"Shut up," hissed a voice that had me sagging back in relief. It had the scream of terror trying to claw its way out of my throat die, and despite the anger it held, its familiarity was unexpectedly soothing.
I didn't fight Silas as he roughly manhandled me, dragged me back, and turned to shove me against a tree. My coat softened the rough bark that dug into my back as he caged me against it and pulled his hand away from my lips.
This close, all I had to focus on was the slip of skin his parted collar revealed as he peered around the tree, looking in the direction I had come from. He quickly pulled his head back and ducked it towards me when the sound of branches cracking and leaves being crushed sounded. His breath mingled with mine as we listened to someone sprint by, unaware of our presence.
Silas didn't move even when the footsteps grew inaudible in the distance. He kept me pinned in place with his body as he tilted his head, listening. He remained like that for several moments, shifting his head to catch any sounds while surveying our surroundings.
When I opened my mouth to suggest we move, he raised his hand to cover my mouth before I could make a sound. Again. My eyes narrowed on him, but he was too busy looking for a threat we should have been moving to put some distance between to catch my frustration and fear.
I released an anxious breath through my nose. My unease was growing with each minute that we remained in place. We were still too close to the edge of the forest. I didn't want to be here when the rest of Rowan's group set out in search.
But it seemed like Silas was waiting for something. It didn't take long to find out what.
The sound of leaves being crushed sounded another approach, this one slower and quieter.
Fear had my muscles tightening as Silas dropped his hand to my hip. His body pressed me further into the tree as the approaching figures' languid steps carried them closer. They weren't in a hurry like the man from earlier.
Rowan.
I couldn't see his face, but I had a feeling it was him. He had been walking in a similar unhurried fashion after the man who had given me chase.
The approaching steps grew louder the closer they got until they stopped on the other side of the tree. Silas's body stilled as his breaths seemed to still be in his chest. If he hadn't pressed so firmly against me, I would have thought he had stopped breathing altogether.
If my men see you, they'll report it and I'll be forced to deal with you.
Rowan's warning repeated in my head, making me go against my pounding heart's demands for more air and slow my breathing until my breaths were nearly as inaudible as Silas's. I didn't want him to deal with me as much as he didn't want to. Nor did I want to risk making a sound in case it wasn't him. Whoever it was had given chase, and despite them not appearing as committed as the other guy, they had still stopped when they found me.
I wasn't so sure I would be walking away this time if they had. Silas either.
Guilt twisted my insides as I looked up at Silas's strained features. His and Hilda's words swirled with Rowan's, reminding me that hiding me was a death sentence. I was dragging him into my problems with my poor decisions. Again. Only this time, there was no one else to blame. Hilda hadn't told me to go after the key. That was all on me. I actively went against Silas to do so. Now, not only wouldn't I be able to help Ash, but I had also brought more trouble to Silas in the process.
Rowan was right, I was trouble. And I didn't want him to deal with me as much as he didn't want to.
Silence stretched to fill the air. Even the forest seemed to have stilled. The only sound I could hear was the thrashing of my heart in my chest.
The person who I was positive was Rowan didn't move. He remained silently in place until the thin breaths I drew had my lungs straining for more.
Silas slowly peered around the trunk again, his eyes darted as he searched for where the steps had come to a stop. When he found it, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. Keeping his gaze in place, his hand released my hip to reach for his belt and draw a dagger.
My eyes snapped to the blade that looked carved out of crystal blue ice.
"You need to leave this Court," Rowan's voice sounded to break the silence and confirm my suspicions. "It won't be long until the Winter Guard's informed that you're here."
Silas tensed, his grip tightening on the handle of the dagger at Rowan's warning. He waited, prepared to attack. It wasn't needed.
The silence was once again broken by the light crunch of leaves and the occasional snap of a twig as Rowan continued past us. I strained my neck to catch a glimpse of him leaving, but Silas's hand landed on the back of my neck to force my head and body in a different direction. He pulled me away from the tree and forced me to his side as he led me into the thickening trees.
"I'm not a puppy," I snapped, trying to dislodge his hand. Did puppies even exist here?
Silas didn't let go. His fingers tightened as he pressed his forearm against my back, pushing me into a near jog to keep up with the speed of his rushed strides.
"Shut up unless you want me to gag you," Silas threatened in a low and hard voice.
Knowing that the chances he actually would were high, I did.
