"I can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting you sir." I was trying to think quickly, Belinda said they took Elizabeth to take them to Bevan. Which meant they were somewhere in the west wing. I need to take care of this man first least he hurts anyone.
"Jon, at your service fair one."
Giving a mock bow, he was facing me fully, the people we untied were behind me, Mildred a little to my left at my side, Adam was to my right and almost behind Jon and very much looking like he was about to do something. I kept my eyes on Jon and tried to make him keep his on me, looking from the corner of my eyes Mildred stood where she was and Adam kept moving.
"Why didn't you just take what you want and leave, why do you want him dead?"
"Well pretty one, we wanted to do just that, but that pale fool insisted. Also it is a bit... suspicious that he is just letting us rob him without a fight, what if he comes after us...?"
Adam was about to draw his long bow now I was trying my best to not look at him directly. Before Adam could release his arrow Jon spun with a speed and threw a knife at an angle with a preciseness that scared the light out of me. "Wossssshhh!" the knife moved like lightening and sliced Adam's bow string and truck the bow horizontally and got stuck in it. The impact made both long bow and arrow fall out of Adam's hands.
"Try that again and the next knife I throw will end up in your heart."
I acted quickly seeing an opening, removing the gun from the strap on my thigh "oomph" I struck him on the head with the gun and he went down quietly. "Tie him up at once, the rest of you find what you can to protect yourselves."
I started for the west wing, Adam and Mildred followed suit. I entered the enormous space of his living quarters with both Mildred and Adam at my heels the voices coming from inside his bedroom made us slow our steps.
"Get up and fight!
"Thud!" It sounded like a sack filled with stone was kicked hard.
"Why won't you lift a finger?! You think yourself better than I?!"
"Thud!" Without a doubt that was Gabriel's voice I was hearing and he was hurting him. Liquid hot rage started was flowing through my veins now so hot that I started to see red. How dare he? My legs started moving with purpose of their own accord towards the sound of Gabriel's voice, I was going to kill him I have never been so sure of anything in my life!
We entered the bedroom and found two men that looked like they were twins, Elizabeth stood between them and they both had shotguns in their left hands and held Elizabeth's arms with their right. A lanky mean looking tall man stood to the side of Gabriel who was in the middle of the large room with a bored look on his face.
"Kill him already will you; must you go on wasting our time?"
There he lay on the floor him almost look lifeless, broken, like he had abandoned all hope. Like they could not possibly do anything worse to him, there was no light in his eyes. The sight of him made my blood boil with rage, "How dare you..." I sneered moving forward, forgetting I had a gun in my hand.
The men that looked like twins pointed their guns at me reminded me that I had a weapon in my hand and a very murderous look in my eyes.
"Bella?" both Bevan and Gabriel said in unison they both looked very startled to see me. Bevan's surprised face looked like he could not believe it was me, while Gabriel looked horrified like he really wish I wasn't there but he recovered quickly.
"My love, you should not be here" I have never seen Gabriel look this serious ever; my response had a lot of venom in it
"Your love? Do you even know what love is?". "What do you really hope to achieve here today Gabriel?"
I was looking at Bevan as I spoke I was still filled with rage but my heart was breaking at the sight of him. His clothes were torn and there was blood over his face he was crouching on the floor now. Gabriel saw the way I was looking at him and became visibly angry
"Do you love him or do you just sympathize with him?"
The murderous look he had in his eyes surpassed mine by a hundred fold. I ignored him and continued to search Bevan's eyes.
"You hoped he would kill you, did you not?" I drew out the words slowly it still did not help my rage because suddenly it felt like I was mad at everything and everyone. Without breaking eye contact with me he spoke, "You have to let her go I beg of you."
"You dare think I would harm her you vile thing?!"
"I wasn't talking to you..." He spoke with a very calm and dangerously firm voice turning his head to the tall mean looking and lanky one who had long curved double edged swords in his hands.
"I am letting you do as you please, take what you want, kill me if you must but you have to give me your word you won't harm her, all of them."
"These men are not honorable; they don't plan to let you go. Funny I thought you were an honorable man, but you are just as selfish as these thieves. You are giving up this much to die are you just a coward, tell me why are you so afraid of living?."
"I am trying to protect all of you!"
"What? From yourself? How is your death good for me, your mother or anyone?!"
"The evil that men do always lives after them, I cannot condemn you to my fate I want you to be free from this fate that was chosen for me."
