Lord Protector Novel

Laughing lecherously, Yael lunged at Lacey.

Stumbling away, Lacey paled, screaming at the villagers in the distance for help.

The band of villagers were angry. They were not about to let such a dirty ba****d defile their goddess.

Yelling loudly, the villagers rushed forward to help a struggling Lacey out of her dilemma.

But in the next second, Yael had pulled out a large paring knife, laughing as he flailed it at the villagers.

One of the villagers did not get out of the way in time, and Yael’s paring knife drew a long cut along his abdomen. Blood spurted from the wound as the villager groaned in agony. The others looked at him in horror.

“Who else wants a taste of this, huh? Anyone else wants to defend this b*tch, I’ll gut him—then his f****** family!”

With bright red blood soaking his clothes, the injured villager was still groaning loudly. The rest of them, shocked into submission, did not dare to step forward to help Lacey anymore.

Despairing, she turned to run.

Unfortunately, she did not get the chance to. Yael yanked the edge of her sleeve, causing her to stumble and fall against him. “You don’t get to run, b*tch.”

His breath was slick against her ear. “If you do a good job tonight, I’ll reward you. But I’ll f**king gut you if you resist.”

Something exploded inside Lacey.

“I’d rather die than let you take me,” she howled, struggling furiously.

Yael laughed again, pinning her against him easily. “It ain’t a choice, sugar. You’re coming with me.”

Yael turned to leave, fully intending to drag Lacey screaming if he needed to.

At this unbearably tense moment, a flash of silver darted past the faces of the gathered crowd and sank into Yael’s leg.

Crashing heavily onto the ground, he grabbed his injured leg and spat streams of profanity. “What the hell happened, huh? Which of you ba****ds pierced my leg?”

Lacey froze, stunned for a moment.

Yael was pricked in the leg.

She only knew one source of such deadly accuracy and precise injuries—silver needles.

Zeke’s favorite weapon was silver needles.

Zeke is here?

A complicated rush of emotions tore through Lacey’s mind.

She had hoped beyond hope for Zeke to save her, but at the same time, she was terrified that he would track her down.

What should she do? She agonized over the decision. Should she just leave the village as soon as she could?

In the precious few moments she spent debating with herself, a familiar figure stepped into Lacey’s field of vision.

Her tears refused to be restrained any longer, coursing down her cheeks freely. Lacey let them, feeling elation and sheer relief blossom in her chest despite all her reservations.

Zeke is really here!

The man she had yearned for in her dreams and spent every waking moment missing had appeared before her.

From personal experience, Lacey knew that the mountain roads that led to this remote village were narrow and treacherous. The long journey could only be made on foot.

Zeke had walked here.

His face was scratched and bloodied in a way that made Lacey’s heart pang painfully. The clothes he wore were in a similar condition, ripped and torn in various places. Sweat dripped from his forehead and he almost looked no better than Yael. Even as scruffy and beaten down as he looked, he was still the most handsome man that Lacey had ever laid eyes on.

She thought of the twisting roads he had to walk through just to get here. And he had done all that, just to find her.

Zeke had an astonishing reserve of inner strength and will, but he would freely admit that his heart still fluttered with waves of untold emotion when he finally saw his wife.

A few long strides were all it took to reach Lacey’s side and Zeke bundled her into his arms, hugging her desperately.

“Idiot.”

Lacey melted against him. The reproachful words that he had wanted to say to her faded away, left unsaid.

Wordlessly, Zeke knew that Lacey now probably felt worse than he did. He hugged her closer.

Feeling a thousand churning emotions finally catch up with her, Lacey finally let go and broke down, crying.

Her heart ached for her husband and his bedraggled look.

“Let’s go home,” Zeke said thickly. There were a hundred and a thousand things he had wanted to tell his wife when he saw her again, but that simple sentence was all that became of them.

Home.

Lacey’s heart pounded at the thought.

She missed it more than air itself, that warm and cozy home where Zeke was.

But she just could not go back.

She shrank away, breaking free from him.

“Zeke, I… I can’t go home with you! Please, just leave now. If you stay, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist going with you.”

“Lacey.” Zeke frowned; it hurt him just to see her like that. “Lacey, please. Tell me what’s wrong?”

Lacey sobbed even more furiously. “Zeke, just leave! Forget about me. If you bring me home, it’ll just be dangerous for all of us.”