Jessamine
Finding the cave was hard. Gamma Lloyd conveniently forgot to add that I had to swim to get into it. I’m cold, shivering and risking hypothermia remaining in these clothes, but there isn’t a change of clothes hanging anywhere.
Screams echo through the forest and I’m grateful that I’m not out there. Outrunning Moira and Katherine happened on pure luck. They were much too distracted trying to kill each other to even notice me slip into the water, and I’d almost drowned, remaining under as they searched for me.
I stand from the rock I’d been sitting on and blow hot breaths into my freezing palms, rubbing them together as I risk a step towards the cave’s entrance. I look beyond the water and I freeze when I spot someone at the edge of it.
The rogue, I recognize her from her clothes. She halts when her light blue eyes land on me and she looks back, trying to decide if I’m a high risk. She suddenly lets out a cry when an arrow pierced her shoulder, toppling her into the water.
I swerve behind the stony wall, hiding myself. Should I risk it? Letting her come here would be putting myself in danger too. They’d hunt her down and find me with her, then they’ll kill the both of us, and even if they didn’t, helping a rogue is considered an act of treason.
Sighing, I cast my bow a sidelong glance. One good shot and I’ll win this damn thing. Surely, having more than three wins will buy me the place I want by Alpha Kier’s side.
I suck in a sharp breath and peek around the wall. There’s blood tainting the water, and my breath catches when the woman swims up to the surface and goes back under like an unseen force is pulling in her under. When it happens again, I realize she can’t swim.
Leaves rustle and I duck back when a towering figure approaches the water, bloodied sword in his hand. Confused, I peek again. He isn’t in guard uniform. There’s a scarf wrapped around his head and nose, hiding all but his eyes and the nasty scar that split his left eye. The woman holds out her hand to him. “Help me out,” she says, her thick Dawnish accent covering most of her words.
The man peers down at her, his eyes harder than any I have seen. His fingers tighten on his sword and even I see that he has no intention of helping her.
“Please,” she says, her other hand grasping for the bank tightly. “We’re on the same side. The King will repay you kindly if you help me.”
The man’s eyes do not change. “Which king?”
“The King of Dawn,” she says, her outstretched hand trembling. The arrow is still stuck in and her blood flows, staining the water.
I’m good at reading people, so I know it the exact moment the man decides to kill her. My feet move of their own volition and I grab my bow from the floor, my fingers trembling as I draw the string. One. Two. Three. Deep breaths, Jess, I tell myself. Heavens, do I need to do this; save her? Why can’t I stop myself?
I push back from my hiding spot in time to find the man raising his sword without mercy in his eyes. “I serve no king,” he says, bringing it down and I close my eyes letting my arrow go.
A sharp growl has my eyes snapping open, and an angry pair of black eyes meet mine. My gaze drops to his chest and I see my arrow in his chest. But he doesn’t look affected. Just angry. Very angry. He breaks the arrow in half and starts forward, but he suddenly roars, peering down and he kicks the woman into the water. There’s a dagger in his foot. I hadn’t even seen her move.
My foot curl in my boots as I think of fleeing, but the sight of the woman fighting to come up to the surface has me dropping my bow and diving into the water. I want to cuss at myself. I’m swimming to my death, and still…
Mother wouldn’t approve of this sort of foolishness were she here.
Did I mention how terrible I am at swimming? My muscles protest with each stroke and the water stings my eyes. I squint, seeing the woman dropping down, hard and fast, bubbles leaving her lips. I swim in her direction as quickly as I can, but something latches on to my wrist, pulling me violently. I wrestle with the water and the hand that holds me, but neither let up, and I find myself being pulled out of the lake. My head snaps left as pain explodes in my left cheek, spreading all the way around my head, leaving me dazed. The taste of metal burns my tongue and I swallow my blood, cracking my eyes open to stare into soulless eyes.
The man sneers at me and for the life of me, I can’t move. I see death in his eyes and my body locks on itself, fear numbing me.
He says something to me, but I can’t hear him. He strikes me again, and my head spins.
“What is your name? Tell me where I can find Jessamine Everhart!”
My eyes shutter and my brows furrow as I try to see past the blur. He’s…looking for me. Why? His fingers tighten around my throat. “I…I don’t know, there is no Jessamine here…” I stutter.
The man’s lips tug down into a frown and he raises his armed hand. “Then I have no use for you.”
Panic seizes me, and my fingers claw at his hand around my throat. The air grows thin, and my vision dims. It is as if death looms just within reach, and I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life. I dig my nails into his hand, struggling to pry his fingers off, but they don’t budge. My eyes close and a single tear slides down my cheek. I desperately want this to be a horrible dream so I can pinch myself and wake up.
Maybe in my waking moments, I’ll see Alpha Kier again. Would he smile at me, or would he hate me still?
The sound of whirring blade slices through the air, followed by an unmistakable thud. The man’s eyes widen with shock and his hand falters. His face contorts with pain and he staggers back, letting go of me. He rips the dagger out of his chest with a snarl, baring his teeth at…
I see Alpha Kier and I wake up. Everything is forgotten; the rogue, the man trying to kill me, the freezing cold and everything else in the world. Blood stained his cheek, his hands and his shirt, but he is still the most stunning man in the world. He came for me. The Alpha, this King, he came for me.
He turns his head and our eyes meet for a brief eternity. His hazel eyes are golden now, and they scan my face, darkening with each inch they cover. When his eyes leave my skin, I feel bare and vulnerable.
“Go,” Alpha Kier says without looking at me. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” I want to tell him, but I know I’ll only get in his way if I remain here. Breathing in deeply, I dive back into the lake, moving with the current as I plunge deeper, squinting as I search for the rogue. I find her, nearly at the bottom and I wrap my arm around her midsection, and kick up, swimming to the surface as I run out of air.
When we break the surface, I look back and relief loosens the knot in my stomach as I sight Alpha Kier wading toward us. Together, we head for the cave, not speaking a word to each other, and he helps me lift the woman out of the lake, onto the dry ground. His fingers grip my waist and I flinch at the heat in them as he pushes me up.
He comes out next, and we stand side to side, panting hard.
“You saved the rogue, why?” he asks between breaths, closing his eyes and tearing off his wet jacket with an urgency that startles me. “You know what this means—” he suddenly groans and he staggers, gripping my arm as he falls against the outcrop.
“Alpha…” I lose my voice when I see the blood seeping from his midsection. “You’re hurt,” I whimper, gripping the front of his shirt and I rip the wet fabric in half. There’s a deep gash in lower left of his stomach and I press my palm against it to halt the bleeding. “It’s not healing.”
“Wolfsbane,” he grunts, his eyes shutting when I increase pressure on the wound. “Lloyd and Randale,” he whispers, his grip on my hand slackening. “They’ll be here as soon as the situation is under control—”
“I don’t care about Lloyd or Randale! You’ve injured and poisoned! What can I do to help?! Tell me what to do,” I cry. I know the basics when it comes to treating wounds, but I’ve never handled fatal wounds poisoned with wolfsbane.
Alpha Kier loosens a breath and he goes terribly still, hand dropping to his side.
"Kier?" My voice trembles and I press my head to his chest. His heart is beating, but it's slow. I can count seconds in between each beat. I pull back, startled, when someone coughs behind me.
"Burn...it," the rogue says, coughing up water.
My brows furrow. "What?"
"Wolfsbane," she says, getting off the ground. "You burn it out, or it spreads everywhere. Then--" she coughs again. "He dies."