Lucas was pulled almost flat against the ground. I could hear the men walking towards him slowly. Panic rose up, my pulse hammering in my ears. Think Cara!
Lucas hand moved in the red flames, small sparks of blue energy were fighting their way out of his palms. Finally, something clicked in my mind and I knew exactly what to do. I closed my eyes and focused on the energy storming around Lucas on the other side of the dumpster. His power swirled around softly, I was sure it was his by the cool feeling connected to it but surrounding it was the angry rage of something foreign. My hands opened, using every bit of will power to only absorb the magic from Aaron's men.
I felt light headed as if someone had suddenly cut off all the oxygen, my pulse was rushing in my ears but not out of fear this time. The power pulsated from my veins.
Through a fog of power surrounding me, I distantly heard the silver haired man shouting, "How is he fighting this?"
I forced my eyes open, pushing myself into alertness again. My hands were vibrating with red flames, I could see the trickle of flames flow from where Lucas were, underneath the dumpster and towards me. Shit. I tried to relax, to stop the magic absorbing but I felt like it could already be too late.
I heard Lucas get up from the ground, his voice quivered slightly but remained arrogant, "Don't you worry about that, Peyton?"
"It doesn't matter how you've managed it. You'll still die," the second guy, who must be Peyton replied. The laugh that came from the silver haired man in response, made shivers run up my spin. I have to get us out of this.
I could sense the magic from both Peyton and the silver haired man, rushing to attack Lucas from both direction before it had even happened, as if I was seeing a premonition of how it would play out. His magic is not strong enough. He'll only be able to defend one attack. Before I had a chance to consider what I would do, my hands had acteded for me. Flames of red torpedoing itself over the dumpster and into the alleyway. I could hear the men's shouts for a split second before my attacked stunned them. My whole being was wishing them away, wishing they would never be able to find me anymore. A burning sensation went through my shoulder, stabbing itself way around my mark. I could feel my body fall as my eye lids collapsed and I plunged into darkness.
"Cara," Lucas shook my shoulders. My shoulder blade ached with an intense pain. Why can't I just sleep for a little while?
"Cara, please wake up," Lucas pleaded. My eyelids still felt heavy, as it would be an impossible task to open my eyes. Why is he sounding so worried?
"Cara, we have to leave before any more arrives."
I forced my eyes to open, looking up into his blue eyes, they were filled with worry and his hand was outstretched for me to grab. I got myself up to a sitting position with his help, wincing at the pain in my shoulder blade. Lucas eyes fixed on my hand, which I held across my shoulder, out of the corner of my eyes I could see the worry drain out of his eyes in an instant.
"You shouldn't have used magic," he snapped.
"Was I just meant to let us both die?" I countered.
He stood up, grabbing my arm and pulling me up as well.
"Take is easy," I shot back.
His eyes looked so dark I couldn't see the blue in them anymore, he stepped so close to me that I could feel his breath on my cheek.
"We don't have time to take it easy." His eyes flashed with a hardness I had never seen before.
"The king has died and we need to get you to safety."
He grabbed my arm and started to pull me down the street, my eyes turned back to the alleyway and I could see two pairs of feet poking out behind the dumpster.
My feet were working hard to keep up with him, my shoulder blade still burning in pain.
"Why are we hurrying? Can't we slow down a little? My shoulder hurts," I tried.
"So does mine," he shot back.
As he stretched out his free arm to hail a taxi, I could see the smallest of wince move across his face. It hadn't just hurt me this time. But him too... I clenched my hands into fists, looking out of the window, trying to rack my brain for any kind of explanation to this.
The taxi pulled up on the side of the street. Taylor pushed a few notes into the hand of the driver and practically shoved me out of the door.
"Alright, take it easy. I was getting out," I muttered under my breath.
"You don't understand," he cut off shortly, grabbing me by the arm again and pulling me towards a small side street.
"What is it I don't understand?"
"The king is dead," he shot again.
We walked down the side street, I could tell by the way his eyes were darting around the place that he was looking for something. Where were we anyway?
"So why are you in such a panic? We've been attacked before."
"Yes, but before there hasn't been a very real possibility of Charlet's men to link you to me."
He walked over to the brick wall, stroking his hand against it as if he was looking for something.
"Where are we anyway?"
"West London," he confirmed. His hands found the right brick in the wall and with a small clicking sound a solid door appeared. Whatever this was I could tell it was not part of the magic network, it didn't have the same kind of glow to it.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm taking you to safety." He tugged at my arm and we headed into the darkness.
We walked in the narrow, pitch-black corridor for a couple of minutes in silence. Lucas seemed to know exactly where he was taking me and I all I could do was try to keep enough focus on my feet to follow him. I felt like a thousand thoughts where storming around in my mind.
"How do you know the king died?" I whispered.
"Charlet would never dare to go for such an open killing otherwise," he confirmed as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"So what does this mean?" The question that had been tugging at me, bubbled up to the surface.
