Crash and Burn (1)

i know what you want better than you do

♚ ♛

EVEN WITH THE REMINDER, my heart sped up.

A crash broke through the thin wood that separated us from whatever the hell was going on. Louder voices. A slam.

It echoed through my ears.

"Soren..." I barely breathed, listening acutely for Morena's soft voice. His hand lowered from my face slowly. "Soren."

She had nothing to do with this. She was harmless. She was about to become a fucking casualty.

They would kill her.

Breathe.

"No, Soren." I hissed, suddenly pushing against his chest. "No."

They could not kill her.

Soren remained still, my attempt at shoving him completely useless. He didn't even budge. What was he made of? Steel?

Her voice cut through my panic, soft, but unintelligible.

Soren didn't hide. Soren didn't run. He fought. So why had our roles suddenly switched?

I didn't even realize that I was gasping until his palm pushed against my lips again. "Lacey, I swear..."

I stilled, looking up through unshed tears to see his conflicted expression. "But Morena."

His lips twisted slightly when I said her name, but he didn't move. Hard as granite, his eyes drilled into mine. "Lo siento, princesa."

He was going to let her fucking die?

Some type of growl came up my throat, muffled by his rough palm. No. No. No.

Breathe.

I pushed forward angrily, trying to snap at his fingers. This time, we shifted, if only an inch, but it was short-lived as Soren suddenly gripped my hip tightly. Pinning me against the wall harshly, he ducked down to level his eyes with mine. "Lacey, I will fucking knock you out."

Behind his hurried hiss, the voices had rose again. Loud and angry. That distinctly feminine voice floated through the haze of voices like a knife. It cut deeper than Soren's sudden grip on my throat.

There was a threat in his eyes. Though it was blurry through my tears, I could see it. I could see the warning. "As long as you shut the hell up, she will be fine."

Breathe.

"Do you want to be the reason she dies?"

Everything froze with those deadly words. They were meant to hurt. I could see it. Soren didn't realize it yet, but sometimes he wielded words more dangerously than weapons. He always knew exactly what to say to hurt me.

As one traitorous tear finally rolled over my cheek, Soren exhaled softly. His chest lifted ever so slightly as a thumb suddenly brushed the tear away. "She will be fine. I promise."

His words did nothing to calm me down. They were laughable. As the voices outside the door grew louder and the tension in my chest bloomed, I blinked rapidly up at him. Expecting him to do something.

I'd only just met her. I'd only just met her and she could end up dead.

Slumping with defeat as he released me, I nodded numbly.

She wouldn't be the first person to die. And she wouldn't be the last. The look in Soren's eyes was full of a resolution...as if he knew it too.

Selfish. We were selfish. The two of us would survive and that was all that mattered.