Cynthia sucked in a breath.
The terrain grew almost too bumpy to navigate the closer she drew to the targets. She was carried forward by pure speed and velocity rather than talent.
With a final yip, Max thudded into the base of one of the haystacks.
He didn’t move.
“Damn it, Max.” Her throat pricked with heat. “Donotdie.”
She was seconds away.
Possibly seconds too late.
She passed both poles to her left hand and hunkered down to scoop up the non-moving puppy as she whisked them both out of danger.
He made a tiny mewling sound and shuddered against her chest.
“Thank God.” She pressed her lips to his icy, matted fur. “We almost—”
And then fire ripped through her shoulder.
Chapter 11
The moment Cynthia took off after the puppy, Alexander took off after Cynthia.
He had no idea what he was doing.
This side of the mountain was nowhere near as smooth as the other, and he hadn’t been graceful on the easy slope. It took all his effort to maintain his balance as gravity did most of the work hurtling him down the mountainside after Cynthia.
He wasn’t as skilled as her.
He wasn’t as fast as her.
He had to watch in horror as he realized the haystacks she’d mentioned earlier were the targets set up for the archery tournament. Right in front of them.
Eighty yards away.
Sixty yards away.
Alexander winced as the puppy slammed into the base of a target and stopped moving.
Cynthia was there instantly, her knees bent and her back straight and her poles tucked to one side as she ducked down and scooped up the puppy as though the rescue maneuver came as natural as yawning.
She was the most amazing creature he had ever seen.
A guardian angel. A—
Thwack.
Cynthia lurched upward, all her grace gone. She jerked backward, with a long wooden rod protruding from her chest.
Terror ripped through Alexander’s veins like a flash fire.
Cynthia fell to the ground, motionless, the little brown puppy clutched in her arms.
“No!” he roared, not caring who heard him. He flew forward on panic alone.
He was going to kill all of the archers.
