Saved By Your Hot Book Boyfriend

42. The Hot Guy is An Accidental Hero?

42

The Hot Guy is An Accidental Hero?

You

Rather unfortunately for the town, you’re not so sure you feel like helping.

After all, these people did kidnap you.

And rather rudely, at that.

Heck. They almost killed you.

Not that they knew your life depends on being in proximity to a demigod-vampire-whatever-the-heck-Ziros-is, but still.

They did hire goons to shove you into the back of a van.

And thanks to them, you’ve lost your phone. And your purse.

Rude .

Very rude.

To say the least.

But Elena is still looking at you with hope and desperation on her weathered face in the flickering light of the magical orb.

“ Please , oh Chosen One” she repeats.

You frown.

Across the dark basement, Eli makes a disgusted choking sound, and you wonder if he hates hearing his grandmother beg.

Guilt twists inside, but you—you just—you can’t .

You can’t bring yourself to help. Not when it would mean staying here in this little town in the middle of nowhere. This town that is basically a cult, whether that title is deserved or not.

“I’m sorry,” you say, standing up.

But there’s nowhere else to go. No escaping the awkwardness

Up at the top of the stairs, the door rattles with every gust of wind.

Until that storm’s over, you’re trapped here in the basement, whether you like it or not.

With a sigh, you stop, turning back to face the old woman.

“At least tell me this,” you say. “Why do you keep calling me the ‘Chosen One’?”

Behind you, the boy named Eli laughs dryly. “Because. Because Granny here had a dream, a prophecy that led her to you. A prophecy where you could control the wind, destroying all the monsters. Saving our town.”

You cough. “Me? I barely even know how to control my magic. I can’t do any of those things.”

A moment of silence passes through the shabby basement, and you swear you see Granny Elena deflate a little, her eyes growing duller and her shadowed wrinkles deeper than before. The little light in her palm flickers even more, threatening to go out completely.

Eli shines the too-bright flashlight back in your direction.

“Sorry,” you say, not managing to sound very apologetic.

“You should conserve the batteries on that, young man,” Elena warns her grandson, her graveled voice cracking.

He grumbles, but clicks the flashlight off anyway.

Elena’s light is so dim now, you can barely see, and you reluctantly make your way back to the dingy old couch just so you have somewhere to sit before you’re completely blind.

Once you’re seated, she lets her light fade. Or maybe it goes out on its own without her being able to stop it. You hope not, because that seems like a bad sign.

The last thing you want is for her to croak right there next to you on the couch in that dark basement while wind still rattles the walls from overhead.

An uncomfortable silence stretches around the room, and you find yourself feeling compelled to make conversation to fill it.

“So…” you begin, not sure what exactly to say. You feel oddly like you need to apologize, despite the fact that these folks are the ones who hired kidnappers to steal you away against your will. “Just to be clear, I’m not exactly a trained fighter. And I can’t control the wind. But—”

No. Nevermind.

You stop yourself, deciding maybe you don’t really want to admit you know someone who can . “But I see why you did it,” you finish, switching directions mid sentence.

For a second there, you were really going to offer up Ziros’ help.

But yeah, nah. Nevermind. Not when these folks had you kidnapped.

Beside you, old granny Elena lets out a soft, tired sigh.

“I suppose I should apologize to you, then,” she says. Her voice shakes as she adds, “I should have known even my visions would fail me in my last years.”

She sounds so frail and sorry, it’s hard not to feel guilty for not helping.

But you can’t just drop your entire life to stay here.

You have a job! An apartment!

That rent won’t pay itself.

Not to mention, you don’t really want to stay out here in the middle of nowhere.

“Yeah, sorry,” you mumble again, feeling more crappy about it than you’d like.

You’d rather if you didn’t feel bad for your kidnappers.

It’s just…they do seem to be in a bit of a bind. And there’s probably loads of regular people in this town who didn’t do anything wrong and are now in danger because you’re not helping.

“But you are a sorceress,” the old woman says, a glimmer of hope coming back into her voice as if she senses your hesitation. “Maybe I could teach you.”

You frown.

You’d like to learn how to use this pesky magic that seems to attract monsters everywhere you go, but you really don’t want to drop everything to move out here and begin some sort of training arc and then feel obligated to stay the rest of your life.

