Perilous Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #2)(21)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“She will do no such thing. I will not have my betrothed exposed to the elements.” Liam gave the man a steely glance and pulled me closer. His use of the word betrothed surprised me. He stayed in character so well.

The cold air shocked my face as the scarred guard pulled back my hood. “I see why you were hiding her. Pretty girl.” The man reached toward my face, but Liam captured his fist in his hand.

“Do not touch her!” Liam bellowed, hesitating a moment before releasing the man’s fist. We had the attention of all of the guards.

A blond man sauntered closer and started to laugh. “She is about to become yours forever, and you want to deprive us a peek?”

Liam struggled to push me behind him. I didn’t mean to fight him, but I was too nervous to move. I was surprised James hadn’t gotten involved yet. Once again, I felt a seed of doubt grow in the pit of my stomach, but then I realized James also had to hide his face. The Bravado would be sure to recognize him.

“You have had your fun. Now we must be on our way.” Monty spoke with an air of authority I rarely heard him use.

The man with the scar gave Monty an appraising look. “Why in such a rush? We have barely gotten to know you.”

“It is cold. We must make it to camp before nightfall.”

“Well, it is getting late. Why not join us for your camp tonight? I assure you we will take good care of your precious cargo.” I didn’t need to look up to know he was talking about me. I instinctively moved closer to Liam. A strong hand settled on my back, and I realized Lawson had moved to my other side.

“That will not be necessary; we will be on our way.” Monty started to move forward, but the red-haired soldier blocked him with his arm.

“I must insist. It looks like a storm is coming, and I cannot in good conscience leave a girl out there in the weather.” He gave me a smile with implications I didn’t like. I wished I could change the weather, but that would give me away.

Monty nodded toward Lawson and Liam. “Her welfare is not your concern. She is with us.”

“You do not really believe that, do you?” The red-haired man moved within inches of Monty.

“Of course we do. As I said, she has no family. She chose to agree to the union.”

“You can stop the pretense. We know who you are. Or shall I say, we know who she is.” I shivered as the scarred man ran his fingers through my hair.

Monty wiped his forehead. “I do not know what you are talking about.”

“The girl belongs to the Gerard. And the welfare of the Essence is certainly our concern.” The blond man appeared ready to try to touch me again.

James jumped in front of me. “This is only going to end one way.”

“I thought that was you. Still playing games, James?” Scarface asked.

In the blink of an eye, everyone had their swords drawn.

“What do you need to let us pass?” James’s voice was hard, and I felt guilty for my earlier doubts.

“Like we want anything you have. Too bad she is off limits.” The man’s smile was cruel, and I cringed.

“I can pay you a lot more than you are getting from my father.”

“And how much is that?” The red-haired man sounded curious, and I became hopeful.

James pulled a small black satchel from his bag and held it toward the soldiers. Red-hair looked into the bag, but James pulled it away before he could grab it. “Shall we discuss terms?”

A confused expression crossed the soldier’s face. “What terms do you want? We let you go, and you give us the gold.”

“That might be enough for one bag. What can we negotiate for two?” For once, I was relieved to see the familiar smirk on James’s face.

“What do you want?” Red-hair asked.

“You report none of this to my father. You never saw us.”

“And how do you expect to hold us to that?”

“Do you really want to question me?” With his sword raised, James moved toward the man. “Do you know what my father would do to you if he knew you were accepting a bribe?”

“Give us both bags, and we never saw you.”

“My pleasure.” James pulled a second pouch from his pack. He threw the bags of gold into the woods. “Have a nice night.”

Liam and Lawson pushed me forward, and I tried to calm my shaking. The thought of going back to Blake terrified me, as did the thought of failing my mother. We had to get to her. We moved at a quick pace, but I couldn’t help constantly glancing behind me.

“They are not following us, Charlotte. Trust me,” James said.

“If you say so,” I responded barely loud enough for him to hear.

Evidently, he had good hearing. “I do. Come on. We have to keep moving so we can get far enough away to make camp.”

James disappeared in the distance, presumably to seek out a good campsite. Liam and Lawson were both still tight against my sides, and I could feel Monty behind me. For all my complaining, I was glad to have so many strong guys with me.

Chapter Twelve

Kevin

I woke up stiff as a board from sleeping on the floor. I could have asked for the bed after all of the excitement with Ollis agreeing to back us, but considering Bry was the one who had gotten us the room in the first place, I let him have it. My body protested, making me regret the decision.

I stood and stretched. “So what are the plans for today?”

“You meet the rest of the council. But first, we have breakfast.” Bry smiled. Evidently, he had slept well.

After a quick shower—it was nice to see that Alak had indoor plumbing—I followed Bry and Henry downstairs to the lobby. We walked over to the front desk and were each handed a brightly colored drink. Mine was red. I was prepared for something disgusting, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that it tasted like a fruit smoothie. Between the plumbing and the smoothie, Alak started earning serious points with me.

Unlike the night before, tables were set up throughout the large glass room. We immediately walked over to where Samantha, Naomi, and Ada sat with their own drinks.

“Good morning, Kevin.” Samantha’s cheerfulness caught me off guard.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I hoped I didn’t sound too lame.

“Very well. Thank you for asking.”

After an awkward silence, I asked, “So what happens when I meet the council?”

“Ultimately you need to persuade them to join us, but for today, your goal is to convince the council to hold a public hearing.” Bry said that as though he actually believed it answered my question.