Page 33

AURELIA

“ I don’t need a bodyguard to pee, Seth.”

“What about a really kinky but devastatingly handsome voyeur who wants to watch you pee?”

“Hard pass.”

Seth whimpers like a sad puppy but doesn’t follow me, thankfully. To be safe, I walk for a while until I’m sure I’m alone.

I really do have to pee.

I’m sure they think I’m trying to run again, so I know I don’t have long before they come looking.

After relieving myself, I stand and pull up my tights.

I take one step toward the meadow where my mountain men are waiting—and likely fighting over me—when I hear it.

A twig snapping.

My head snaps in the direction of the sound, and I turn toward it when I see something moving up ahead. I’m prepared to scream in case it’s a wolf or bear and hope that Seth hears me, but it’s neither.

Instead, it’s a White man in his mid-twenties, of average height and with a ginger beard, who steps from the tree line. He’s busy removing a cigarette from the pack, so he hasn’t spotted me yet.

I wrestle with indecision in the seconds before he does.

Hide or hail?

There’s a tree I can take cover behind until he leaves, but this may be my last chance of getting home.

The question is, can I trust him?

The last time I went looking for a hero, I found three villains instead.

Better the devils I know, right?

I can’t believe my own insanity when I back away toward the tree, but I don’t get the chance to hide because my would-be savior looks up before I can. His eyes flare with surprise over seeing another person, and my stomach sinks. For a long moment, we just stare at each other across the hundred feet or so that separate us. And then I do something I’ll never forgive myself for.

I turn to run.

“Hey!”

A tortured sound escapes me, and I run faster. I can hear him chasing me, and even though I know I can’t outrun him, I still try.

“Hey, wait! I just want to know to know if you have a light!”

I open my mouth to scream for Seth when I trip over a log and fall. The snow doesn’t cushion my fall and knocks the wind out of me instead, giving the stranger time to catch up to me before I can climb to my feet. When he tries to help me up, I smack his hand away and scramble to put distance between us again, but a tree blocks my path.

The stranger doesn’t advance, but I keep a wary eye on him anyway as I stand slowly.

“Holy shit,” he says once he gets a good look at me. “ Holy shit . I know you! You’re that missing girl.” He takes a step forward, and I flinch. Fortunately, he gets the message and keeps his distance. “Uhh…Aurora, right?”

I search his gaze, and maybe I’m the dumbest bitch on Earth for falling for it, but I’ve also been living with monsters—fucking them and catering to their every whim. I think that makes me an expert on the subject, so when I see nothing sinister staring back at me, I relax enough to say, “Aurelia.”

“Yeah, sorry.” He removes the hood of his yellow winter jacket, revealing the mop of ginger curls underneath as he tucks his unlit cigarette behind his ear. “Aurelia. Nice to meet you.” He places a hand on his chest and smiles. “I’m Pete.”

“Hi, Pete.”

“This is so crazy!” Pete grins, and it’s so genuine that I can’t help but return a small yet nervous smile. He’s in danger, and he doesn’t even know it. I wasn’t just running to save myself from another potential monster. I was running to save him in case he’s good and kind and innocent. “You know everyone’s looking for you, right?” he asks, breaking my thoughts. “And here you are. I found you. Alive . I’ve never met a celebrity before.”

“We’re overrated,” I tell him.

“Do you think I can have your autograph? My sister is a huge fan.”

“Sure. Got a pen?”

“Oh, crap.” He blushes so cutely at his folly. “No, not here.”

“Maybe next time, then.” I turn to go. The faster I get away from him, the safer we’ll both be. “See ya, Pete.”

I hold my breath, praying he doesn’t try to stop me. Instead, he does something even more foolish.

He follows me.

“So, uh…what are you doing out here? Are you lost?”

“Very.”

Pete nods, and I can see him stealing glances. I can feel his confusion and the questions he must have. I know what he’s thinking.

I look pretty damn good for a girl who’s been missing for seventeen days.

The world around me slows at the reminder.

Seventeen days…

Is that all it’s been?

“Well, listen. We have a camp not far from here and a van. We can take you to town. Easy peasy.”

I stop walking and turn to face him. “We?”

“Yeah, some buddies of mine. We came out here for a little hunting, drinking, and R&R. Never thought I’d find America’s sweetheart. Dude, I’m going to get so laid after this.”

While Pete yammers on about how his brother won’t get to think he’s better than him anymore, I weigh my options like I have all the time in the world.

I’ve already been gone too long.

