chapter twenty-nine

They're dead.

The beast tossed the first man to the side, smacking him to the nearest wall and sending the dagger flying from his fingers. He turned his attention to the men holding the girl next. They were both staring straight at him, locked in panic, as they focused on his horns, fangs, and snout. The girl was restrained in between them, blood dripping from her cheek as she met the beast's eyes with a wide stare.

He should have been faster. Look what they had already done to her.

"Let her go!" he roared, slashing his axe toward the men. The two men scattered, leaving behind the girl who remained stiff as the axe smashed harmlessly into the wall beside her. She sucked in a breath, but didn't flinch when the beast pulled the axe free from the wall.

The beast wasn't sure if she was still in shock from being ambushed, or if she was stunned by having him come to her rescue. Either way, he couldn't let her distract him now. He needed to get her out of here so she could help him figure out the rose.

"Kill the beast!" a bearded man called as he lifted his sword to face him. "He must have our rose!"

Their rose?

The man swung for the beast's chest, but it was completely in vain. The beast caught the blade between his claws, his powerful grip easily holding the blade away from his thick flesh. The attacker's face paled. He tried to tug his sword free, but the beast's grip was stronger than the steel.

"Who let you bring weapons in here?" the beast growled, tightening his grip on the sword until his claws left dents in the metal. "And why are you ganging up on another prisoner?"

The swish of a blade echoed behind the beast, and he whirled around, tossing aside the bearded man's sword. Another attacker slashed at him, and the beast barely managed to jump to the side before he carved a hole through his torso.

"You don't have to worry about us, beast ," the man, whom the beast presumed was the leader, said with a crooked grin. "We're just passing through. Just give us the rose and let us deal with the girl, and we'll be on our way."

The beast's muscles tightened, and he subconsciously shifted in front of the girl like a shield of muscle. First, they want his rose, and now they want the only person who offered to help him decipher it. These men were beyond dead.

"Leave." The beast smacked his axe into his palm, trying to calculate how many of the four men he could slaughter in one blow. "Or I'll escort you out in pieces."

"Now, now, beasty," the leader laughed as he shifted his sword in his grip, the men following close behind his lead. "We can't disappoint Lord Malik. Plus, how are we meant to leave without that rose?"

Lord Malik? His father sent them?

His thought distracted him for a moment too long. One of the men lunged for him, and he didn't react until it was almost too late. The beast swung his axe at the man's sword, planning to shatter the blade with the force of the blow. He swung the axe down, but the second it made contact, he felt a piercing pain split through his side.

"Agh!" the beast roared as the leader successfully landed a hit. His sword slashed against his side, cutting into his leathery skin and staining the blade red.

The sword the beast had swung at cracked in two, freeing him from at least one of the attackers so he could spin around and meet the leader before he could deliver another blow. He tried to aim for his head, but the shock slowed his movements, and the leader jumped back before he could make contact. The man with the broken sword staggered back, looking far more timid now that he was weaponless.

"Watch out!"

It took a second for the beast to realize that the warning had come from the girl. He turned around to the sound, his eyes growing wide as the fourth man came running at him with another blade. He prepared to block it, but the pain in his side was overwhelming. He braced himself for another strike, but it never came.

Crash.

The woman smashed a blade against the attacker, blocking him from the beast only seconds before the sword shredded him. She must have picked up the sword that fell earlier, the one the beast caught with his claws. She wasn't very practiced with the blade, by the looks of it, but she didn't need to be. Her defense was enough to startle the man with the opposing blade and cause him to jump back with the others.

"Stay back!" she warned, fire flaming in her voice as she raised the blade between the men and the beast.

Is she... defending me ?

"Teaming up with the beast?" The leader narrowed his eyes, waving to his group to fall back. They were down to only two swords and a dagger now, which was still more than most prisoners, but not a lot when fighting a monster. "Or do you just want to die by his claws instead?"

The beast roared behind her, directing his scowl at the men to prove that he fought alongside her in this instance.

"I see... What a pair you make," the leader scoffed, finally looking nervously at the beast's towering height. "This is far from over. We will get that rose. Just you wait."

He stumbled back into the darkness, and one by one, the men followed behind him until it was only the beast and the girl left in the tunnel. The beast finally took a breath, then immediately regretted it when pain shot through his side. He hissed, sinking to his knees as he dropped the axe and cupped his palm over the bleeding wound.

"You're hurt!" The girl gasped, dropping the sword as she rushed to inspect the injury. "Here, let me see!"

"Don't touch me!" The beast growled, shying away from her touch as the pain tugged at his nerves. "I only got hurt because you nearly got yourself killed."

The girl recoiled, her face twisted with befuddlement as she tried to study him. "But, I'm supposed to die... that's the fate of all prisoners. Why did you come and save me when you said yourself—"

"I just didn't want you to die like a fool!" the beast argued, his blood heating with an odd rush flooding his skin. "I just..."

"Well, sorry to tell you, but I am a fool," the girl cut him off, kneeling back down by his wound as she tried to get a closer look. "Not even you can save me from that. Now move your hand and let me be a fool again so I can help my executioner."

"But—"

"Hush," she scolded. "You just saved my life. Let me return the favor."