Page 35 of Wicked Enemy

But we were out of time. We had to get the hell out of here before the worldwalker came back, so I couldn’t put this off any longer.

Dragging in a shuddering breath, I steeled myself and at last turned to face her.

Time stopped moving as I met her gaze.

Because there was no revulsion there. No fear. No horror.

Instead, she looked relieved. And… grateful.

My mind was still trying to process what I was seeing when she flicked a glance towards the hand I was still bracing on the wall, and concern washed over her features instead.

Concern. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry or scream. She was concerned. About me. After all that she had just endured, all that she had just seen, she was concerned about me.

The sheer absurdity of that snapped me out of my stupor. Shoving my sword back in its sheath, I quickly brushed my hands together and liquefied the handcuffs around Eve’s wrists before tossing the metal aside.

I winced as she just slid over the edge of the table and crashed down on the floor. A hiss of pain ripped from her throat.Crap. I should probably have given her a heads-up first.

All I wanted to do was to rush over and scoop her up in my arms, but after what these savages had done to her, I wasn’t sure if she wanted another dark mage’s hands on her right now.

So all I said was, “Come on. We need to get the hell out of here before the worldwalker figures out that I’ve stood him up.”

“Levi.”

My blood froze at the way she said my name. At the way she was looking at me from where she had just barely pushed herself up on her elbows. I had never heard her like that, seen her like that, before.

“I can’t walk.” Vulnerability shone in her eyes as she looked back at me. And the pleading note in her voice almost cracked my heart. “They cut my hamstrings.”

Rage and pain and insanity surged up inside me again. And it took everything I had to suppress it. Everyone here was already dead, and I had already spent too much of my energy. If I descended into that madness again, I would black out for hours afterwards.

While desperately keeping a grip on my consciousness, I rushed around the table while Eve struggled to pull her pants back up. Cries of pain tore from her throat, and the sound of them was like blades scraping across my bones.

Crouching down next to her, I gently slid my arms underneath her battered body. She cried out again and gripped my leather armor in her fists as I lifted her up.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

She was gritting her teeth hard, so only a mumbled noise made it out of her throat in response.

“I’ve got you, spitfire,” I whispered as I cradled her to my chest. “I’ve got you.”

Then I spun us around and sprinted out of the cabin.

The trade was due to happen any minute now, which meant that we probably had less than five minutes to put as much distance between us and this cabin as possible. I had brought two horses, but if they had cut the back of Eve’s thighs, then how the hell was she supposed to survive sitting in a saddle?

“Eve…” I began as I closed the distance to our mounts.

“Just get me on the horse,” she ground out. “I’ll make it.”

Doing as she asked, I lifted her up and positioned her feet in the stirrups. Tears dripped down her cheeks, and she was clenching her jaw so hard I feared her teeth might shatter. But she gripped the reins while I swung myself up on my horse.

As soon as I was up, I gave her mount a smack on the rump since I knew that Eve couldn’t move her feet properly right now. The horse took off up the slope. I kicked mine into motion as well.

Winds smelling of wet grass and rain ripped at our clothes and hair as we thundered away from the cabin and across the grasslands. I kept one eye on the path and one on Eve at all times.

After about ten minutes, she began swaying precariously.

“Spitfire,” I said.

She just swayed to the left.

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