Chapter 46
Chapter 46
CHAPTER 46
KILLIAN'S POV
"Tell me what you found out," I demanded.
We'd all been waiting for the scouts to get back with information from Greywood since we'd breached their territory and laid in hiding, wondering if we should arrive diplomatically or covertly. But based on the grim expressions of my scouts, I was expecting it would be the latter now.
Vin nudged Glenn forward, who glared at him. He stuttered, looking at my feet. "It's not good news, Alpha. They have our Luna imprisoned. Rumor is...she killed their Alpha."
I sucked in my breath. She wouldn't. "How and why would she do that?"
"They think she did it on our orders with witchcraft."
Sarah. And now Zeke was their Alpha, and he certainly was going to put Vivian to death. "Where do they have her? And what did you do with the informants?"
Vin and Glenn looked at each other. "They won't talk."
I didn't need to hear any more about their methods. Blackmoon got the information they needed; that's all that mattered right now and Vivian's safety. Vin and Glenn were violent, but they didn't kill without justification. Hence, I wasn't worried about that.
I turned towards Marcus. "Diplomacy isn't going to work here. We're going to need to wait until nighttime and free her."
He nodded. "Of course. I'll start planning our course of action with the others now. Did you want to be there when we entered?"
"I want to be the one she sees first."
He grinned. "Knight in shining armor."
I shrugged. "Something like that."
VIVIAN'S POV
I wondered how long I'd wait for Chris to do something. It had been hours since I'd seen him last, and no one had come to see me since. I hadn't even gotten dinner. I guess they decided they'd starve me out now for my confession.
I looked out the small window I had, staring at the moon. How could the Moon Goddess betray me so much? Had I done something to anger her? Or was there something I wasn't doing? Or maybe this was all I tested, and I shouldn't be questioning her now?
A thump outside my window had me sitting up. What was that? I stood and went to my window, peering out, but saw nothing. My mind was playing tricks on me at this point. I should get to sleep, not that I had anything else to do. Sleep and wait to confess to something I didn't do. Chris may come tonight.
I laid back down, trying to find the most comfortable position on a dirt floor. But that's impossible. I closed my eyes, feeling tears build but squeezing them away. I hadn't cried yet, and I refused to now.
Shouting had me opening my eyes again, and it came from down the hall. Then, a banging door and footprints. Springing to my feet, I ran to the bars. Chris. He came for me. But there was a lot of shouting. Had he brought more people with him?
But the face that I saw first wasn't Chris. It was Killian. I burst out with a grin. Killian. He saw me, and a flash of anger crossed his face, but was quickly replaced with a grin when he saw me smiling. "Vivian, you're safe."
He nodded behind him, Marcus stepping around him, holding a ring of keys. He shifted through them, trying them each on my cell door until he found the right one, unlocking my cell. I rushed out, wrapping my arms around Killian, who lowered his lips to mine quickly, kissing me. I responded briefly, a slight grin crossing his lips. "Let's get out of here. We've made a bit of a mess."
I arched my eyebrows, pulling away. "A mess?"
"Don't worry about that—just some fires. No one was hurt...much. They'll live. But we're definitely on Zeke's shitlist."
"Killian!"
"I wasn't going to let them murder you."
I nodded. He did what he needed to. He grabbed my hand, pulling me as he started down the hallway, but I tugged at him. "Chris. We have to get him. We have to save him."
Killian glared. "We don't have time right now."
"I used my magic to help him already, and he's not fully warped anymore. If Sarah finds out, he'll be in danger. We need to get him now."
"Fully warped? This means he's not fully healed either, and bringing him along will put you in danger, too. No, we can't risk it."
I tugged again. "I'm not leaving without him."
Killian sneered. "Fine."
He motioned at Marcus, who rolled his eyes. "Got it. Go get the dumb one."
I smiled weakly. "Thank you."
"Can we go now?"
I nodded, let him pull me forward, and started running behind him, his grip on my arm not leaving. We needed to be quick. I'm sure Zeke would declare war on Blackmoon for sure now. But by Sarah's declaration, this was bound to happen anyway, so I couldn't feel guilty about saving myself.
As we exited the cells and headed out of the building, I realized that Killian hadn't been kidding about the fire. There was fire everywhere. And citizens everywhere. They were dousing the fires out, not even noticing our team exiting. He was smart. They were too distracted to bother us. I just hoped no one would get hurt.
We continued to run towards the gate. The guards, surely they'd stay in position. But as we neared the gate, I saw only one. But two of Killian's men ran forward, shifting and jumping on the guard, pinning him down. The rest of us didn't break speed. The gate opened quickly, and we ran through, out into the dark forest.
We ran through the night. We shifted and didn't stop. No meals, no breaks. We didn't wait behind for Marcus or Chris, but they stayed on my mind. I knew Marcus found Chris, and they'd be behind us, though.
It was well past daybreak when we reached Blackmoon territory—almost noon. I was exhausted, and I just wanted to tumble into bed. After some food. And water. Lots of water. Ivy hated me right now, but she understood.
We shifted back once we saw the gates, the guards hurriedly opening up for us. I stumbled forward, falling into Killian's arms, the exhaustion taking over. He must have been exhausted, too, but that didn't stop him from lifting me and cradling me in his arms as we walked through the entry.
Blackmoon citizens instantly surrounded us, excited and happy to see us. There were some with water, which I instantly grabbed, chugging. They knew we were exhausted. Killian whispered, "I'll have someone draw you a bath and bring you breakfast."
I looked up at him, wiping the water from my chin. "Thank you."
More shouts, and I looked over his shoulder. Chris and Marcus were walking through the gates now. I squirmed out of Killian's arms, dropping the water skin I'd been holding to rush over to Chris. Marcus had been holding him by his neck and tossed Chris forward by his neck, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees.
I crouched down, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Chris, are you okay?"
He looked up, glaring at me. "Why am I here?"
I blinked. "We saved you."
He spat at me. "Saved me? It's more like kidnapped me. Again."
My magic hadn't worked. He was back to being under Sarah's lapdog. How had Marcus gotten him here then? I looked up at Marcus. Marcus must have seen the unspoken question in my eyes. "I told him if he didn't come with me, that I'd murder Sarah."
He shrugged as I looked back at Chris. "It's okay. We're able to help you now."
He yelled in my face. "I don't need help! I need to go back home!"
I looked up at Marcus, who came and grabbed Chris by the neck again. "Come on, dummy. We'll put you in a nice little room while you simmer down until we can get your head looked at."
I sighed, watching Chris leave with Marcus. Turning around, I saw Killian glaring at me. I stood, walking over to him. "I thought he was okay. I thought I saved him."
"Your magic isn't strong enough to save him."
"But your healers can save him now."
"We didn't need to prioritize him right now. But that's not my issue now."
I looked into his eyes. "Then what is?"
"You. You're always going to be more worried about him than yourself. Then me."
I put my hand on his chest. "Chris means a lot to me. You know that."
He put his hand over mine. "But how much more?"
With that, he turned and walked away.