hearts

chapter 29|Cas

"Fuck she got away I need to go alert the-Caspian?"

I gulped. "Aunt Dora" Her 'daughter' raised an eyebrow.

"Aunt?"

Adaora ignored her and glared at me. "What in the four kingdoms are you doing here?"

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly "Actually I-

"Who the fuck are you?" I turned to her daughter.

"Well, I'm-

"I never knew your mother was letting you stay over" I turned back to her.

"About that" Her eyes widened.

"She doesn't know!?"

"Whose his mother?!" We both turned to look at her daughter again. This time the daughter squinted her eyes to stare at me as if to question where she'd seen my face before. "Wait, you look a lot like" Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"No!" I nodded.

"Yes."

"Caspian I have to send you back" I looked down and sighed.

"I know"

She grabbed my chin and rubbed it tenderly whilst she scanned my face and clothes. "What are you wearing?" She snorted, I opened my mouth to explain when she shook her head. "Don't even worry about that, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to um-to you know?-and then" I blushed dark crimson when I failed to come up with an excuse. Aunt Adaora chuckled.

"Don't worry I get it, but we need to get you home...Like now" She messed up my hair between her fingertips. "I just need to deal with-FUCK".

Her face filled with a rage I'd never seen before as she looked at the now-empty corner. The tile was still stained with Hibi's blood indicating that she was once there but I just hoped she'd be long gone by now. "Mom just let her-

"No! She will not slip out of my clutches for a second time"

She raised two fingers to her lips and blew hard. I stared at her in confusion for a second before I felt the floors beneath us shake.

I heard a loud explosion that echoed down the hall and I peeked out of the room to see what was going on. My eyes connected with electric blue ones and I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

Hibiscus that is not a guard dog.

The vicious beast let out a massive growl before it began to bound for me. I ran across the room in fear. My hands pressed upon the glass as I looked around for an exit. "Don't worry Caspian, she's harmless" Her daughter insisted but the snarl that followed her words didn't comfort me.

The cat came bursting into the room with no regard for the architecture as the walls came down with its entrance. "Fuck that's a big cat" It stalked me like a lion seeking its prey, it's lips dripping in blood and saliva. It gnarled at me revealing its blood-stained blade-like teeth.

"Rhus no" Adaora demanded taking the attention from cat onto herself. The difference was Adaora didn't look the slightest bit terrified. "I need you to scent out someone understand?" The cat turned its body to face its owner and I was relieved that I was no longer looking at its face from nightmares.

That was until its rope-like thick tail came swishing towards me.

I didn't have time to dodge it as it hit my chest, successfully swinging me out the window. My back crashed through the glass and many shards flew around me, cutting my face and hands, the world seemed to move in slow motion as my body cut through the air.

Fear filled me as I looked down and to my relief, there was a bundle of hay where I was about land. But that stack of hay certainly did not make my landing any more painful, I collided with the dry glass and all the air was knocked out of my lungs.

"Caspian!" I let out a groan.

"Fuck" I muttered as I slowly writhed around on the hay before sitting up. I ran a hand through my hair and many pieces of grass fell out of my locks and floated around me. I started to get back to my feet and stretched my back.

I could be in hearts right now being waited on hand and foot.

"Caspian are you alright?" I looked up to see Adaora and her daughter leaning out of the broken window, worry on Adaora's face and absolute amusement on her daughters. I gave them both a thumbs up and she sighed. "Okay come back up here" I nodded and started to make my way back to the building when I heard a scream.

To my left, a guy was flung off a building I looked at the top of it to see where he came from and to my surprise, Hibi stood at the top of it. Battered, bruised but still kicking ass. She didn't waste time continuing her path as the legged it down the wall path. I looked at where she was going and there were the stables that Irina was talking about earlier.

I still have a chance to getaway.

I looked up at Adaora who was now looking at me with a raised eyebrow and I looked back at the stables with freedom written all over them.

C'mon Caspian, live a little.

