Oh my God. Please don’t let me be too late.
He didn’t even think about what he did, just reacted. Nothing matter except getting to Emma. The thought of her pain, of her death opened a gaping hole in his heart. It was his worst nightmare times a hundred.
His demon roared inside him, breaking to the surface in one smooth transition. The need for revenge, to punish was great, but not as pronounced as his need to save Emma. For once his demon and he were in perfect agreement. Emma was all that mattered.
Flashing to the spot of the broken ice, his speed was so quick he literally floated over the ice. It had only been seconds since she was sucked under, and he was pretty sure he had stopped breathing. Then his hand connected with her ice cube skin. Like pulling out a ragdoll, he lifted her effortlessly.
Out of nowhere she was plucked to the surface and cuddled against something warm and soft. Her first breath of air was blistering and painful. Coughing up a lung, water dribbled from her mouth.
She clung to Travis’s strong form, her arms feeling useless. Thankful he wasn’t letting her go. The world spun as Travis hurtled them inhumanly off the broken pond.
Her bearings were out of whack. Shaking uncontrollable, she starred into a pair of citrine blazing eyes. At first she didn’t comprehend that those eyes were Travis’s. It was startling to see his beautiful boyish face with menacing gold eyes. There was something just not right about it.
Travis’s eyes were a perfect blend of blue and green. She dreamed of those gemstone eyes and were etched in her memory. This wasn’t her Travis…but it was.
Her jaw fell open. He reminded her of a fierce lion. Deadly. Ferocious. Wild.
And he looked ready to kill.
His eyes narrowed, glinting gold that made her blink. Their faces were close, and all she could see were those deadly dangerous eyes.
He had saved her.
Whatever was happening here, happening with Travis, she owned him her life.
Swallowing hard, she cautiously stroked fingers that trembled down his cheek. “What – what are you?” she hesitantly asked, her voice inaudible. A wave of dizziness swarmed over her, and the blackness was right there luring her. She fought to keep her eyes open. The only thing keeping her from giving into what the dark easily offered was the sound of his voice.
Reassuring. Steady. Dependable.
“Emma. Em you have to fight it. Stay with me,” he coaxed, sounding different.
She couldn’t put her finger on it. Nodding, she snuggled into his chest, burrowing her head in his heat, anything to get rid of the bone-chilling cold. She couldn’t stop the shakes that racked her body.
“I’ve got to get you out of here.” There was panic in his voice.
She wasn’t out of the woods just yet. He needed to get her dry, warm and rid her of the drenched clothes plastered to her skin. This wasn’t exactly how he envisioned getting her undressed. He thought there would be candlelight, soft music, and something less life-threatening.
God there was never a dull moment in his horrendously cursed life.
She was so dainty in his arms, he dwarfed her.
Travis was about to expose himself and everything he protected to keep hidden. Expose his family. It wasn’t just him that would be affected. He had Lexi and Chase to think about. Right now her life was worth the risk of exposure, even Lexi’s and Chase’s. And that spoke in magnitudes. Then there was also a real possibility that once she realized how different he really was, she wouldn’t want anything do with him.
At least she would be alive, a small voice reasoned.
“Hang on,” he said, getting to his feet with her still wrapped around him. “You might want to close your eyes.”
And then he took off. If she thought she was dizzy before, it compared nothing to Travis running through the woods. She didn’t know how he was able to move with such blinding haste, but she didn’t have the strength to question it right now. Taking his advice, she squeezed her eyes shut.
What felt like only a blink, he had her securely in his car and flying madly down the road. Turning the heat on full blast, he knew that he needed to get her out those clothes now. His house was only a few minutes, but it felt like miles and miles stretched between him and his destination.
The pedal was slammed to the floor as he came to a screeching stop in front of the big old house. Not wasting a beat, he had Emma out of the car and in his arms. Kicking the door open, he rushed inside calling Lexi’s name.
She appeared in front of him taking one glance at the limp Emma in his arms. “What happened?”
“Help me?” he pleaded.
Never before had her brother ever pleaded anything from her. She nodded looking into the stone cold terror reflecting in his eyes. “Get her upstairs.”