AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You must ensure that you get far away from their ritual. I will ensure he cannot give chase.”
“What are you going to—”
I hadn’t finished my sentence before another gush of blood erupted from the witch, from his nose, his ears, and his eyes. Zaide backed up quickly, dropping the body with a thud, key in hand, to avoid the splatter.
I felt sick at the sight and wanted nothing more than to run over to him and ebb the bleeding.“They’re going to know anyway. You shouldn’t have—”
“They held you prisoner and intended to do worse to you. This was necessary.”
It didn’t feel necessary. “He was incapacitated. We could have locked him back in the cage to stop him from coming after us.”
“What the fuck, Clawdicat?” Charlie gasped.
Charlie didn’t know that it was Baelen who did it. He saw me with my hands out and blood pouring from a witch and believed I’d killed him. And was he wrong?
The blow came from my body. I killed him. Just because he was on a different side of the cage. He could have had a family or a pet that loved him and would cry at the thought of his death.
“You are spiraling, Sunlight. Focus.”
“I can’t focus. I just killed someone.”
“No, I killed an enemy. Someone who would have killed you and not thought any more about it. It was wrong to use you as the vessel for this—your heart is too kind for such action—but to protect you and your men, it was necessary. Now focus. You still need to get out.”
He was right, of course. This was war, and sometimes to survive, you needed to commit atrocities. I didn’t feel good about it, and I knew this would haunt me, but I decided to be strong and brave and power through this horrific moment.
The sound of metal scratching and clanking drew my attention as Zaide tried to open the lock.
“Sunlight, our connection is fading. I used too much power. I can’t stay with you any longer. Get out and be safe. I will contact you in your dreams again soon.”
“Baelen … thank you.”It was a reluctant thank you since he had just used me to kill someone, but nevertheless, we’d gotten this far because of his help.
“You are most welcome. Hurry. Go.”
And like a light switch had been turned on, I was back in my body, fully in control, taking breaths and blinking. My hands shook.
The cage door smashed into the rock as Zaide slammed it open.
"Oh my God," I whispered with my hands covering my face. "Oh my God. We did it."
"I don’t know how you did any of that, Little Cat. But I am most grateful." Zaide turned to me, his purple eyes big and grateful, and placed a soft kiss on the top of my head.
“We’re going to discuss that later. Bleeding eyeballs wasn’t in the script.” Charlie shook his head. The shock fell from his face, and his eyes narrowed with focus. "Well, let's go. I’m over this cave."
“We need to hurry. They’ll come after us.” I looked at them and saw the determination in their eyes.
We hurried out of the cave, all of us struggling with the quick movement after a week of inactivity, sleeplessness, and starvation. Not to mention the injuries we had before imprisonment.
It was dark outside the cave. Fresh air and the sound of nighttime creatures running around the forest was music to my ears. Music I would never not appreciate again.
My lungs burned, and my legs ached as we rushed past trees, stones, and bushes that all looked the same. I had no idea where we were going. I prayed it was away from the witches and their ceremony but followed Charlie, hoping his power could find the car.
Keep going. Don't stop,I chanted to my feet, unsure if Charlie could hear me but hoping that if he did, it helped him keep going too.
After what seemed like at least ten minutes of running, Zaide stopped abruptly. I was almost glad for the break.
I bent over trying to catch my breath. "What is it, Zaide?" I panted.
"Not the time to enjoy the vista, mate. Let's keep going," Charlie whispered.
