“Take care of him,” Brutus says.
The men come at me.
“No!” Kansas shouts and wrestles against Brutus’s grip.
“It’s going to be okay, Kansas,” I tell her because you’re supposed to tell people these kinds of reassuring things when they’re in danger.I think.
The man on the left with a blond beard and a diamond stud in his left ear reaches me first. He doesn’t take any time to assess the situation. He throws a punch aimed directly at my face.
The fist lands. The blow reverberates through my skull and down my neck.
“Stop it!” Kansas rams her elbow into Brutus’s stomach buthe doesn’t even flinch. He’s wearing a thick leather cuirass, penetrable only by blade or magic.
The second guard—I’m not sure what he looks like with tears blurring my vision—punches me in the gut. All the air rushes out of me. I keel over, landing on one knee.
The guards chuckle to themselves.
“So much for riding in like a knight to save your girl, huh?” The blond man plants his boot on my shoulder and kicks me over. Gravel crunches beneath me. Dirt grits in my teeth.
The other man kicks me in the stomach. He has impeccable aim, hitting the same spot as before, doubling the dull ache that radiates across my ribs.
“Please stop! He’s already injured.” Kansas’s voice is wobbly with terror, but beneath that is something darker. Something born of rage.
Another kick, this one to my back, to the kidneys. I curl into a ball. Let out a pathetic little moan.
“Please! Please don’t hurt him!”
The ground trembles beneath me.
The wind shifts, dirt clouding up around me.
The bearded guard lands another blow to my stomach.
“I saidstop!”
There’s a sudden rush of air. The force of it is so great, the hedges bend backward. Leaves tear from their branches and shoot across the clearing.
The men have to hunch, hold their arms over their eyes to shield against debris.
Kansas stomps on Brutus’s foot. He howls and lets her go.
Another squall blows in, knocking all three guards off their feet. One ends up in the bushes. Another tossed through another archway. Brutus ends up crashing into a stone bench, toppling over the other side.
Kansas is untouched by the phantom wind.
“Come on.” She bends down to lift me up. “Can you run?”
“Of course.” But once I’m on my feet, I find myself limping. “It’s okay. You can leave me.”
“Absolutely not.” She drags me back through the archway. Light from the mansion shines across the dark like a beacon.
“You idiots. Get them!” Brutus shouts.
“Hurry,” Kansas tells me.
“I’m holding you back,” I tell her.
“I’m not leaving you.”
