His Lovely Ward

Chapter 5

“What—” she started to ask but couldn’t finish her words. “What…” She sat there, her cheek stinging, her nose clogged with drying blood and he was there, standing there—really standing there—with dirty boots, a gun, and a freaking flashlight.

“What’s what?” he asked harshly.

“What…” she actually wanted to ask him how he came here and why he looked like that. But her attention was again taken by the sound of Mr. Scarred Eye’s groan. “What did you do? Did you shoot him?” she asked instead.

“Did you hear a shot ring out?” he asked sarcastically, kicking Mr. Scarred Eye in the gut which sent him to roll on his back. Henry Bell then circled towards her back and worked on her already loose binds.

“What are you doing here? How did you find me? Do you know these guys?”

“Shut up, Dalton. I’m really pissed right now.”

“What?” she asked incredulously. “Pissed? With who? Me? What did I do?” she demanded, standing up when her hands were free. She felt for her cheek and winced, then she wiped her nose, and stared at the back of her hands. “Oh my God, I’m bleeding. My skin’s ruined.”

“Hey!” Henry shouted, gaining her attention. “Are you for real? Don’t you realize that you’ve just been kidnapped and that those guys outside could rouse any minute now?”

She looked at him strangely, feeling lost. “Didn’t you take care of them?”

“I did, but I didn’t kill them,” he snatched her hand and pulled her towards the door. “We have to go now.”

“Ow!” she shouted, taking her hand back. “It hurts! Oh my God,” she winced, massaging her hand.

“Can’t you just shut up for once? You could have been killed with that mouth of yours!” he shouted at her and without warning, bent down to carry her across and over his shoulders.

“What the hell are you doing? Bell! Get me down, you bastard!”

“Now I’m the bastard,” he grunted as he straightened on his feet and started walking. “I just saved you and I’m the bastard?”

“Get me down!” she wailed her arms around.

“If you don’t shut up, I’ll leave you to these guys and I won’t look back, understand? Just shut up!”

“How—” she started, but closed her mouth. He was freaking serious with his threat, she knew that, so she tried real hard not to open her mouth.

Henry carried her all the way and he never stopped for a rest. The man had been running at some point even, imagine that! And she had been really quiet. It was probably the longest time she endured the urge to say something and it was a record for her.

“You can put me down now, Bell. The shack is out of sight,” she finally uttered.

He did just that. But not like some knight who gently placed down the damsel in distress. He literally let go of her legs and arm and it sent her slipping off his shoulders and on the ground. “Hey! Watch it!”

Her guardian just looked down at her and said, “Get up. We have to go.”

“You’re such a bastard!” she cried out, flipping her hands out to take off some mud, straightened her dress which was now good for nothing because it looked like clay. “Ugh! I hate you!”

“Oh, that’s how you talk to your guardian now? The one you’ve been bragging about earlier?”

Angelica froze. “You heard that?”