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“Not dead.” He begins to rip his shirt into strips. “Unconscious. One of the skills I learned in the Army. Just takes putting the right amount of pressure on the carotid.”

“Oh.”

Once the shirt is in strips, he flips the man over and starts tying him up. “I wouldn’t kill him unless I absolutely had to,” Erik continues. “And not knowing who he is, if he’s a victim like us?—”

“He attacked you!” I interrupt.

“Yes. But he may have been panicked. Confused. So we’ll just tie him up and leave him here. And once my team arrives, we’ll come back to get him. Let the police figure out what his motive was.”

“Okay…” But I can’t keep from scowling at the man. I spot the rock a few feet away and give it a hard kick, watching it roll deep into a thicket of trees. “Just in case,” I explain. “If he thinks he can, I don’t know, still use it as a weapon.”

Although, upon closer inspection, the series of complicated knots around his wrists and ankles make me think he’s not going anywhere.

“It’s a good idea,” Erik says kindly. Then he takes my hand and draws me to his side. “For now, I think we should move on. At least to get some distance from here, since anyone else around would definitely have heard him.”

Right. And we definitely don’t want to run into more people likethatguy.

“Okay,” I reply. “Lead on.”

And it’s the funniest thing, as we continue into the woods together.

Despite the situation, not everything feels awful.

Not with Erik here.

And having him right next to me? Holding my hand?

Definitelynotawful.

In fact, I like it.

A lot.

CHAPTER 4

ERIK

“Doyou really think this is some kind of messed up game?”

As soon as the question is out, Tatum’s gaze darts around us, fear flaring in her eyes. Her hand tightens around mine. She edges even closer to my side; close enough for me to feel the tremors shaking her body.

When I don’t answer right away, she grimaces before whispering, “Sorry. I know I shouldn’t talk. I just…” She stops. Her chin juts out, quivering. Small white teeth dig hard into her lower lip.

A dagger pierces my heart and twists.

Amid the storm of emotions coming at me, one strikes more fiercely than the rest.

I’m angry, of course. More than angry. I’m furious that someone would dare come after me like this. And even worse, come after an innocent woman.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, too. Because for all my training, through my decades in the Army and years with Blade and Arrow, there’s no way to fully prepare for something like this.

If it were just me, I might feel differently. I could look at this as just another venture into enemy territory, like I’ve done so many times in the past.

But it’snotjust me. I have Tatum to protect, too.

Looking into her wide blue eyes, seeing the barely tamped panic within, protectiveness surges with more intensity than I’ve ever felt before.

It’s all-encompassing.