Soul Snatcher (25 page)

“
Eli, I have come to help Annie,” Micah
explained.

“
No, you have come to use her by the looks of that mark
on her neck,” Eli disagreed. Annie stopped herself from touching
the scar again. How on earth did he know it was there? He had
barely looked at her. Micah smiled a little then started to laugh.
It was in such contrast to the tense situation that it startled
her.

“
Maybe that question should be asked of Baden,” Micah
suggested. Eli’s face had remained unchanged until he heard Baden’s
name. Still his reaction was minimal, his eyes only narrowed
slightly before he quickly recovered his façade. Annie’s body
tensed at where this conversation was headed.

“
I do not see any other in this room except for you,”
Eli said, ignoring Micah’s accusation.

“
That is only because the last time I saw Baden he had
a new protuberance in the form of a dagger through his heart,”
Micah informed uncouthly. He was fed up with this whole
conversation, he just needed to take Annie and get out.

She
was so distracted that she missed
Micah’s slip in revealing that he had seen Baden at the house.
Inadvertently, she had stepped closer as they were talking and now
stood nearby. Neither of the men had noticed as they had not taken
their eyes off the other, neither trusting their life in the
presence of the other.

In an instant
everything changed. Eli’s hand twitched next to his side and Annie
realised that he must have a dagger concealed in the sleeve of his
jacket. During his moment of hesitation it gave Annie just enough
time to react. She forgot about anything other than the fact that
Eli was about to kill her best friend. She was about to lose
someone who had been there for her and no matter what he was, he
had cared for her when no one else would.

Without
thought for herself she did the only thing that was in her power to
do. She moved in front of Micah just a moment before Eli dropped
the hidden dagger from his sleeve into his hand and thrust the
dagger towards him. And she took his planned sentence from
Eli.

One
heartbeat.

Breathe.

Two
heartbeats.

Breathe.

Three
heartbeats.

Breathe.

The pain came
on in a rush. It was more intense than Annie had expected. She did
not feel the initial penetration but when she grabbed at the dagger
that now sat through her left shoulder, it burned as if it was on
fire. She felt the blood trickling down her body as it escaped its
intended place in her veins. The pain seemed to plateau and it was
the shock that scared her the most. Her body started to tremble
from the unfamiliar situation it had encountered and she found she
could not stand any longer. With no other thought than laying down,
she dropped where she stood and lost everything to
black.

Eli grabbed
Annie before she hit the ground. He knelt and held her against him
for a moment before he moved into action. Keeping hold of her he
removed his coat and wrapped it around her limp body. Micah stepped
towards her, arms outstretched to help.

“
Get away!” Eli yelled as he picked her up and started
walking out of the room. Before he made it to the door Micah had
blocked his path and Eli had to use every ounce of his self-control
to restrain himself. “I can put her down and I can deal with you
now if you would like but that could mean she loses her life. No
more life, no more soul,” Eli threatened.

He had no
intention of ever letting Micah get close enough to steal her but
he used what he could to get her to safety now. Micah stood there
in indecision. He looked to Annie for a moment before he looked
back to Eli.

“
She dies, you die,” Micah promised, enmity drenching
his voice. He disappeared, venturing far away from the manor and
far away from the pain. He would not return until he was sure she
was alive, he could not take it if she died.

Eli carried
Annie as quickly and as carefully as he could to her room. Garrick
saw them and immediately went to prepare all the things needed to
assist Eli to help Annie. He hoped with everything in him that she
would survive.

Eli made it
into the room in record time and eased her onto her bed. He
couldn’t help the tears that spilled from his face onto hers as she
lay there unconscious. Her colour was pale and she had started to
perspire. He gently wiped the tears from her face and brushed her
hair away from her neck and forehead.

“
Please do not die on me, Annie,” he whispered to her
with an acute pain in his soul. Somehow if she didn’t make it, it
felt like it would be worse than anything else he had endured up to
this day.
“
Please,” he whispered to her.

Outside he
stood amongst the trees, in the dark lonely night just for her. His
aching chest hoping that she would make it. He listened to her
unsteady, shallow breaths fading in and out. Her heart would
flutter to a stop for the slightest moment and in that moment he
thought he would die himself. Then all of a sudden it would stutter
back to life and his soul would move within him from relief and joy
that she was still
alive.

After she had
been tended to and her wounds were dressed as well as they could
be, he heard Eli move a seat and place it next to her bed. Eli was
ready to sit there as long as it would take until she was well
again and so was he. He sat down silently and leaned against a
tree, ready to just sit and wait. He sat looking up to her window
where the light was dimmed to a soft glow, so she could rest but
still be watched. He flicked the small dagger around in his hand,
thinking of her. Though it had been used to hurt him, somehow it
reminded him of her and became a comfort to him. He placed it in
his breast pocket for safe keeping. He ignored the cold that nagged
at his skin and started to sink in.

“
Love you, Annie,” Baden whispered to her through the
night, knowing she would not hear it but hoping she would know it
somehow.

Anguish and
grief made a home around his heart as he feared he would not get
another chance to say it whilst she was still alive. He let out a
long breath and looked up to the stars through teary eyes. He
thought if he could wish for one thing it would be that she would
live and that she would be happy, whether that meant with or
without him. It felt like he would give his own life in payment for
that wish.

