AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I got reviews! Really! I screamed when I saw them. Literally. I locked myself in the bathroom and screamed. Then I peed. You probably did not need to know that. That's why I told you :p
Disclaimer:
Not mine! All Derek Landy's!
Dexter Vex was a warrior. A hardened soldier, a war machine, and a member of the infamous 'Dead Men'. He had seen many harsh things during the war with Mevolent, but the Butcher had to be the harshest, so far. And now his fellow soldier, colleague, friend Saracen Rue had been captured by him.
Their mission had been to assassinate a man so terrible that his own soldiers called him the Butcher. And they had failed. Miserably. The Dead Men didn't normally fail, but when they did, they failed spectacularly. So spectacularly, that the Butcher now had a dozen of his best men around him at all times, was now hunting them, and to top it all off, they had lost Saracen.
Dexter was sitting against a tree, brooding about Saracen. Again. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, a little surprised to see that it was Anton.
"Saracen's tough. He'll be okay." said Anton gently.
Dexter snorted derisively. "Okay? No one has ever survived the Butcher's interrogations for more than 24 hours, and he's already been gone for at least half that!"
"Then we'll just have to save him, won't we?" spoke up Ghastly, quietly.
Dexter nodded slightly, then nodded again. "Yeah, you're right. We'll save him. We have to."
"The Butcher's going to be hunting us, though." said Skulduggery, taking charge." We'll need to be constantly on the move..."
It had been three days. There had been a couple of close calls, but they had made it out unscathed, except for a few cuts and bruises. They had yet to find Saracen. Dexter was losing hope that he was even alive. But they wouldn't give up, not yet. Not while there was even the smallest of chances that he was still alive.
The Dead Men had been trekking all around the place they had lost Saracen. Siberia was admittedly a large place, but you could only go so far in three days, eo Saracen had to be relatively close to where they were. If they didn't find him...
Dexter shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the fate that no doubt awaited his friend if they failed to save him.
"Hey! There's a big house over there! And I mean really, really big!" called Erskine.
"It's the Butcher's manor. If there's one place Saracen's most likely to be kept, It's here."
said Skulduggery.
Dexter looked up, hope shining in his eyes. A huge manor loomed up a little way in front of them. It was a dark grey color, and the setting sun painted it in shades of red, giving it a rather eerie look.
"Creepy, huh?" muttered Erskine from beside him. Dexter nodded in agreement.
"But it's unlikely that the Butcher will be here. He's chasing us, a few hours behind us at least."
"Then we'd better pick up the pace." said Anton, walking slightly faster.
They crept silently in through the back, Dexter blasting the lock with his energy.
"We should split up. We'll find him faster that way-if he's here. Hopeless and Anton-check his dungeons. Ghastly and I will search this floor. Dexter, you and Erskine go upstairs."
Dexter and Erskine nodded silently, quickly climbing the stairs. They checked a couple of bedrooms, coming to a dead stop at the Master bedroom.
Saracen lay fast asleep on the bed,relaxed and completely unharmed.
"Saracen!" Dexter said in loud whisper.
Saracen snored. Loudly. Dexter went to the bed, then stilled. There was a woman lying in the bed next to him. Erskine smirked, and Dexter rolled his eyes. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief that Saracen was safe, but also something else that he couldn't explain.
He shook Saracen awake, being careful not to disturb the sleeping woman-the Butcher's wife, he assumed.
"Wha? Who-who's there?" yawned Saracen groggily.
Dexter shushed him, motioning towards the sleeping woman. Saracen's eyes widened as he blinked away the sleep and took in what was going on. They flickered towards the woman in the bed, but Dexter shook his head. Saracen stretched and yawned, sitting up slowly. Dexter glared at him and grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. Then he stopped.
The woman was moving slightly. She muttered something, then turned over and settled down again. Dexter relaxed again, but not completely. She might still be asleep, but they were still in the Butcher's home. Who knew what nasty surprises the man had in store for them.
"Come on!" he hissed at Saracen, who was on his hands and knees on the floor.
"You want me to go half-naked?" Saracen asked, raising his eyebrows.
Dexter blushed and averted his eyes. "Put something on, them." he said, still blushing.
Erskine threw Saracen a shirt and he pulled it on, smirking. Dexter hurried to the door, with Saracen and Erskine following behind.
They found the others at the doorway. Ghastly grinned at them, relieved to see Saracen safe and well. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Anton.
"We can celebrate later,"he said."Right now, we have to leave before the Butcher returns."
The others nodded and prepared to go, except for-surprisingly enough- Saracen.
"Are you sure? I think we should stay here and-you know-lie in wait for the Butcher. No sense in-uh- abandoning the mission."
Dexter snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure that's his only reason."he muttered to Erskine. Erskine grinned at him.
"Jealous?"he asked in a low voice, waggling his eyebrows.
"No, not at all," denied Dexter.
"Sure..."said Erskine, drawing the word out skeptically.
"Shut up."said Dexter, folding his arms and looking away.
Skulduggery shook his head in response to Saracen's question. "No, it's too dangerous. As a matter of fact-"
"Come on!"interrupted Anton angrily.
Skulduggery raised his hands in a gesture of peace.
"Lead the way."he said.
Anton grunted, then headed out the door. The rest of the Dead Men followed.
Dexter fell into step beside Saracen, who grinned at him. Dexter grinned back.
"Missed me?"he asked, smirking at him knowingly.
"No, I didn't."said Dexter, for some reason blushing again, why did he keep blushing today-
"Sure..."said Saracen, dragging the word out skeptically.
Dexter scowled. "Have you been talking to Erskine?"he accused.
"No, I haven't. Why? Something I should know?" said Saracen, moving closer.
"Shouldn't you know already?"dared Dexter, moving closer still to Saracen, till they were about an inch apart.
"Maybe I do,"said Saracen, and then he leaned in and kissed him.
Being kissed by Saracen was like nothing Dexter had ever experienced. All he could feel was Saracen's soft lips on his, his hand cradling his face; and then Dexter was kissing him back, passionately. One of his arms was around his waist, pulling him close, and the other was tangled in Saracen's dark hair.
They broke apart, panting. "Wow,"said Dexter, breathlessly.
Saracen grinned at him, and then- somehow- they were kissing again.
Phew! The kiss was hard to write. Thanks go to DeadGirl19 for helping me out over there. Bye!