Chapter 214: Stubborn brat.
~Alexis POV~
We had been walking for about an hour when I felt a strange tingling on my neck.
"Ow," I said, touching the spot where it hurt.
"What's wrong?" Cassius asked.
"My neck feels weird. Like something is burning."
He stopped walking and turned to look at me. His eyes went wide.
"Alexis. Your neck."
"What about it?"
"There are marks on it. Three of them. And they're glowing."
I touched my neck again. I could feel raised bumps on my skin that hadn't been there before.
"What kind of marks?"
"They look like... symbols. I've never seen anything like them."
The tingling got stronger. Then suddenly, I heard a voice in my head.
'Alexis. Are you in danger?'
It was Lucien's voice. Clear as if he was standing right next to me.
'Lucien?' I thought back.
'I felt your distress. The marks allow us to communicate. Are you hurt?'
'I'm okay. But people are chasing us.'
'Where are you?'
'I don't know. In a forest somewhere.'
'Stay safe. I am coming.'
Then the voice faded away. The marks on my neck stopped glowing.
"Alexis?" Cassius was staring at me with a worried look. "What just happened?"
"It was Lucien. He was talking to me through the marks."
"The vampire?"
"Yes. He could sense I was in trouble."
Cassius's face got dark. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know. But he said he would try to find us."
"Great. Just what we need. Another complication."
Before I could ask what he meant, we heard horses coming through the trees.
"They found us again," Cassius said. "How do they keep doing that?"
"Maybe someone is tracking us with magic?"
"Maybe. We need to run."
We started running through the forest. But I was still weak from losing so much blood. My legs felt heavy and my breathing was hard.
"I can't keep up," I said.
"Then I'll carry you."
"No. I can do this."
"Alexis, you're barely healed. You need to..."
"I said I can do it!"
The horses were getting closer. I could hear men shouting behind us.
We came to a small hill covered in rocks. Perfect place to make a stand.
"We should fight them here," I said.
"No. We keep running."
"But this is a good spot. We could..."
"We are not fighting. You can barely stand up."
"I'm fine!"
I picked up a rock and threw it at one of the soldiers who had caught up to us. It hit him in the head and he fell off his horse.
"See? I can fight."
"Alexis, no!"
But I was already grabbing another rock. More soldiers were coming up the hill.
I threw the second rock but my aim was bad. It missed completely.
A soldier on a black horse rode straight at me. I tried to dodge but I was too slow.
His sword cut across my arm. Blood started flowing down to my elbow.
"Alexis!" Cassius roared.
He killed the soldier with one swing of his sword. Then he grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder.
"Put me down!" I yelled.
"Shut up!"
He ran down the other side of the hill carrying me like a sack of grain.
Behind us, more soldiers were coming. Their horses were fast.
Cassius ran through thick bushes and jumped over fallen trees. All while carrying me.
I could hear the soldiers getting closer.
"There!" one of them yelled. "I see them!"
An arrow flew past my head.
"They're shooting at us!" I said.
"I noticed!"
Cassius ducked behind a big tree just as another arrow hit the bark where my head had been.
"This is bad," I said.
"You think?"
He set me down and looked around the tree. There were at least ten soldiers coming toward us.
"Can you run now?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then run. And this time, don't try to fight anyone!"
We ran deeper into the forest. The trees were thicker here. Harder for the horses to follow.
After about ten minutes, we couldn't hear the soldiers anymore.
Cassius stopped running and set me down by a big rock.
"Let me see your arm," he said.
The cut wasn't too deep but it was still bleeding.
"It's fine," I said.
"It's not fine. Nothing about this is fine."
He tore a piece of cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around my arm.
"You are going to be the death of me," he said angrily.
"I was trying to help."
"By throwing rocks? While you can barely stand up?"
"I can stand up fine!"
"Really? Because you almost got yourself killed back there."
His voice was getting louder.
"Are you always this excited to get hurt? Do you enjoy making me carry your bleeding body through the forest?"
I felt my face get hot with anger.
"I am not excited to get hurt! I was trying to fight!"
"Well you're terrible at it!"
"Excuse me?" I stood up fast. "I was the best warrior in my clan!"
"Could have fooled me."
"And I'm a princess! You should mind the way you speak to me!"
Cassius laughed but it wasn't a nice sound.
"A princess? Right now you're not a princess. You're just a stubborn brat who's seeking death!"
"How dare you call me a brat!"
"If the name fits!"
"I am not seeking death! I'm trying to survive!"
"By getting yourself stabbed every five minutes?"
"That's not my fault!"
"It is your fault! If you would just listen to me and stay out of fights..."
"I don't need to listen to you!"
"Yes, you do! I'm trying to keep you alive!"
"I can keep myself alive!"
"Obviously not!"
We were both yelling now. Standing very close to each other with angry faces.
"You're impossible!" I shouted.
"You're infuriating!" he shouted back.
"I hate you!"
"I hate you too!"
We glared at each other, both breathing hard.
Then suddenly, the wind picked up.
Not a gentle breeze. A harsh, strong wind that made the trees bend and creak.
The sky started getting dark. Not like sunset dark. Like storm dark.
But there were no clouds.
The wind got stronger. It was howling through the trees now.
"What's happening?" I asked.
Cassius looked around with worried eyes. "I don't know."
Leaves and small branches flew through the air. The temperature dropped fast.
It went from warm to cold in just a few seconds.
"This isn't natural," Cassius said.
The darkness was getting thicker. Soon we could barely see each other even though we were standing right next to each other.
The wind was so loud now we had to yell to hear each other.
"Have they found us again?" I asked.
But even as I said it, I knew this wasn't caused by soldiers.
This was something else. And somehow I knew what that was.
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