My shoulders rose to alleviate some of the pressure of his hand while the air in front of Silas's moving lips shifted. He didn't slow his pace as his lips moved, seeming to form words. Either they were moving wordlessly or the wind was carrying away the words he was saying.
After a few more moments of struggling to keep up with him, he pulled to a stop as the thunder of heavy footsteps sounded. My heart rate spiked as I looked at Silas with wide eyes, expecting him to drag me behind another tree. When he didn't move, adrenaline pushed me into action. My hands reached for his arm to pull him towards the closest one that was wide enough to hide us both.
"We have to hide," I hissed in a whisper when he didn't budge.
All he did in response was lift a finger to his lips to shush me as he gave me a pointed look.
It became clear why he was so unbothered by the approaching steps when a dark shadow shifted in the darkness. The moonlight glinted off the sleek black coat of the approaching mass of muscles. Not to mention, the horn.
Silas's grip tightened as he had us stop when Garvin came to a halt before us. It was like he thought if he let me go I would bolt on him again.
Stepping up to the horned beast, Silas finally released my neck but my relief didn't last long. Fisting the back of my jacket collar and the waist of my pants, he hosted me up onto the horse like I was a sack of potatoes. I landed across Garvin's back on my stomach with an 'oof' and had no time to readjust myself into a seated position before Silas pulled himself up behind me and had him taking off.
Not only was our getaway loud, but it was also uncomfortable. For me, at least. Each of Garvin's thundering steps announced our location while causing me to bounce and land back down on the hard leather saddle repeatedly. I was sure there would be bruises painted across my stomach when it came time to dismount.
When I couldn't hold back a groan of discomfort, Silas pressed a palm to my back. He applied steady pressure to keep me from being jostled further. Until a shout sounded and he kicked Gavin into a gallop. His hand wasn't enough anymore. My hands scrambled over the unicorn's rippling muscles in fear that I would slip off head first.
I tried to turn my head and catch sight of the source of the shouts that continued to sound, but I quickly ducked it when I felt something zipped through the air near my head.
Silas's thighs that were pressed against me tightened. My eyes which had flinched shut opened to find a tear on the outer side of his leg where the projectile had nicked him. It took a moment for blood to fill the wound, but once it did, it didn't stop. The dark liquid kept flowing, seeping into the fabric of his pants. Without thought, my hand moved to press against the wound, eliciting a pained hiss from the man above as his blood warmed my hand.
Did they have guns here too?
The thought had fear curling down my spine and growing. Bullets were already deadly enough on their own but with the added power of magic... We were fucked.
Just as the thought finished, Garvin faltered beneath us, releasing a pained whine as he reared up. Silas tried to get him under control again, managing to keep us from being bucked, but his efforts became undone as another shooting projectile struck him in the shoulder from behind. His body lurched forward as a choked cry escaped his lips. He slipped off the Garvin, taking me crashing to the ground with him before the unicorn took off.
Holding back a cry at the landing on my arm, I scrambled to my hands and knees to crawl to Silas's side. "No, no, no," the panicked words came out in a rush as he rolled to the side in agony. "Silas!"
He clutched at his shoulder, blood rising to slick his fingers. Whatever had hit him had made its all the way through, leaving an exit wound his hand obstructed from my view.
"Fuck," he hissed before a cough shook his body. It ended with his lips twisted in regret. "Go. You can't get caught."
"I'm not leaving you," I said, vehemently shaking my head.
I was sure he would have shot back with some quip about how I already had while he slept, but he was in too much pain to manage more than a disgruntled grunt. It had the panic and fear that was fluttering in my stomach like angry butterflies turning into a swarm of bees.
"Can you get up?" I asked, slipping my arm under his to help him sit up while he kept his hand pressed to his shoulder to stanch the bleeding while the other hung at his side.
"Yeah," he ground out as he pushed to his feet.
My arm reached under his limp arm to wrap around his back when he swayed. He took a sharp breath when I placed my hand against his side that had blood spreading down his shirt to reach my fingers.
"If I keel over. Keep going," he gasped between laboured breaths as I looked behind me as more shouts sounded, closer this time. Despite his injury, his stride didn't slow at all as he moved.
"I already told you, I'm not-"
He released a frustrated breath. "Yes, you are. You're too weak to do anything but leave me, so you will."
Taken is complete and available on Patreon.
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