Chapter 20 Willow
Chapter Twenty
Willow
Iwake groggily to the sound of crickets chirping. I find myself in darkness, and it takes my eyes a second to adjust to my surroundings.
“Willow!” I turn my head and find Ronan, strapped to the base of a tree beside me, just like I’d last seen him. “Are you okay?” he asks quietly.
My head throbs a little, and I try to touch it, but find my arms restrained. Looking down, I realize I’m in the same position as my Vikings, sitting against a tree trunk with rope wrapped around my body and arms.
I quickly look around, finding Bo on my other side, with Hawk beside him. Ronan is closer than the others, but all four of us are bound.
“Did they hurt you?” I ask Ronan as I trail my eyes over him. He looks uninjured, as do the other two.
“No, they just used that magical knock-out potion on me.”
“What do we do?” I whisper so the men who captured us, who are sitting around a campfire about thirty feet away, don’t hear me.
“We need to get out of these ropes,” Ronan says as he tries to move. “But they’re too tight.”
“Do any of you have any weapons?” I ask, knowing they are usually strapped with knives, but they all shake their heads.
“They took them all,” Bo says, nodding his head across the camp where I can see a pile of stuff, including Hawk’s spear and Ronan’s giant ax.
I think back to what happened before they sprayed me with that potion. Hadn’t I stabbed the leader? As if summoned by my thoughts, he suddenly appears on the other side of the clearing and heads straight toward me.
He stops a few feet in front of me, looking none too pleased and I swallow nervously. There’s a bandage across his chest, but he’s moving normally. It doesn’t appear like I inflicted too much damage, unfortunately.
He takes a moment to look at my three guys, as if assessing them. “You’re not what I expected.” When none of us responds, he keeps talking. “They said you three are these giant, unstoppable, cannibalistic barbarians. But my men took each of you out without a fight.”
“Only because you snuck up on us,” Bo says angrily.
“That’s why I employ the best trackers and hunters in all of Dyconia,” he says with a grin, gesturing to the men behind him.
“Don’t you care about anything besides money?” I ask, annoyed with his smugness.
“What else is there?”
This man makes me so angry. In fact, all the mainlanders I’ve met are infuriating. The way they think they can treat women is almost as bad as the way my father acted.
“Family, friends, love, doing the right thing.”
He smirks at me in amusement. “And I suppose letting you all go is the right thing?”
“Don’t you think I should get a say in who I marry?” I ask, feeling bold for the first time in my life.
He starts to laugh, like I’ve said something hilarious.
“What did you think would happen when you signed up for the Mating Hunt?” he asks in amusement.
“It’s designed so the men who can best take care of you will win.
And the men who hired me have enough wealth that you will live a good life with them. ”
“If they’re so great, why did they need to join the Mating Hunt?” Ronan asks.
“It took these men a while to accumulate their wealth, so they may be a little past their prime.”
“How far past?” I ask nervously.
“I’m not sure of their exact ages, but if I had to guess, early sixties.”
My men curse beside me as I feel the blood drain from my face. It’s like my father’s giving me to Paul all over again. Except this time, there are several Pauls.
“That’s why they hired you,” Bo surmises. “They’re too old to fight and hunt themselves.”
“It’s all the same to me,” he says with a shrug.
He starts to turn away as I yell, “This isn’t right!” He looks back at me with an eyebrow raised in question. “These three are my fated mates. You can’t rip us apart.” I see a small look of surprise cross his face before it’s gone again. He looks at my guys, then back at me.
“Fated mates are a myth.”
“They’re not,” Ronan tells him.
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t go back on my deals. Sleep tight. Soon, I will send one of my men to get them. They will be here tomorrow.” And with that, he walks away.
I look at Ronan with worry. “We’ll figure something out,” he says as I press my lips together with doubt. I have no idea how we’re supposed to get out of this. But right now, while everyone is still awake and watching us, is not the time to try.
Maybe there’s enough give in my rope then I can pull myself free. I decide that’s my best bet, but I need to wait for them to go to sleep before I try it.
It takes a few hours before all but one man lies down to sleep. I realize he must be staying up to guard the camp. Now is as good a time as any to try to escape.
I glance at my guys and see they’re all still awake, each looking at me when they feel my gaze on them.
I start to shimmy my body, trying to see if I can make the ropes move, but they’re so tight, I can’t get them to move up at all.
