Page 137 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

Nathaniel had had the glorious idea to run straight through the hedges, but that thought was doomed the second we noticed the thorns that had grown everywhere to prevent us from trying to run straight through.

He thought of everything.

“We’re getting nowhere, Doe. The maze is cursed,” he whispered near my ear. We were as quiet as possible so that Anwir couldn’t hear us. Though, I doubted he was able to overhear us through the sound of the shifting roots.

I stared up at him, knowing that he was right. “What other option do we have?”

We had to keep running.

I didn’t want to be a coward, but at the same time, it didn’t make me a coward not wanting to die. I wanted to live, and I wouldn’t have him take that away from me.

The maze shifted again, and we hurried to make it through the next gap before the vines could close us into a dead end.

“We have to–”

Nathaniel called out my name, pulling me back before I could run straight into the arms of the man who wanted to sacrifice me.

I let out a scream, while we ran back through the opening, pleading that it would close before Anwir could pass through it. We ran as fast as possible within the tight space of constantly shifting vines. I glanced over my shoulder as we passed a junction.

“He’s right behind us!” I called to Nathaniel, who dragged me with him while I tried my hardest to be as fast a runner as he was. But my dress kept getting stuck on the thorns, and despite the hem already being completely torn, it wasn’t made for running in a maze from your potential murderer.

I looked over my shoulder again, not seeing Anwir behind us anymore, but when I turned my head back around, I got caught by two strong arms. Nathaniel managed to stop me from running straight into the thorny bush.

“No,” I breathed in horror.

Nathaniel let go of me, swallowing hard. “A dead end.”

“We just have to wait until it shifts again,” I said confidently, but I was certain that the shaking of my voice wasn’t able to be overheard.

My heart didn’t stop beating like a damn jackhammer while we waited, and it felt like hours until the stupid vines shifted once more—only for Anwir to wait for us on the other side.

The man lunged for me, but before his hands could reach me, Nathaniel threw out his fist and hit him to the ground. My friend went down on top of him, letting his fists rain down on Anwir. Nathaniel grabbed the collar of his shirt to pull his face towardshim as he spat, “you’re sick and twisted, and I swore to you that I’ll kill you when I find out you had the intention to betray us."

Blood ran down from Anwir’s nose and coated his teeth in red as he grinned up at Nathaniel, keeping up the illusion that he was the one in control here.

“I guess your girlfriend’s vision will come true after all, Mister McConnell. You’re destined to die in the same sense that Dorothee is,” Anwir said calmly, having Nathaniel squeeze his eyebrows together in utter confusion, and in the last second, I saw something reflecting the shiny light of the moon in Anwir’s hand but as I screamed, it was already too late.

Nathaniel gasped in pain as he looked down to where he had plunged the dagger into his side. Anwir pulled the dagger out of him, causing Nathaniel to scream in pain, his hand clutching his wound.

Blood started to soak his shirt and he coughed, causing him to fall off Anwir and roll onto his back. I fell to my knees beside him, trying to clear my mind and think. Fucking think what I had to do.

I pressed my trembling hands to the stab wound that was bleeding furiously beneath his hand. He gritted his teeth in agony and I mouthed an apology over and over again as if this was going to fix anything.

“It’s going to be okay. We’ll fix this—we—we can fix this,” I stuttered in utter shock, as my friend started to cough up blood.

Nathaniel stared at me with something that came dangerously close to acceptance. Tears burned in my eyes and I shook my head, not taking this.

I won’t let this happen.

I won’t let the stars destroy everything we’ve found in another, when we had to deal with the cruel life they forced on us.

“Doe!” Nathaniel warned, his eyes widening at something behind me.Someone.

I moved around furiously, ducking away a second before he’d be able to pull me up by my hair. Jumping to my feet, I came at him with a scream–fucking done with all of this shit.

I swung my fist into his jaw, using his surprise to ram my knee into the spot between his legs.

Anwir cursed, falling to his knees, but he didn’t bath for long in his agony and lunged for me. I dodged his attack and lifted my hand to throw another hit to his face, but he caught my wrist and twisted my hand in a painful way that made me yell out in pain. He caught my face in his other, free, hand in a painful grip, and my eyes automatically searched for the dagger, finding it on the ground where he must have dropped it when I kneed him in the groin.

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