Chapter 17
Cillian’s body hit the shingles of a roof. His grip loosened for a second on impact—one second too many—and Eva tumbled out of his hold and slid toward the edge.
He rolled, scrambling across the roofing, and reached for her arm.
She caught his hand just as her feet dug for purchase. The snow made everything slick, and they both slid closer to the fringe of the hut.
There was no use fighting gravity. Using his weight, he accelerated his descent and encircled her waist, then, with quick motions, lifted her onto his front once more.
She yelped. “What are you—”
Then they were falling again.
A breath later, his back hit a branch, jolting them. A moan escaped him as he gripped Eva tighter. Dirt, leaves, and snow flurried around them as his backside hit soundly into the landscape and began to roll. His arms scraped against bushes and stones as they continued to sweep down the incline.
He closed his eyes and held tight to the angel in his arms, until they came to a stop under the stilts of the settlement.
“Eva, are you okay?”
A groan met his ears. “I’ll live.”
He eased his arms off her back and lifted her hair off her face. With slow motions, he started pulling leaves and twigs out of her mane.
“Can you walk?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said as she quickly brushed his hand away.
Using his shoulder as leverage, she stood on shaky legs, wincing as she stood. A gasp escaped her when she tried to take a step.
Shit, she was hurt.
Realizing he was also in pain, he stood and clutched the right side of his abdomen. His ribs were most likely broken. “Where are you injured?”
She shook her head, not meeting his eye. “I’m not.”
With a careful eye, he watched her take in their surroundings.
“I have to find my crew and father—” She took another step and hissed, bending at the waist and grabbing her leg. “My ankle.”
Swiftly, he gripped her around the shoulder, giving her stability. “Here, lean on me. Which way?”
She spun on him, shoving him hard, then stumbling away from him. “Lean on you? I don’t even know if I can trust you!”
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but what I did back there was called saving your life.”
When he had seen the general had her father, he had started work on making a bomb. Albert Rush liked to play games—that boosted his ego. Eva was not going to be his next victim.
She sighed, her fingers running through her hair as he moved to her side, offering his help once more.
This time, she wrapped her arm around him and said, “We should be able to move discreetly under the stilts. Between the snow, smoke, and darkness, we should have enough cover.”
With stiff movements, he moved up the incline—ignoring the throbbing in his side and back—silently, moving through the shadows. As they eased under a hut near the back of the settlement, Eva moved away from him and gripped the wooden stilt.
Once they were finally able to rest, they heard voices nearby, and both stilled as a group of the Others were only feet in front of them. They had Samuel and Eva’s crew on their knees with their hands behind their heads while Derek talked with General Rush, who assessed them as he walked past.
Eva’s sharp intake of breath met his ears as he watched her try to move out from under the hut. “Eva, no. We have to go. Now.” Quickly, he grabbed her coat and hauled her back, covering her protests with his hand. He couldn’t risk her getting them caught.
He scanned the area. It was so dark, but they had to be close to the shed, and that would be their way out.He went over to the other side of the hut and made a run to the edge of the wall, dragging a very annoyed Eva with him.
The falling snow made the area look different than he remembered, but they had to be close.
Like a trapped animal, Eva struggled and jerked in his arms—her elbow connecting to his injured ribs. He groaned but continued his pace along the wall. As he ducked past a tree, he caught sight of their way out.
Eva continued to buck in his arms as he opened the shed and shoved her inside. As fast as possible, he closed the door and then turned to her and pressed her up against the wall.
“Listen to me, we are injured, outnumbered, and not prepared to face them. You will get yourself and them killed if you try to go free them now.”
Her brows knitted together as she spat, “So you think I’m just going to leave them like that?”
Leaning in and brushing his lips against her ear, he said, “I don’t think, I know. The only way you are going back in there is over my dead body.”
He kicked the exit open and hauled her through it.He let her go once her feet met the earth, then turned to secure the wall back into place. Their footprints would lead the Others straight to the shed, but hopefully they wouldn’t figure out the hidden door—
Before he could finish his thought, Eva’s fist connected with his shoulder. He faced her as she hit his chest. He suppressed his frustration, locking his jaw, as she hit him again and again. If she needed an outlet, then he would be that for her.
“How could you! You know what they mean to me—how could this happen? I don’t even know who you are... Cillian? Y-you—you should have left me...” Tears welled in her eyes as she beat his chest with her fists.
