The North Star | COMPLETED ✔️

Chapter 59 ~ Focus On Me

Chapter 59

Bard moved me off of him and tried to stand, but he was too drunk. He hit the floor, and his eyes shot to mine. For the first time, I saw panic settle across his face. Bard was afraid, and the realization only increased my own terror.

We needed to get out of there. I needed to get us out of there.

I crouched down, gripped beneath his arms, and pulled.

Bard staggered up and leaned against the wall. "We need to get to the woods," he said, voice low.

I nodded. My blood rushed through me almost too fast for my veins to handle, and a tunnel formed within my thoughts. It blocked out the world until all that was left were tasks. Get to the door. Make it across the yard. Don't let them see you. Be quiet.

Bard draped an arm across my shoulders, while his opposite hand stayed glued to the wall. It was a slow trek to the back door, too slow. Thankfully, Drake's men didn't appear to be smart enough to think about us running.

"Can you manage to hold yourself up some?" I whispered up at him.

Bard's eyes squared. He gave me a sharp nod, then jerked his chin in a motion for me to open the door.

I held my breath and gripped the knob between fingers ghost-white. It gave a click that might as well have been a gunshot, and I slowly pulled it inwards as if my death stood on the other side.

Bard peeked around the frame, then took a wobbly step forward and jerked his chin. "Move fast." We darted out the back, broke into a run across the yard.

How he managed, I had no idea. He pulled me along by the arm, legs too long for me to keep up with, and each time I'd trip he'd yank me up before I had the time to touch the ground. We made it behind the tree line, and my shoulders slumped.

Bard's didn't. He leaned up against a tree, hyper alert and poised as his eyes scanned the area we'd left behind.

I followed his gaze.

Three men rounded the back. The moment they saw the backdoor stood open, they all three turned towards the tree line. I took a step back, even though they couldn't see me.

"Shit!" one of the men cursed. "Go tell Drake. If she gets away he's gonna be pissed."

Bard turned away from the scene. "Go." He nudged me forward, guided me through the foliage as he used tree after tree to support himself.

I focused on my steps, and fought to keep up, but he urged me on so quick, it was a struggle not to trip forward and fall on my face.

Even drunk, Bard didn't seem to have any problems navigating through the dense shrubbery and over the many tree roots. He stepped over branches with ease, and moved around dips and holes as if he had the entire place memorized.

"Go left," he hissed, his command harsh.

I didn't hesitate. I jumped over a log, and sprinted ahead of him.

"That big tree." He pointed. "There's a ladder over the lowest branch. Pull it down."

It took a minute, but I managed to find what he was talking about. When I tried to reach it, however, it was too high.

Bard staggered forward and reached around me. A rope ladder fell down with a rattling shake to swing back and forth in front of me.

"Climb up." He cast a glance behind us, scanned the darkness with a tight jaw.

I struggled. The ladder wouldn't stand still. It wobbled and jerked and sent me backwards until it almost seemed easier to fly up. If I could barely manage it sober, how did Bard plan to make it in his current state?