Page 51 of Deadwood
The smell of blood on the icy air invaded the space as a body entered the doorway, two hands grabbing the frame to heft themself up into the carriage. I screamed, kicking out, but fingers wrapped around my ankles.
“Auria! It’s me!” the man said in a hushed whisper.
I stopped my thrashing, squinting my eyes to focus on him.
“Paxon,” I breathed.
“I’m going to get you out,” he whispered, letting go of my ankles to hold a hand out to me.
I took it, getting to my feet. “Where’s Lander?”
Paxon peeked his head out the door, looking both ways. The snow made it hard to see much of anything. “Currently fighting for his life.”
With his hand still in mine, Paxon pulled me out of the carriage. My slippers landed in the snow, the ice instantly licking at my feet. I’d freeze out here.
“Paxon,” I said hesitantly, looking warily at the snow.
He glanced back at me. “I know. It won’t be for long. We’ll find horses, and we’ll?—”
A person clad in all white hit him in the side of the head with the pommel of his sword, and he went down, dropping my hand. A scream escaped me as snow sprayed in the air where Paxon landed. The man narrowed his gaze on me from behind the mask he wore that covered the entirety of his face, leaving only his eyes to be seen, but even then, so much snow was on him that even those almost disappeared.
I stepped back. His mask lifted slightly as I assumed he grinned maliciously, and then I turned at the same time he bolted. With my slick slippers unable to get a grip in the snow, my ankle twisted. I fell as pain shot up my leg, my bare hands burying in the snow in an attempt to catch myself. I hadn’t had time to grab my gloves from the carriage, and I quickly wished I would have.
Doing my best to ignore the pain in my ankle, I shoved up with my arms to attempt to get on my back, but the man was faster. He grabbed my hair, yanking my head up. My back protested at the odd angle, my spine straining.
“Little bitch isn’t so protected now, is she?” he mumbled through the mask.
All around me, guards were fighting off bandits. They were clad in white, presumably to disguise themselves in the snow. I couldn’t tell who was winning, but with the amount of blood staining the ground, I hoped it was us.
His fingers tightened in my hair, but the burn was nothing compared to my screaming ankle. “How does it feel not having someone to save you now?” he seethed.
His words stopped my whimper from escaping at the pain flickering through me. Was he friends with the men who had attacked me the night of Exitium Lunae? Had this group been following us?
With the dagger in his other hand, he pulled my head back farther and yanked open the fur cloak I wore. Buttons flew in all directions, disappearing into the deep snow. He let out a groan—the tops of my breasts were on full display within the confines of my corset.
Slowly, he drew the tip of the dagger down my right breast, trailing it over to the other. I couldn’t hold in my fear any longer. My eyes welled with the burn of every emotion in my body coming to the surface.
“Scared?” he murmured, caressing my chest with the blade.
I pressed my lips together so tightly, I thought blood might seep from where my teeth bit into them.
“You should be,” he continued. “I might just have to play a bit before I kill you. The price of your head will be high, but I think I want to have some fun first. It’d be a shame to put this little body to waste.” He brought the tip of the dagger up my neck to my cheek, then attempted to wiggle it into my mouth. “Open.”
Every single one of these men were vulgar.
With fear enveloping every nerve in my body, I had no choice but to obey, if only to spare myself a few more minutes of my life.
I parted my mouth, and he trailed the blade across my bottom lip.
“These will look good wrapped around my dagger, won’t they?”
The tip of the blade touched my tongue as a tear rolled down my cheek, and then the earth shook.
The man wobbled, the knife leaving my mouth. “What the f—” But before he could finish, his weight left my body, and my chest fell to the ground. In moments, his screams went silent.
I didn’t spare a single second as I flipped onto my back, using my hands to prop me up as my ankle shot pins and needles up my leg.
My eyes narrowed in an attempt to see through the flurry of snow coming down in thick sheets of white. Shouts erupted around me, but I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying as adrenaline made blood rush in my ears and pound viciously in my veins. Smoke invaded my nose, and a glance to my right revealed the carriage tipped on its side, flames enveloping it.