After letting her take it all out on him for a few minutes, he took hold of her wrists to stop her. Her eyes swirled with pain and fear. Tears streaked down her face, and in that moment, his heart cracked. He clutched her to his body, his hand tangled in her hair as he let her grieve for what had happened.
When her breathing steadied, he pulled back and said, “We need to find shelter, you’re hurt and the temperature is dropping.”
She shook her head, looking down at the snow. “No, no—I have to go back in there, they need me—”
“Look at me,” he said, his voice firm.
She lifted her eyes to look at him, her lashes wet with her tears.
“You are done giving everything of yourself to this settlement. I would see it all burn before sacrificing a single hair on your head. We are both leaving this place, even if I have to throw you over my shoulder. Now, where is the closest shelter?”
Her nostrils flared as she tried to break out of his hold.
He tightened his grip, his voice lowering an octave. “You’re angry, good. You might even hate me right now, but if that gets you from one breath to the next, then hate me, Angel. But the fact is I’m your best shot at getting Everwood back.”
She stilled at his last comment. “Y-you have a plan?”
“Right now, the plan is to find shelter. It’s snowing and cold, if you haven’t noticed. Please, just point in the direction we need to go.”
She hesitated, her brain working overtime considering her options, then she lifted her chin and said, “Give me your word you’ll help me save them.”
“Angel, if you need my word, then you have it. I will do everything in my power to get Everwood back and rescue your father. I swear it.”
“Okay.” Shepointed to the east. “That way—in a few miles, there is a small cave.”
The firelight danced across the cave walls as he wrapped her left ankle with the torn hem of his shirt. It had taken considerably longer than he would have liked to get to the cave, given Eva’s injury, the lack of light, and the weather.
But when they arrived, he had been pleasantly surprised at the size, and thankfully there were some dried sticks and leaves inside that he could use to build a fire.The cave was shallow, but the interior curved, shielding them from the storm. And it was hidden well behind shrubbery. With luck on their side, they would be safe for tonight.
Eva winced as he tightened the bandage, then tied it off with a knot. “There. That will have to do for now.”
Easing back against the cave wall opposite her, the scent of smoke and mildew met his nose, and he took a deep breath. His ribs ached from the exertion, but he did his best to ignore it.
Eva studied the wrap on her ankle, inspecting it for flaws, but glanced at him every few seconds. She had hardly said a word since their argument outside of Everwood. She had only protested a little when he insisted on giving her a piggyback ride to the cave. But now, her eyes spoke volumes.She watched every move he made, as if she was waiting for him to betray her. He didn’t blame her for that—a member of her crew had breached her trust and put all of Everwood in danger. Even though they weren’t under Albert’s control, the threat was still very real for the two of them.
The fact was they didn’t have much time. Knowing the general, he would have men looking for them, even now. Their only saving grace would be the weather. The snow continued to fall as the wind kicked up, making visibility nearly impossible.
“What are you thinking about?”
He shook his head. “It’s not important. Why don’t you shut your eyes and rest? The next twenty-four hours are going to be tough. The general is going to have men hot on our trail. They will try to stop us from reaching Stone Haven.”
Her brows deepened. “Stone Haven, why would we—”
“You didn’t think I was going to get Everwood back for you all by myself, did you, Angel?”
Her eyes tightened at his words, and her chin tilted forward in defiance. “Tell me, Cillian, was it you that planted the bomb that blew up the caravan from the Skyline Sanctuary? You know, the explosion that supposedly took your memory.”
He leaned forward, his eye never leaving her face as he said, “You want to know if I’m the villain—Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Angel, I’m not.”
She crossed her arms. “Tell me what happened that day. Hell, tell me anything that will make all of this make any sense.”
Picking up a stick and stoking the fire, he looked at the flames closely. “Last year, an avalanche triggered by an earthquake destroyed two homes, killing three people. I swore to the people of Stone Haven I would try to find a solution.” He set the stick down and rested his arms on his knees. “I had an idea that if we could use explosives to trigger smaller avalanches in a controlled, safe manner, maybe it would reduce the larger, unpredictable ones. It wasn’t long before I had a prototype assembled and was using the bombs successfully.”
He hesitated, lifting his eyes to meet hers.
“Albert Rush had become increasingly interested in my developments, but at the time, I didn’t think much of it. He’s cunning, the general... knows how to manipulate people when he has to.”
She nodded. “Go on.”
