The King

chapter 35

Still encased in his arms I peered up at him with wet eyes. He was gently shushing my every hiccup, and I shook against him.

"He's gone now, Dawn. There's nothing to worry about." He said reassuringly but I found a fault in his statement.

"No, he's still out there." I looked up at him. "With him roaming the streets there'll always be something to worry about."

His lips pursed at my words, "I shouldn't have let him go. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I sat up, removing myself from his hold. "You said you'd keep me safe and you did. Thank you."

His eyes held regret, for many reasons. I felt his mood shift drastically, and his ears twitched slightly. He looked at me before he got up. "Did you call the police?"

"Yeah. Why what's wrong?" I asked getting up with the help of his hand, I thought he would let go after I was on my own two feet but he still kept it in his hold.

"It's going to be a bit difficult to explain this all to them, don't you think?" he referred to him being a werewolf. I nodded at his words. "I can hear the sirens, I'd say they're a good three miles away. We should most likely leave now." And with his hand in mine, he started to drag me towards the front door which lay face down in the living room. I tugged his hand back.

"I'm not leaving Mandy." And I let go of his hand and walked towards her unconscious form. I kneeled down and pushed her hair off her forehead where a bruise was beginning to appear.

I saw him fidget and look at the door, "Let's hope doing this won't slow us down." And I shook my head.

"It won't."

He walked over to us and slipped a muscular arm under her legs and lifted her up, her head wobbled back as he got up. I felt guilt gnaw away at my stomach, I let this happen to her. "Walk in front of me alright? I need to keep you in my sight of vision." I stepped in front of him and we walked out of the small apartment, he took the stairs two at a time until we reached just outside of the lobby. There was no one around, everyone most likely ran and hide in their own dwellings the minute they heard gunshots. We walked out of the complex and continued forwards until I saw a sleek black truck parked in front of us. "Can you open the back seat door?" I nodded and did a little run and opened it wide open. Lucas stepped in front and positioned Mandy on the seat so she would lay comfortably down. He moved out of the way and opened the passenger side door and gestured for me to hop in. I quickly got in, not wanting to spend a second out here. He closed it gently behind me and I saw him run over to his side of the car, he opened the door and got in quickly. Closing the door quickly and not wasting a second before he took the truck out of park and into drive, and teetering on the speed limit as he rushed to get us away from the scene of the crime.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we entered a lane. I shifted my head to the side and stared at his profile, the lights from buildings outside illuminated his face and I couldn't look away.

He licked his lips before responding. "We can't go back to your apartment, its too big of a risk." He swerved onto the freeway. "Best bet would be to stop at a motel along the way back to the castle." I simply nodded and looked out of the window. New York truly was the city that never slept. Bright lights flashed, cars drove, and people stayed out. I tried reading every sign that came into view, look at any person I saw sitting inside of a restaurant, anything to keep myself distracted.

I guess it didn't work out well since a lone tear fell from my damp eyes and my nose started sniffling. I felt warmth enclose my hand and I jumped up, not expecting it. I turned to face Lucas and he glanced from the road in front of him to me. "Can I?" And he held his hand out open, I looked at it before shaking my head, and my own hand to leave his. He just nodded, understanidng that I still had sore spot towards him, he turned his head to focus on the road as we watched the busy city life disappear behind us.