tears slipping down my skin where she’d buried her face against my neck. I let myself feel the relief of holding her again, of knowing she was safe in my arms and that I hadn’t completely failed her.
With a grunt of determination, I pressed her back and inspected her with a critical eye, hating myself for every cut and bruise I saw marking her pale flesh. This is my fucking fault, every mark on her skin may as well be my name branded there in accusation.
I pulled my rifle off of my back and shed my jacket, wrapping her in it and zipping it up to her chin to keep her warm. I doubted she wanted pants from either of the dead men, so I left it at that for now.
“Stay by my side,” I commanded as I bobbed my chin towards the exit. “I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
She nodded firmly, seeming to demand the same of me with one firm look in her emerald eyes. And if she truly wanted that then she could have it. Have me. Whatever I might be worth. I’d stand by her no matter what. I’d be her knight, her shield, her demon. Whatever she needed, I was hers.
I led the way out of the mine, taking the brightly lit passage around twisting turns all the way back to the surface. I paused at the exit until I was sure it was clear and then drew her out behind me with my rifle in my arms.
I glanced over at the other mine entrance and spotted fresh prints in the snow and a line of blood leading towards the trailers.
“Duke,” I hissed, pointing out the tracks and glancing at Winter. I wasn’t sure what to do. I wanted to chase him down, but I didn’t want to put her in danger again.
Before I could make the call, Winter pointed firmly at the tracks then tugged my sleeve to make me follow them. She was right. We needed to finish this.
“Yes, my queen,” I teased. “One more corpse, coming right up.”
It was more than just vengeance for her. I could see it in her eyes. She needed him dead. Needed it over. It was the only way she’d ever be able to move on from what they’d done to her.
We followed the tracks as quickly as I dared and I was pleased with the amount of blood I saw splattered between the boot prints. He’d be lucky to survive that wound whatever happened, but I wanted him bleeding out at my feet all the same.
But as we reached the end of the trail he’d left, my gut plummeted. Fresh snowmobile tracks took over from the boot prints and the fact that I couldn’t even hear the machine told me how far ahead he’d managed to get.
“Fuck,” I cursed, looking around for another snowmobile so that we could chase him.
As I hunted, Winter suddenly caught my hand and shook her head, pointing at the bloody gunshot wound on my thigh with a terrified look in her eyes.
“It’s fine,” I said, dismissively. I’d been trained in the art of pain and torture and I could compartmentalise the throbbing heat of the wound while I focused on the hunt. It was bleeding a fair bit, but it was a flesh wound and I wasn’t too concerned.
I tried to tug my hand away again but she frowned, keeping hold of me and tracing words against my palm.
It’s not.
I sighed heavily, looking down at her in my jacket as she shivered, her bottom lip bleeding and blood staining her scarlet hair an even darker shade of red in places. I didn’t care about some wound on my thigh, but as I looked at her I knew I couldn’t drag her around out here. She was freezing, terrified, in shock. She needed to get somewhere safe and warm.
“I’ll find him for you,” I promised her as I reluctantly gave up on the idea of chasing Duke down right here and now. “I’ll hunt him down once I can know you’re truly safe somewhere.”
She nodded like she really did believe that and I sighed as I pulled her against my chest once more, savouring that feeling of her in my arms.
“I’m so sorry, Winter,” I breathed, the weight of responsibility I held for them capturing her again hanging over me like the weight of the world.
She shook her head in denial but I didn’t let her pull away. She