Page 32 of Regally Binding

Her head felt like she’d gone several rounds with two Anthony Joshuas. Pain stabbed above one eye, forcing it to close.

“Stop squeaking at me, Ewan, and tell me where she is.”

She giggled at the idea of Ewan dressed like a cartoon mouse, but she instantly regretted it when her head throbbed and bile rose in her throat. What was the lump underneath her?

“Liss, where are you?”

At the panic in Bear’s voice, a sob rose in her throat and tears caught in her eyelashes. She shouted, but her voice was a rasp.

Come on, Liss, you can do this.

She worked her tongue to bring some saliva to her dust-dry mouth. “Bear, I’m here.” It was a bit louder. She took a breath and tried again. “I’m in the cellar.”

“Did you hear something?” Bear asked. His footsteps stopped.

She flashed to the moment the lights went out in the school toilets. The bullies told her they’d locked her in the school all weekend, and no one would notice because no one cared about her. They’d laughed so hard, and Liss’s tears fell because they were right. Hours later, her mum’s shouts woke her. Hergrandma was drunk at a party and had forgotten about her. The neighbours had returned home early from their holiday and noticed her missing. They called her mum, who immediately demanded the headmaster take her to the school.

“Bear, I’m here. I’m at the bottom of the cellar stairs,” Liss called out. It was more like the whisper of a librarian than the scream she was aiming for, but suddenly, Bear’s thudding footsteps echoed around her.

Her head swam, and she rested it against the sandy cellar’s floor.

Suddenly, he was next to her. “Princess, are you okay? Where does it hurt?”

She mumbled incoherently.

“You’re not making sense, baby. You’ve banged your head. Did someone attack you?”

“I don’t think so. But I’m safe now because you’re here.”

Bear let out a deep breath. “Yes, you’re safe. I got you.”

She tried to move, but Bear held her still.

“We might need an ambulance,” Bear hollered up the stairs. He ran his hands along her legs, carefully squeezing and watching her closely. Although he appeared calm, his hands trembled. Yet his touch created little sparks throughout her body as if the sensation had returned. “Do you think you’ve broken anything?”

“You’re going to have to start higher if you want to get me off,” she whispered to calm him.

He sullenly glanced at her. “You’re delirious, Princess.”

“Not yet, but keep moving that hand and I might be.”

He huffed, but his shoulders eased. “Alright, smart arse. I guess your head isn’t too bad after all. But stop moving until the ambulance comes.”

“No ambulance, Bear,” she said flatly.

“But—”

“No ambulance,” she pressed. “Your business doesn’t need bad publicity. Ewan is a trainee paramedic, so if you stop terrorising the poor guy, he can check me over.”

Bear raised an eyebrow but shouted for Ewan anyway.

Ewan’s feet made quick tapping sounds on the stone as he came close.

“Liss says you’re a trainee paramedic. Please look over her. And don’t get too handsy, or you know what I’ll do.”

“Beat me to death with my own hands?” Ewan squeaked.

“Exactly.” While Bear was distracted, Liss attempted to move the arm twisted beneath her. “Princess, if you move one more time, I will carry you to the hospital myself. Yes?”

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