And for the
first time in his existence, Baden loved outside of
himself.

CHAPTER
23

A week passed
and was filled with Annie coming in and out of consciousness. Eli
would redress her wounds when it needed to be done and he cleaned
her shoulder to make certain it would not become
infe
cted. To clean her wound
he would ensure the only part of her skin showing was her shoulder
during the process. He would never take advantage of her in any way
and she felt safe with him. She ate what she could whenever she was
awake but he was concerned that it wasn’t enough.

The pain was
more intense than Annie had expected. Even with forms of pain
relief it still hurt because the dagger had made its way through
part of her bone. Her heart was hurting also and the only way she
escaped the pain of Baden was to focus on the pain in her shoulder.
It wasn’t the best deal she had ever struck with herself but at the
moment that was all she had.

A different
distraction she was starting to become weary of was Eli. Every time
she woke he would apologise, every time she slept he would
apologise, every time he dressed her wound he would apologise. It
never ended. There didn’t seem to be a moment where he was not
apologising for what he had done, even though it had been her
choice to move in the way. After a few warnings he reined in his
apologies and turned his remorse into actions, trying to do more
things to make it up to her. Giving up she let him continue with
his process of grovelling and tried not to let it irritate her too
often.

He had asked
her about why she had left the house and she pieced together
different truths from the night. She said an intruder came in and
she had been bitten by a snatcher but she managed to
dagger him and get on the horse to
ride home. Eli deduced the snatcher had not bitten her with bane
and was thankful for at least that but he still had no idea who it
was that had attacked her. When he had gone back to the house to
try and find the remains there were none. It was all very curious
to him but there wasn’t much he could do to try and find out
more.

When a few
more days had passed Annie finally felt well enough to sit up and
lean against the headboard of the bed. Eli carefully pulled her up
when she asked for help but even with his assistance she felt a
little short of breath from the effort. The good thing about having
Eli with her constantly was when the physical pain started to ease
and her mind wandered to Baden, she could strike up a conversation
that would cover her thoughts. It may not have taken away the
sadness in her soul but it helped to distract her from the pain of
it.

“
Thank you, Eli,” she said gratefully after she was
settled against the headrest. He looked at her as if she just took
a swing at him.

“
I think it is the least I can do,” he said disgusted
in himself. Annie rolled her eyes and decided not to try and
reassure him that she didn’t blame him because every time she did
he refused her and they would almost end up quarrelling.

“
Please pass me the rug from the end of the bed,” Annie
asked stretching her arm out towards the blanket.

“
Are you cold?” He asked as he handed it to
her.

“
Just a little.” She pulled the rug as close as she
could with one hand and Eli helped her with the rest. After she was
settled he put his hand against her forehead.

“
You feel warm,” he said aloud though it sounded more
like a thought. “I am staying home tonight,” he declared as he
started to gather some old, blood stained rags to take
away.

“
Where were you going?” She asked curiously.

“
I had a…” He paused, not wanting to tell her he was
meeting with some other trackers. “A…meeting that was arranged
months ago but I will cancel,” he explained, avoiding looking at
her eyes.

“
Eli, it will be a matter of hours before you return. I
think Garrick can manage until then,” she reasoned. When he
continued to ignore her she reached out her hand and grabbed his.
The slight movement sent a small pain through her shoulder but she
did her best not to let it show. He looked down at her hand then
back over to her.

“
Annie, it is fine. I will stay here with you,” he
persisted. He tried to ignore the nervous feeling in his stomach
that came from her touch but it became increasingly
difficult.

“
Eli, please. I will be fine. Do not stop everything on
my account. You arranged this quite some time ago so go,” she
insisted and this time she was not taking no for an
answer.

When he went
to open his mouth to refuse her she gave him the sternest look she
had in her repertoire. He tried to hold back his smile knowing that
she was trying to look frightening but failing because she was too
cute. He looked away and continued to clean when he couldn’t manage
to hide it. It was difficult to clean with one hand but he didn’t
want to take his hand away from hers.

“
I will go but it will be short and I will leave as
soon as it is finished,” he proposed the terms of his surrender.
She released his hand and smiled, happy that his life was not going
to be interrupted because of her, for tonight at least.

Eli had come
to
say goodbye before he went
out and gave Annie one instruction, she was to go to Garrick for
anything and everything. She found that easy enough to agree to.
When Eli had checked her dressing and was happy with what he saw he
left. He hesitated all the way to the door and the entire carriage
ride. At the meeting he found that he wished that he had stayed
with her.

Annie was in
bed, reading a book with the lamp turned high so she could see the
words easily. She was starting to run a fever and the slow ache
that was creeping through her body was becoming increasingly
difficult to ignore. When she was about to get up and find Garrick
there came a knock at her door.

“
Come in,” she called as loudly as she could as she sat
her book down beside her. To her surprise Micah came through the
door. “Oh, Micah,” she said a little surprised. He smiled as he
closed the door and she felt uneasy that she was so defenceless. He
must have snuck past Garrick to get to her so Eli wouldn’t be told
of his visit.

“
I have come to see how you are,” he said as he took
the chair that Eli used to constantly watch her from. She felt the
fever setting in a little more and the chill was seeping to her
bones.