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“Shhh.It’s gonna be okay,” he told me, and I could hear the conviction in his voice.

“Emmet!”another voice shouted his name, and Emmet turned to look at someone over his shoulder.

“Move over, Jed.She needs help!”Emmet barked and ran with me in his arms.

He was stark naked, but didn’t seem to care as he placed me in the middle seat of his truck and the other man, Jed, climbed into the back of the double cab.

“Is Miss Jezebel gonna be okay?”the man asked, and I recognized his voice as belonging to Jed.

But Emmet didn’t answer, and I didn’t know what that meant.Panic made my pulse race, but it settled slightly when I felt him buckle me.

I couldn’t even lift my head.I was in my own seat, but he pulled me to him, and I shivered as I leaned against his big, warm body.

It was cold.So very cold.My legs felt numb and my arms, too.Emmet was shaking with the force of Demon’s growl and the air felt heavy inside the truck.

“I got you, Angel.You’re gonna be fine,” he murmured.

I wondered why he was so panicked.I mean, he saved me, didn’t he?

Weariness washed over me, and I felt as if I could no longer stay conscious.I was completely shattered.

Exhausted.Dead on my feet.

I shuddered at the sentiment and fought to stay awake.I wasn’t in the mood to die today.Not when I had such a damn good reason to live.

“Hold on, Angel.Just hold on,” Emmet said, and I felt his body shift as he pressed harder on the gas pedal.

The truck swerved as he avoided potholes and turned down back roads where he really stepped on it.My body felt so heavy, but it was his arm around me that kept me in place, making sure I didn’t tumble onto the rubber mats on the floor.

He slammed on the brake and leaned over, undoing my buckle.Big, warm hands clamped onto my skin.Emmet’s breathing was heavy, and I wanted to tell him to slow down, I was fine.But no words would come out and I still couldn’t open my eyes.

“HELP!SHE NEEDS HELP!MAX!PENELOPE!”Emmet yelled, pulling me gently out of the truck and jogging with me in his arms.

Something was seriously wrong, but I couldn’t move or speak and now that my eyes were closed, I couldn’t see either.

“What happened?”a voice I recognized as Mrs.O’Hare’s, Penelope and Max’s housekeeper, asked.

“Shades.They surrounded her.I was too fucking late,” Emmet snapped and the anguish in his voice was tearing me apart.

I wanted to reassure him.He wasn’t too late.He got to me in time.

“Lay her down here,” Mrs.O’Hare instructed.

“Emmet?Fuck,” Max said, and I assumed he entered whatever room I was in.

Emmet placed me down on something hard and flat and I felt hands on me.These were cold, thin, impersonal hands.

I frowned, not wanting someone else to touch me, but I could hardly stop them.Besides, if Emmet was allowing it, it must be someone who could help.They were probably checking for whatever injury had rendered me temporarily paralyzed or whatever this was.

“How long has she been like this?”a woman’s voice asked.

“I don’t know.Has to be maybe twenty minutes or more since I texted her and she responded last,” Emmet replied.

He sounded stressed, and I felt so bad.I hated that he was hurting, and that I was the cause.Exhaustion seeped through my veins, and I felt my consciousness slipping.

“Oh my God, Jez?!”

I recognized Penny then.