I was no longer willing to put her life at risk.
“Fine,” Serefin sighed, like he knew what I was thinking. “But I’m coming with you.”
My head snapped in his direction. Serefin was loyal, I knew that much. But this would be considered treason, even if he was simply assisting me in my journey to Fearford.
I nodded. “We leave before the morning. Adeline, get her cleaned up as well as you can. I don’t want any infections.”
Adeline nodded without looking away from her work. Her eyes welled with tears as she stared down at Jade. Adeline would be able to heal her wound enough for travel. That was at least one small perk of being in fae lands.
I placed a hand on my sister’s shoulder. “Thank you,” I whispered. “And thank you for being kind to Jade. I know she appreciated it.”
Adeline shook her head and tears fell down her face. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just want a normal family, Mal. This is so messed up. Jade was…different. She didn’t deserve any of this.”
“I know.”
Adeline looked at me with pure determination in her eyes. “You better take her far away from here, Mal. And don’t let those bastards lay another finger on what’s yours.”
CHAPTER 28
Jade
“Can you stand up?” Malachi whispered. Everything hurt, but he had an urgency in his voice that told me to push past it.
Adeline sensed it, stating, “Don’t push her, Mal. Maybe you should wait until–”
“No,” I said. “I’m fine. Really.”
I placed my feet on the ground and stood up, feeling the shooting pain of ripped skin on my back.
Adeline had wrapped me in bandages and given me a new shirt. My last one had been torn from my body in shreds.
Malachi’s hand was at my waist. “Only if you’re ready,” he said.
I saw the pain that flickered through his features as he surveyed my body. He was blaming himself for this.
He would have killed them all if it weren’t for me. I knew that too.
“I’ll make sure the coast is clear,” Adeline announced before taking off with Serefin, leaving Mal and I alone in the room.
“I’m so sorry Jade,” he said. “I swore to protect you and I failed. I failed you, and I’m sorry.”
“Don’t talk like that,” I said. I moved my hand to the back of his neck and rested my forehead against his. I didn’t care that it was an intimate touch, or that I was nearly on his lap at this point. “We’re in this together, Malachi. And I don’t blame you for your shit family. You can’t control that.”
He shook his head, not looking me in the eyes. “You shouldn’t have to put up with this, Jade. Any of this.”
“Neither should you.” I moved my hand to the side of his face and forced him to look at me. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now, Malachi. Your father is uncontrollable. Let’s get the Saints out of here before he changes his mind about letting us go.”
He nodded in understanding and helped me stand up, careful about not touching the bandages on my back.
I hissed in pain and squinted as my vision blurred, but I kept moving. If we stayed, it would be a death sentence. For both of us.
“Serefin and Adeline are coming with us?” I asked.
Malachi smiled. “It would be impossible to keep them away.”
“Loyal sons of bitches,” I joked. “At least we’ll have backup.”
A few minutes later, we were outside of the castle near the horse stables.
“Can you ride?” Malachi asked. I nodded, knowing damn well I had never ridden a horse before. But we were desperate. And it couldn’t be that hard, right?
Serefin and Adeline were strapping bags of food onto their own horses. “Are you sure about that?” he asked. “Because you look nervous.”
“I’m nervous because we’re about to go on a multiple day trek to a kingdom we’ve never stepped foot in. A kingdom that may want us dead. All while running from a king who may or may not want us dead, also.”
Malachi scoffed. “That’s nothing, princess. Piece of cake.”
We walked over to a massive white horse. Easily the biggest horse I had ever seen, but it’s not like we had many horses back home. “Alright,” Mal started. “Hop on.”
It was a test to see if I actually knew how to ride. He stood with his arms crossed, watching me expectantly.
I rolled my eyes and moved to grab the saddle, ignoring the screaming pain that followed every movement. I placed my foot in the stirrup that was nearly as high as my hip.