Page 43 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

Muffled voices floated through the trees, pausing my descent into a small gully. I listened, holding my breath, and followed the sounds, stepping with purpose to avoid giving away my location. The voices became louder, and the smell of smoke drifted in the air. A glow shone through the darkening forest, and I drifted toward it like a moth to a flame with a knowing I would find Darragh among the figures silhouetted by the flickering firelight.

Three men, all wearing dark face coverings, walked around the fire.

I positioned myself behind a wide tree trunk. The rough bark dug into my torso and hands as I pushed myself against it. One of the men shifted to the side, and my eyes grew wide at the sight of another man tied to a tree, bruised and bleeding from his nose. His left eye was swollen, but he still looked up at me as I peered from behind the oak.

Darragh.

He snapped his gaze away but firmly shook his head once and creased his brow. His torso was tied to a tree, and his hands were bound and wrapped behind the trunk. I had watched this man take on bigger seraphs than these three, and I questioned why he withheld his own divine power.

One of the seraphs, thin and dressed in a loose tunic and brown pants, addressed his partners. “It’s getting late. We can’t take him back to the boss tonight. The sun is almost down.”

“Fine, but we are taking turns guarding him. I am not getting stuck staying up all night again while you lazy assholes sleep,” the stocky man grumbled.

The largest of the group stood in front of Darragh, glaring down at him, but Darragh only stared back at him with a look of boredom. “Will your enchant hold all night, E?”

The thin man scoffed. “Ye have little faith! Of course it will hold.”

All three men eventually sat and passed around a loaf of bread, ignoring Darragh behind them. His wounds were not healing as a seraph’s should.

I moved closer to Darragh, step by step, sticking to the widest trees and only moving when all three of their backs were turned to me. The silver dagger was clutched white-knuckled in my hand. Darragh shook his head vigorously at me, eyes narrowing and unhappy with my presence. He was in no position to tell me what to do.

I am trying to help you, ass!

Thirty minutes of slowly creeping to get behind Darragh, and I was able to make it to the tree he was tied to. It wouldn’t hide me completely, but placing myself behind his wide body would certainly make me hard to see.

I sliced at the ropes, slowly at first, making sure I didn’t make any noise. Darragh’s body tensed, and he grunted out a yell before I was thrown backward.

The thin seraph, E, towered over me. “Well, looky what we have here! A little mouse, nibbling at the ropes of our prisoner!”

Darragh thrashed against his bindings in vain. E grabbed my ankle and dragged me along the forest floor on my back toward the fire. The two other seraph men cheered as I kicked and screamed. The stocky man waved his hand at Darragh, and more ropes appeared around his torso. Darragh’s face was pure rage as he struggled against the tightening ropes.

Think, Rory!

The largest of the men walked up next to E. “Feisty little thing, ain’t she?”

As E slowly bent down toward me, I sat up and planted the silver dagger into his thigh. I didn’t stop pushing until the blade hit his femur. He screamed and dropped my ankle, falling to the forest floor. The silver dagger had hit an artery, and blood spurted from his leg. I scrambled to my feet and took off running through the woods, shocked that I just stabbed someone. I planned to go as far and as fast as I could and then circle back to help Darragh. There would be no helping him if I were dead.

I ran until I thought my lungs might burst, stopping only when I was safely hidden behind a large tree. Heaving and trying to pull as much air into my body, I couldn’t fill my lungs. I was so loud, I feared my gasps for air would lead them straight to me. I looked at my shaking hands. I just stabbed a man.

The darkness thickened between the trees as the evening hour tolled on. If I didn’t get back to Darragh, I wouldn’t be able to find him again. I pulled in one more huge breath and peeked around my hiding spot to make sure I didn’t see anyone sneaking up on me.

Get back to him!

I stood and stepped out from behind the tree, colliding with a solid mass. I fell to the ground on my ass. My eyes scanned the huge form and landed on chestnut brown eyes that had darkened and pierced me. The earlier cuts and bruises on his face were almost completely healed. “I told you not to leave the horses. You promised me you would stay put,” he growled out.

I pushed to my feet and blinked. “You’re here,” I sputtered. “I was about to come back for you.”

Darragh ignored me and strode in the direction of the horses. “Walk,” he ordered through gritted teeth. My heart quickened at the fury in his tone.

“Darragh, what happened? How did you get free?” I practically had to jog to keep pace with him while stumbling over roots and dodging brush.

His silence was so loud. I could feel the roil of his energy. Was I about to see the side of him that people feared?

After a mile of broody and uncomfortable silence, I had had enough. The fire inside me warmed, and sparks flickered to life. “Darragh!” I grabbed the sleeve of his tunic and tugged. “Stop ignoring me! What in Dullahan's underworld is your problem?” Apparently, I matched tempers and had a death wish, but I did not take kindly to being treated like I was a problem. Like I didn’t just risk my life to help him.

He paused and pivoted toward me. “What’s my problem?” The calm of his voice teetered on an explosion. “You weren’t supposed to go wandering through the woods to find me and subsequently get caught by three dumb assholes who could have hurt you!” Puffs of breath misted with the dropping temperature.

“I think I handled myself well. Especially since you were the one tied to a tree, and I wasn’t,” I mocked. “You’re welcome, by the way.”