Unfortunately, the joy of our breakfast did not last long. By the time Galenor reached his tenth muffin, the kitchen door unsealed with the familiar noise, forcing both of us to our feet.
My heart jolted as terror crawled down my bones, my feet already locked in place. Unable to move. My gaze jumped to the fae to observe his lips pressed tightly together and the way his throat bobbed with fear, how his back contorted and layered a cape of tension over his body, pushing his muscles from their relaxed stance into a fighting one.
They were coming for him again. They were going to take him away, to hurt him, to damage him, to destroy this new part of him that had just surfaced and that I had grown so fond of in such a short period of time.
I couldn’t let that happen.
With sudden strength forcing my legs into action, I moved in front of Galenor, using my body as a shield against the guards that started to enter the room. There were six of them this time, all tall and muscled men in uniforms, armed to the teeth. Their brows were already furrowed as they came in, eyes pointed to their mission, unrelenting and oblivious to anything else.
“No, you can’t have him,” I sprang into action, extending my arms as if that would miraculously fix the gap between my body and the fae’s. But he was at least a head taller than me, his shoulders too broad to hide behind my slim figure, his back too wide to camouflage behind me.
“Stay back,” I threatened, forcing my voice into the commanding tone I had to practise in the bathroom so many times since I became captain, to even out my voice and delete all traces of feeling.
“I am ordering you to stay back. This is Captain Harrow that is speaking, you are commanded to step back. These living quarters are under my supervision and the subject is in my care.” I took another step, my back scraping Galenor’s chest from the abrupt movement. He did not shift, did not change position and remained in the exact same place he had been when the guards first entered.
Amongst the two of us, he was the only one who actually stood his ground. Hell of a captain I was. How could these guards take me seriously when I was the one backing away while giving them more space to inch closer to us? To take the fae away from me.
“Ellyana…” Galenor’s voice scraped at my temple, his breath brushing softly against my skin. “I have to go…”
“No,” I turned my head for a split second, just enough for my eyes to meet his. To spot the surprise in their glimmer. They lowered to me, as if to show appreciation before his lips uttered a murmured request.
“I need to go…”
“No! I won’t let you!” I then turned to the guards, watching how they had already circled us, how I was the only thing standing in their way and preventing them from grabbing Galenor.
“They will hurt you again!” I shouted, unsure of what my best action would be. Unsure of what to say, what my body suddenly dictated me to do. “I cannot let that happen…” I shook my head, fighting back tears.
Tears! For a fae!
“Captain Harrow, please move,” one of the men took another step towards me, closing in the distance, his eyes darkening by the second with visible annoyance.
“I will not move!” My voice came out with a threat, the expulsion of the words rising tension in the room.
“Captain Harrow,” he insisted, pressing yet another step towards me. Towards us. Raising his hands as if he wanted to move me out of the way and get to Galenor.
Leaving his gun unprotected.
His biggest mistake.
My training kicked in, urging me to take the opportunity. As the man continued to move towards me, I took advantage of his cockiness, the fact that he thought he had the situation handled. After all, he was surrounded by five other men, all of them armed and ready to jump to his defence. Why not let his guard down?
Before he had a chance to realise what was happening, his gun was in my hands, pressed against his forehead, right in between that deep annoying V line he kept displaying so proudly.
My fingers shook slightly against the trigger, ready to release the life from this man while concentration forced a stream of sweat down my temple.
“Tell your men to back down and leave,” I threatened, pressing the gun harder against his skin to form a red circle in between his brows.
His eyes remained pinned on me, filled with determination. He wouldn’t back down, I could see it from a mile away. He’d been disarmed in a safe environment, by an ununiformed woman. It would be the end of his career.
But both he and I had too much to lose for either of us to back down. “Tell your men to leave!” I asked again, squeezing a finger just a little bit tighter on the trigger. He knew I was milliseconds away from firing. From putting an end to his life.
“Men…” his throat closed, barely allowing the words to come out like blades, each one hurting his future. “Weapons ready!” he ordered, then closed his eyes to wait for the end.
Half a second later, five guns were pointed at me. At us. Giving us no escape, no upper hand.
We were trapped…
“Lower your weapons,” I shouted while using the gun to kick the guard in the head. But I already knew I had lost the upper hand.
