There was nowhere for her to go. If she continued down the road, she had no idea how far it would be until she encountered another home and possible help. How far could she make it before she froze to death or something found her? The bears were probably hibernating right now, but there could be any number of other things out there waiting to eat her, including vampires.
She almost saidscrew itand raced down the road, but though her life had been full of despair these past months, she wasn’t ready for it to end. Her chances of escaping were dwindling by the second, but she still retained some hope she would survive this.
She didn’t seehowshe’d survive, but she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. She had a lot of living left to do, and if she remained standing here, she would freeze to death before she got another chance to break free.
When the snow stopped, she’d try again. Until then, she’d work on making herself something for her feet from what little clothing she had. She’d also put on layers and a blanket before venturing out again.
Turning, she trudged back up the driveway. She tried to run again, if only to warm herself up, but the lack of nutrition, stress, and exhaustion she’d endured over the past months had left her weaker than she’d realized; she didn’t have the energy to run anymore.
When she arrived back at the gravel part of the driveway, the snow started coming down faster. It stung her cheeks as the wind whipped it through the air. Her hand trembled as she brushed frozen strands of hair from her face. When snow fell away from her, she realized it was building on her hair and clothes.
With the lights in the cabin on, she could see more up here, and she paused to take in the carnage littering the yard. The blood staining the snow was fading beneath this new layer. Finally, she turned her attention to the vamp sprawled across the porch.
Was he still alive? And if he was, how long would it be before he woke up? And what would he do toherwhen he did wake? He was incapacitated, but he’d still taken on her guards andwon. She was a mere mortal; it would only take a flick of his wrist to end her life.
It didn’t matter. What mattered was getting inside before she froze to death. She tried to jog across the stone, but her feet were so frozen she couldn’t get them to cooperate, and she was afraid she might break one of them, or her ankle before she made it to the cabin.
Limping across the drive, she arrived at the porch and used the railing to help her carefully climb the steps. The vamp hadn’t moved, but she watched his chest rise and fall as she crept around his blood and into the house.
She was about to close the door, but something stopped her. Turning back, she studied the vamp and then the carcasses littering the yard.
He wastheirenemy, and if ancient proverbs were right, then the enemy of her enemy was her friend. But what was he doing here, and what did he want from her? Or was he here to kill her because hewastheir enemy? How did he know about her?
She didn’t have any answers for the questions running through her head, but he possessed the knowledge.Don’t be an idiot. Shut the door and leave him here or stake him.
She chuckled when she glanced at the jagged chair leg. The idea of shoving it through anyone’s chest and into their heart made her queasy, but if she left him here, he would heal and come after her. She was glad her guards were dead, but that meant there was no one to stop this vamp if he’d come here to kill her.
She studied the man for a minute more before turning and limping into the house. Maybe he’d come here to kill her, but he was the first change she’d experienced in all the months she’d been here, and shehadto know why he was here and who he was.
She went into the room one of her guards usually slept in and pulled the blanket from the bed; this would also get her in trouble with them, but that was the least of her concerns now. With the blanket tucked under her arm, she went to her room to gather a couple of T-shirts. The idea of ruining some of what little clothing she had made her hands shake, but she had no choice. She couldnottouch his blood.
Using the jagged table leg, she worked a hole into the shirts until she could tear them in two. She wound two of the halves around her feet—only then realizing the still frozen extremities were also bleeding—before wrapping the other two halves around her hands.
She made sure her skin was covered before returning to the porch. Taking a deep breath, she grasped him under his arms and started wiggling, turning, and shoving him onto the blanket. When she still couldn’t get him on, she gritted her teeth, leaned her back against the doorframe, planted her foot on his shoulder, and shoved him.
He flopped over onto it, and his arms sprawled out at his sides. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees as she panted for breath and glared at the immobile vamp. The blood streaking from his nose had dried, and the bruising across the bridge of his nose and around his eyes told her he’d broken it when he fell.
More dried blood, from a cut on his head, was caked near his temple, and a bite mark marred his throat. Beneath all the blood and bruising, he was a handsome man. He was also completely unaware of the misery of their surroundings while sweat streamed down her body, and she shivered from the cold as the wind blew snow around them.
Exhausted, she wanted to retreat into the cabin and sleep for days, but she still had to get him inside. She pushed herself away from the door and almost collapsed when she bent over to lift a corner of the blanket.
Resting her hand on the floor, she didn’t move as she waited for her racing heart to calm and her dizziness to ease. She should give up; the answers weren’t worth this, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to quit now.
When she felt strong enough to try again, she gathered the blanket and started tugging it toward the door. She was pretty sure she had frostbite, hypothermia, and would have a heart attack by the time she managed to drag him over the threshold and out of the way of the door.
Closing the door against the rising wind, she locked it before leaning against it and sliding to the floor. She gazed longingly into the room to her right as she recalled the fireplace in there, but even if it were the only source of heat in this place, she wouldn’t go anywhere near it.
She listened to the sounds of the vamp’s breathing as needle pricks of feeling returned to her extremities. Biting her lip, she drew blood as she tried to keep from crying, but as the pain intensified, she couldn’t withhold her tears. Curling into the fetal position, she shoved her fist into her mouth to keep from screaming while her body defrosted.
Chapter Five
Saxon crackedopen his eyes and stifled a groan when the light caused him to recoil. His head pounded like someone was taking a hammer to it, and every muscle in his body felt like the same hammer had battered it. The dryness in his throat was matched only by the aridness of his veins.
His fangs lengthened as hunger coursed through him. He went to push himself up, but something caught at his arms and tugged them back. Weak and disoriented, it took him too long to realize he was tied to something. When he pulled again, something scraped, and he got a little more give to his right hand.
“Stop that!” a female voice commanded.
The panic in her voice caused him to stop tugging, and he inhaled the sweet scent of cherry blossoms drifting from her. “Who are you?” he demanded.
