To Save a Prince #2
The remaining guard looked at his fallen comrade and back at me. “You made a big mistake, little girl. You just killed my brother. I’ll fucking kill you.”
The guard slashed at me, causing me to stumble back and almost fall over his brother’s body.
Jumping over it, I moved away from Gavin, who was struggling furiously with his bindings.
The avenging brother bared down on me with a blow that would have taken my head clean off my shoulders if I hadn’t gotten my sword up fast enough.
I needed to quickly find a way to get out from under his blade.
My arms shook with the effort it took to keep the steel from biting into my shoulder as I desperately tried to figure out a way to get out of this situation.
But I was trapped. I fell to my knees as my bad leg finally gave out after the abuse I’d put it through.
Just when I thought I was done for, a dark figure appeared behind the guard, grabbed hold of his head, and snapped his neck. Then it tossed the body away from me so his dead weight wouldn’t smother me.
The shadows disappeared, and Jade stood before me, blood spattered over his features and mingling with the sweat on his face. His bright green eyes glowed with danger and the fever of fighting. Strangely, though, I didn’t fear him as he held out a hand to me.
“You okay?” he asked in his husky voice.
I nodded, not yet able to form words while my adrenaline rush subsided. Just when I was going to move, the ground shuddered, and a loud roar pulsed through the camp.
“Get the prince and let’s go. It seems your dragon just arrived.”
“You’re coming back with us to Raven Rose, right?” I asked, clutching his arm as he turned to walk out of the tent.
He stopped and looked at me for a moment, then bowed his head. “As My Queen commands, I will obey. I should warn you, though, I might not be very welcome.”
His words surprised me. “Why?”
“A story for another time when we are not fleeing for our lives with a crown prince in tow.”
I nodded, turning to Gavin, who was still fighting against his bindings. “Can I borrow a knife—” Before I could finish the sentence, a hilt appeared in front of my face. I looked over my shoulder and grinned at him. “Thanks.”
“Try not to lose that one. It’s a favorite of mine,” Jade said with a wink.
Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Gavin. “I don’t know if you remember me, but we met once at the palace. I’m Cassarah, the pair-bond to the black dragon. I’m going to get you out of here. Try not to move while I cut you loose… they made these really tight.”
Gavin stilled at my words while I worked at cutting him free. The knife was razor-sharp, slicing through the bindings easily. Once his hands were free, he worked on freeing himself from the gag while I got his legs free.
“Think you can stand? We don’t really have much time,” I asked, watching him closely.
It didn’t look like they’d hurt him, but who knows if they’d given him any food or water. He didn’t answer me right away but seemed to test out his limbs. Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet and wobbled a little. He almost fell over, but Jade caught his shoulders to steady him.
“Thank you,” Gavin’s deep voice said, filling the tent like I remembered it doing at the palace. “How did you, of all people, find me? How long have I been missing? Do you know what the hell is going on?”
I knew Gavin needed answers, but we didn’t have a whole lot of time. “I don’t know how long they’ve held you. I was kidnapped maybe two or three days ago at this point, but it was truly lucky that we found this camp.”
Gavin opened his mouth to ask more, but I stopped him. “You have a lot of questions, I get that, but we need to get out of here before your brother gets his men in order and attacks us with purpose.” I looked past him to Jade and signaled for him to help Gavin out of the tent.
Jade nodded and slung Gavin’s arm over his shoulders, taking most of his weight.
I made my way out first and headed right for Vasin.
He was sitting back on his haunches, wings wide, snapping at the soldiers who dared challenge him.
Tahir flew over and let out another burst of flame, scattering the men once again, giving us enough time to run to Vasin, who lowered himself to the ground and swung his head to me as I hobbled as fast as I could.
“Cass, what have they done to you?” Vasin let out another roar and gnashed his teeth at the daring men who came back to try their luck. “I will rip them all to pieces for hurting you.”
“There’s no time… we need to get out of here. I have the kidnapped crown prince with me,” I yelled over his internal roar when I reached him.
Vasin let out a low growl but listened to me as I helped Gavin onto his back. “Can you take the three of us until we can get somewhere safer?”
“Yes.”
“Jade, let’s go. You’re sitting behind me,” I instructed once I was behind Gavin.
Jade looked at Vasin, then back at me, as if he wasn’t sure he should listen to me. Vasin turned to look at him and growled, letting his teeth snap.
“All right, I’ll listen to your lady. You can put away your teeth now.”
“Who is this man, Cass? I am unsure if I like him. He smells like death.”
I tried to hold back my grin at seeing Vasin being overprotective of me at a moment like this. “He saved my life, and he’s also pair-bonded with Tahir, who is quite lovely. Let’s give him a chance, hmm?”
Vasin snorted and lifted his great wings to heave us into the safety of the sky.