I've come too far to back down now. "Sorry, Adaora but you're going to have to catch me first".

I completely turned around and made a beeline for the stables. "I don't have too" I heard Aunt Adaora call "Rhus! FETCH" I felt the ground shake along with a few walls of the building come down as Rhus burst through the already broken room.

She landed on all fours and let out a warning growl that I heeded no warning as I continued making my way through a sandpit that was in the middle of the madness. I was halfway across it and almost back on the path when a shadow flew over my head and I glanced up.

Holy shit.

The large furry body of Adaora's house pet easily leapt over me and landed in front of me with a glare in its blue eyes. It snarled at me menacingly and I gulped before changing my direction. I went right to go back to the entrance hall but I was not faster now that I was on solid ground.

A roar came from behind me that made my step falter but after that, I only went faster knowing that the cat was not far behind on my trail. I ran down the hall behind the large stone pillars but that didn't stop Rhus.

She tore down each and every single pillar as he ploughed through them with her body. To say I was terrified was an understatement. I was being hunted like a dog and by an oversized cat non the less.

What has my life turned into?

A large tail suddenly swished out in front of me but I was smarter this time. I leapt over it and rolled before sliding underneath a large black paw that swung over my head. Andrenaline pumped in my veins as I was beginning to catch sight of the horses at the stable.

I made eye contact with one of them but soon they were staring in fear at the large apex predator behind me. The stallions stood tall with large muscles that rippled beneath their coat but compared to Rhus they looked like skinny mice.

Her tail came up behind me and took me clean off my feet before I could stand up his paw was pressed into my chest, pinning me to the ground. I let out a grunt of frustration as I struggled to remove the furry hand off of my chest, instead, I was just pressed firmer into the floor nearing cutting off my airflow.

Rhus leaned down to look at me, her eyes narrowing at me and her teeth bared. Some of her spit was close to hitting my face so I turned my head and winced away from it. Is this really how I'm about to go? Kitty nibble?

Suddenly her ears perked up and she turned her head to the left before the got off me completely. Without a word or a glance back she darted away from me in the opposite direction. I looked at the blank panther briefly before letting out a sigh of relief as her attention was completely off of me.

I got to my feet and started to advance to the stables once more when four guards poured of the building, weapons raised. I put my hands up and smiled as my brain started to cook up excuses. "Who did you say you were again?" One of them growled.

"I-"

"Sorry Mikael this is a companion of mine, but he will be leaving right now so you may let him pass" I looked back to see Adaora's daughter, standing all prim and proper except for her hair that was sticking out in all directions.

The guards nodded at their princess wearily before retreating back into the building. I looked back at her and she glared at me "Thank you-

"Save it!" She walked up to me and looked up "She doesn't know does she?" I wanted to play dumb and ask who but I knew so I nodded in shame. "Well you better keep it that way or else she's definitely going to kill you".

Why does no one think I can hold my own against Hibi?

"I don't think we were properly introduced" She stuck out her hand "Eucalyptus Spades"

Don't laugh Caspian, don't laugh at her name.

Did I really get lectured by a tree? I internally snorted.

"Caspian Heart" I shook her hand and she yanked it.

"I know, we have a peace treaty" She narrowed her eyes at me "You're lucky you're cute Caspian Heart" I nodded and looked away.

"Thank you?" She shook her head.

"It was not a compliment" She glanced away before looking back at me, a more serious fearful look on her face "Now you need to go, I did not save your ass for you to be useless" She pointed at the stables.

"Go to the stables and grab the one that's white with dark grey spots, she's the fastest and she's mine" I nodded at her and she bit her lip "I hope you know I'm only helping you because I think you can save Hibi" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Where is Hibi?"

She pointed above us into the building before pointing at a long dark tail that was peeking off of the building. I stepped to see what was going on more clearly and to my shock, Rhus's body was halfway into the building as she searched for something that probably had to do with a caramel-skinned dark-haired woman.

Fuck.