SWNOVELS Chapter Eighteen: Sawyer
Sitting where Marley was sitting forty-eight hours ago, he leaned against the railing with one leg hanging over the edge. He watched the human island slowly disappear. They had stayed for two days to help clean up the mess, burning bodies of villagers and disposing of the bodies of the ghouls all while he was whispered about behind his back. He was an open target, the humans now knowing that his kind was still alive and whoever else saw him the night of the Fae, he wondered how long it will take before the news spread to his kind.
During the few days, they had been there, Sawyer learnt one thing. Mackenzie LockHeart is not a woman you want to mess with especially when it comes to Marley. He didn’t know what Marley had said but her sister hated his guts from the moment she laid eyes on him. Between Mackenzie being Marley’s mother, looking after the lump that had formed at the back of her head and purposely trying to piss him off so he would go away, he knew that his visits will never be welcomed.
A few homes and shops as well as the local inn had been saved amongst the wreckage as Mackenzie took charge. Marley’s entire family had been there, all twenty-four of them but none of them gave Marley a glance. Granted she never acknowledged them either and he wondered why their relationship was so strained, removing her father trying to sell her off of course. He then wondered if they knew what she was. as if they had all agreed to get rid of her by marrying her off in one of the most dangerous places in the country.
Just thinking that angered him.
Sawyer sighed, watching the final day’s light disappear before he stood. He was exhausted and was grateful for Abigail’s offer to take them to The Kingdom of Vampires. He had noticed distress from her crew members about this journey but he didn’t bother to push further. She was doing enough for them as it was without him preying on their business.
Besides, if he really wanted to know, he would ask Marley as that girl seems to gather every bit of information from people as if it were easy. The boat creaked under his feet while he found the opening to the undercarriage and went in. The stairs felt like they were going to break under his weight as he skipped the last step. Rows of doors greeted him while he walked, this was an unusually large boat with six rooms for the crew members and guests, Abby had made it her mission to put Marley’s room right next to his once she saw that Marley was no longer pissed at him and he was happy for that, she was closer to him and that meant she was protected.
He closed his door behind him before getting undressed, the tub of water he had prepared earlier was now cold but he didn’t mind as he cleaned the day’s dirt away. A small mirror was placed at eye level as he glared into his own eyes and looked away, grabbing fresh clothes to put on and trying to ignore his thoughts.
The cot felt rock hard as he laid down to try and sleep but he found himself wide awake. His inner beast kept stirring and pushing him to move as he growled at himself and sat up. He promised himself that he wouldn’t check on her and to leave her be but the mate bond inside of him said something else and that side always won.
The door felt like his own personal brick wall as he threw it open and took two long steps over to Marley’s door before he hesitated. He didn’t want to be caught checking up on her as he didn’t feel like explaining himself. He had already shared enough feelings with her for comfort and did not feel like admitting that he was more afraid of losing her than his own kind.
So instead he slowly leant his ear against the wooden door, listening for anything that sounded unusual. Her soft breathing was all he could hear which indicated that she was asleep but to make sure, he slowly opened the door. Marley’s hair was in her face as she held a deep frown, sweat building up on her face as her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her lips were slightly parted and her blankets were slowly falling off of her as she suddenly screamed and rose.
He found himself wrapping his arms around her sobbing form in seconds as he held her head into his chest, her small hands gripping his arm that was wrapped around her waist as she shook. The sounds of her crying broke him in half as he wanted to kill the thing that did this to her but he couldn’t, it was just a dream.
“You are okay, I got you.”
Her breath hitched as she tried to breathe through her tears. He didn’t want her saying anything while he held her, rocking their bodies and allowing her to slowly calm down whilst she held onto him. Neither one of them was willing to let go as he breathed in the smell of her soft hair and enjoyed the feel of her form wrapped in his.
“I... I died.” She whispered as he felt her fingers dig into his skin. “We were surrounded and I died.”
“You didn’t die.” He assured. “I saved you.”
Marley shook her head. “No, I don’t mean what happened.”
Sawyer frowned, cupping her face so that she would look up at him. Her rosy cheeks and nose made her look adorable as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. “You are going to have to explain.”
“We were in somewhere dark, there were so many monsters and we were losing.” She spoke, her voice cracking as small tears streamed down her face. “I had to die.”
He stared into her eyes, feeling his heart clench before he pulled her into him tighter than when he was holding her before. “It was just a dream, that will never happen.”
But as he said those words, he didn’t believe them himself, the shift that will change the way the supernatural worked together, the prophecy that will shape his kind, it was all linked and he was praying to anything out there that Marley’s fates will not turn out the same as the stories.