“We monitor our borders from the top of the mountain. With binoculars, you can see a lot of the area. The morning of the battle, our spotters caught sight of your crew moving south off of Everwood land and another group moving north toward them. The general was alerted to the movement by the spotter. He went to the border with some soldiers and one of my bombs.”
Cillian shook his head. “By the time I found out and realized what he was planning—what he had in his possession—I took a shortcut down the mountain with a couple of loyal soldiers. I was hoping to get to him before anything happened, but I ended up running into the group moving north, who turned out to be people from the Skyline Sanctuary. They told me they were headed to Everwood, so I asked to join them. I figured if I was with them, I could protect them.”
“Why didn’t you just tell your father and have him stop them?” Eva asked.
He looked away from her and took a deep breath. “There are things, Eva, about Stone Haven—about my father—that not many people know. H-he’s sick.” He swallowed hard, then said, “My father wants peace between the settlements. It’s obvious to me now, Albert’s desire to rule them both. He’s using my father’s condition to his advantage and acting on his own. I should have known, should have realized what he—”
Eva shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, and said, “We didn’t know he was sick. We haven’t seen Thomas Beck or his sons—”
She stopped short, causing him to look up. Her muscles tensed under his gaze as the truth hit her hard. He was one of the sons.
He cleared his throat. “When my father started getting sick, I was voted in as heir. Then, he had my training sessions doubled. Everything from hand-to-hand combat to weaponry. He wanted to make sure his heir would be able to not only survive but also lead the people.” Cillian laughed. “I would beg him to let me have more of a role in Stone Haven, but he wouldn’t budge. He just kept saying, ‘Your time will come, Cillian.’ He probably thinks I’ve been dead this whole time...”
He gazed into the fire, wondering what his father would think of the mess he had made. He should have dealt with General Rush sooner and protected peace between the settlements.
“You were trying to disarm it, then.” Eva’s voice cut the silence that hung between them.
“What?”
“The bomb that the general had planted. That’s why you were close to it when it went off—why you had the head injury and lost your memory.”
He nodded. “Yes. The soldiers I brought with me, Adam and Scott, tried to drag me away—they put themselves in front of me when it went off. T-they didn’t make it.”
Eva leaned her head back against the rock wall. “There’s one thing I don’t understand. Why would the general want to kill the people in the caravan? How would that bring him closer to ruling the settlements?”
Cillian raked his fingers through his hair, then said, “I didn’t really understand that myself until the other day when he ambushed me in the woods. I don’t think he planned on killing everyone. He either wanted someone left to use as ransom—someone important to Everwood, say a daughter to their leader—to leverage Samuel into giving over Everwood, or use someone from the settlement that was willing to help him get close enough to Everwood without getting shot.”
She pressed her hand against her forehead as if it pained her. “Derek.”
With a shake of his head, he grunted. “Derek must be seriously delusional if he thought handing over Everwood in exchange for you was going to win your love. I had a feeling about that guy.”
“I don’t think he did it just for me.”
“How so?”
Eva rubbed her eyes. “The feud, it was started by someone firing a gun—chaos ensued, each side blamed the other. You must know the story?” He nodded, and she continued. “Derek, he—he fired that shot. He told me that day you found him in my room. It’s possible he was trying to set things right, in a psychotic sort of way.”
Cillian felt heat rush to his face. “You mean to tell me this whole time, almost a decade of feuding between the settlements, was all over that asshole firing a gun? Eva, how many lives have been lost over the years?”
He watched a shiver sweep through her as she said, “I know.”
Was she cold? He stood and walked over to her side, and sinking to the ground, he tried to wrap an arm around her, but she flinched.
“Angel, I would never hurt you. You know that, right?”
“That’s what I used to think,” she said as her eyes bored into his.
“Nothing has changed. I’m still the guy you’ve known over the last two months. I just have my memories of the past now.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re . . . different. Everything is different now.”
His gut swirled with unease as the wind gusted through the cave, causing the fire light to bounce across her face... that beautiful face.
“You are safe with me. I can promise you that.”
Her brows furrowed, and she bit the corner of her mouth. She seemed conflicted as she considered his words.
With slow motions, he moved his arm once more, tucking her in the crook of his arm. This time, she didn’t protest. Her lavender scent surrounded him as her head eased against his chest.
“Now get some rest,” he said.
He watched her eyes shut and her breathing slow. A coyote howled in the distance as another gust of wind twisted the roaring fire. The snowstorm raged outside, but it was the storm they were about to face that made his blood run cold.