Heartless

❆ Twenty-Nine ❆

Twenty-Nine

"Ada, what are you doing?" Hendric asked, rushing to catch up to me as I raced back to the horses.

"We have to go back, Hendric. Didn't you hear Bromm? They're going to kill Beast—" I slid down the hill and dived to start untangling the wires and bands from around the horses to detach the carriage. "I have to stop them."

Hendric seized my fussing hands. "Ada, just let them take care of it. It'll be easier for us if he's gone."

I snapped my head to look at him. "How dare you." I wrenched my hands back in disgust. "That man may be a beast, but he is not a monster. He has risked his life for me, protected me, and gave me back you when I thought you were as good as dead. Or have you forgotten what he's done for you, too?" I resumed removing the horses again, but he just stood there watching me. I glanced up at him again. "If you love me, you will help me."

He frowned. Before he could move, another set of hands quickly joined mine, smaller and much faster. I smiled down at Kenji as he grinned up at me. "I love you, Ada," he said warmly.

I bent down and kissed the top of his head. "I know you do, bub." I shot Hendric a pointed glare as I pulled the horse around. "I'll go alone, it'll be much faster."

Hendric snatched the reins. "I promised him I wouldn't let you go back up the mountain."

"Oh, so now you care about honoring him? If he dies, there won't be a promise." Clutching onto the mare's long hair, I swept my leg over into her back and yanked the reins from his grip. He remained still with a glare on his face. I paused, waiting for him to say something. "I don't expect you to understand, but I need to stop them. Gabriel isn't just going to kill Beast, he'll kill Coggington and Mrs. Potter— even Lumea." His frown flipped at her name, his eyes widen in a fraction.

"Do you love Beast, Ada?" Kenji said from below me.

My grip tightened on the reins, my back straightened. And for the first time, the words love and Beast didn't startle me into a minor panic attack. Instead, I lifted my chin and said as adamantly as I could manage: "Yes. I do." And as I said it, I looked directly at Hendric. Surprisingly, he didn't flinch like I half expected him to. "Which is why I need to save him." I stared at him hopefully now, my eyes burning at the thought of losing Beast or any of them up there. "Please, Hendric. Help me save them. Just open the gate."

We stood there for several long minutes in a world of utter silence. He stared at me and I stared at him, my gaze much more desperate than his. Finally, he cracked a thin smile and nodded. "Okay." He dashed over to the gate and unlatched the lock, quickly pulling it back. But as I marched my horse up to the gate, it reared back at the curvy silhouette lingering in the entryway.

I squinted through the light. "Lumea?" I was stunned. She stood there at the entrance to our town in nothing but a long-sleeved shirt and dark pants that hugged her legs, always unaware of the cold just like her brother. Hendric whirled to face her, his jaw slacking into the snow. "What are you doing here?"

She released a heavy breath at the sight of us, but her gaze lingered on my brother. "I had to make sure you all got here safely." She smiled at him warmly. Something passed between them, intimate and so loving that I realized I didn't want to know.

I hated to be the one to interrupt them. "Lumea, we don't have much time. Gabriel has led the town up the mountain. They're going to kill Beast."

Her eyes snapped to me. Her mouth parted in shock, the color draining from her skin. "We won't make it in time."