"Your Highness."
Shade looked seriously at the princess before him. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she looked back at him.
"I want to tell you—"
He suddenly slammed forward, hugging Angelina as he entered the room.
But he did not charge ahead. While holding the sixteen-year-old girl, he pushed off with his feet and spun them both around. Shade crossed his hands behind the princess's back.
Bang!
Whoosh!
The gun in his right hand struck the head of the man cowering in the corner of the right wall with perfect accuracy. Although Shade had never practiced shooting, the man was simply too close to him.
The four Rhodes Cards in his left hand flew out. Under Shade's deliberate control, they did not dramatically slit the man's throat, instead striking his wrists and the fingers resting on the trigger.
Another bang rang out. Though the enemy behind the door still pulled the trigger, the pain ruined his aim, and he hit no one.
"There's one left!"
Shade cocked the hammer of the Luger Revolver with his right thumb. His left hand had originally been holding Angelina, but as he turned, it circled behind her and caught her right hand, bringing her around in a full turn until she stood at his side.
That made it easier to aim, while also allowing him to shield her from the last enemy's gun.
Once he turned around, he raised his gun toward the front. The third enemy, whom he had failed to deal with immediately, did not fire back in that brief interval. Instead, he pressed his gun to the young maid's head and hid behind her.
Though the black-hatted man was much larger than the maid, Shade had no confidence in hitting him with a single shot.
Shade stared at him, pointed