He didn’t wake up earlier when Zeke was in danger, so why now?
I’m pulled from my train of thought when Thorin shouts to Aurelia that we’re coming. It’s only then that I notice the tree that nearly crushed Aurelia creating a makeshift bridge between our side and theirs.
Before I can come up with a safe way for Thorin and me to cross it without falling into the water, Aurelia and Bane both fall into the river.
They’re gone in an instant.
Aurelia’s terrified scream is cut off as they both disappear underwater.
It’s a few terror-stricken moments before Bane resurfaces, and then Aurelia. She’s too busy struggling to keep her head above water to notice him fighting against the current to reach her. I’m not even sure which she would prefer—the knife’s edge that comes with Bane or drowning. The turbulent current carries them downriver until they disappear from sight around a bend.
I burst into action.
“You have to go after her,” Thorin says when I return and pull him to his feet. Bastard weighs a fucking ton. “Leave me here. Go.”
I won’t lie. My heart is torn, but the decision is an easy one. Thorin tries to make it for me by shoving me away, but I tighten my hold and drag him along toward the tree’s crown. “I’m not leaving you.”
Thorin is injured, bleeding, and can barely stand. I’m not leaving him out here to fend for himself. As if on cue, a wolf howls in the distance. Luckily, it doesn’t sound too close, but that could change. It makes my fucking point, reminding Thorin where we are. He doesn’t say shit else to me as I struggle to get us over the branches.
The sooner I get him to the cabin, the sooner I can search for Aurelia and Bane and get them both back home.
But if he hurt her…
“Can you cross?” I ask Thorin curtly.
“I’ll manage,” he answers with a twitching jaw.
Dude still hasn’t stopped blaming himself. Bane caught him unaware, lodging a serrated knife in his thigh and then in his shoulder before Thorin even knew he was awake. Even injured, Thorin still managed to fight him off before lightning struck too close and gave Thorin an opening to get away.
Bane’s only advantage was that he didn’t react to pain. He was adamantine. Zeke’s unbreakable armor. Aurelia only managed to escape his hold earlier because heallowedher to. Something else to dissect later once everyone was safe.
And to think, once upon a time, my greatest fear was living a boring, mundane life. Right now, I’d be willing to beg on my knees for seventy-two hours drama free.
I allow Thorin to cross first so that I can monitor his slow progress across the tree.
It’s a risk we wouldn’t normally take, but the time it will save us from having to find a way around makes it worth it. I don’t breathe until Thorin is on solid ground again, and I’m not far behind. The trek back to the cabin takes twice as long with Thorin pushing his body to ignore his injuries, but we make it.
We burst through the front door and hurry to the dining room. Thor grunts when I set him down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table, and then he snatches up the bottle of tequila left out on the table from dinner and uncorks it with his teeth. I watch him take a healthy swig, glare at me, and then drink some more.
“Maybe we should radio the sheriff to send a medevac.”
“Yeah, you should do that if you want me to deck you.” Thorin slams the bottle on the table with a snarl. “Bane didn’t dothatmuch damage,” he denies with a scowl. “He just got a cheap shot.”
I smirk at Thorin’s obviously bruised ego. “Yeah, okay. He fucked you up.”
But my smile falls a moment later when I remember that the man who easily put Thorin on his ass is out there right now with Aurelia.
Aurelia is out there right now withBane.
Swearing, I walk away from Thorin and begin frantically searching all the drawers in the kitchen until I find a map folded inside. I walk back to the table and snap it open before spreading the map out all over the table.
“This is the river,” I say, pointing to the blue line on the map. I trace my finger along the winding river until I find the spot I’m looking for, and then I tap it. “I think this is where they fell in.” I study the map a little longer and then feel my blood go cold as I swear. “Fuck.”
“What?” Thorin leans forward.
I don’t respond right away. My finger is still following the line across the length of the map. “The goddamn river goes on for miles. Who knows how far the current carried them? They could be any-fucking-where.”
We glare at the map for a few minutes as we try to figure out where to look for them.
