Page 66 of Claimed
“Not at first,” Stefan said, and Nicki didn’t miss the flash of relief on Ari’s face. “I’m afraid you’ll have to go through a battery of medical tests before anything else.”
“Here?” Ari asked doubtfully. “This looks like a resort island.”
Nicki snorted. “Once again, nothing wrong with your powers of observation. But yeah, here. As it turns out, really good doctors don’t seem to have an issue with house calls to islands. I can’t say I blame them.”
They piled into the SUV and Nicki peered at the driver, disappointed it wasn’t Dimitri Korba. But then, she supposed that made sense. Dimitri was Ari’s best friend. Chances were good that seeing him would trigger some sort of memory event, and until they understood where Ari was in the recovery process, it made sense to go slow.
Conversation continued as the SUV wound its way through the lush forest, definitely heading uphill. “I have a feeling we’re going to have one hell of a view when we’re done, aren’t we,” Nicki put in, and Stefan’s glance was amused.
“It’s a favorable one,” he said.
“And beaches too, I suspect? But a long way down.” Ari peered out at the heavy forest but showed no sign of familiarity with the place.
“There is a beach below the main house, but it’s a fair distance—there’s an access road to it and I believe a zip line now.”
Nicki turned to stare at Stefan. “A…zip line?”
He smiled back at her, lifting his brows, but just then, the trees gave way and they rolled into the bright sunshine once more. The lawn spread before them and Nicki’s eyes bugged out as she took in the royal family’s compound—a large white villa with several tiers, and multiple additional villas and buildings scattered over the grass. From her viewpoint, the Mediterranean sun reflected off no fewer than three pools, and fountains lined the crisp white stone walkways.
“Wow,” Nicki breathed, but when Ari didn’t respond beside her, she turned to glance at him. Stefan had turned as well from the passenger seat.
“Ryker?” Stefan asked. “Everything okay?”
“What? Oh—yes. Yes, of course.” Still, Ari sat forward as they approached the building compound. “I remember seeing this place—I’m sure of it. Not from the ground, though.” He frowned, glancing upward. “I must have flown over this section of the island at some point. That’s possible, isn’t it?”
“Eminently possible,” Stefan said crisply. “I’d be surprised if you hadn’t, really. It’s not on the commercial airlines flight path, but for smaller craft it’s completely reasonable.” He turned back forward as the vehicle rolled to a stop. “We’ll be staying in the main house, if that’s acceptable.” Without waiting for a response, he continued. “We’ll have a medical team here as quickly as possible. By tomorrow morning, I expect.”
Ari swung out of the car, then eyed Stefan with the first hint of doubt. “I really don’t want to put you to all this trouble. I—if I have work, a life, I should be getting back to it.”
“It’s a precaution for everyone.” Stefan lifted a hand. “Nicki and I are also getting full medical workups tomorrow, so we’re stuck here, anyway. You, of course, are not obligated to be examined. But if you wanted to rule out any physiological reasons for your amnesia, it would be best.”
Ari’s smile was wry. “As in, perhaps my skull got cracked in the wreck? Probably not a bad idea.” He shook his head. “I don’t remember a hell of a lot from the time before they picked me up in the nature preserve. And what little I once thought I knew—it’s gone now. That happened a few months back, the memories of the time immediately after the crash fading away into the same blank soup as the rest of my history.”
Stefan froze, but he kept his voice calm enough. “You’ve lost other memories?”
“No—I don’t think so. Only that period between the wreck and the park. I…I don’t know. I could have been drunk, hurtworse than I thought—high on something, I don’t know. I picked up food and a boat but otherwise…it’s simply sort of faded.”
Stefan looked like he wanted to say something more, but he gestured them all into the house instead. A group of smiling men and women greeted them, all dressed in casual uniforms—shifts or pants sets for the women, khakis and polos for the men. Stefan waved Ari along. “We’ll serve a late dinner on the veranda, if you’ll join us?”
Ari snorted. “I’ll check my schedule.” He gave them a jaunty salute, then ambled off down the hallway. The rest of the house remained as still as a tomb.
Stefan turned toward her. “Brace yourself,” he murmured. “The family is waiting for us in the sitting room. We’ve been monitored since we boarded the SUV.”
Fifty
Stefan entered the room first, but Nicki was right behind him, and he had the sense of the two of them presenting a united front. It was an odd but welcome feeling—and it vanished the minute they cleared the door.
“Your updated report, Stefan,” Cyril began, but before he could fully get the words out, Queen Catherine strode forward.
“He’s so thin!” she exclaimed. “You didn’t tell us that he’d suffered—what happened to him? Where was he, and who was holding him?”
“Catherine—” the king’s voice cut across his wife’s but he stepped forward as well as she turned on him.
“Did you know? Am I the only one in this family who isn’t being kept in the loop?—”
The two other men in the room remained silent, but it was clear they were bursting with questions as well. Kristos about his brother, Dimitri about his best friend. But they were too well trained to interrupt when Cyril had given him a direct command, and too polite to shush the queen.
“Your Highnesses, sir,” Stefan said, nodding to the royal parents and then Cyril. “As you no doubt saw, Ari is physically healthy—and yes, thin.” He lifted a hand again as the queenfought to maintain silence. “He survived the aircraft crash and came ashore at a small barrier island off the coast of Turkey in a confused and disoriented state. He was apparently uninjured other than having no recollection of anything beyond his name—he did not know his nationality, his purpose for being in the plane other than for, as he termed it, a ‘reconnaissance mission,’ and he had no memory of his family, friends or associates. He approached a scavenger and traded debris he had recovered from the plane for a boat and supplies to get him to mainland Turkey. He landed in a nature preserve and made some contact with the squatters there, again making trades for supplies. The city of Alaçati was, at the time, conscripting vagrants and drunks for work crews. They picked up Ari as part of this effort.”