by K. Lyn Hill
Freedom.
She needed to feel free.
Clawing and tearing at the wind, it’s binding took on a tighter hold. “No! Let me go! Let me go!” She screamed at the wind, but it didn’t seem to want to listen. It just whispered her name softly, its grip suffocating and restrictive.
“Aerity. Shhhhhhh.” That shooshing sound threatened to bring her to the brink of insanity.
Stretching to break free, she ignored the agony shooting up her side and the pounding in her head. She felt chains digging into her arms. Wicked smiles as they kicked and cackled at the sound of bones cracking. “No! No! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
The wind kept persisting. This time in a more commanding voice. “Aerity. Aerity! Aer!” Something sat dormant in the back of her mind. Something familiar. A person.
“It’s me! Eli! Aer it’s ok!”
Eli.
The fight seeped out of her as her body relaxed within the safety of that name. Her heavy eyelids began to peel back to reveal a distraught, panicked face.
At seeing her open eyes, he released a sigh of relief. “Jesus, Aerity.” His heavy breathing pumped up and down against her chest as she took notice of how close he was to her.
“Hey.” She choked out, the movement unfamiliar and a struggle.
He lifted his eyes to hers then down to her smile. Worry still crinkled at the corners but he grinned in return. “Hey. You were having a bad dream. One would think you were a cat with a scratching post with how my arms look right now.”
She glanced down at the damage she had done to his arm and cringed. Claw marks covered the entire space, his skin peeled up under her nails. Embarrassed, she glanced down and felt her cheeks heat. She never had dreams like that. It felt so real. “I’m so sorry Eli.”
He lifted her chin to meet his gaze, a lazy smile still on his mouth. “Well you know me. I like it rough.”
She snorted and shook her head and then instantly regretted it. Pain shot down her spine and she released a groan. They were both still on the back of the horse; the ride not as conducive to her injuries as she would have liked.
She was trying to focus on Eli again but his face began to blur. The pounding in her head erupted behind her eyes making her squint up even though the sky was cloudy. It almost helped distract her from the tenderness radiating through her entire body.
Almost.
Chapter Eighteen
Eli
He had been riding for miles, hopefully in the right direction. The paper he was holding was a poor excuse for a map. What he wouldn’t do for a GPS right about now. His butt was sore from the damn horse and Aerity was barely holding onto consciousness. She didn’t weigh much. But between trying to keep the beast between his legs, one hand on the reigns with the map fitted through two fingers and keeping her from falling off, it felt like he was juggling with bricks. Each step the horse took sent a jolt that had him cursing and readjusting his grip. Aerity mumbled incoherently in his arms as he nudged the horse to move faster.
She was fading fast. Too fast.
He urged her further up into his arms as he fought the tingling sensation of it falling asleep. The horse’s speed picked up as they crested over a hill and he almost cried out in relief. The barn in his line of vision would forever be the most beautiful sight his eyes had ever landed on.
As they approached the barn, a man around their age stepped out cautiously. As soon as he spotted the slumped form lying draped across Eli’s arms, he raced forward to greet them. “I’ll take her if you want to hand her down to me. I’m Darius.”
Eli had figured as much but he held back the sarcastic quip. It had nothing to do with the person in front of him and all with his own personal mood and bodily pains.
“Eli.” He tried to speak as politely as possibly as he handed Aerity over to Darius. The guy was strong and hefted her in his arms like she weighed nothing.
Show off.
Peeling his own body off the horse would have been a relief if he didn’t have to practically slide down the blasted animal. Darius either didn’t notice or had too much class to mention it because he focused solely on Aerity. Eli would have been relieved if he hadn’t seen the scowl cross Darius’ face as he turned and headed towards the barn.
∞∞∞
Aerity
Eli hoisted her down into someone else’s arms. She glanced down just as muscled arms wrapped around her. Cocking her head to the side, she observed the man who now held her in a tight grasp. She could tell it was Carly’s brother from his similar features. The same dark straight hair that his sister had, only difference was that it was cut short to his head. He rocked the same brown eyes and the straight nose that made Carly’s features elongated and sleek. Feeling embarrassed at everyone needing to carry her, she threw on a tough face and kept her voice firm when it finally came out. “You can put me down. I can walk.”
He raised an eyebrow but made no motion to drop her. “You can barely keep your eyes open, let alone walk. Someone certainly did a number on you. How are you feeling?”
She jutted out her chin, refusing to show any weakness. “Like I can go for a long hike.”
He chuckled but his eyes took on a hard glint. “I can see why you get along with my sister. Your just as stubborn as she is. She told me as much in her letters but I still wasn’t sure what to expect.”
She couldn’t process the comment about Carly writing home about her, but they were friends, so she guessed that it made sense. “It’s a good thing your catching me on a good day, otherwise this would be really awkward.”
He laughed again and she decided immediately that she liked it. It was like a cough and a wheeze combined. A coueeze.
Eli broke up the conversation. “Hey man. I appreciate your help and I don’t want to be rude, but we really need to tend to her wounds. Where are you going to put her?” All Aerity heard was him saying he wanted a hamburger. She tried nodding her head emphatically. She could totally get down with some beef right now. His hand landed on her forehead again, making her pause.
