Chapter 45 A War Criminal
Chapter 45 A War Criminal
CHAPTER 45: A War Criminal
Seraphine's POV
I was already moving before my mind fully caught up with my body.
The sound from the window came again softly and careful. Whoever it was knew what they were doing. I moved further into the shadows pressing my back to the wall and slowed my breathing and waited. The window creaked slightly as it opened just enough to let someone slip through.
I raised the dagger, ready to strike.
“Seraphine,” a voice whispered urgently and I froze in recognition.
“Baylor?” I hissed softly. “What in the gods’ names are you doing creeping through my window like a thief?”
His shape appeared fully now with moonlight cutting across his face. He looked tense with his eyes sharp and his breath uneven.
“I couldn’t come in openly,” he whispered. “If anyone saw me, they’d know I came to warn you.”
I frowned, lowering the dagger but not putting it away.
“Warn me about what? You’re scaring me.”
“There’s no easy way to say this,” he said, stepping closer. “Right now as we speak, a team of soldiers has been sent here with orders to arrest you.”
The words didn’t make sense at first and I stared at him, waiting for the rest.
“Arrest me… for what?”
His jaw tightened.
“Betrayal of the human kingdom and conspiracy with Lycans!”
For a second, the room spun as my head swarm with confusion.
“Are they fucking insane?” I snapped with my voice sharp despite the whisper. “They sent me there! They pushed me into that marriage and now suddenly I’m a traitor?”
“I know,” Baylor said quickly. “I know.. but logic left this place a long time ago. You don’t have time to argue or explain. Once they take you, you won’t see daylight again. Not before a trial.. maybe not ever.”
I suddenly felt like someone had wrapped a rope around me and pulled hard.
“A dungeon,” I muttered. “They want to throw me into a fucking dungeon!”
“Yes,” he said. “And you need to leave. Now.”
I didn’t hesitate again.
I grabbed my belt from the chair and wrapped it tightly around my waist with my fingers moving quickly with muscle memory.
The throwing knives slid into place and the dagger went where it belonged. I hesitated only a second before strapping the sword on too. If I was running, I was running prepared.
Baylor nodded in approval.
“Good. We go through the window. The house isn’t surrounded yet. The guards at the door don’t know but they will. Soon.”
I climbed onto the window ledge with heart pounding and then slipped down quietly into the night. Baylor followed, landing softly beside me. We crouched low and moved along the shadows, keeping to the narrow paths we’d learned as children.. the ones people forgot existed.
The town felt different at night.. quieter and heavier like it was holding its breath.
We made it to the stables without trouble, though every sound made my heart jump. Baylor grabbed two horses, dark-coated and strong and we mounted quickly with no saddle, no noise and slipped into the forest just as distant voices carried through the air behind us.
“Spread out!”
“Check every road!”
They were close.
We pushed the horses into a trot and then faster with branches whipping past amd the forest swallowing us whole. My heart thundered in my ears but beneath the fear was something else.. relief, movement and freedom.
After a while, I slowed my horse slightly and glanced at Baylor.
“You should go back.”
He looked at me like I’d just insulted him.
“What?”
“This is my mess,” I said. “If they catch you helping me, you’ll hang. You can still turn back.”
“And leave you alone?” he scoffed. “Absolutely not.”
“They’ll be hunting me,” I insisted. “Harder the farther I go.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ve always liked a challenge.”
Despite everything, a laugh slipped out of me.
“You can't be serious.”
“Where are you going?” he asked more seriously.
I hesitated.
The forest stretched ahead dark and endless and I already knew the answer even if saying it made my chest ache.
“Lycan territory.”
Baylor didn’t look shocked. He just nodded slowly.
“Figures.”
“You’re not angry?” I asked.
He snorted.
“About what?”
“I tried to kill him,” I said quietly.
“And yet,” Baylor replied gently, “you’re riding straight back to him.”
We rode hard after that in silence with the night stretching on and on. The stars shifted slowly overhead and my body ached but I didn’t slow.. not once.
As the sky began to lighten, Baylor finally spoke again.
“Does he love you?”
The question came so suddenly and unexpectedly.
“I… I think he does,” I said after a moment. “It’s complicated. He cares. I know that much. But he’s careful. He always thinks about what we are. What we’re not.”
“Lycan and human,” Baylor said.
“Yes.”
He was quiet for a bit snd then said, “That world is changing, Sera. Slowly, but it is. Race shouldn’t cage the heart.”
I shook my head.
“It doesn’t matter. I crossed a line I can’t uncross. I tried to kill him. That kind of thing doesn’t fade.”
“So why go back?” he asked softly.
I didn’t answer right away because the truth was ugly and simple.
“Because I have nowhere else to go,” I said finally. “And if I’m going to die… I’d rather it be by his hands than rotting in a human dungeon.”
Baylor didn’t argue. He just nodded like he understood more than I’d said.
My senses flared suddenly and I slowed my horse suddenly with breath catching.
“Wait.”
“What is it?” Baylor asked.
I closed my eyes for a second letting the forest speak to me. My heart skipped not with fear this time but with something warm and aching.
“I can feel him,” I whispered.
Baylor blinked.
“Feel who?”
“Aric,” I said with a smile breaking through before I could stop it. “We’re close.”
Before he could respond, the forest suddenly came alive.
A roar tore through the air deeply and furiously, shaking the ground beneath us as something massive slammed into Baylor’s horse from the side, sending him flying. I screamed his name as he hit the ground hard, rolling once before stopping.
“Baylor!” I cried, reaching for my sword as the forest closed in around us.
A wolf loomed over him with enormous, teeth bared and blood already staining its jaws as it clamped down at his neck…!