"It means we have to keep you safe until this blows over."
I was just about to argue back when I could see a gentle light close to the floor, like a crack under a door letting a little bit of daylight seep into the tunnel.
Lucas turned to face me, his whole being was telling me that whatever was on the other side of that door would be dangerous.
"When I open this door, I need you to run."
"But..."
"Listen to me," for a second he almost sounded like he cared, "there is a large white townhouse across the street. You need to reach the steps at the entrance. Once you are on the steps, you'll be protected by their magic."
I suddenly felt lightheaded, "What do you mean? What's between here and that house?"
Lucas grabbed my hands, holding them in his. "It's just a normal London street, but I don't know if one of the other royal families are out there. Since the king as died, it'll be a free for all killing spree until the matches are initiated."
"I don't understand," I started.
"There's no time to explain now. Just run across the street to the house. I will stay on this side, so I can protect you if I need to."
"Okay," I agreed weakly.
Lucas opened the door, letting a small sliver of sunlight in. My eyes took a minute to adjust and I saw a calm Mayfair street ahead of me. A small green space in the middle and a curved street with a big imposing townhouses, a row of brick houses with a white stone house in the middle. Its marble steps lead up to big, carved oak doors. My eyes scanned both sides of the street, there was a few parked cars along it but I couldn't see anyone. I took a deep breath, my muscles tensing.
"Go now," Lucas whispered behind me.
My feet felt as if they had exploded off the ground. I hurtled out into the street and across the green space. My body were on high alert for any magic, trying to use my abilities as a radar for danger. The only direction I could sense magic coming towards where the house in front of me. My feet hesitated for a second, before I ran forward again. Lucas would never send me into danger. That would be like sending himself into danger. My feet stopped me dead in my tracks, I hunched down behind a car. What if he didn't know? In panic I looked back towards the direction I had come from, but from this side of the little park I couldn't see him. I looked ahead, at the white building which I could see in-between the parked cars. I closed my eyes, focusing all my power on the house in front of me. What kind of magic is this? I felt like my mind was stretching into the house, sweeping through each floor. There was a lot of magic in this house. My hands started trembling at the thought of that many warlocks. I felt my mind focus on a specific spot at the back of the house.
"Taylor," his name moved over my lips as the faintest of whispers. He was in there!
I felt myself run the last few steps to the entrance of the house before I had even had a chance to think about what I was doing.
"Why did you stop?" Lucas shoted out. His voice made me jump with surprise.
"There is warlocks in there," I pointed out the door and kept my voice low. I knew Taylor was in there but I still hadn't confirmed it was a safe place.
"I would hope so," Lucas replied and knocked on the door.
We stood in silence waiting for the majestic door in front of us to open.
An older woman opened the door, wearing what looked like a medieval style take on a French maid outfit.
"We're here for the queen," Lucas explained.
"Please wait outside and I'll verify this," she practically slammed the door in our faces.
"That was strange," I whispered.
Lucas furrowed his brows in irritation, "Are you not following? The king had died. Do you think the Grimstaw server would just let anyone in just who says they want to see the queen?"
I stood in silence, not replying to his outburst.
The door swung open in front of us and Anastasia's warm eyes meet mine.
"Are you okay?" her voice was filled with concern.
"I was attacked by Charlet's men and she was with me," Lucas interjected.
Anastasia's eyes moved over to Lucas, a coldness shone in them that instantly told me she wanted as little to do with him as possible.
"They might have seen a glimpse of her," he continued.
"Of course, I understand," the queen replied.
Her attention moved over towards me, the warm instantly back in her eyes, "Cara, we're happy to have you stay here and under our protection until the threat has subsided."
"Thank you," I replied shakily, suddenly feeling like all the energy had drained from me.
I felt my knees go weak, but before I could collapse Lucas had grabbed both of my arms, awkwardly propping me up and steering me towards a stool in the grand entrance of the Grimstaw residence.
"Thanks." I looked up at Lucas as he stared down at me.
"We'll take it from here," Anastasia directed her words towards Lucas.
He nodded at her shortly, keeping his face polite but I could tell that somewhere underneath the façade her coldness bothered him.
"You're not staying?" I asked him.
He shook his head, "We need to keep our distance. If Charlet's men have any suspicions, I can't confirm anything by being around you." He closed the door behind him and I stared around the grand entrance, my eyes fixing on the crystal chandelier that was hanging from the ceiling, its soft glow cascading onto the beautiful staircase leading upwards to the first floor.
"He's possibly the worst person for you to be tethered to," Anastasia commented, cutting through the silence like a knife with her statement.
I felt my breath catch in my throat. She knew about that?
Author's Note: Hello darlings. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The story is certainly picking up speed and I am so excited for you to see where it goes. If you are enjoying this story, please recommend it to one of your Wattpad friends and take the time to press the star to vote <3