Page 104 of Jeweler to the Blessed
“Not our primary concern,” I hissed.
Hart still gripped my hand, unwilling to let me out of sight. He grunted in acknowledgment as his sword slid into another attacker. He pulled again, leading me deeper into the Oldwood.Hiding me behind the tree, he stabbed the next man who came barreling through the bushes.
“You can’t stop us all,” the next man said as their weapons clashed.
Hart kicked the man back, his sword following, thrusting through the man’s heart before he hit the ground. “I assure you, I can.”
“Do we have a plan?” I asked.
Hart spun me into his arm as another attacker rounded the tree. His blade greeted the woman where she thought to sneak up on me.
“More than killing them?” he asked.
I’d admit he was doing fine, but the attackers weren’t stopping. The longer he tried to keep me safe while fighting them all off, the greater chance he’d take too significant a risk. He, like the other Blessed, hadn’t reached for his magic. I trusted him to know what he was doing. He said he’d use it if my safety was on the line.
Clearly, he didn’t think it was.
I bit my lip as another attacker came around the next tree. I stabbed him in the neck before Hart pulled me away. He tucked me behind a different tree, and steel met steel as another attacker found us.
But what about Hart’s safety?
His moves never slowed, but I knew they would eventually. We needed a plan. As if proving my point, the next swing from his attacker tore a groan from Hart’s lips.
Something unfurled within me at the sound.
Hart still wore his helmet, but his head turned, and he glared at the cut across his arm through his shirtsleeve. His sword met the man’s again, pushing it back with a brutal strike.
More were coming. Hart would take this one down, but then there would be another. My thoughts scattered.
I couldn’t lose Hart. I’d finally found someone to trust—someone to plan with, someone who wanted things to change in this city as much as I did. They couldn’t take him from me.
Hart was mine.
There was no time to examine the feelings swirling within. I unleashed them on the attacker, and he screamed.
The man who’d sliced Hart’s skin was on his knees, words falling from his lips that made little sense. “Jessikah! No!”
It reminded me of the horrendous sounds of the Selection Festival. He screamed in agony. “I can’t lose you!”
Then he crumpled to his side in a fetal position on the Oldwood’s forest floor. Hart only hesitated for a moment. With a brief glance at me, his blade slid home to end the man’s nightmare.
And I was confident that’s what it was: a nightmare.
Ice-cold fear coated my chest. The Cursed King must be here.
Hart pulled me toward him, his sword lowering. “Come here, Chaos.”
My body shook.
“It’s alright.” His tone was gentle now, though moments before it had boasted only death.
The attackers stopped. Hart let his sword hang limp at his side. As I stepped out from behind the tree, I saw why. Blue glowed from Prince Elias’s pendant. Any remaining enemies were frozen in place. The guards around the prince dispatched those who hadn’t approached me.
“What about the … Cursed King?” I whispered.
I couldn’t see Hart’s face beneath his helmet, but I was sure his brow arched. “That wasn’t him.”
“But … the nightmare.”
