Unstable by Lacey Carter Andersen
19
Kiera
We’ve been driving fasterthan I thought possible, weaving between cars, driving on the opposite side of the road on this damned motorcycle, and I want to fight it all, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m in Cole's arms. He wears the backpack with the relic, and I know I’ve been slipping in and out of consciousness.
My wrist is broken. My ribs are broken. My face aches.
It hurts. It hurts to breathe. Even the rumbling of the motorcycle hurts.
But even though Cole might think I’m so hurt that I’ve given up, I haven’t. Adam said to trust him. I didn’t. What I did know is that I was free, and I had the backpack.
Princess had promised me before I left with Cole that he would help my men get free. I had to believe him. But if I couldn’t get the Blood Mages to remove the mark, none of it mattered. We’d all be dead, even if they could escape.
No part of me thought Cole was actually helping us. But I could escape from him a hell of a lot better than I could escape from a dozen berserkers, so I’d gone with him. Now, I was reserving what little energy I had for the right opportunity.
Luckily for my body, the opportunity took awhile to appear. We’d driven through the night before coming to a little gas station at the side of the road. Cole had cut the engine, and I’d almost fallen off, but he’d held me up.
“Look at me,” he whispered, and he sounded scared.
So, I looked at him. His gaze ran over my face, and I must have looked really bad, because his expression was horrified. “Can you stand?”
I could, but I said, “Not without help.”
He nodded and wrapped an arm around my waist. “We need to go in and give them some cash for the gas, but we also need to get you something to eat and drink. Your body won’t be able to heal this kind of damage without it.”
I didn’t argue, just slumped against him as he helped me make my way into the gas station.
The attendant didn’t even look up when we came in. Cole helped me to the back and then let me slide to the ground next to one of the drink coolers before taking off the backpack and setting it down next to me. He pulled water out, opened it, and helped me finish a bottle. Then, he got me another one. When I finished that, I already felt marginally better.
He left and brought back two hot dogs that looked, luckily, like they’d been put on recently. “Eat,” he said, “I’ll pay for gas.”
He must have realized that the gas station attendant would know something was off the second she got a look at me, so I choked down the first hot dog while he stood, studying me and frowning. I choked down the next one while he made his way to the front.
The second he was out of sight, I grabbed the backpack and bit down on a scream as I crawled to the back. The employee had left a gallon jug of water opening a door by the bathroom, and I got to my feet and rushed out of it. Moving as fast as I could, I ran for the woods. The wind whistled around me, almost in tune with my raspy breaths. I sure as hell wasn’t going as quickly as I needed to go, but I just needed to be out of sight before Cole came out. Once in the woods, I could make my way along until I was sure he was gone, then head out to the road, flag down a car, and hopefully get as far back to the Blood Mages as I could.
Only, my plan seemed to be flawed from the start.
“Kiera!”
He was too close behind me. He had to be able to see me. And there was no way in hell I could out run him in this shape.
Still, I had to try. I pictured my men, and even as tears ran down my face, and the pain made my vision go black, I ran.
He yanked my arm, and I was so weak that it sent me crumbling to my knees. He collapsed over me, as if he was trying to gentle my fall. But I didn’t care, I struggled against him, tears flowing freely as each breath and each movement made lighting crackle through my nerves.
“Stop, God, please stop!” He said, the words coming out choked. “You’re just hurting yourself. Please! Stop!”
I kept fighting, and then he was on me, turning me to face him and wrapping himself gently around me.
I’m not sure how much longer I struggled until I just stopped. Sobs wracked my body, and then his hands were wiping the tears from my face. At first all I could make out were reassuring noises, but then I could make out his words, “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I thought Princess told you. I’m here to help.”
“No,” I sobbed the word. “Maxen is hurting my family. His berserkers have my men. You’re taking me back to him, and I can’t save anyone.”
“That’s not it,” he whispered, sounding on the edge of losing all control. “I’m here. I’m taking you back to the demons. They’ll remove the marks. They’ll use the relic to bring their warriors through, kill Maxen, and we’ll be free.”
I open my eyes and see the terror and worry in his face as he continues wiping my face gently. “I don’t believe you.”
“I fucking deserve that. But listen to me. Emory is my brother. My blood. I… I wanted to believe he was like Maxen, and that it didn’t matter. But I was wrong. I realized that there’s no happy ending with Maxen, but maybe there is with you guys. I know it’s a risk. But, hell, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. You guys might be underdogs, but… but I feel like I could help even the odds.”
Emory’s brother?My head spun. “You’re his brother?”
He nods. “Technically, his half-brother. We share a dad. But, yeah.”
Oh, boy.That felt like a bomb I didn’t want to handle. At least not right now.
“And you want to help us?” I frown, feeling like I’m missing something.
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
“Why?” I whisper.
He studies me for a long minute. “I like you. I didn’t want to even admit it to myself. But I do. You’re brave and stubborn. An idiot in all the best ways. And so are they.” He takes a deep breath. “You also worked some kind of my magic on Emory. Looking at him now makes me feel like, maybe, I don’t know. Maybe Maxen’s sick games didn’t have to destroy us the way I thought.” He seems to be babbling, almost desperate to get me to understand him.
Did I believe him? I hate that my head said no and my heart said yes.
“If you let me up, I’ll run again,” I say, immediately regretting that I said the words aloud.
“Damn it,” he mutters, and then I can see some kind of realization come to him.
He leans down, and presses the gentlest of kisses to my lips.
I freeze, but don’t stop him.
He kisses me again. And again. Over and over again, like he’s trying to kiss away my pain. And then his lips move over my face, more softly than I ever thought possible. When he kisses my eyelids, I realize that he’s holding me like a lover versus a prisoner.
I look up into his face and feel like it’s hard to catch my breath for a completely different reason. “I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“Okay, but can you try? Can you accept that you’re not going to get far running and that maybe I can offer you the solution to this problem?”
Tears sting my eyes. “But my men…”
“He won’t kill them,” he says, his words fierce. “He’s no fool. He’ll know they can be useful for something. If only to keep you in line again. I can almost bet that he’s already having them brought to his castle.”
“I can’t let him hurt them again.”
“I won’t let him hurt them again,” he vows, and there’s a dangerous glint in his eyes.
And for some reason, I feel myself believing him, if only because I want to believe him. Without him, I don’t think we’ll win this battle, and we need to win.
“Okay.”
“Without trust we don’t have anything, right?” he says, a small smile quirking his lips.
“Right.” My eyes close.
I feel him carefully pick me up, and then he carries me right back to the motorcycle. He sets me back on it, fills it up, and then gets on behind me.
“We’ll get there in time,” I say to myself, but I sound scared, even to my own ears.
“The marks are spreading,” he whispers. “But we’ll get there.”
And somehow, I know if I looked, the marks would be down my belly and legs. Soon they would cover my face. And then… then I think we’ll be out of time.
That is, if Cole is even telling the truth.
