Page 72 of His Fate
He floors it and flies down a backroad, then another before veering off to the right. My life flashes before my eyes when he clips a huge fucking tree, swerving at the last second to take a trail hardly visible from the road.
Rain is coming down in sheets and we can barely see but Hank knows the way and the further from his house we get, the stronger I feel Posey and our bond. We are close.
* * *
Forty minutes later,Hank slows to almost not moving, kills the headlights, then stops completely.
He nods toward a thick clump of trees. "About fifty yards straight ahead. Posey will most likely have hidden my truck the way we always did but once you get through the thicket it'll open up some and you'll be able to see the blind."
I inhale deeply as I close my eyes, trying to see what Posey sees, if anything, but I still can't feel her. I can scent her though and normally that combination of sweet warmth and calm mixed with my spice and heat fills me with so much joy and love I could explode but right now, right now it has me seeing red.
My Josephine's scent is coated in the coppery stench of blood.
Throwing open my door I jump out, the shared pain of my mate taking a backseat to adrenaline and rage but just when I'm ready to start running, something shimmery catches my eye.
My whole body stills, my heart rate slows and I scan the area, my focus razor sharp. Then I breathe a sigh of relief because Karel steps forward and nods. I return it as Andrej steps beside me before making our way to him. We engage in a quick embrace, a brief welcome before we fall into formation and revert to hand signals and move toward my beloved.
The minute the blind comes into view, the rundown shack perched high in the tree, all of my training goes out the window and I take off in a sprint, fear and the need to protect my mate overpowering hundreds of years of skill. I scale the ladder within seconds and my heart practically leaps from my chest at what I see.
My mate, my love, my perfect Posey is bound far too tightly at the wrists and ankles, her mouth gagged, blood running from a wound somewhere in her hair. There is dried blood under her nose, more around her mouth and I can see what appear to be tears in her T-shirt, my T-shirt that she tied off to one side. She's slumped over, knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them but what has my dragon ready to burst free and burn the forest to the ground is what Posey is leaning against. Or rather,who.
Ivan is using my mate as a living shield, his legs pressed tight to her sides, squeezing whatever injuries she's sustained, most of his body blocked by the way he has her positioned. He's crouched awkwardly behind her, face hidden behind her hair, the only things visible are his sickly eyes and wild yellow hair. One of his arms is wrapped tightly around her neck, her neck that he has the tip of one of those silver daggers pressed against, the blade clearly covered in the gray-colored poison.
"My king," Ivan hisses, his voice much more serpent-like than usual, eyes narrowed but dancing with gleeful malice. "It is so nice of you to join us. I was beginning to think you no longer wanted your mate, that perhaps I could do with her what I wish before taking her head and delivering it to you in a neat little package."
I growl and take a step forward but he only presses the dagger harder into her skin.
"Tsk tsk, Highness. Try that again and I'll make you watch all the ways I've been dreaming of ruining your queen these past few hours."
"What is it you want, Ivan?"
He laughs, a demonic and warped sound that makes my skin crawl. "Why, only your throne, your crown, and your head on a pike." Then the bastard inhales deeply and rubs his nose against Posey's hair before he licks her cheek. "And maybe her too."
Just when I'm ready to lunge, to shift, to kill this son of a bitch where he sits, Posey's eyes open and connect with mine. Her thoughts are still cloudy but the relief and the love I feel come from her is so great that it stops me cold.
Proving she is indeed the smartest female I have ever met, she stays unmoving, limp and sends the only coherent thing I can make out.
Wait for me… keep him talking...
No. You will not use yourself as a distraction. Andrej and Karel are outside.
Keep him talking...
I suppress my scowl and do as my mate says. "You shall not have any of that. Not now, not ever." Then I smirk, which seems to piss Ivan off enough to loosen his hold around Posey's neck. "And if Cyril wanted my crown he shouldn't have sent such a little bitch to do his dirty work."
This enrages Ivan but it also causes him to slip. He drops his arm from my mates neck and leans forward and as soon as he does, that's when she strikes. Almost quicker than I can see, Posey moves just enough to get in position then headbutts Ivan right in the goddamn nose. I can hear the crunch of cartilage, see the bright red blood, and when he lets go of her completely, I shoot forward and brace her fall just as Andrej pulls Ivan out through the back window.
"Josephine." I pull the gag free from her mouth and reveal a fat lip with a deep gash but I kiss her anyway. "My beloved, I thought I'd lost you."
She shakes her head as I cup her cheeks, searching her gorgeous emerald eyes. "Never." Posey swallows hard and leans into my touch. "You're stuck with me."
I smile and kiss her again then begin to unbind her. "I am so sorry, my love. So sorry for everything. For keeping things from you, for upsetting you, hurting you. I am so sorry I didn't protect you better. You—"
As soon as her hands are free, Posey cradles my face in her hands and looks me right in the eye. "No more, ok? No more secrets for sure, but no more apologies, no more regret, just no more. All I could think about was the fact that I stormed out of that house without telling you I love you, without telling you that I forgive you, that I'm sorry and I was not about to die with my last words to you being so fucking shitty. We start fresh right here, right now, ok?"
"Ok. Ok yes, gods yes." I move her to her feet but freeze when my mate yelps .
"My ankle is broken." She winces as I free her. "I've had the same injury before so I'll be fine but it hurts like a motherfucker right now."
