Page 12 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
I focus on what’s in front of me; the last thing I want to do right now is fall or trip over a branch. Instead of getting darker, I can see a small light coming from somewhere in the woods. I make a beeline straight for it. It’s not large enough to be a house or anything like that. Maybe it’s another human being. Someone who can save me from the beasts ready to rip me to shreds.
I push through the low-hanging branches and realize that I’m in a small open area. Right in the center is a large stone marker. A grave.
Right on top is a small tea light. It shouldn’t have been bright enough for me to see through the trees, but maybe being so focused allowed me to pinpoint it. It’s not the saving grace I thought it would be. I sprint as fast as I can in that direction but slow for a second when I don’t feel the pending doom so close behind me.
I turn and realize the dogs have stopped right at the edge of the opening as if they were trained not to come on this land. As if something were stopping them.
That doesn’t mean they have forgotten about me, though. They stay to the tree edges but have now begun to circle me. Every step I take in one of their directions starts another round of loud barking and growling. I have no way out.
This could’ve been my one and only attempt to get out of here, and it’s clear that I’ve failed. I’m stuck, and my only hope is the monster I just tried to get away from.
CORMAC
I felt the change before the guards could ring me in the study to tell me what was going on.
“What is it?” I bark into the phone.
“Sir, you told us to let you know if Ms. Doyle did anything that could harm her person. Well?—”
I cut Maxim, my head of security, off before he can continue. “She’s Mrs. O’Sullivan now. I did let you know we were married, did I not?” There’s no need to be short with him, but I’m in a fucked-up mood right now.
In the past twenty-four hours, I’ve had to give up my freedom, all so my father could make a show to the other heads of families. There is no real need for me to have married Brenna. We could have made sure the alliance between the Doyle family and us was strong another way.
It’s too late to complain about it now. There’s nothing I can do about it. I have a wife whether I want one or not.
“Yes, sir, excuse me. Well, Mrs. O’Sullivan has taken it upon herself to run away from the house in the dead of night. Do you want us to follow after her and bring her back?”
Just as I’m about to answer him, I can hear my loyal dogs barking. They didn’t need to be given instruction. They simply acted.
I can’t help the smile that tries to stretch up my face. I’m not worried about them mauling her. The three of them are well trained, and they will not attack unless I give the order.
No, they will only chase her down and keep her cornered until I can come to relieve them.
“No, I’ll take care of her myself. What you need to do is find out how she managed to get out of here so easily and rectify that.” I hang up the phone on Maxim. I’ve got a woman to go save.
Not that I’m a white knight; instead, I’m more like the demon keeping my subjects in line.
I don’t rush. I grab my coat and slip it on before I make my way out of the house, walking with the same intensity I’d use if I was only taking a stroll.
I can still hear the dogs barking in the darkness, but it seems like they aren’t getting any further away.
It takes me a second, but I know exactly where they have stopped. It pisses me off to think that Brenna would mar that sacred space with her nonsense. Now part of me wishes the dogs were a little less trained and they’d drag her away from there.
I push myself through the trees, taking care not to trip over anything. I finally can see her leaning against the large stone marker I had placed for my mother. The small light I keep lit bathes her face.
She’s breathing hard, sweating, and I can see her still trying to figure out her next plan of action. She has none. There is nowhere she can step on my property where my dogs will not give chase. I honestly thought she was smarter than this.
I already warned her about not having anywhere to go. I guess she decided to test that theory on her own. I hope she enjoyed her discovery.
“You’ve been a naughty girl.” I speak, standing at the edge of the opening just under a tree in the darkness.
Her eyes jerk up to where I’m standing, and I can still see the fear there. She’s scared of the dogs, and she should be.
“Make them go. Tell them to go away.” Her voice trembles, and I tilt my head at the sound.
I’ve only heard her speak once, and that was at the ceremony we had on the other side of the world.
She hasn’t said a word to me again since we left her father. Not on the plane ride back. Not in the car ride to the house. Not even when I brought her to her room. I did hear her scream in frustration as I walked away. I didn’t want to admit it to her, butI wish I could’ve screamed myself. She and I are both feeling the same way about this.
