The Cherished One by Carolyn Faulkner Page A

as her ears.  “Fawna!  Fawna get back here!”
    She could hear him at the top of the stairs, cursing up a blue streak, trying to squeeze himself into that small opening.  Before he got the chance to, she opened the door and slipped behind it, pulling it closed as quietly as she could.  She had no idea if he had managed to get down the stairs yet or not.  She hadn’t heard any heavy footsteps clunking down them, but her heart was beating so loudly in her ears that she didn’t think she could hear anything else.
    It had been so long since her father had conducted monthly emergency drills that she could barely remember where the tunnel came out, and when she climbed the rickety old ladder out of the tunnel, she had to pause for a minute to get her bearings before setting off towards the sun.  She knew this forest like the back of her hand, or rather, she used to know it that well.  It still felt very welcoming to her, still felt like she was slipping on an old, comfortable slipper or a well-worn pair of jeans.  She was heading towards what she knew would be civilization, if she could get there before he caught up with her.  The way she was going did not cross the route that went to the front door of the house, which was the way they had come to the house.
    As she walked, she did her best to clear her mind, and sang softly, which helped her to do so.  Her head was down and she was doing her best to concentrate on thinking absolutely nothing but what the next word was to the song she happened to be singing.  She chose a nonsense song with a lot of verses from her childhood – “Found a Peanut” – because she knew the challenge of remembering all of those verses would keep her mind occupied for a while.
    She was just trying to remember what came after the “died anyway” verse when she ran headlong into a brick wall that knocked her right back onto her still burning butt.  Fawna got up immediately and looked up, certain that she had managed to encounter Max, but she was only partially right.
    “Fawna.”
    It wasn’t Max’s voice, it was Dain’s.
    She drew a shocked breath, her hands flying to her mouth.  Dain had his huge broadsword at Max’s throat.  Fawna knew how well honed that sword was.  She’d touched the edge of it once, when it had belonged to her father, and had cut herself very badly.  It was the only spanking she’d ever received from her father, delivered once her bone deep cut had healed.
    If Dain so much as hiccoughed, Max’s head would be lopped off in an instant, and for some reason, even though she was in the midst of trying to escape him, she couldn’t bear that idea.
    “Are you all right?” her brother asked, in a manner that let her know that he was asking about much more than her physical well being.
    “Yes, I’m fine.”
    “Are you sure?”  Dain was obviously itching for any reason to kill Max.  As far as he was concerned, he already had a valid one, since the vamp had already tried to kill his sister once.
    “Yes.”  Then she said something that she didn’t think any of the three of them were prepared for, including herself.  “Let him go.”
    Dain’s sword didn’t move one iota from its dangerous position in front of Max’s Adam’s apple.  He snorted derisively.  “Let him go?  I don’t think so, honey.  He’s been keeping you captive, hasn’t he?  I don’t know what he did to them, but some of my men are still incapacitated all over the forest.  I’ve been thinking you were safe and cozy in the haven, surrounded by my men and the truth was that he’s had you for the past I don’t know how long…” 
    Fawna could see that Dain was working himself into a frenzy, and that wouldn’t be a good thing at all for Max’s health.
    “I’m fine.  Really, Dain.  Let him go, please.”  She raised her eyebrow at her brother, as if to say she couldn’t imagine that he would think to do otherwise.  “Please.  I just want to be left alone.