Fear of Fire and Shadow (The Fade #1) - Samantha Young Page 0,83
shook my head. No. I began to hyperventilate as his body drew flush with mine, his face hovering above me with lascivious eyes and a lusty grin.
I heard the clatter of the knife as he threw it away and gripped me by the throat to keep me in place.
My eyes rolled back in my head.
Then … the mountain man flinched, a startled cry falling from his mouth. He stared straight ahead at the wall above me, his eyes wide.
Then he snarled and rolled off me, and my own eyes widened at the sight of an arrow sticking out of his back. I threw my tied hands out and dragged my body away from him, gasping at the vision of a man, cast in the shadow of the doorway, a huge machete clutched in his hand. Beside him stood a girl. Young. Perhaps Haydyn’s age. She held a crossbow pointed at the mountain man.
I watched in a stupor of horror and hope as the mountain man lunged to his feet to attack the intruders. The girl let another arrow fly with calm expertise. Mountain man staggered as the girl armed the crossbow with another arrow. The man beside her laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, holding her off.
I wanted to complain. To tell her to shoot. Mountain man was still standing. But as I watched, his face slackened.
And then he collapsed with an almighty thud.
“This her?” the man at the doorway asked, nodding at me.
“Stupid question, Papa. ’Course it’s her,” the girl answered.
I slid away from them. I couldn’t trust anyone here.
The man nodded and moved tentatively toward me. I shimmied back until I hit the wall again. I glowered at him.
He stopped, and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I saw his face. He appeared upset. Concerned. “I’m not goin’ to hurt ye, little one. I’m goin’ to untie those ropes for ye, so ye can be gettin’ yerself together.”
My heart beat unsteadily as I glanced between the two strangers. I so needed to believe them. “Who are you? What did you do to him? Don’t come near me!” I screeched as he edged closer.
He sighed heavily and the girl huffed, “Well, that be a grateful response. We isn’t goin’ to hurt ye!” She shook her head. “Papa, she’s as soft as goat’s cheese. No wonder she be landin’ in this mess and causin’ a rumpus!”
I blinked in confusion, still dazed from my beating. Who was this girl? This man?
“L, be nice,” the man admonished. “Help the poor girl, will ye? She’s been through what ye like to call an ordeeul.”
An ordeal? I wanted to scream. An ordeal? Being kidnapped by the Iavii, running from rookery thugs, that was an ordeal! This … I shook my head. I looked back over at the mountain man and then to the two people who had attacked him. Had they really saved me? Why?
The girl—L, her father had called her—sighed. “Look here, Rogan, we isn’t goin’ to hurt ye. We’re rescuing ye from Crazy here. My arrow was tipped in a poison he won’t be comin’ back from. Bugger won’t be hurtin’ no one again.” She curled her lip in disgust at the mountain man.
I stiffened in suspicion. “How do you know my name?”
The man sighed. “My girl is one o’ the blessed. A mage. She’s got the Sight.”
“A Glava?” I raised my eyebrows at her.
“That be me,” L huffed. “I felt yer terror. So Papa and I set out to rescue ye. Now … ye goin’ to repay our kindness by no’ takin’ a fit o’ the vapors as we untie ye?”
There was something genuine about the girl’s gruffness and her father’s gentleness. Relief crashed over me and I began to shake. Tears glittered in my eyes but I fought them, noticing L watching me carefully. “Of course.”
The man reached for me and gently cut the ropes around my wrists.
He hissed at the mess. They were red and bleeding. I imagined, overall, I wasn’t a pretty sight, covered in blood and bruises. Not to mention my trousers still stank of my fear. “Ma will have to be puttin’ some o’ her special medicine on to be sortin’ that mess out.”
I didn’t argue. I couldn’t continue my journey without getting cleaned up and hopefully fed. When Papa had cut the rope from my ankles, which were in much the same condition as my wrists, I numbly refastened my trousers and tried to pull the shirt together.