Chapter 19 HUNTED

Chapter 19 HUNTED
ETHAN'S POV
My legs screamed for me to stop. I kept running.
Kiera's weight made my arms shake. Blood dripped from her side, leaving a trail behind us.
"Put me down," she mumbled. "Too... heavy..."
"Never." I stumbled over a root but didn't fall.
Behind us, voices shouted. The assassins were tracking us. Following the blood trail we couldn't hide.
I had to find shelter. Had to stop the bleeding. Had to save her.
But how?
A cave appeared between two massive rocks. I ducked inside, laying Kiera gently on the ground.
Moonlight filtered through the entrance. Enough to see the knife wound in her side. Deep. So deep.
"This is bad," I whispered.
"I know." Kiera tried to smile. "Hurts."
My hands shook as I ripped strips from my shirt. I pressed them against her wound. She gasped in pain.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Tears filled my eyes. "I don't know what I'm doing."
"Neither do I." Kiera's laugh turned into a cough. "First time being stabbed."
"Don't joke. This isn't funny."
"Has to be. Otherwise I'll cry." Her hand found mine. Squeezed weakly. "Thank you. For not leaving me."
"I'll never leave you."
Outside, footsteps crunched closer. The assassins were searching. Getting nearer.
I held my breath. Held Kiera tighter. Prayed they wouldn't find us.
A shadow passed the cave entrance. Then another.
"The blood trail leads this way," a cold voice said. "They're close."
My heart hammered so loud I was sure they'd hear it.
"Check every cave. Every hollow. Lady Seraphina wants them dead by dawn." The assassin's voice was close. Too close. "And remember—there's extra gold if we bring back the girl's head."
Kiera's eyes went wide with fear.
I grabbed a rock from the cave floor. It wasn't much, but it was something.
Footsteps approached our hiding spot. A shadow fell across the entrance.
This was it. We'd been found.
Then a horn blasted in the distance. Long and loud.
"That's the retreat signal," someone said. "Royal soldiers must be coming."
"But we're so close—"
"Move! Now! We don't get paid if we're dead!"
The footsteps ran away. Fading into the forest.
I waited. Counting my heartbeats. Making sure it wasn't a trick.
When the forest stayed quiet, I finally breathed.
"They're gone," I told Kiera.
She didn't answer.
"Kiera?"
Her eyes had closed. Her skin felt burning hot.
"No, no, no." I shook her gently. "Stay with me. Please stay with me."
Her eyes opened a crack. "Tired..."
"I know. But you can't sleep. Not yet." I pressed harder on her wound. The makeshift bandage was already soaked through. "I need to stop the bleeding first."
"Can't stop it." Her words slurred together. "Too deep."
"Don't say that. You're going to be fine."
"Liar." She smiled weakly. "Bad liar."
I tore more strips from my shirt. Packed them against her wound. Tied them tight with trembling fingers.
The bleeding slowed. Just a little. Not enough.
"Water," Kiera whispered. "Thirsty."
"I don't have any. But I'll find some. I'll—"
"No." Her hand gripped my arm with surprising strength. "Don't leave. Please."
"I won't. I promise."
Hours crawled by like years. I held Kiera against my chest, trying to share my warmth. Her fever burned through both of us.
She drifted in and out of consciousness. Sometimes she knew where she was. Other times she called for her father. For her home. For things that weren't there.
"Papa?" she mumbled. "Papa, where are you?"
"Shh. I'm here. You're safe."
"No. Not safe. Never safe." Her head thrashed back and forth. "They're coming. Always coming."
"Nobody's coming. I won't let anyone hurt you."
As false dawn lit the sky, Kiera started shivering violently. Her teeth chattered. The fever was getting worse.
I held her tighter, as if I could squeeze the poison out of her body.
"Ethan?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I'm right here."
"I need to tell you something. In case I don't—"
"You're not dying. I won't let you."
"Listen." She grabbed my collar, pulling me close. Her eyes burned with fever and something else. Something that made my heart skip. "I'm falling in love with you."
The words hit me like lightning.
"What?"
"I fought it. Tried to pretend it wasn't happening." Her eyes fluttered closed. "But I am. I'm falling in love with you, Ethan Blackwood. And I needed you to know before..."
Her body went limp in my arms.
"Before what? Kiera? KIERA!"
She didn't respond. Her breathing was shallow. Rapid.
Panic clawed at my throat. Was she dying? Was I losing her?
I put my ear to her chest. Her heart still beat. Weak but steady.
She'd just passed out from fever. Nothing more. Nothing worse.
I laid her down gently and checked her bandages. Still bleeding, but slower now.
The sun rose. I watched light creep across the cave floor. Watched Kiera's chest rise and fall. Rise and fall.
She'd said she was falling in love with me.
The words repeated in my mind like a song. Like a prayer.
Did she mean it? Or was it just the fever talking?
I wanted to believe she meant it. Wanted it so badly it hurt.
But what if she didn't remember when she woke up? What if the fever stole those words away?
Morning turned to afternoon. Kiera's fever finally started to break. The terrible heat faded from her skin. Her breathing grew steadier.
I dozed off for a moment. Just a moment.
A sound woke me. Movement.
Kiera's eyes were open. Clear. Focused.
"Ethan?" Her voice was weak but normal. The delirium had passed.
"You're awake!" Joy flooded through me. "Thank God, you're awake."
"What happened? How long was I...?"
"You had a bad fever. All night and most of today." I helped her sit up carefully. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got stabbed by an assassin." She winced, touching her bandaged side. "Because I did."
"You saved my life. That knife was meant for me."
"I know." She looked at me strangely. "Did I... did I say anything weird? While I had the fever?"
My heart stopped.
This was it. The moment I'd find out if she meant what she said.
"You called for your father," I said carefully. "And you said some other things..."
"What kind of things?"
I opened my mouth. Closed it. What should I say?
If I told her about her confession and she didn't remember, it would make everything awkward. She might deny it. Might say it was just fever dreams.
But if I didn't tell her, I'd never know if she really meant it.
"Ethan?" Kiera watched me with those amber eyes. "What did I say?"
Before I could answer, voices echoed outside the cave.
Not assassins this time.
Soldiers. Lots of them.
And one voice I recognized immediately made my blood turn to ice.
"Search every cave in this area," Commander Vex ordered. "The traitors can't have gone far. Not with the girl wounded. I want them found. I want them dead. And I want it done before nightfall."
Kiera and I stared at each other in horror.
We were trapped in a cave with one exit. Kiera could barely walk. I had no weapons except a rock.
And the most dangerous man in the kingd
om was hunting us.
Outside, Vex's voice grew closer:
"Start with that cave. The one between the rocks."