Page 44 of A Wolf's Bargain
Upon seeing the size of the force heading their way, she made a decision. The English outnumbered them, and with Cillian and the luchthonn busy with the first wave, they’d be on their own. They would need every able hand.
Cora raced to the door, silently begging Cillian’s forgiveness. She grunted and groaned against the weight of the heavy chest but managed to push it out of the way. Then she raced down the stairs as quickly as she could.
A weapon, she thought.I need a weapon.
The armory would be the smart place to go, but it was across the castle. Where else?
The study—her father kept a spare set of weapons in his study! She skidded on a rug, rounded a corner, and took off up another set of stairs. The halls seemed longer than usual in her haste, but she reached the door to the study in mere minutes. Thankfully, it had been left unlocked in the chaos and opened easily. Cora scanned the room, eyes peeled for anything she could use. A small dagger caught her eye, and Cora slipped its sheath onto her belt.
Just as she closed the lid to the last chest in the study, the doors burst open. Cora yelped and pulled the dagger from its sheath just in time to recognize the intruder.
“Eoin! Holy Mother, what are you doing here?”
Eoin leaned against the door, panting as though he’d run for a full day. His dark wolf’s skin hung loosely about his shoulders, haphazardly pinned, as though he’d been in a rush. He wore no shirt, and his trousers and boots were just as helter-skelter as the rest of him.
“Lady Cora—thank the goddess! Quickly, we must go now! Fane is looking for you!”
Before Cora could respond, the bells rang again, their heavy clang echoing through the halls. Cora ran to the window and gasped at the sight of the English horde gathered outside the castle walls. A sickening crash came from outside the gate, and the guard’s shouts grew frantic.
Her father’s men and several of themadraístrained against the gate, using their bodies to hold it shut. Outside, there came another crash, and the wood of the gate shuddered and shook.
Cora glanced back at Eoin. “What are you talking about? Where’s Cillian? Is he out there?”
Eoin shook his head, his eyes wide and frantic. “No, Lady—it was a trap! They knew we were coming! I don’t know how—somany wolves are dead! Fane was badly injured. Couldn’t come himself, so he sent me to fetch you to safety. Please, Lady, we must go!”
Images of Cillian broken and bloody flashed through Cora’s mind. “Oh God, no! Where is he? Are the others returning? They’ve got a battering ram—they’ll breach the castle soon!”
Eoin snarled and raked his fingers through his lank hair. “Those that still live will be here soon. Now, come! Fane’ll have my hide if I don’t get you out before the English overrun us!”
Cora nodded and followed Eoin toward the door. He heaved a sigh of relief and led her down the halls. A final, terrible crash echoed through the night, followed by screams and shouts from the courtyard. Eoin cursed under his breath and took her arm, pulling her faster down the corridor, away from the main hall and the battle.
“Where are we going? Is Cillian meeting us there?”
Eoin nodded, stopping at a corner long enough to scan both halls before pulling her down one that would take them to the kitchens. “Aye, he said he’d be there. Plans to ride off with you to safety, I think. Says there are too many English—too few of us. We’re all getting out.”
Cora slowed, her brows furrowed. “He means to abandon the castle? My father? He can’t! They’ll die without the luchthonn’s help!”
Eoin turned back, an impatient scowl on his face. “It’s us or them, isn’t it? No use in our kind dying just to save some warring humans! If I’d had my way, we wouldn’t have come at all! But we did, and now Fane has seen the truth—this isn’t our battle. He sent me to save you. Be grateful for that, and hurry your arse up!”
“How dare you—oh!”
When he saw she meant to argue more, Eoin growled and threw her over his shoulder without another word. Cora screeched and beat on his back with her fists.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. The longer she was with Eoin, the more the uneasy feeling spread through her body. Cillian wouldn’t have sent Eoin to get her—he would have come himself. And he wouldn’t run away from the battle, especially not with her still inside.
Eoin was lying.
He had to be.
“Eoin, what’s going on?” she demanded. “Where are you taking me?”
Eoin made his way down the halls with her hanging off his shoulders like a sack of grain. “This could have gone much easier, you stupid cow. You just had to follow me! But no, couldn’t make anything easy, could you? We’re in this whole bloody mess because of you!”
“What are you talking about? What have I done to you?”
Cora cried out when Eoin slapped her thigh sharply. “You know what you did!” he hissed. “What you’ve done is unnatural, and it’s taken a lot of trouble to fix it. Once the elders see what I’ve done, let’s see who they name the bloody alpha!”
Dread turned her blood to ice. “What do you mean? Eoin, what have you done?”