Her enthusiasm died.
Eli was such a kill joy.
“I’ll get some supplies.” Darius’ cute little accent drug out the ies sound in his sentence. She should ask him to say flies, or ties. She was no good at goodbyes. Hehe. Internally chuckling at her own joke, her teeth randomly started chattering.
Eli cursed.
She felt the arm holding her struggle with its’ grip while the other wrapped something around her. The more layers, the clammier her body started to feel. She attempted to kick the dreadful thing off her hoping to sooth the overwhelming feeling of suffocation but to no avail.
“No, Aer, you have to leave it on.”
She began to grumble but was interrupted by a violent cough slithering its way up her throat.
Silence ensued again.
∞∞∞
Eli
Once the doors were open, Eli could see a bed made of hay set up in the center of the room. Blankets piled high on top of it. It may not be the most comfortable but at least she would be warm.
“I’m sorry it’s not fancy. It was all I could do with such late notice.” Darius said as he laid her down on the bed. “How long has she been going out of consciousness like this?”
“The last fifteen minutes of the ride were rough. She would wake up only to pass out again.”
“Did you check her injury?”
Was this guy for real? “No. it was hard enough keeping her on the horse with me. She was just dead weight.”
“You didn’t think to stop and check it?”
Yes, he planned in all his spare time to check her wound between their prison break and being hunted.
Asshole.
“We were kind of running for our lives soooo no. I didn’t get around to it.”
Brown eyes came up and narrowed at his tone before his hands went to remove the bloody fabric at her stomach. Darius cursed as he lifted it up exposing the festering gash. “It’s
starting to get infected.”
Wow, he’s a genius too. Jack of all trades. No one could tell that by the pus oozing out of the wound.
Aerity mumbled in a daze.
Darius felt her forehead. “She’s burning up. There’s a spicket and bucket around back on the side of the shed. We need to keep her temperature down as much as possible.”
Eli rushed to work as he searched out the water and bucket. When he came back in the barn, Darius handed him a towel as he dabbed some kind of goo on her stomach.
It smelled like butt crack.
“What is that?” He asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“It will kill any bacteria it touches.” Yup, still smelled like butt crack and that was the only explanation it seemed he would receive.
“While it kills all of our other senses simultaneously?” His eyes watered and it made him cough.
Darius released an aggregated sigh. “Do you know how to shut up? By all means, keep talking and let her die.”
Scowling, Eli dropped to her side and began running the cool water over her exposed arms, neck and face. Her thrashing settled slightly as if it had been begging for relief from the smoldering heat all along. She still mumbled incoherently but it was less violent now. Reduced to a small whimper, her cheeks twitched while her breathing remained harsh.
Darius snapped the bottle shut and shoved it in his empty hand. “Put this on her wound every hour.”
Chapter Nineteen
Aerity
Aerity woke up with a shudder. The smell of something horrible tickled her nose, practically singeing the hair off her body. She didn’t seem to be as much on fire as the other times she had woken up thrashing. She practically sighed as a cool cloth swiped along her arm.
Eli’s hand rested on her forehead.
She smacked it away and found her voice. “Stop babying me.” She mumbled.
Eli offered her a reprimanding scowl in response.
She pouted. Then relented, dropping her hand down to allow him to fuss. She felt him slowly peel the corners of the blanket up and then gently lift her shirt up. She couldn’t have cared less though because those few seconds of cool air on her skin felt like heaven.
“How is she?” A voice spoke from where she assumed was the barn door.
“Her wound looks a little bit better and she’s more aware of her surroundings. It’s a good sign.”
Eli wasn’t talking to her. His attention was on Darius. It was funny, Carly didn’t have an accent. Maybe he used to practice like she did when it came to her trying to perfect the art of speaking in a British accent.
Cheerio. Want a spot of tea?
Oh yeah. Nailed it.
“What’s she smiling at?” Darius asked.
Aerity could practically imagine Eli’s casual shrug. “One never can tell. It’s Aerity. She’s always smiling.”
His words sent a shot of warmth through her body.
Or maybe it was just the fever.
At this point, she was too far gone to tell the differences.
“What happened to her?”
She felt as if she’d been stabbed again. Her mind drifted in and out in a hazy tune, although this time there were no visits from mother. Just a constant buzzing and a head full of static.
“A lot of things she didn’t deserve.”
∞∞∞
Eli
“Thank you for helping us.”
Darius nodded but kept his eyes trained on Aerity. “You should be happy I love my sister so much or I would have given you up long ago.”
Comforting.
“In all our correspondences, Carly always spoke about her with such reverence. Said she was special. Someone who will one day change the world.” He looked down at the girl in question.
“Is that why you’re helping us? You think Aerity is the key to all your dreams coming true?” He couldn’t keep the snip out of his voice. Everyone expected so much from her. Everyone wanted her to save their world.
No pressure.
He looked up in time to see a familiar snarl painted on Darius’ lips.
Eli wanted to rip them off his face.
