Page 68 of Craved By a Highland Beast

CHAPTER THIRTY

Evan felt the bruises forming on his face. His left eye was swollen shut and blood was caked all over his nose and chin, painting the front of his shirt a red so deep it was almost black. His arms ached after being bound behind his back for so long and the skin on his wrists was bloody and torn, the rope leaving behind its mark.

But Ruthven had made a mistake—he had left his legs unbound.

Despite the pain, despite the fact that the world was still spinning, Evan stood, determined to get out of there and reach Bonnie before Ruthven could force her into this marriage. Taking a deep breath to steel himself, he jumped and fell onto the floor, bracing for the impact just as the chair shattered underneath him, pieces of wood and splinters flying everywhere around him. Swiftly, he brought the rope under his legs and pulled his hands to the front, gnawing on the knots to untie them as quickly as he could.

He had barely managed to loosen up one of the knots when the door banged open and a guard rushed in, surely having heard the commotion. Evan cursed under his breath for not being quicker, tugging at the rope once, twice, three times.

On the fourth, the knot gave way.

Evan couldn’t help the grin that spread over his lips, one that seemed to unsettled the guard, who held his sword in his hand but made no move to approach. He was a young man—barely more than a boy, really. Perhaps Ruthven thought it unnecessary to place more protection around Evan, so certain that his bonds and the damage he had inflicted on him would be enough to keep him in that room.

He had thought wrong.

Evan lunged at the guard, who quickly swung his sword, trying to defend himself. He was clumsy, though, his body not yet used to fighting a real foe with a real sword—one with a wickedly sharp blade, which could maim him as much as it could maim Evan. With a hit to the man’s forearm, Evan forced his fist to relax around the hilt and with a second hit, to fall completely from his hand, but Evan didn’t reach for it immediately.

He didn’t have the heart to kill him. Instead, while the guard was still dazed by the encounter, he punched him once, hard, right in the face and knocked him out cold.

After dragging him into the room, Evan grabbed the sword and left, locking the door behind him. Now it was only a matter of getting to Bonnie.

He hadn’t yet figured out how he would get to her. He didn’t even know where she was being kept or how many guards he would encounter on his way.

I’ll try her old chambers first.

It was the only clue he had, and so it was the one he would follow. As he exited the dungeons, he was met with the silence and the darkness of the night, and relief washed through him as he snuck around the grounds, keeping to the shadows. Surely, Ruthven would have tightened his security, but many would already be asleep. There would be no maids and servants to stop him on his way—only guards, whom he would have to avoid or kill.

With light footsteps, Evan made his way through the castle, staying close to the walls and the shadows. When he heard footsteps approach, he ducked into the nearest alcove, concealing himself until the guards were gone and only then continued his journey to Bonnie’s chambers. It took him three times as long as it should have, but by the time he peered around the corner into the corridor where Bonnie’s old chambers were, he hadn’t met a single guard.

But now he saw two standing outside her door. It was as good a sign as it was a bad one. On the one hand, it meant that Bonniewas there. On the other, Evan would have to kill them before they could sound the alarm.

Approaching them stealthily was not an option. Either way, they would see him coming, and so Evan decided on speed instead, running towards them and engaging them in battle before they could even shout for help. The first one raised his sword, bringing it down just as Evan took the opportunity to slide his blade through his stomach before pirouetting away, avoiding the guard’s blow by the breadth of a hair. It was a risky move, one that could have cost him his life, but it left him with only one more man to dispatch.

The second was not as easy. Their swords met with a clang, a sound that reverberated throughout the entire hallway. It was that which scared Evan the most—if anyone heard them, the guards would come running and he would lose any chance he had to save Bonnie. The guard parried another blow, moving fast, but Evan abandoned his double grip in favor of delivering a punch to the man’s stomach, knocking the air out of him.

It had the intended effect; the guard stumbled back, faltering for just a moment, but it was all Evan needed to pierce him with his sword, quickly silencing him.

He took a moment to listen for any approaching footsteps, but there were none. Then, he grabbed the keys that the guard had hanged on his belt and opened the door to reveal Bonnie, standing right behind it as if she was expecting him.

She didn’t heed the blood that now covered Evan from head to toe. She only ran to him, falling into his arms, and Evan embraced her tightly, her presence the only thing that calmed his racing heart.

She’s alive an’ well. We can still leave this place.

When Bonnie pulled back, she raised a trembling hand as if to touch Evan’s cheek, but then stopped short, her palm hovering just over his face. “What did he dae tae ye?” she whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks, the horror in her eyes showing him the damage Ruthven had done better than even a looking-glass.

“I’m alright,” he assured her, because he was. As long as he breathed, he was fine. Those were bruises that would heal. “But we must leave. We cannae stay here any longer.”

Bonnie nodded and made to leave, but Evan stopped her, going against his own words in favor of holding onto her for one more brief moment. He kissed her, soft and tender, and the kiss tasted of blood and salt.

“I willnae let anyone hurt ye,” he said. “I promise.”

Even if he had to give his own life, Bonnie would make it out of there.

Bonnie could hardly bear to look at Evan without her heart shattering again and again. She couldn’t imagine the pain he must have been in after Ruthven had hurt him so viciously. And yet there he was, still fighting to get her out of the castle, doing anything in his power to keep her safe.

His hand was a vice around hers as he pulled her along through the hallways. Every sound, no matter how small, sent a new wave of dread through Bonnie and she looked around her in terror, trying to spot a threat that never came.

It was only when they were nearing the kitchens that Evan stopped and pulled her into a small alcove, clamping a hand over her mouth as the two of them were pressed against each other. She didn’t know what it was that had alarmed him so greatly until she heard heavy footsteps and her breath quickened, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she tried to push down her fear.

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