Broken Dove (Fantasyland 4)

He moved away, grabbed my hand, threw open the door and pulled me inside.

He slammed it shut behind me, turned the lock, all of this with his hand still in mine which was good. It was good because, the minute the door was locked, he gave my arm a firm tug. I fell toward him, colliding with his body seeing as it was moving my way, and both my arms went around his shoulders as both his arms came around me. He started walking me backward and his head began to dip toward mine again.

My eyes were closing, my head tipping back, ready for it, wanting it, all of it, when suddenly he stopped us and his head jerked up.

I was about to ask him why he’d stopped when I was unexpectedly flung to the side. I gave a small, surprised cry, my thigh hit a chair, I tumbled into a table and as I reeled, I saw Apollo bend to his boot.

“Run, Maddie, now!” he roared.

I didn’t run.

This was because my blood had turned to ice seeing as not one, not two, but three men all wielding freaking swords were flooding into the small sitting room of our suite.

As I noted, they had swords and there were three of him. But although Apollo had produced a knife, he had no sword and there was just one of him.

And they weren’t delaying in attacking.

Shit!

What the f**k?

I watched as, with some fancy footwork, a lot of ducking and lunging and his small blade crashing against their long ones, Apollo was holding his own. But even as he executed a ducking lunge and pulled another knife out of his other boot, I knew he couldn’t hold his own for long.

No one could.

There were three of them!

With swords!

It hit my brain I couldn’t run because if I did, I’d be leaving him and there was no doubt in my mind that if I left him, I’d never see him again. Or I wouldn’t see him when he was breathing.

I liked him breathing.

I just liked him.

And we’d just had a great first date. Sure, it started out rocky, but it ended up with that kiss and I’d be damned if he was going to die as a finale.

So I instantly prioritized and ran past the fray to the bedroom. I got to his saber that was resting against his trunk, grabbed it and extracted it from its scabbard on the dash back as I heard the battle clash on.

I will note this was hard because that mother was freaking heavy, but I still managed it.

I was thinking, in the movies, if you tossed a sword to someone who knew how to use it, they could catch it by the handle and carry on fighting without delay.

When Apollo had taken on Pol, he demonstrated he could use a sword.

I just hopped he was really good at it.

I hit the outer room and was thrilled beyond anything he was still holding his own.

But his attention was kind of taken.

Crap.

There was nothing for it.

I had to create an opening.

I grabbed the handle of the saber in both hands, shifted it so the flat was what sang through the air and did what Apollo did with Pol.

I smacked one of the bad guys upside the head with it.

Hard.

He staggered to the side.

Me entering the fray caused a diversion that Apollo took advantage of because it surprised the men, but not him.

He didn’t miss a beat, shoved one of his knives in his belt, held a hand toward me and shouted, “Saber!”

God, I hoped he was as good as those guys in the movies.

I tossed it to him point up.

He caught it by the handle in one hand, whirled, and with a mid-body slice, gutted one of the bad dudes.

Holy crap!

When the guy’s innards became outtards, I felt my eyes go huge as bile shot up my throat and I staggered back.

But Apollo barked, “Maddie, bloody go!”

The one Apollo sliced was down on his back and I was thinking it was a good guess he was continuing the swordfight on some celestial plain. However, the one I’d conked was reentering the action and Apollo again had his hands full.

Two against one. Still no fair.

I focused and not on my wave of nausea. Instead, on a lamp on a table close by. I grabbed it and lifted it over my head. Shuffling this way and that around the battle, I tried to get my opening to smash it on one of the bad dudes’ heads.

“Maddie, what did I say?” Apollo thundered, still clashing steel.

I ignored him because there it was.

My shot.

Crash!

I landed the glass lantern hard on the guy’s head and he went down instantly, out like a light.

I turned to Apollo just in time to watch him make light work of the last one. That was, he disarmed him of his sword with a whirling flourish that actually pulled the sword from the guy’s hand but kept control of it with the tip of his saber whereupon Apollo could twirl it aside, far out of reach.

Oh yeah. He was good at this sword shit.

Alas, as this was happening, Apollo was momentarily engaged in doing it, so the guy went for the knife on his belt.

Before I could cry out a warning, Apollo came back and carved his saber through the side of the guy’s neck.

A sickening spray of blood spurted.

I gasped and took a step back.

The guy lifted a hand to his neck, his eyes slid to Apollo and then he fell down on his knees right before he crashed to his front.

Okay, well.

I was thinking he, too, was a goner.

Holy cow.

I stared at the bodies and blood littering our little sitting room and I did this for a millisecond before Apollo roared, “When I tell you to run, you bloody do what I say!”

I looked to him to see his eyes were burning and not in a good way. Not that there was anyone left to talk to that wasn’t dead or unconscious but still, those burning eyes were locked on me.

“I—” I started.

He began to move my way and cut me off.

“Did it occur to you that if you’d run, you could have called for assistance?”

He stopped in front of me so close my head was tipped all the way back to keep hold of his gaze.

And seriously, our date—which included its shaky start, sure, but it also included great champagne, delicious food and Apollo and I eventually chatting and laughing, another fab horse ride back with Apollo, a brilliant kiss and the promise of an orgasm (or more than one since he’d said we’d be doing it repeatedly)—but it ended in death and destruction and him shouting at me and being sarcastic—I don’t think anyone would blame me that his words pissed me off.

“Did it occur to you that, seeing as I didn’t run, I was your assistance?” I shot back.

His mouth clamped shut and a muscle ticked up his jaw and into his cheek.

I took that as “no.” I also decided to take it as “thank you for helping me defeat the bad guys” when he jerked away from me and stormed into the bedroom.