Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
MAEVE
My body followed Beaumont’s eyes to where Jensen now stood out in the open air.
“What the hell?” Beaumont growled, storming right past me and starting off in a run to where Jensen stood, sword drawn and holding a woman captive.
“Please,” she begged, desperately trying to grasp where he held her wrists. “Don’t let him kill me.”
“Let my civilian go, or you will be incredibly sorry,” Beaumont snarled, drawing his own sword and approaching the situation.
Jensen had no intention of killing the poor woman, but it needed to be convincing. And since he was even playing his role right now, that meant…
Desperately I searched around, looking for any sign of him.
“Let’s go.” A hand coated in armor grazed my arm, clasping around my wrist and yanking me back. Sawyer’s green eyes shone through the space in his Draemornian helmet.
“Did you find it?” I whispered.
“Yes. In my pocket. Run.”
He didn’t let go, pulling me along as we sprinted towards the forest. I looked back at Jensen for the briefest of seconds, and I wished I hadn't.
One of us wasn’t making it home from this mission.
“Was it in his study?” I forced the words out amidst my heavy breathing.
“Yes.”
“How did you get in?” According to Kohen, Sebastian had been unsuccessful in picking the lock.
“Idiot left the door cracked,” Sawyer gasped. “Gods were on our side today. Although, I did have to kill four men.” With a shrug, he slowed his pace to peer over his shoulder at me.
We had almost made it to the edge of the woods when I recognized the slivering screech of metal. A sword being pulled free from its sheath.
Jumping around, I released my dagger in one swift motion, pulling my arm back and chucking the blade at the Draemornian who had followed us. It sunk between his eyes, deep into his skull. He fell backwards, the weapon sticking straight up in his flesh.
I ripped myself free of Sawyer’s grasp and rushed to retrieve my weapon. I needed it. If Sebastian didn’t make it out of this, the blade was all I had left of him.
Out of breath, we at last made it back to our horses where Sawyer tore his armor off. He tossed it into the dirt, spitting on it when it hit the ground. “I hope I never have to wear that disgraceful symbol ever again,” he growled, his eyebrows drawn together.
I didn’t get a chance to speak before he was picking me up and practically throwing me on top of my horse.
Sawyer gave me a look that said if I even tried to disagree, he may just kill me. “Start moving. I’ll wait for a minute and see if Kade and Seb show. If not—”
“They’ll show,” I stated, no room in my tone for the claim to be false. They had to make it. They had to. “And I’m not going anywhere without you.”
Sawyer’s jaw clenched. “Maeve…” he drawled, but much to my surprise, he decided not to argue with me.
So we waited. Together. Time ticked away, and I was starting to lose hope, but then I saw them.
I saw him.
He was nearly unrecognizable. Shirtless and bootless, the only clothing on his body being what was left of his torn, ragged pants.
His hair was caked to his forehead with dirt and blood, his lips cracked and dry.
A dark shadow of facial hair coated his jaw, and his body held more cuts and bruises than it did healthy skin.
He wasn’t even fucking conscious. Kade and some girl were pulling his limp body along.
I jumped off my horse, my knees hitting the ground when I missed my landing, but I didn’t care. I forced myself up, ignoring the blood and sprinting towards him. “Is he okay?” I wailed, tears pooling out of me in an uncomfortable fashion.
“No, he's not okay,” Kade groused. “But we don’t have time to evaluate him right now, we need to move. They are already looking for us.”
Sawyer mounted his horse, and Kade put Sebastian behind him, using his belt to tie him around Sawyer's waist to keep him upright. The girl took Jensen’s horse as I climbed back on mine, granting Sebastian a final look before taking off in a canter as far away from Draemor as fucking possible.