Fortress

Chapter 4

Rome

Bullets continued to work their way out of my body as it healed itself. It was annoying to feel my skin open and close continuously but not as worrisome as trying to protect my mate from the dangers of the forest floor. Even though I held her hand and instructed her to step where I stepped, she was still the clumsiest human I had ever encountered she nearly went down every other minute. The moon provided enough light to see the trees and dips in the ground but I guess it wasn’t enough for her mortal eyes.

“Damnit! Can we stop, please just for a minute” Mina breathed heavily as she rested against a tall maple tree.

“No, we can’t stop they could have followed us in here let’s move on” I replied reaching for her hand.

“What about my friend? Who exactly are we running from,” she asked.

“I’ll explain when we’re safe,” I said turning to watch the path in front of us. It remained clear but I was anxious to get to a road soon.

“You’ll explain now,” she said ripping small twigs from her wild hair. I turned to protest but was captivated by the moon shining directly on her beautiful features. I quickly scanned the trees behind her but saw no movement. We don't have time for this but I knew she wouldn’t move unless I gave her something. Or I could toss her over my shoulder and force her down the hill but even as I thought it I knew that would never work. I thought hard about revealing who I was to her again but quickly decided against it. Maybe something a little less permanent to start with.

“Your friend is probably safe in her bed by now. It's their protocol to confiscate phones in events like these. You'll be able to get in touch with her by sunrise no doubt.” I said calmly trying to provide some sense of normality. 

“Who are you talking about? Your parents are some type of mafia or something what is going on” she demanded angrily pushing away from the tree. I took a deep breath as a bullet worked itself out my right thigh.

“The people you work for bought me from an agency called Helios. It was disguised as an adoption project but that was far from the truth I was brought here but I was not what they expected. Now let’s move I’ll tell you more once we are safe”. I tried to keep my voice calm but the thought of something harming her was pushing me to the edge.

“Rome wait-“.

“Not here,” I said sharply interrupting her before reaching out for her hand. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her because I didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes. Relief washed over me when she gripped my hand tightly. The closer we got to the main road the steeper the ground became. I was worried it would become too much for Mina and we’d have to stop again putting us in more danger.

As soon as I took the next step I knew it would be fatal the ground gave way instantly. Mina’s screams pierced my ears as we rolled down the hill. I struggled to find something to hold onto, Mina’s body smacked into mine, and I was happy to be her shield. My hands dug into the earth but I couldn’t grip anything. Besides the ground being wet there were no other obstacles so far. I came to a realization they had to be clearing this area of trees which meant we were now out in the open.

“Rome!” Mina’s hand gripped a fist full of my hair and I was turned on all over again. Get it together.

Flashing lights penetrated the darkness ahead, we were coming up on a road. I just had to slow us down so we didn’t smack into the guardrails at the speed we were falling. My eyes focused on a small tree trunk ahead and I reached my hands out to grip it. I was halted to stop with a hard impact to my ribs I felt serval break as Mina landed on top of my back holding me tightly and breathing heavily. I picked up the scent of her blood and froze.

“You’re hurt”, I couldn’t control the anger in my tone.

“Everything hurts!”, She hissed.

I needed to assess her injuries but we were in no position to do that now.

“Okay, we are going to work our way toward the road slowly, grab a handful of grass,” I instructed but she did no such thing.

“I need to rest for a while”, she protested while laying her head on my back. Another set of headlights flashed over the hill and sped past. We needed to get to the road..

“Listen to me. We need to get far away from the mansion which means we need to get to the road. We need to move now Mina”. My breath was shaky due to the fact my ribs punctured a lung and I was now tasting blood.

“I'm scared”, she whispered with a sob stuck in her throat.

“I know and it’s okay because we are going to get through this. Now slowly let me go and work your way down the hill”, I encouraged and then spit the blood that was forming in my mouth out. A minute passed before Mina untangled herself from me and began sliding down the hill on her stomach. She looked up at me when she was several feet down.

“I’m coming”, I said around coughs. I was spitting up too much blood I needed to set my ribs but there was no time. I released my death grip and made my way down the hill on my back. We reached the bottom as another car was coming I didn’t have time to waste I had to act now. I jumped the guardrail and stood in the middle of the road.

Hopefully whoever was behind the wheel was paying attention and not on their phone. My body was no longer healing itself I lost too much blood. My vision became blurry as Mina came to stand beside me.

“No! Go back”, My voice was so weak I could barely get the words out. Mina wrapped an arm around my waist as I slumped over. The car skirted to a stop in front of us and I heard the door open and loud voices but nothing else after that.

Mina

Rome’s knees gave out the second I wrapped my arm around him. It was crazy that I didn’t think of my own life as I jumped in the road after him. I sensed something was very off with him and he needed me. The oncoming car came to a stop and two figures rushed to my side a male and a female who looked to be elderly.

“Oh my goodness, are you okay? Is he okay? What happened here let’s get you in the car”. The woman’s voice was so soothing I did nothing but nod and allowed the man to take Rome from me.

“No hospitals,” Rome said once we were securely placed in the backseat I looked down at his head laid in my lap, and bit back my protest. His eyes were back alert and they were frightening. He sat up suddenly scaring the poor sweet lady in the passenger seat.

“Oh honey, he’s up!”, she exclaimed shockingly.

“We need to get to the nearest motel I have money-“, Rome’s words were cut off by a series of nasty coughs. My eyes shot to his hand covered in blood from covering his mouth.

“We need to get you to the hospital”, I whispered gripping his chin so that he was facing me.

“No hospitals I just need to rest,” he said in a choked tone.

“It’s no problem for us to take you to the hospital.” The man driving said looking at us through the rearview mirror. Rome moved his face closer to mine,

“I’m not like you. No hospitals”, I could barely pick up the words he spoke but I heard them. A chill ran down my spine as I struggled with myself on what to do next. What did he mean by that? Why was he so opposed to going to the hospital when he clearly needed medical attention? His hand squeezed my thigh pulling me from my thoughts.

“I just need to rest,” he said more slowly. This was a man who saved me from freak show at the mansion. He pulled me through a forest and got us to safety, the least I could do was honor his wish of no hospitals.

“If it’s not any trouble to you we would just like to get some rest. We were hiking and strayed away from the path and had a nasty fall.” I said in the most polite tone I could muster up. The elderly woman looked over her shoulder at Rome and was visibly concerned but did not mention the hospital again.

The man who I assume is her husband spoke next.

“We passed a motel not too far back I’ll just turn around up here”.

“Thank you,” I said right as Rome slumped over on me. The ride was short but I couldn’t stop worrying about Rome as his eyes began to shut again.