The Crown cannot Help You

Chapter 19: The Old Friend

Flynn carefully swivelled his head towards the door. "Lily?"

"Hi handsome, long time no see," Lily said with a smile.

Flynn stayed still and just blinked carefully at the girl that stood before him. One of his hands was still wrapped in Max's shirt while the other was coated in blood that was not just his own.

Lily shook her head slightly at Flynn. "Do I not get a hug?"

"I-" He began to stutter as he glanced from Lily back to Max. Max's nose was pointing in the wrong direction and pouring blood into his mouth. His eyes were swollen shut and it wasn't entirely clear that he was still breathing.

"You want to let Stevens go?" Lily finally asked as she watched Flynn refuse to move.

Sweat was dripping off Flynn's forehead which swirled with the blood that leaked from a cut across Flynn's cheek. Not that Flynn even noticed the cut was there, there was a buzz of adrenaline in his veins, and he couldn't feel anything but anger.

"Griffin!" Lily yelled.

Flynn looked back over to her, only to see that she was now right next to him.

Lily's hand clapped over Flynn's shoulder, and she stared him in the eyes. "I think Max has had enough."

Flynn tried to resist the urge to cringe under Lily's touch, he hated people touching him, and she knew that. But the touch was enough to remind him of where he was, and he was finally able to see what he was doing. Instantly, he let go of Max and Lily guided him out of the room, shouting to someone to help Max as they left.

"Do you want a drink?"

Before Flynn could answer Lily's question, she'd led them into another room. Flynn wasn't sure which room it was along the hallway, but it was bigger than the last.

There were a few beds scattered around the room, all of them appearing as though they were recently slept in.

Lily pulled Flynn past all of them before sitting down upon a dusty sofa and pointing to a sofa opposite her.

Flynn sat down without arguing and watched as she reached behind one of the sofa's cushions, to then pull out a half-full bottle of clear liquid.

"I made it myself." She told Flynn, offering him the bottle. "I have to hide it though, or these animals will drink it all."

Flynn eyed her and the bottle suspiciously, not making an effort to take it out of her hand.

"Really Griffin? You think if I wanted to kill you, I would do it by poisoning you?" Lily said with a laugh before flicking off the lid and taking a healthy swig from the bottle.

After she swallowed, she let out a loud groan and offered the bottle to Flynn again. This time, Flynn took it and gulped down as much as he could. The liquid was just as bitter as he remembered, but much stronger now.

"Thanks." Flynn finally said as he handed the bottle back to Lily.

She nodded her head and kicked her feet up onto the chair to find a more comfortable position. "Shouldn't you be somewhere far from here; you know on the run?"

Flynn remained unsurprised by Lily's bluntness; she always had a hatred for wasting time. "Probably." He replied after a while.

Lily took another drink from the bottle. "Then why aren't you, last I saw there was still a bounty over your head."

"I have my reasons." He responded quickly. "Should I be worried about you collecting the bounty on my head?"

Lily let out a laugh. "If I had ever been out to collect the bounty on your head, we most definitely wouldn't be sat here right now."