Chapter 22: Safe.
Lilac
I was scared shitless at this point. So scared that I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. I’d have collapsed on the ground if Jake wasn’t still holding my elbow. The guards were all grinning darkly as they approached us slowly and leisurely.
"We’re feeling generous tonight so before we kill off this friend of yours, we’d have a little fun with him as well." A different guard pointed out and my heart pounded hard as I glanced up at Jake. He had a calm expression across his face, and there was no trace of fear in sight. That made me frown in confusion. Wasn’t he supposed to be scared? Why wasn’t he? I was scared shitless for him right now and also feeling guilty that I had managed to drag him into my own mess.
"Jake?" I whispered, voice trembling and cracking as I spoke. He wasn’t looking at me, he was still staring at the guards who were now right in front of us. Compared to them, Jake was very tall as well. But they had larger shoulders and chests. I didn’t need to see a fight unfolding to know who’d win if a fight broke out right now.
When Jake dropped my hand, I almost screamed from fear, especially as he took a step forward to stand before the one who seemed like the leader of the guards. I wanted to warn Jake, to ask him to run right now if he could and leave me here, but the words were stuck in my throat.
The guards’ leader guffawed a laugh and pulled his hand back to clearly deliver a punch into the side of Jake’s face. I stared in horror before wincing and squeezing my eyes tightly as I watched the punch get swung. I waited a few heartbeats then tentatively blinked my eyes open, and I gaped at the sight before me.
Jake had a hand up, and his mouth was moving but no sound was coming out. However, the guard’s hand seemed to be suspended in the air by an invisible force. The confusion and surprise within me worsened when Jake’s voice filled the air.
"You’ll not hurt either of us."
I blinked once and twice, then I frowned because I expected the guards to burst out laughing right now. But they were all slowly blinking and nodding at the same time.
"You’ll not stop us from leaving, and you’ll not harass this boy again. Do you all understand?"
I looked between them in shock, unable to believe what was happening. It felt like something out of a fairytale. When they all nodded in unison, I was shocked even more.
Jake dropped his hand and took a step back, then he glanced down at me and nodded in the pathway we came from.