Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws by Jennifer Youngblood, Sandra Poole

Run to where?
    The guards dismounted from their horses and stepped forward to lay hands on them, but Rushton intervened. “Let her be!” he said, unsheathing his dagger and pointing it toward the guards. This sent off a ripple effect, causing all of the guards to draw their swords.
    “Put down thy dagger, or we will run thee through!”
    Rushton scoped out the situation as if he were weighing his options. Cinderella saw him tighten his grip on his dagger and knew he was going to attempt to take them on. “Don’t,” she said, touching his arm. He wouldn’t stand a chance against all of them. A look passed between them—his savage and hers pleading.
    Begrudgingly, he threw down his dagger … for her. “The princess has done no wrong. She was sent here to deliver a message from Prince Edward. Nothing more.”
    A tremor of shock ran through the group. The captain cocked his head and looked at Rushton incredulously. “Thou art telling me that Prince Edward sent this lady on an errand to deliver a message to thee? All alone? In the middle of the night?”
    “Aye,” Rushton said, but he didn’t sound as convincing as he had earlier.
    “Further evidence of thy treason against the prince,” the captain roared. He motioned, and an invisible line seemed to part the guards. Cinderella gasped when she saw him step through.
    “Edward,” she uttered. Her shame was complete. She would’ve died a thousand deaths rather than face the accusation she saw burning in his eyes. “I am so sorry, Edward. I never meant to hurt you. If only you will allow me to explain—”
    “Enough!” The bitterness in his voice stopped her cold. “I trusted you.” She looked into his eyes, trying to find a semblance of mercy in them … some hint of the man she knew—the man she was going to marry, but all she could see was hatred.
    “I am so sorry,” she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes.
    He dismissed her words as if she were lower than the mud on his boots and turned his attention to Rushton. “You betrayed me,” he said through gritted teeth. “I loved you like a brother—gave you everything, and you betrayed me.”
    “You gave me nothing,” Rushton said, meeting his glare full on. “I have earned everything I have ever gotten, unlike you who have been handed everything. You don’t own her, prince,” he spat. “She has a right to choose whom she loves!”
    “Treason!” the captain yelled. “Silence him!” Two guards encircled Rushton. When he protested, one of them hit him in the face, knocking him to the ground. A trickle of blood ran from his mouth.
    Cinderella was sobbing. “Stop it! You are hurting him!”
    A guard was on top of Rushton, his knee in the center of his back, pinning him down. Rushton craned his neck to look up at Edward. “Is this how you fight your battles? By getting your guards to do it for you? That’s mighty princely, your majesty.”
    Without another word, Edward turned and regally walked away.
    The guards fell upon Rushton, beating and kicking him. Rushton thrashed around, wildly. “Edward! Come back! This is not over! Edward!”
    A guard grabbed Cinderella and jerked her arms behind her and began binding them with a rope. The full scope of the situation settled in at that moment, and Cinderella felt as helpless as a squirrel caught in a trap. The fringes of hysteria were clawing at her sanity, making her voice shrill. “Stop it! This is a mistake! Stop it!”
    “Leave her alone!” Rushton said. “I demand that ye release her at once or I’ll—”
    His words got snuffed out by the sound of a fist hitting bone. Not just any bone, but Rushton’s. It was too much. The world started to spin. The last thing Cinderella heard was Rushton’s ragged cry tearing through the night air. Then everything went black.

Chapter Six

Shadow Crawlers
    E lle purposefully waited until all of the customers had left The Chocolate Fountain and the “closed” sign was on the door when she looked Adele