Chapter 40 Breaking Point #3
He nodded to her, and she returned the gesture.
Then he and his masked men were moving, charging attackers from atop their mounts, cutting them down and effectively pushing the mob back.
They weren’t retreating, but it at least allowed her a moment to regroup.
She’d made herself a target by protecting Agnes.
She needed to grow a spine, or she wasn’t getting out of here alive.
She backed up, keeping her distance from her next attacker while still protecting Agnes. Another step back and Hazel tripped, losing her footing and falling to the ground. The relentless man seized the opportunity to corner her, and he pounced.
Without warning, another man dove in front of Hazel, their swords clashing and parrying the blow. As she came to her senses, she discovered it wasn’t just another man. It was Connall.
Connall and the large, broad-shouldered man were dangerously similar in strength and ability. The world slowed around them as sword connected with sword, steel sliding and grinding against steel over and over again.
But as quickly as it began, it was over.
His opponent fell for a maneuver that proved Connall really was the superior fighter as he dodged a sloppy strike and sliced through the man with ease.
When he pulled his sword free, Hazel was staring at him as though she was seeing Connall for the first time. Not in fear, but in awe.
He sheathed his sword and ran to her. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, but I can’t do this on my own. I need help moving her.
” She faced Agnes and tried to pull the woman’s arm up over her shoulder, hoping Connall would set his desire to fight aside and just help her.
When it became clear he wasn’t going to help, she turned on him with the intent of begging him to forget his pride long enough to drag Agnes to safety when the world was torn out from under her.
Connall was on his knees, an arrow protruding from his chest. The man was tough as an oaken battle shield, yet he’d been pierced as though he was no thicker than parchment.
Hazel screamed, though she heard nothing, felt nothing as she collapsed before him, her hands frantically trying to figure out how to fix what was not fixable. Nothing else mattered except her father’s lifeblood as it dripped from the arrowhead.
Connall’s face twisted in shock and agony as he fell to his hands and knees, gasping and clutching at the place he’d been struck.
She crawled to him, pulling him into her and cradling his head against her body. This is not real. This is not fucking happening.
“Pa, say something please! You’re fine. You’re going to be fine, you hear me? Everything is going to be fine!” She was beside herself. “Someone help us!” she screamed.
Somewhere in the distance, the fighting raged on. Wolf Mask and his vigilantes were putting up a good fight, but still grossly outnumbered. The remaining citizens of Larksridge were fighting for their lives and struggling to protect themselves. No one was coming to save her.
A hand reached up and caressed her face. She looked down to see Connall looking up at her, smiling, his teeth red with blood.
“Pa, please! We are going to get out of here. Everything will be fine.” She sobbed, repeating herself.
“Shh,” Connall whispered. “Don’t you fuss over me, my girl.” It was an effort for him to talk as he gasped between words. “Do you know… how proud you’ve made me? Do you know how lucky I am… that Fate brought us… together?”
“No, you are not allowed to talk like this. You are not leaving me!”
He closed his eyes, cringing against the pain racking his body. When he opened them again, his eyes were softer, full of sorrow. “I am… sorry… for not telling you… the truth… sooner. That was… never my intention. I hope… you will forgive… me.”
Hazel couldn’t think straight, she couldn’t function because none of this was real. It couldn’t be. “Please…” she whispered. “Please don’t… I don’t need to forgive you. There’s nothing to forgive. You’re mine, and I’m yours, and we are going back to Larksridge together, do you hear me?”
He blinked at her, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he reached for her hand. He didn’t speak, he couldn’t speak. He was fading.
“I forgive you,” she cried. “There’s nothing to forgive, but if that will make you stay then yes, I forgive you. I love you more than anyone in the world, and I need you. Please, just hang on.”
He smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze. And then the light was gone, his grip releasing her as his hand fell away. Connall Callahan was gone.
Overwhelmed by rage and unimaginable sorrow, Hazel screamed and dug down into that place deep within her soul.
The endless well where her magic lied in wait, begging to be called upon.
This time it was easy to access, boiling up within her with an ease that shocked her.
This was power, and she would make them pay.
Hazel brought her power to the surface and set it free, exploding in a blinding light, wiping out every attacker in her vicinity and blasting apart trees. Her eruption shattered the ground and rattled the very stars in the sky.
And then she was nothing, and the world went black.