Page 24

Chapter 24

Fantasia

T he world is a blur of fire and smoke, screams and gunfire.

I don’t know when I lost Piers. One moment, his hand was gripping mine so tightly it hurt, grounding me as we tore through the trees. The next-

I saw him go down.

The crack of something hard against his head rang out, and his body crumpled like his legs had been cut from under him. I stumbled toward him, heart hammering, but the fight swallowed him up. Shadows surged in from every side- fists flying, bodies crashing- and no matter how hard I pushed through the chaos, I couldn’t reach him.

I heard him shout something- maybe my name, maybe a warning- before another gunshot split the air, and I ducked low, my breath coming in ragged bursts.

Then everything blurred- shouting, footsteps pounding in all directions- and when I looked back to where he'd fallen, he was gone.

“Piers?” I rasp, but my voice is swallowed by the chaos.

I turn, ready to run back into the madness to find him-

A hand clamps around my wrist.

I barely have time to gasp before I’m yanked around, crashing into a solid chest. A man. His grip is iron-strong, unyielding. My heart slams against my ribs, my pulse a wild, frantic thing.

And then- I see him.

For a second, my mind refuses to make sense of what I’m looking at.

He looks just like Piers.

Same sharp jaw, same piercing eyes, but dressed in the colors of the Crowes.

I suck in a breath, twisting hard in his grip, but he doesn’t let go.

“Let me go,” I snap, twisting against his grip, but he just watches me- eyes dark and impenetrable as stone.

“You’re her, aren’t you?” His voice is lower than Piers’s, rougher. “The Fantasia the Ashwoods want.”

I still.

His grip loosens- just a little- but I don’t run. Not yet. I need to know.

“Yeah,” I say, my voice hoarse. “That’s me.”

His jaw ticks. “You do all the shit Harold Ashwood says you did?”

I don’t hesitate. “Yes. I did.”

He studies me for a long moment, smoke swirling around us like spirits. His eyes rake over me - taking in my trembling form, my wild eyes.

Silence stretches between us. The fire crackles in the distance, gunshots ringing out in short bursts. Somewhere in the smoke and chaos, Piers is still out there.

Finally, the man exhales through his nose, shaking his head. “You’re nothing like what I expected, and I've no fight with a scrawny, scared woman like you.” he mutters.

“Let me go,” I demand again.

His fingers release their grip on my arm. “Go. Get out of here before the Ashwoods find you.”

I take a stumbling step back, but hesitate. “I can't- Piers is still out there. I have to find Piers. I won't leave him-”

“I didn’t come here to kill my brother,” he cuts me off, voice sharp as steel. “And I won't let him die now.”

Brother.

My chest heaves, my mind racing. “Please, help me find him!”

His expression hardens. “You need to go. Before the Ashwoods catch you.”

I shake my head violently. No. No, I won’t leave him.

But he isn’t listening. “Once.” he says, his voice low and fierce. “I'll stick my neck out for you once. Don’t make me regret it.”

My stomach twists sickly. I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to abandon Piers in this hell. But the way this man is looking at me- he’s already made up his mind.

And if I stay here any longer, I will get caught.

“Go!” He growls. “Now!”

My throat tightens. I give one last glance to the burning forest behind me, to the fight still raging in the shadows. Please be okay, Piers.

Then, heart hammering, I turn and run.

I don’t stop.

I can’t.

I run until my legs feel like they’ll give out, until the firelight is nothing but a distant glow behind me.

Just hours ago, I had made up my mind to leave him. Finding out about the baby had changed everything- but now, every step feels like a knife in my chest. How could I leave him behind like this? In the middle of that fight, surrounded by enemies, with no one to watch his back?

I can still see his face, the fierce determination in his eyes as he fought to protect me. Even when I was planning to run, he was risking everything to keep me safe. And I just left him. Alone.

A sob claws up my throat, but I choke it down and keep moving. If I stop, even for a second, I’ll break. I can’t afford that. Not now.

My feet carry me through the burning forest, down the mountain, away from the chaos and the smoke and the future he believed we could have. Every step feels like betrayal, but I force myself to keep moving.

Somehow, I make it down the mountain. My body is screaming for rest, my lungs raw, my hands shaking as I stumble into the nearest town.

A bus stop.

I don’t even know where the bus goes.

I just know I have to get on it.