Forever Safe (Worthy of Love #8)

•TWO•

The cut didn't bleed for long. But it stung a lot more than I expected it to. I opened my bedroom door to retrieve a small bandage to cover the cut. As I descended the stairs, I heard my father and another man arguing in the sitting room. Curiously, I walked towards there, keeping my steps quiet.

"You can't take her." My father said, banging his fist on a hard surface.

"We had an agreement, Kozani." The other man growled. "You knew you couldn't keep her forever."

"Qelleen is not going with you." My father sneered.

"I've never heard of a Vampire going back on his word." The man chuckled cruelly. "Do you not remember our arrangement?"

"Don't, Kahn!" My father shouted.

"You didn't want me to take Qelleen when she was a baby even though I had every right to." Kahn continued. "And when I found out what she truly was, I offered you a chance to keep her for a while."

"Kahn..." My father's voice was weak.

"If Qelleen should ever bleed, I would return to take her." Kahn said.

"She... She's only a girl-"

"Wrong." Kahn snapped. "I waited twenty years. I kept up my end of the deal and stayed away from you and your daughter. And now that she has experienced what it's like to bleed, I will be taking her."

"She won't come down." My father said. "Good luck getting her out."

"There's no need for that." Kahn said smugly. "She's already down here."

My eyes widened. I backed away from the door, turning. I ran outside, searching for Seraph. I spotted him standing by the horses. I jogged to him.

"We're leaving." I decided. "Now." I mounted the back of a palomino mare.

Seraph frowned. "Another escape attempt."

"This one is gonna work." I tell him. "It has to. Because I am not going back in that house."

"Qelleen-"

"Don't." I snapped. "My father has been hiding something from me. And I don't want to know what it is."

Seraph mounted the other horse. "After you, milady."

I looked towards the gates. "They're too heavily guarded. What if we went out the back way?"

"Um..." Seraph frowned. "There is no back way, Qelleen."

"Why don't we make one?"

"There are twelve-foot-high stone walls all around us. How are we supposed to make another exit?"

Behind my home, the wall caved in, crumbling as fifty or so wolves crashed into it. Their coat colors ranged from black to brown to gray. I watched as the wolves ran straight for the open doors of my home, screams filling the air before they were silenced much too quickly.

"Qelleen..." Seraph said worriedly.

"We need to leave. Now!" I kicked the sides of my horse, heading straight for the destroyed wall. He jumped over it, continuing his gallop over the hills. I breathed in the new air feeling free for the first time in my life.

"Where are we going?!" Seraph shouted from somewhere behind me.

"To the docks!" I laughed giddily.

"Are you not at all upset that your father might be dead?!" Seraph screamed.

My smile left my face. "I am sad. But after all that has happened to me because of him, I am glad. I am finally free."

"And what, milady, do you plan to do with this newfound freedom?"

I turned my head, smiling brightly. "I want to be a great captain and sail the seas."

🐦 🦇 🐦

"Qelleen, this is no place for a young woman." Seraph spoke up, trying to talk me out of this.

I scoffed. "This is exactly where I'm supposed to be."

"So... We're selling the horses?"

I nodded once. "That should give us enough money to pay someone to give us a ride to the Mooronto Isles."

Seraph grabbed my shoulders. "Qelleen! Now I'm sure that you've lost it."

I pushed him back. "Stop. I'm fine."

"The Mooronto Isles are the lands of pirated. Dangerous, bloodthirsty men who would take advantage of a woman such as yourself." Seraph said.

"I can handle them," I said. "Besides, no one would think to look for me there."

"But these pirates aren't like the ones from the stories you read." Seraph tried to reason. "You're still a young lady, Qelleen."

"Well, what if I don't want to be?" I snapped. "My father raised me to be like a princess. I'm not one!"

The line we were standing in moved. I stepped forward, almost hitting the tall, buff man in front of me. Seraph was right behind me, the horses tied to a rope in his hand. I watched the massive vessels that were docked here. When it was finally our turn to speak with the man in charge of trades, things went wrong.

"Women are not permitted to handle money and trade negotiations." He said before I could speak. "So I suggest you move along."

"All I want is to sell these two horses." I said, gesturing to the steeds that Seraph was now struggling to control.

The man looked at them. "They look wild. I won't be buying wild horses."

"They usually don't behave like this," I promised. "They just don't seem to enjoy the smell of... rotting fish."

The man stood up, walking over to the horses. "They're in fine condition. Very good features."

I nodded. "My father is an equine breeder."

Seraph glanced at me as he struggled with the horse I had ridden here, his eyes sending me a silent message of help. The man reached up, stroking the stallion's neck. "Thirty utopa for this one." He looked at the other horse. "And ninety for the other one."

I crossed my arms. "Two hundred. Each."

The man let out a hearty laugh. "You really believe that I would spare four hundred utopa for two horses. I'll give you fifty each then. But that's it."

"Fine." I held out my hand. He placed a small, brown pouch in my hand. I nodded to Seraph who released the rope. The horses reared up before speeding away.

I grabbed Seraph by the wrist and dragged him through the crowds. "Now we need to find a boat."