"You know I have never taken you for a fool, so you think you know what's good for me, do you?"
"I want you to be safe and happy Isabel..."
"I love you damn you!!! I won't let you leave me!"
"Isabel I don..."
"My, not even the theaters in the cities offer this much entertainment but we do really have an important issue on our hands, he matter of who gets to die and who gets to live. I must say killing you all is a bit of a chore and..."
"Enough!!!"
Gabriel interrupted the lanky tall one, "They all die! Starting with this thing..."
"Now now don't be hasty... in your decision you do not have to turn this into a blood bath."
He was really going to kill him, I could not see anything around me anymore I rushed forward and all I could think was I needed to protect him. I forget yet again I had a gun in my hand until it was knocked out of my right hand.
"You won't be needing that love."
Gabriel was standing over him now pointing his gun at his head. "You need to live; you have to understand death is not the solution you seek. If you won't for yourself please...fight for me."
Just that moment he started getting up, Gabriel shut him the gun went off and I could not believe my ears or my eyes it looked like time stood still as he dropped to the ground.
"No...!" I ran over and knelt beside him "no no no no please you can't die..." he had shut him in his shoulder, it looked like a very serious wound but thankfully I could heal him.
"Since you want to die with him badly I will grant your wish."
Gabriel was pointing his gun at me, "You little bitch if you had just accepted by affection this would never have happened your stubbornness has led you to an early grave..." I was helping Bevan sit up and Gabriel was still pointing his gun at me.
"Since you are both willing to die for each other I will let you watch her die."
"I am sorry Isabel I love you and I only wanted to protect you I didn't want you to see me like this."
Before I could process all his words, he crouched over me and seconds following I heard a gun shut, I heard a low grunt from him the bullet must have his him in the back. "Stay down" he said gently touching my face he got up and gave out the growl like roar that made the hairs on my body stand and scared me senseless. The next thing that happened; happened in a blur.
The screams of Gabriel, his friends, mine also and the bullets flying everywhere shut sounds made it seem like a battle field. Elizabeth and Mildred had had found cover behind a dresser, Elizabeth looked so frightened her mouth would open and close be it seemed like no words were coming out. Mildred however could not hide the wonder that accompanied the fear in her eyes as she looked on.
Adam! My eyes searched the room for him and found him lying in a pool of his own blood on the ground, gods it was so much blood. The men that looked like twins laid lifeless on the floor with decapitated body parts that I did not look long enough to find out exactly what body parts they were. Gabriel also lay motionless on his front not in a better condition than those two. The tall lanky one was trying to escape and Bevan went after him they left a trail of blood in their wake.
I rushed over to Adam he was barely breathing and he had lost too much blood. I found a gun shut wound on his chest, so gory a short gun wound it was a miracle he was still breathing. If I didn't try to heal him now he would surely die. I reached into the warmth inside me and willed it into my hands. I could feel coldness in him, underneath the coldness it felt like a flame that was about to go out. I tried to flood him with my warmth but it seemed to be killing the flame faster, it was dying out I tried to grab on to it with my warmth but it slip like warm water slipping of my finger and it was gone leaving a cold I've never felt before in its wake.
I desperately reached back into myself, beyond my flame and found a blue flame that was very hot and more difficult than my warmth to wield. I struggled with it and forced it into Adam and very trace of his warmth was there was not just that coldness that threatened to break my heart in pieces. I could reach him anymore was completely gone; I looked down at his lifeless body disbelievingly.
I didn't know I was weeping until Elizabeth held me and Mildred rubbed my back. They were now kneeling with me and try to speak words of comfort. I had brought him to his death and I could not save him. I could not heal death, why did it have to be through him that I discovered that. No amount of comfort will abate my guilt; he came to his death because of me.
Just then we heard a roar and a terrified scream followed. It seemed to have come from the balcony, I got up and ran for the glass doors that led to the balcony we were on the third floor of the castle, and we were just in time to see that tall lanky man fall to his death. I remembered him now he was the man who made me uneasy when Gabriel had come to take be back home. They called him Otis. He landed on the ground below us with an unnatural cracking sound and went still; no one could have survived that fall.
We looked back up to the watch tower in the west wing, where he fell from to see Bevan standing there, the net minute he collapsed falling backwards. "Bevan!" I was running to him and thinking I will not let you leave me.