I shudder and look over my shoulder to where Drekki is lying there, cocking his head in curiosity. I let out a whistle, commanding him to stop his brother. Drekki jumps up, his tale swinging in excitement and then he pounces on Worm, who is distracted enough that I’m able to slip around him. By now Marcello is nothing more than a shadow in the darkness, quickly slipping from view. I grip my ax to hold it in place and force my legs to pound out at a punishing pace as I race after him.
I grit my teeth against the bitter wind and my own terror of the blackness of the night.
When I get my hands on Marcello, I am going towringhis neck. How could he be so foolish as to run out into the deadly night just to save a woman he has known for only a few days? How dare he want to sacrifice himself for me. He is a better person than I, the world is better off with him in it. Not me.
But then I suppose I have no stones to throw, because I am willing to allow to curse to claim me to save him.
Oh, why are both just a pair of fools who have no fear of dying, but a crippling desire to save each other?
Up ahead, the blackness of the night is consumed by a forest. I am senseless as I charge in, my heart is pounding so hard, but I press forward. Careening around trees that I do not see until it is almost too late. Once, twice, I think that I have lost Marcello, but then I hear him collide into something or trip over a root. I follow his grunts of pain. I force myself to slow just a bit to avoid making the same mistakes, even though everything in me is trying to tell me to just run faster and faster. To flee the dark and find Marcello.
I’ve slowed down till I’m barely at a jog, my hands thrust out in front of me when I come across a clearing in the forest. I pause for a second, trying to gather my bearings, but freeze when I see Marcello standing in the clearing, doubled over clutching his ribs. He straightens when he sees me and turns, moving so quickly that his foot slips against the soft snow. I take off toward him with a shout, barreling into him just as he begins to regain his footing.
We both hit the ground hard with me on top. I make quick work of pinning his arms down with my knees. I press my forearm against his neck, with just enough pressure that he stops struggling. “Give me the finger,” I hiss.
Marcello snaps his mouth shut and glares at me defiantly.
“Don’t make me take it from you.”
I adjust my position just slightly intending to reach for Marcello’s balled fist, but just then something cold and hard presses into my chin. And a voice from above says. “Don’t move, savage, or youwillbleed.”
Marcello twists his neck, looking up. He goes utterly still under me, as he gasps out. “Father?”
Chapter Twenty-Three
That Final Choice
Theswordbitesintomy neck, and I feel a slight trickle run down my collar. I am still like a statue; one wrong shift and my life will be over. It won’t even have been the curse that killed me.
“Slowly get off of him. Slowly, if you know what is good for you, savage.”
I hold my hands up so that he does not think I am reaching for my weapon and shift my knees over so that I am now resting on the snow and no longer straddling Marcello, who pushes himself to his elbows, holding his throat where I had been pressing my arm.
“Marcello,” the man gasps out. “Are you all right?”
“Father, drop your weapon,” Marcello cries out, shoving to his feet. “Do not hurt her.”
The man glances from Marcello to me, confused. “You had better have a good reason for bargaining for the life of your captor.”
“She isn’t my captor,” Marcello says, holding his hands up. “She is my wife.”
The sword at my throat wavers. “Your…wife?” The man holding it whips his head to Marcello and it’s the distraction I need. I roll onto my back, kicking his hand. The sword goes flying from his grip. Before he can respond I’m on my feet. I pull my ax out, landing in a crouched position, ready to let it fly.
“Laduga,” Marcello says, his tone strained. “Please do not kill my father.”
I refuse to take my eyes off the man and make the same mistake that he did. Which is why I don’t see Marcello step up until he is putting his hand on the ax and pushing it down. He steps between his father and me although I’m not sure who he is attempting to protect. Myself or his father.
Possibly both.
“I demand an explanation,” Marcello’s father says, straightening. He seems far too calm to be out here in the woods with a Nelgatan, especially since he is disarmed. It likely means that there are other soldiers nearby, especially since Imperials rarely travel alone. “You disappear for two days, and when I find you, you’re being held down by this creature, but now you mean to tell me that you are married to her?”
“With a few extra details added in, but yes you have the gist of it.” Marcello glances at me over his shoulder. “I was separated from my company when we were beset by wolves. Laduga here found me, but… her people would have killed me, so she married me to save me.”
I press my lips together. Marcello is lying through his teeth, but since his words paint me in a somewhat more favorable light I don’t argue. He is probably lying for a reason, and I trust him to know how his father will react better than I do.
“So why was she attacking you?”
“I’d gone into the woods at night, she thought I was sleepwalking,” he says smoothly.