“I love my sister, but she is filled with pretty words. I learned a long time ago that hope only leads to disappointment.” He nodded his head at Aerity. “So far, all I’ve seen is her get locked in a dungeon, making other people inconvenienced in saving her.”
Anger welled up. Eli couldn’t bite his tongue quick enough. “So you missed the whole part where she was willing to sacrifice her happiness to marry Damien in order to save you?”
“Oh yes. Poor her. Having to marry a prince. Besides, she didn’t actually go through with the wedding.” He countered.
“Because she got stabbed for jumping in front of Damien’s attacker!”
“Or maybe she was the intended target.”
“How about when she ran into a burning building to rescue a freakin orphan?!” Eli was screaming at this point but didn’t care. This guy was infuriating. Even if he had helped them.
“All that was based off hearsay. I don’t listen to rumors. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
Eli’s anger drained away as a vision of that day flashed in his mind. Completely deflated, he sunk to the bed, his eyes focused on Aerity. He winced as she writhed and squirmed in her sleep. Eyelids fluttering as her face pinched in pain.
A look he was all too used to seeing lately.
“Yeah. Hearsay. Hearsay, of the flames that grew taller every minute that passed. Hearsay, of the screams I heard coming from inside of the building as I waited in horror, praying for her to come back out. Hearsay, as I watched the roof slowly caving in as I feared I would watch it slowly collapse on my best friend. When she finally did come out, it must have been hearsay when her body was covered in blood and burning welts with a scorched child in her arms when she herself could barely stand. Your right.” He laughed humorlessly. “Definitely a rumor.”
Silence expanded between them until Darius broke it. “You were there?”
Eli glanced up with haunted eyes. “I was there every God damn time she almost died in order to save your people. And now she’s close to dying again, lying here because the princess you were supposed to have ripped her out of her own world, forcing her here. And you’re standing there disrespecting her, practically spitting on her sacrifices. You question whether or not she’s worth saving? Well I question whether your even worthy of breathing in the same air as her!” His body shook as he seethed but he ignored whatever expression was on Darius’ face and kept his eyes pinned on Aerity. As soon as she woke up and was feeling up to it, they would be gone.
He felt a hand touch his side but when he looked at her face, she was still knocked out. She had no clue she did it but still he gripped her hand in his and laid a kiss on her palm.
Darius watched the exchange silently.
“We will be out of your hair as soon as she wakes up. Hopefully then, her spilled blood for this kingdom won’t be such an inconvenience for you.” Eli spat without looking up. Darius stood there for a few more silent minutes and then Eli heard the barn door shut behind him quietly.
Chapter Twenty
Damien
Worry nagged at him. He knew Aerity was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and if all else failed Eli would be there to help and protect her in such a vulnerable state. But he couldn’t help reliving the image of her when they had gotten her out of the dungeon. Dried blood had caked itself to her normally soft, supple skin. Black and blue bruises etched its way across her body in a patterned masterpiece of brutality.
Barely controlled anger surged through him while thinking about what he would do when he discovered who it was who did the deed. Her face had been drawn pale, more so than usual and the green vibrant eyes he was used to seeing had dulled to a hazy hue.
And this...monster who now sat in front of him, laughing and fluttering her eyelashes, pretended like nothing was wrong. Like she didn’t have a par
t in caging and torturing an innocent girl. It was no coincidence that she randomly appeared now. He couldn’t believe all this had happened in his own castle.
The princess shifted her weight, lifting her throat up in the air and it was then that the light caught on a faint blue streak across her neck. For a split second, he wondered what happened to her and then he realized that he didn’t care. Her hand touched one of the men’s shoulder who bashfully reddened and leaned into her touch.
A touch that killed.
A touch that poisoned.
A touch that harmed someone that he cared about.
He glanced up as the princess stopped laughing, her gaze falling swiftly to his fingers, just as the glass grasped between them shattered under the pressure of his tense hold. Broken shards bit into his skin as the noise around the table came to a halt. All eyes landed on him. Being a masculine narcissist wasn’t who he desired to be and yet if he appeared as anything less, those surrounding him would strike. The court attacked any weakness with vengeance; sharks circling their prey. Playing and toying. That’s all the court was. Shark infested waters. And all those around him were beginning to circle.
The princess smiled with a smug assurance. Little did she know his anger wasn’t direction towards jealousy.
Oh no.
What he felt for her was pure unadulterated hatred. “I don’t like people touching what’s mine.” He growled. It may have been put on as a show, but he meant every word of it.
The princess had touched Aerity.
And she would pay for her actions.
Her smile spread as he stalked toward her and yanked her against his body. Yes, she thought he was staking his claim, falling for her act, when all he could picture was her at the end of a noose. He shoved down the bile and disgust at her proximity. Let her keep the misconceived notion that she had won. While he simply took the time to figure out the best means of destroying her.
Cupping her face, he roughly jerked his mouth to hers and took. He wanted to laugh against her lips at how much she tried to downplay her dismay, but she couldn’t pull away. Her lips were tight and unmovable. Stiff against his own. He could sense how badly she hated this as much as him but had to preserve her little act of pretending to get what she wanted. And she wanted him as a husband, so she was forced to endure. It made him even more curious what her end game was.