The man who I had shot in the leg had finally managed to stand and was now calling for help.

I couldn't let that happen. I could handle two men but if more of them came and they all attacked me at once then I would die.

I rushed forward again and they both ran toward me at the same time, being a little more cautious since they knew I was willing to put up a fight.

Take them down before they kill you. Don't think and especially don't hesitate because the second that you do it'll be your last.

I swallowed thickly, saying a quick prayer under my breath as I clashed with the two men and I spotted more coming our way to help their comrades.

Shit.