To Buy A Wife

Chapter 9

"Nooooooo." His scream vibrated at the base of his skull and sounded down into his chest.

Never make it. Too far away. He wasn't fast enough.

When he'd first ran out into the wet night and saw Lake on her knees, an Elder behind her, a sword at her neck, his world hazed red. The sky wept blood.

There was a moment when a robed man had tried to block Hudson's way. Fool. Hudson had pulled him in close, severed his hamstring. The man went down, dead before he even hit the ground. Another man tried. Another sword swung. Another dead body to add to the count.

Then there was nothing between him and Lake.

Never make it.

He could see Lake's face, wet in the rain, blue eyes focused on him. The Elder with the sword raised his arm. In a flash of light, his blade sliced the back of her neck. Hudson stumbled.

"You've been marked for execution," said the Elder, his voice traveling on the wind.

Faster. Hudson was running. He had to be running, except everything was so slow and Lake was still too far away. He watched the clumps of her wet hair fall to the ground. A few strands floated on the puddle by her knees.

Her mouth formed words. Screw that. She would not say good-bye to him. He would not let her die. Not here. Not at the hands of some monster.

His gaze never left her eyes. He lifted his ax and threw.

***

Something warm sprayed Lake's cheek. She jerked her head up and blinked at Face of Ram' face split wide. An ax buried dead center. This was no vision.

Lake whipped back around. Hudson charged at her, naked steel in his hand, a warrior's cry on his lips. And this was no angel.

If Face of Ram wasn't dead already, he would've been after Hudson separated his head from his body. Hudson wasted no time. He walked over, braced his boot against the lopped off head and recovered his ax. Then turned toward her.

His weapons were tightly gripped and ready at his sides. Gore splattered his shirt. His hair wept dark rivulets down his face. His lips were wet with blood.

Lake sat stunned. She was so sure she was going to die. So sure that stepping out of Hudson's house would've been the last thing she had done. She had no contingency plan. There was no after for her.

Hudson was by her side and raising her to her feet. His brown eyes were hooded and dark. Rage swarmed their depths, and for the first time she glimpsed at what men on the pointy side of his blade saw. She swallowed.

"Rule one. Never turn a lock against me."

She nodded, but had started to come out of her fog. Realizing they weren't out of danger, she grabbed her sword. She took up the position of guarding her husband's back, surprised at how easy it was to become his partner. "I thought rule number one was not to kill you?"

Men came at them from both sides. Lake readied her weapon, a reserve of adrenaline charging through her body.

"Consider rule number one to have both an A and B part to it."

Lake laughed, which sounded strange against the bass beat of war. Against the sound of a battle cry, the clash of steel, and the growling of dogs. Dogs?

Lake looked and saw the bared fangs of the hounds as they charged through the mud and rain. Hudson's men were already engaging in the battle.

"About bloody time," Hudson muttered, as he pushed her aside and delivered her would-be attacker a death blow.

Within no time only a handful of Elders remained standing. With their numbers greatly reduced and their leader dead, the call for retreat was sounded.

Of course, no one called off the hounds from hell.

The torches that hadn't been doused by the rain were quickly extinguished as they one by one were dropped to the ground. Lake was glad. She'd seen enough killing to last a lifetime. Besides, the screams and growls were more than sufficient.

A few of Hudson's men ran into the night to chase after the dogs. Most stayed by their master, a few still unsteady on their feet.

"Where the hell were you?" Hudson shouted.

A shorter man with dark features and straight black hair shrugged, though his face held the pale look of worry. "Sorry, Hudson. We're not sure what happened. One moment we were toasting to your Marking, and the next we woke to the sounds of battle."

"Face of Ram admitted to drugging the wine," Lake said. There was a cold burning on her arm. She looked down and saw a dark bloom spreading along her sleeve. "He followed the Marker to me. It was his plan to take me as his wife all along. He killed my parents because my father refused his suit in the first place. His raid for contraband had only been a convenient excuse."

"Then he was the one?"

She looked at Face of Ram and nodded.

"I'm so sorry," he said, putting his arm around her waist and leading her into the house. "I should've held him down while you ran him through with your sword."

Lake looked up at him. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the battle or simply the joy of living another day, but for the first time she realized the weight in her heart was gone. "No, I'm just glad he's dead."

"So am I."