My hands are stuck to my sides, and I try to use my fingers to move the ropes, but it doesn’t work.
My fingertips on my right hand touch something hard at my side, and I freeze, realizing I still have a dagger strapped to my thigh under my dress.
My wide eyes turn to meet Hawk’s. He’s the one who placed it there for me. I don’t dare whisper that I have it out loud, as my mind searches for an idea. As much as I try, I can’t move my hand close enough to get it, even if my dress wasn’t in the way.
No, the only way I’m going to be able to get it is if I get that man to untie me. An idea comes to me, and as gently as I can, so as not to wake anyone else, I say, “Excuse me?”
The man’s head snaps in my direction, then he stands from his post and walks over to me.
“I need to go to the washroom.”
He raises an eyebrow and looks around in amusement. “There ain’t no washroom out here, lady.”
I try not to roll my eyes at him. “You know what I mean. I need to relieve myself.”
He sighs, then comes around to untie my ropes.
“I need to go too,” Bo chimes in, but the man just narrows his eyes at him.
“You can piss your pants for all I care. The men who paid us to capture her want her in good shape, so I’d rather we don’t hand her over with a piss-covered dress.”
The ropes loosen and drop, and I slowly stand. I contemplate reaching for my knife now, but this man is much bigger than I am. I need to plan this out carefully, because I’ll only get one attempt.
He gestures for me to step ahead of him, into the trees, and I do so silently, my eyes flicking to Ronan’s before we step out of sight.
I already tried stabbing the leader, and although I know I’d hurt him, he seems fine. So I won’t risk that again. I could try slitting the man’s throat, but honestly, I think he’d see my swing coming a mile away. He’s a lot taller than me, so I’d have to be really close to reach.
What other option does that leave me?
“You can go behind this tree,” he says, pointing to a tree that looks too small to be completely hidden behind, telling me I don’t stand a chance at running. Not that I would leave my guys here, anyway.
I decide to pee since I do need to go, and while I’m squatting, I pull my knife free from my thigh and slip it into the long sleeve of my dress so the handle is near the base of my palm.
I make a plan to let him tie me back up, then I can pull it free and try to cut the ropes. But then what? It’s not like I can fight them off. And they’ll probably notice if I start to cut one of my guys free.
But if one of my Vikings had the knife and could free themself first… the idea forms in my head as the man escorts me back to the edge of the clearing.
Right before we reach my tree, I stop and turn to face him as I ask, “Can I kiss them goodbye?” I gesture down at Ronan, and when the man narrows his eyes at me, I let my eyes tear up a little. “Please? You guys are ripping me away from them. Please, just let me say goodbye?”
I sniffle for good measure, and he rolls his eyes but nods. I immediately sink down, straddling Ronan’s legs as I grab his face and kiss him. I don’t hold back either, pushing all of my love for him into that kiss.
I gasp in realization as I lean back, staring at him with wide eyes. I love him. I love all three of them. Slower this time, I lean forward and kiss him, letting my right hand lower to find his fingertips then I press the base of the handle into them.
He catches on quickly, kissing me a little harder as his fingers wrap around the handle, and I slowly pull my hand back, letting him pull it from my sleeve and tuck it out of sight under his leg.
I pull back again and see pride and determination in his eyes, warming me from the inside.
I stand up and move to Hawk next. Assuming the same position I did with Ronan, I straddle him and kiss him with just as much passion as I gave Ronan, trying to convey how I feel with just a kiss. When I pull back, his hazel eyes are shining bright, telling me how he feels with just that one look.
I move over to Bo and grip his face, leaning my forehead against his as my eyes meet his. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispers. I nod, then place my lips to his, with a kiss filled with so much emotion that I almost forget where we are.
“Times up,” the man tells me, and I pull back, giving Bo a strained smile before I retake my seat at the base of my tree and begrudgingly let him tie me up again.
As he walks back toward the fire, I risk a glance at Ronan and see he’s already trying to cut through his rope. Not wanting them to look over and see me watching him, I turn the other way to look at Hawk instead.
We stare at each other in silence until his eyes move over my shoulder, and a flash of surprise crosses his face before he looks back at me.
I see the corner of his eyes crinkle with hope and know he must realize what Ronan’s doing.
We both stay silent, not wanting to attract any attention as we turn to watch the guard, who still appears to be the only man awake.