Partway down the hill, I stop to confirm my coordinates and make sure I’m headed in the right direction. A whimper sounds nearby.
My pulse kicks up, an eerie sensation feathering the back of my neck. Gotta be an injured animal. I hold my breath and listen for more.
The noise comes again. Only this time, it sounds like a moan…the kind of noise a woman might make if she were in pain.
My gut knots, images of Mira flashing through my mind.
Can’t be her. It’s an animal. I should keep a safe distance. But just in case…
I prop my bike against a tree and rush in the direction of the noise, my heart pounding. Up ahead, a patch of light-colored fabric moves, revealing a face that catches my breath.
I run over, kneeling beside her, my hands shaking as I touch her neck, her wrist. “Mira?”
Where the fuck is her pulse?
Her eyes flutter open, beautiful golden-brown irises shining, even in this dull light. Normally her eyes are nearly the same color as her tanned skin—only now her skin appears pale.
I scan her body: a gash on the side of her head, mottled skin along her cheekbone, torn fabric in her sleeves and jeans.
She opens her mouth to say something, closes it, and swallows. “Tyler?” Her voice sounds bewildered and scratchy.
“It’s me,” I say, my tone gruff, a burning in my chest. For some reason, seeing Mira like this leaves me raw. “What happened?”
Her eyes flicker closed. She bites her bottom lip.
Mira’s no wilting flower. She rarely shows emotion, and to see what I suspect is pain and fear on her face? It’s too much.
I gently reach under her to help her up—carry her if I have to. “Come on. Let’s get you to the cabin. It’s not far.”
She shakes her head and winces. Her hand flutters to the side of her scalp. The section that’s matted and wet.
“Can’t go to my mom’s. Someplace else. Could you—could you help me to my car?”
A small, battered truck was the only other vehicle parked on the road I entered from. Either way—“You could have a concussion. You’re not driving anywhere. We need to get you to the cabin. It’s the closest place, unless…”
My shoulders tense. I look in the direction I came from. “Was it them, the woman and that man at the cabin? Did they do this to you?”
“No. It wasn’t them.”
But her omission implies it was someone. She didn’t just fall. “Then let’s go there. The nearest road is a mile and a half away.”
“My mom—she won’t…Forget it.” Mira shifts from me and rolls to her knees. “I’ll walk back.” She stands upright, swaying like a boat on the ocean.
I grab her elbow. “Mira, you can barely stand.”
I could ignore her protests and take her to the cabin, but she needs medical attention, and I doubt that cabin has anything in the way of an emergency kit.
Fine, we’ll do things Mira’s way. For now.
I place my arms beneath her back and knees and pick her up. Her eyes widen, her gaze running up my neck toward my mouth, where it lingers for an instant.
Which is long enough to scatter my senses.
Jesus, how can this girl still affect me? I’m over her. Was over her years ago.
She focuses on my eyes. “Now what?”
I haven’t moved. I’m holding Mira in my arms, convincing myself that what I once felt for her is gone.
