I burst into the room and rushed to the long, body-sized cooler that was shaking violently. Sara was sobbing inside it, screaming, all while two goblins leaned against a nearby table, laughing hysterically—only one thing mattered right now.Her.
I dropped to my knees in front of the cooler. “Sara, I’m here.” I frantically shoved at the lid, but it didn’t open.
To my horror, I realized the cooler was locked.
They’d fuckinglockedher in.
I had to get this thing open.Right-fucking-now.
“Help me!” Shescreamed. “Please, somebody help me!”
Using the butt of my gun, I smashed the first latch. “I’m here! I’m gonna get you out!” I shouted as the cooler shifted across the floor. Something was wrong, so incredibly wrong. Whatever they’d done to her—I smashed the second latch and shoved the lid open.
Sara exploded out of the cooler faster than I could grab her, and as I looked inside, I suddenly realized why.Ohhh shit.
She was hysterical. “Get it off me!” She ripped my hoodie off, crashing into a wall as she wrenched the fleece off her body, rope still dangling from one of her wrists.
I grabbed her, skin damp under my fingertips, ducking to her eye level. “Sara, baby, it’s in the cooler.” I gripped her tightly as her thrashing turned into breathless sobs. “It’s not on you.” I forced her to look down. “I got you.” I chanted, crushing her against me. “You’re safe now.”
“It—b-bit me.” Her voice broke, and the sound cleaved me in half.
Fuuuuuck.
“I know it’s painful—but it’s not poisonous.” Red hot anger pulsed through me as I gently stroked her hair. “You’re going to be okay.” I assured her, but Sara’s sobbing quickly morphed into hyperventilating—she was having a full-on panic attack, and for good fucking reason.
I gripped her face in both hands, and her skin was so incredibly hot to the touch, as she gripped my shirt in her curled fists, a wild, panicked look in her eyes.
“Let’s take some slow breaths.” I tried coaching her through it, but we were so far past that—she was spiraling and I couldn’t get through. “Sara. You’re going to be okay, you’re just having a panic attack, and we’re going to take some nice, slow?—”
Her hands flew to her throat as her lips parted in panic, because no matter how many breaths she pulled in, she couldn’t speak, and she couldn’t breathe.
“Look at me. We’re just going to ride the wave—don’t fight it. Thiswillpass.” I said calmly as the red tint of her face started to fade, her lips turning a pale color as she hyperventilated. “Sara. Eyes on me.” I commanded, and her gaze jolted to mine. “I’ve got you. Whatever is happening right now, you’re gonna be okay—even if you pass out,I have you.” A moment later, her hand slid from her throat, eyes fluttering before she went limp in my arms.
I gently lowered her to the floor, brushing the hair out of her face as I pushed two fingers against the pulsepoint on her neck.
“Shit, it was just supposed to be a prank.” One of the goblins started quietly.
My gun was a tempting, heavy weight at my back, but bare hands were good too. Slower. I ignored them altogether and forced a slow breath out as Sara stirred awake.
Sara whimpered softly as her eyes flickered open, her breathing weak but steady.
“I know, baby.” I brushed her damp hair off her neck and pulled her dress down, covering her. “I’ve got you now, you’re gonna be okay.”
“Sara?” Jules gaped from the doorway.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Liam barked, thundering into the room. “What happened?” Liam dropped into a squat, taking Sara from my arms, his tone lethal. “Sara, who did this to you?” Sara didn’t even attempt to answer him, and Liam’s gaze narrowed in on the goblins across the room.
His expression went icy as he stood, leaving Sara in Jules arms. “What did you do to her?” He demanded.
“They touched her, Liam.” I curled and uncurled my fists. “And then they locked her in there—withthat.” I dipped my chin to the cooler, towardsthe eight-legged fuzzy thing that was bigger than Sara’s hand.
Liam leaned over to look in the cooler. “Oh, fuuuck no.”
“So, who wants to go first?” I asked, hands now free, aching to do some damage.
“Listen, this is all just a big misunderstanding.” One of them started. “It was just a prank.”
“You think I give a shit what your reasons were?” I bit out lethally soft. “She wasscreaming for helpwhile you stood there and laughed at her—you are so incredibly lucky she doesn’t have a goddamn medical condition.”
