“You’re hurt,” she snaps. “Put me down.”
So my injured, combat-hungry keeper can dive headfirst into danger? So she can be taken away from me again while I’m just as helpless as I was last time?
“No,” I seethe vehemently.
And knowing that my keeper isn’t about to accept that answer, since she’s the most determined person in the entire five planes of existence, I turn and storm in the direction she indicated.
“Put me down,” she warns again.
I can tell she's about to start struggling, so I freeze her wrists and ankles together with nevermelt without looking down.
The second she's restrained, Maven goes perfectly still in my arms. When her unbreakable poker face slips into place, I'm pretty sure that means she's royally pissed.
Which is fair, since I’m a world-class dick for doing this. But there’s no fucking way I’m about to set her down in this dangerous area, injury be damned.
For the next ten minutes, I cradle Maven close to my chest and do my best not to stagger too much as I walk through the raging blizzard. Any shadow fiends or other creatures that tryto approach are frozen instantaneously before they can get too close.
I freeze more ravens, too.
Meanwhile, the shards of my heart continue to thump painfully inside me. I’m on the verge of a breakdown at just the thought of setting my keeper down. The sooner I get her out of here, the sooner I’ll be able to breathe again.
She’s alive.
She’s back.
She’s mine.
I have questions, but they’ll wait until she’s safe and warm. I need time to hold her until the alarms blaring in my head pass, and then she can tear me a new asshole all she wants.
Soon, I shoulder through a broken door and into the remains of what was once a small grocery store. Like most other stores, it’s in shambles and looks like it was heavily raided before it was left to rot with the rest of Snowfall Ridge.
Once we're out of the blizzard, I let the nevermelt around Maven's wrists and ankles melt, but I keep her in my arms.
“I'm sorry,” I finally whisper. “I just needed to get you out of there.”
She stays silent, refusing to show any emotion. That kills me a little.
Kenzie Baird and her caster are huddled together for warmth nearby, but the shifter startles at the sight of us. “Thank gods you guys made it! I kept hearing shadow fiends out there and was starting to get really worried–oh, shit. Uh, Profess–I mean, Everett? You're kind of dripping blood everywhere, so I really don't think you should be holding Maven like that.”
I ignore her just like I ignore the blood saturating my side.
“Transport us. Now,” I tell Felix.
The atypical caster glances at Maven for her input. To my chagrin, her expression remains ironclad, the same way it used to whenever something was deeply bothering her.
I'll apologize again later over and over, if she lets me.
Felix begins laying the spell to transport us out of here. Moments later, the bright light of stomach-flipping transportation magic deposits us abruptly into the dark, cold, blizzarding night just outside of Everbound’s massive front double doors. I barge through them immediately, ignoring Felix and Kenzie having to wait for magical clearance.
Their unfamiliar presence at the wards will tip off someone in my security detail, so they’ll get let in eventually, even if they’re pissy about waiting in the cold for a bit. Or maybe they’ll simply go home to Halfton. I don’t care.
The fact that Maven says nothing at all about that is…mildly alarming. I glance down, but it’s impossible to tell what she’s thinking.
Is she indifferent? Upset? Hurt that I refused to let her fight back there?
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. As I stride toward my old staff office, I blurt out the obvious. “I took over Everbound.”
She says nothing.
