Chapter 53: Hit & Run

"Shit." Darius shoved himself off the wall and yanked the fitting room door open. He bolted out of the fitting room, startling the senior attendant who was still arranging several garment bags.

"Your Highness, is everything—"

Before the man could even finish his sentence, Darius had already jogged past him, sweeping out of the VIP lounge and heading straight for the main exit. The attendant stared after him in complete confusion.

First Prince Basil had stormed out looking ready to declare war. Now Prince Darius looked like he was desperately trying to catch up with a runaway train. The man glanced toward the empty fitting room, tilting his head.

Seriously, what exactly happened in there?

Darius burst through the boutique’s sliding automatic doors, his eyes immediately sweeping across the sunlit parking lot.

Just as he suspected, Basil was already striding toward the sleek black sedan parked near the far end of the lot, his movements hurried and erratic, practically radiating raw anger. He was already yanking his keys from his jacket pocket, his fingers trembling slightly with adrenaline as he marched toward the driver’s side, completely intent on getting behind the wheel and tearing away before Darius could reach him.

"Basil, wait!" Darius called, hurrying after him with long, brisk strides. He moved faster when he saw Basil reaching the car. "Basil, please, just wait and listen to me!"

Basil didn’t even spare him a glance. He pressed the key fob, and the sedan answered with a sharp dual chirp as the locks released.

"Get the hell away from me, Darius," he spat through a clenched jaw as his hand closed around the driver’s door handle, yanking it open.

Darius was only a few steps away now, completely focused on reaching Basil before he could pull away. As Basil lowered himself into the driver’s seat, Darius stepped straight into the lot’s driving lane, oblivious to the engine revving somewhere to his right.

A dark, heavy SUV suddenly pulled out from a parking space, accelerating violently with no sign of slowing down. The sound of its tires scraping against the stone pavement snapped through the parking lot, followed by the low roar of an engine being pushed too hard.

Darius turned instinctively toward the noise, his brows drawing together as the vehicle swung sharply into the driving lane and came barreling straight toward him.

For one brief, horrifying second, he stood frozen, his body caught directly in its path.

The vehicle was coming toward him far too quickly, and he barely had time to take a single step backward before the front of the SUV slammed into him with a brutal, sickening metallic crunch. The impact hurled his entire body completely off the ground, tossing him onto the hood before his momentum carried him over it. His arms flung helplessly through the air as a strangled cry tore from his throat. He hit the stone pavement hard and rolled several times, his body twisting violently with each impact before finally coming to a stop several feet away.

The SUV screeched to a halt for barely a second, its tires squealing against the pavement, before the driver suddenly accelerated and shot out of the parking lot, disappearing down the street.

Inside the sedan, Basil’s entire body went rigid.

For a moment, his eyes widened with horror as he watched Darius’s limp form come to a hard rest on the pavement. "Darius?"

The name came out as a whisper, barely audible, before terror slammed into him.

He threw himself back out of the car, abandoning the door wide open, and sprinted frantically across the pavement. He dropped to his knees beside Darius, his hands hovering helplessly over his body, not knowing where to touch him or what was safe to move.

There was blood everywhere. So much blood.

It streaked across the pale stone beneath him, staining his clothes and his hands, pooling beneath Darius’s body.

"Darius, oh my God, Darius!" Basil’s voice cracked as he stared at him in horror, his trembling hands moving frantically over Darius without daring to touch him. "Please, look at me."

Darius’s face was ashen, his lips trembling as he struggled for breath. A wet, broken cough suddenly tore through him, and blood spilled from his lips, trailing down his chin.

Basil recoiled for half a second before immediately reaching for him again, tears already flooding his eyes.

"Oh God. Darius. No, no, no." His hands shook violently as he looked over his brother, terrified that touching him might somehow make things worse. "What do I do? What do I do?"

Darius coughed again, his body shuddering beneath the force of it, and Basil finally broke.

He carefully slid one trembling arm beneath Darius’s head and shoulders, lifting him just enough to cradle his head against his lap while keeping the rest of his body as still as he could.

The moment Darius’s head settled against his lap, Basil’s tears spilled freely.

He bent over him, sobbing so hard his shoulders shook, one bloodstained hand hovering near Darius’s face before gently brushing trembling fingers through his hair.

"Please don’t die," he choked out, his voice breaking completely. "Please, Darius. Please. Tell me what to do. I don’t know what to do."

Darius’s eyes fluttered weakly, struggling to focus on Basil’s tear-streaked face. His breathing had become shallow and uneven, every breath accompanied by a faint, painful rasp.

Basil leaned closer, desperately searching his face for any sign that he was still conscious.

"Darius, stay with me. Please, stay awake. Help is coming. Someone will help us."

Darius’s lips moved, but at first no sound came out. Basil bent closer, his ear almost touching his mouth. "What? What are you saying?"

Darius swallowed painfully, blood staining the corner of his lips as he forced the words out. "Call... call 119..." His eyes slipped shut before Basil could even process what he had said, his body going completely limp.

"Darius? Darius!" Basil yelled, bawling his eyes out as he clutched him tightly, looking around the parking lot in pure desperation. "Somebody help! Please, somebody help! My brother has been hit! Please! Somebody call an ambulance!"