The Thread Of Fate

Chapter 18

"Who are you?" I managed to keep my voice steady.

He locked the door and my panic rose. I wondered if anyone would hear my screams.

"I suppose I could tell you." He reached behind and pulled out a kitchen knife.

So it wasn't planned.

The man had just recently decided that I deserved to die. A kitchen knife was hardly a good weapon. Hope surged within me. All I had to do was get out. I could do that if he was untrained.

"It's not like I'll tell anyone." I shrugged, it was fairly easy since I was already shaking.

"I'm your brother in law." He stepped forward and it took every bit of will I had to not back down.

I refrained from showing surprise. Dominic had mentioned that his uncle and aunt had escaped with their son when he took back Chant. What I didn't understand was why the man chose to attack now. He was dressed as one of the staff members. I knew that he had followed me to the pantry. It was possible that he had been doing so even before.

Library?

I had discovered their pathways. Perhaps he was worried that I would unearth more of their secrets.

"Dominic doesn't have a brother." I frowned, trying to play dumb.

Also, stalling wasn't a bad strategy. There was a shelf behind me and I placed my hand on it as subtly as I could. I searched for something, anything to hit him with. All I needed was one little window of time to escape.

"So he didn't tell you of us, did he ?" He gripped the knife firmer.

I shook my head while my hand landed on something wooden. I hoped that it was hard enough to hurt him momentarily.

"That is not going to work." He lunged.

I ducked and reached out to open the door. It was a small space so I unlocked it pretty easily. Things obviously didn't go as planned. Before I could run out, he grabbed me by my waist and threw me backwards. I crashed into one of the shelfs, knocking things down in the process. My head hit the wall and for a moment I was dizzy.

Not dizzy enough to die.

I saw him coming and moved out of the way. Grabbing the first thing I could find, I smashed it on his head. Without even taking a look, I charged. He fell out of the room with a satisfying grunt. The world was spinning as I stumbled away.

"Your grace!" Beluh gasped just as the man got up.

"Bring help." I hoped that she understood because she ran immediately.

The man grabbed my leg and I lost balance. Squeezing my throat, he raised his other hand. I flinched, waiting for it to make contact with my face.

"Get off."

The punch stopped mid air. I breathed in a sigh of relief. For whatever reason, Dominic was here.

"Ah. Brother." the man muttered.

"Get. Off." Dominic growled.

The man squeezed tighter and Dominic moved. Pulling the man off, he helped me up. In the meantime, Beluh had managed to get Leo.

"Don't kill him! He'll lead us to your uncle." Leo yelled.

"What are you going to do brother? Are you as weak as your father?" the man laughed, "let me make you a deal."