"Your lips are turning blue."
She pressed her definitely blue-tinged lips together in a stubborn line. "That's an exaggeration."
"Your fingers are white." He reached out and caught one of her hands, holding it up between them. Even through the fingerless glove, he could feel that her skin was dangerously cold. "You can't even feel this, can you?"
She tried to pull her hand back, but he didn't let go.
"Let me?—"
"Can you feel this?"
"That's not?—"
"Can you feel this?"
Her jaw tightened. Her eyes glittered with something that might have been tears or might have been stubborn fury. "Not really," she admitted finally. "But that doesn't mean?—"
He released her hand and moved.
In one smooth motion, he bent down, caught her behind the knees and around her back, and straightened up with hercradled against his chest. She made an outraged noise and grabbed at his shoulders for balance.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Taking you somewhere warm."
"Put me down!"
"No."
"Tarmek! I said put me down!"
He shifted her weight so he could get a hand on the door latch. "You can argue with me later. From somewhere that isn't going to kill you."
"This is kidnapping!"
"This is common sense."
He kicked the door open and stepped out into the storm.
The wind was even worse than before, driving snow horizontally across the parking lot and reducing visibility to almost nothing. He tucked Edie closer against his chest, shielding her face with his shoulder, and oriented himself towards where he'd left his truck. Thirty yards, maybe. Forty at most.
"This is insane!" She was shouting directly into his ear, which he probably deserved. "You can't just carry people around! There are laws!"
"Sue me later."
"I will! I'll sue you for... for assault! And battery! And... and general orc-ish behavior!"
"That's not a crime."
"It should be!"
He reached his truck, a massive four-wheel-drive pickup that he'd bought specifically for upstate New York winters, and yanked open the passenger door. The interior was still warm from his earlier trip to check on the arena's heating systems. He deposited her onto the seat with more care than her protests probably warranted.
"Stay," he said.
"I'm not a dog."
"Stay anyway."
