Chapter 9
The Mad Dash and the End of the Road
When Callie woke in the morning, her body ached in a way that was entirely unfamiliar to her. Then the night before flashed through her mind. She bolted up and looked at the bed beside her.
“I have your breakfast.”
Her eyes moved to the door where Caden stood, fully dressed with another breakfast sandwich, this time with a bread she did not recognize. “We need to move because I have caused us to lose time.”
Callie moved to get out of bed, then realized that she was naked. Resisting the urge to cover up, she looked at her guardian for answers about what came next. Caspian had been right, but Callie doubted that such a realization would be welcome to Caden. According to Caspian, Caden was entirely against having a relationship with his charge.
Caden turned so that he could not see her. “I will be downstairs. If you need anything, just call my name and I will come back.” He did not wait for an answer before leaving.
Callie was at a loss for what to do. She was in way past any experience she had ever had, and none of it had been planned. Three days ago, she had never even seen Caden. The only thing that she was certain of was that she didn’t want to lose him, not even for a day. The idea of him dying to protect her was now unthinkable. Moving to where her dress had been thrown the day before, Callie found it cleaned and hanging from a nearby wardrobe.
She dressed much quicker than the previous day, not needing any assistance getting the dress on. For a moment, Callie realized that she didn’t feel tired or weak anymore, whether from the near constant sleep or something else she didn’t know. She picked up the sandwich, opened the door, then decided to try something. Closing her eyes, Callie looked for the thread to Caden. It was there, much stronger than it had been the last time she looked, but the hue had changed. Instead of a brilliant gold color, it had pinkish tones with red streaks through it. Uncertain what that meant, she followed it down the stairs.
When she got downstairs, Caden seemed to materialize beside her. “I could not get a horse, so we will have to continue as we did yesterday. I do apologize and hope that it does not make you uncomfortable now.”
“Why would I be—”
Caden shook his head and led her out the door. They walked at a very brisk pace. Callie realized that her bag was thrown over his shoulder. She hadn’t eaten a bite of the breakfast, but at the minute she didn’t feel hungry.
“Um, Caden?” Her voice was quiet as she tried to get his attention. He continued to hold her hand and walk in front of her. “Caden?” She raised her voice a little.
He turned slightly, but didn’t slow.
Callie held out the sandwich. “I'm not very hungry, but I’m pretty sure you haven’t eaten since my shop. Thank you for the food, but I’m positive you need it more than I do.”
Caden waved a hand and said nothing as he turned his head back to the dirt road. His behavior was even more unnerving than the way he had acted after the encounter with Caspian.
“Caden, I don’t want you to suffer from exhaustion.” He did not respond. “If you don’t eat, that is going to slow us down.”
That seemed to get his attention. He looked at her, then to the sandwich. Abruptly he stopped. Unable to meet her eyes, he took the sandwich, broke it in half and handed it to her. He then took her hand and began walking quickly. “Please eat, we won’t be able to stop for a while.”
Those were the last words spoken between them for several hours. Once they were out of the town, he shifted without a word. Callie carefully climbed on his back and held on as he seemed to move much faster. The world around them passed quickly and Callie was left alone with her thoughts. As worried as she felt she should be about the starving young woman, her village, Jade and her family, and Caspian, Callie’s mind couldn’t think about anything other than the situation with Caden. He was obviously upset, and that meant that they were at risk of him doing something too dangerous. Not that she was worried about herself—she was terrified what it would mean he would do to himself.
Time had no meaning as they moved, but she knew they were going faster than she had ever gone on a horse. Hoping that he wasn’t trying to kill himself through overexertion, she tried to think of a way to get him to stop.
Then suddenly, he did.
His voice spoke to her mind, “Please slide off. Quickly.”
Callie did as he asked, feeling a little dizzy from the sudden change.
He picked her up and ran into the forest. Very aware of the feel of Caden’s muscles moving against her body as he ran, Callie had trouble focusing on his words. “Not fast enough. I didn’t get us far enough, fast enough.”
They burst into a small clearing, and she began to experience déjà vu. Her head turned toward a small cluster of trees on the other side. Caden was running in that direction.
Suddenly a horse stepped out of the trees, and she saw a man who looked very familiar. Caden put her down and moved slightly in front of her.
“Well, today is just a round of pleasant surprises. I thought we were dealing with a new guardian given all of the basic mistakes.” Several more men on horses stepped out from the woods, their bows strung and ready to shoot.
Caden held an arm out in front of her, clearly trying to protect her and then it clicked. She had seen this before. The men dressed like the rider that Caden had killed when they first met. The surroundings. Everything was happening just as it had in the dream.
Caden’s voice was a snarl as he spoke to the men, “You wouldn’t dare try to shoot a mystic with arrows. That would destroy everything in the area for the next 300 years. You would die, and I know how willing your kind are to sacrifice yourselves. Turn and leave now, and I will not send someone to take care of you.”
One of the men sneered in response, “We don’t need to worry about your threats. If it is a matter of dying here and dying by the hands of our master, burning alive doesn’t seem so bad.” His words seemed to be a sign to the other men. As if acting as a single unit, the five men released their arrows.
Just before they released their arrows, Callie pushed him forward. Knocked off balance, he tumbled to the ground, turning to face her. There was a look of dread on his face as he watched the arrows soar toward her. His legs moved faster than she could have imagined, knocking her off balance. Now with both on the ground, the men were muttering.
One of the arrows had grazed her shoulder. One look at the wound and Caden’s eyes almost seemed to reflect fire. The snarl was primal as he changed form. The closest man didn’t even have a chance to get his arrow out of its sheath before Caden had dragged him off his horse. Using his powerful neck, Caden threw the now limp man at the next closest horse, terrifying the creature. It reared up and threw the man from its back. There was the sickening sound of bone crunching as his head slammed into a tree and the man flopped down to the ground. Caden sprang in the other direction, dragging another man from his horse. By the time he was back on his feet, Caden turned on the last man, the one who had taunted him.
The man had had just enough time to draw an arrow. Caden growled as he looked down the shaft at the man. “Almost, Caden, you almost made up for your mistakes.” Suddenly a blast of fire flew out of the air and struck the man in the head.
Caden turned in the direction from where the fireball had come. Callie stood there, a look of fury on her face. Her voice was almost a snarl as the man burned a few hundred feet from her. “So, what do you think? Burning still seem preferable, you bastard?”
His screams seemed to disappear as the world spun and blacked out. Her last thoughts were of a warm sensation that enveloped her as her brain shut down.