“Sorry,” you say simply. Glancing up at a faint crack of light coming from the door overhead, you ask, “Why doesn’t everyone just leave?”

“And go where? This is our home . It’s been our home for generations.”

The guilt is killing you.

You stand up, crossing the dark room, not even sure where you’re going.

You just can’t take it anymore.

“Watch it,” warns Eli, the stairs creaking as he moves out of the way.

Oops.

You’d almost forgotten he was sitting there.

“ Chosen One .” Elena’s voice crackles from behind you. “Where are you going?”

“Out,” you say, one hand on the time-worn wooden rail, guiding yourself up toward the shaking door in front of you. “I can’t take sitting around anymore.”

Behind you, Eli lets out a dry laugh.

“I wouldn’t go up there if I were you. Not unless you’re ready to fight.”

The tiny sword in your pocket feels oddly warm, a strange energy pulsing through it.

It’s almost as if the sword itself is leading you.

You set your hand on the doorknob, hoping you won’t find a tornado on the other side.

“Listen,” you say, pulling out the tiny sword. “I’m not doing this for you.”

And then you grab the door, stepping back out of the basement.

It’s…

It’s a mess.

Furniture is strewn everywhere, bits of broken glass here and there. The living room window has blown inward from the wind.

But, miraculously, everything else in sight seems standing.

So that’s got to be a good sign.

Maybe it’s just a big storm.

Maybe you should go back to the basement, and there’s no monsters around. Maybe—

That’s when you hear the scream.

It sounds young, like a child, perhaps. A little girl.

Behind you, the basement door swings open and Eli and Elena hurry out.

Without even glancing back at them, you rush for the front door, flinging yourself out onto the street. Tiny sword brandished.

And there you see it.

A few doors down, across the dirt road, the roof has been torn completely open.

And there’s a giant skaddler lifting a child into the air, holding the poor terrified little girl up over its gaping, fang-filled mouth.

Her mother screams, throwing herself out the front door and racing toward the monster.

In your hand, the sword grows warm, suddenly larger than before.

It’s transforming as if on its own.

Maybe it’s time for your debut as the reluctant hero after all, because no matter how annoyed you are about being kidnapped—to put it lightly—you can’t seem to stop yourself as you charge toward the monster, swinging your sword like the hero of a fantasy action movie.

“Hey, you, big ugly beastie!” You yell, leaping toward it with a bout of adrenaline-fueled speed. “Put the kid down!”

For an instant, the skaddler freezes.

Slowly, its glowing, red eyes turn, fixing on you.

Fear races through your body, pounding through your heart, but you can’t stop now. Not when it’s already seen you.

It drops the girl, her mother rushing to her side, flinging her arms around her as she sobs.

Poor kid’s gonna need some serious therapy.

But at least she’s alive.

And now it’s just you and the monster.

It faces you, letting out a loud, reeking roar as lightning flashes across the sky overhead and more rain pounds down, the cold wind lashing through your hair.

You gulp, swallowing hard.

Is it too late to run back into that basement and hide?

Yes.

Unfortunately.

Because the skaddler takes another step forward, closing the distance between you as you try to stand your ground, legs and arms shaking.

And…that’s when you hear it.

A roar, as loud as a freight train.

The wind picks up, gusting so hard, the mother and child struggle to get back into their house.

“Hey, Chosen One!” Yells Eli from off to the side. “Run!”

And that’s when you see it.

A tornado.

As wide as a building, barreling straight toward you.

The sword gleams in your hands, energy pulsing through it as the skaddler continues to advance, the monster unbothered by the impending doom.

But you can’t fight.

Not like this.

Not with a tornado about to tear you and the town apart.

You’ve got to run.

You’ve got to—

Except, suddenly the wind falls silent.

You blink.

The tornado is…gone?

“ Hey, bastards ,” growls a cold voice from behind you, and you turn slowly to find a dark figure crouched at the peak of a nearby roof, his shirt billowing in the remaining breeze as he holds up one hand, a dark cloud swirling around it as if he himself took out that tornado. “What the hell do you think you’re doing with my human?”

Ziros!

Ziros is here!

Unfortunately…the skaddler is also still here.

And it takes a step toward you, letting out another reeking snarl, teeth gnashing.