It’s a testament of Seth’s misguided trust and infatuation that he hasn’t already come looking for me.

“Okay, Pete. I accept your help, but how about I skip the ride and use your phone?” Nice smile or not, I’m not risking falling prey to another asshole.

“You could try, but there’s no signal out here. We’re totally off-grid.”

Goddammit!

I’m still debating my options when a voice that is not that far away and closing in fast warns me that I’m out of time.

“Sunshine!” The blood in my veins goes cold. “Sunshine, where are you?”

Pete frowns. “Who’s that?”

I look up at him, and my breath shudders out of me, billowing in the stark cold. “Run.”

“What?”

“No time to explain.” I take Pete’s hand, and we start running in the direction I saw him come from.

“You mind telling me what the hell is going on?” he shouts.

Before I can answer, I hear Seth call for me again. “Sunshine!”

Looking over my shoulder, the alarm bells in my head start clanging wildly in time with my racing heart when I see Seth burst through the trees at the edge of the meadow. I know the moment he spots us. His surprise to see I’m not alone stops him in his tracks, but I know it won’t last.

“Don’t talk, just run!” I order Pete.

We run for a few minutes before Pete says, “This way.”

Too spent to argue, I follow him while stealing glances behind us every few seconds. Seth isn’t following us anymore, but I know better than to believe that makes us safe. After running until we’re both gasping for breath, we finally reach Pete’s camp at the edge of the frozen lake. Little Bear looks so much closer from here, and I nearly fall to my knees when I recall Thorin’s words from the night I found them.

“You made a mistake coming this far south. You were closer to town where you crashed.”

On Little Bear.

I’d crashed on Little Bear, and it is right there .

Just across the frozen lake.

But in which direction is Hearth? Definitely not south, so I can rule it out with absolute certainty.

“Pete, you’re back! How was your shit?”

It’s then I finally notice the three guys lounging around, shooting the shit, and drinking next to a van, just as Pete said. They drunkenly greet the return of their friend and then cheer even louder when they notice me and get the wrong impression.

“Pete! Ronnie found the weed,” a pudgy guy with brown hair and smudged glasses says. “Does your friend smoke?”

Pete, apparently forgetting all about the fact that we were just chased through the woods, looks down at me and asks, “What do you say, Aurelia? Want to get high?”

“No. I want to go to town like you promised me. We need to go now .”

“Chill. You’re among friends.” Pete ambles toward the campfire his friends are huddled around and pops a squat on a log. “Come sit, Aurelia. Guys, check it out. You know the celebrity that was in that plane crash a couple of weeks ago? It’s her! It’s Aurelia George.”

All four heads fly toward me, and they gawk.

“No way! Hey, my girlfriend and I love your music,” the short one with huge dimples and a mop of copper curls gushes. “We listen to it all the time. My name is Sam, by the way.”

“Oh, right,” Pete says, remembering his manners as if this is a social call, not a rescue mission. “These are my compadres. Ronnie, Sam, and Jonah.”

“Hi, Aurelia.” Pete’s stoner friends all say and wave at the same time.

I ignore them. “Pete, you promised me a ride to town. Remember? I’d like to go now.”

He shrugs and accepts the joint Ronnie hands him. “What’s your rush, Aurelia? Stay and party for a while.”

“What’s my rush? You did see the guy chasing us, didn’t you?”

“No.” He blinks slowly. “What guy?”

Oh God, what have I done?

They don’t stand a chance against my mountain men.

Huffing, I walk closer to the fire. “That doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that he’s dangerous, and he’s not alone. We have to go.”

“Okay, okay, we will,” Pete promises as he hits the weed and pats the empty seat next to him. “Just let me smoke a few rounds first. I drive better high.”

I debate simply leaving to find my way back to Thorin, Seth, and Khalil and hope they’re in a forgiving mood. I look at the blue panel van and the first faces I’ve seen outside of my captors in two weeks, and I know that I can’t.

I’m so close.

I was just beginning to accept my fate, and then Pete showed up. It can’t be a coincidence, right?

It’s now or never.

Sam, who is sitting closest to the old van, pours a cup of cocoa from his thermal. When he hands it to me, I start to turn it down when a plan that can only leave one more stain on my soul forms in my head.

There’s music coming from the van’s speakers, and thanks to the maxed-out volume, I even recognize the song that begins to play. It’s Sleep Token’s “Take Me Back to Eden.”

The keys must still be inside.

Stepping over the sprawled stoners, I take the cup from Sam but stay on my feet as I sip at the warm cocoa, and I scan the woods for movement over the rim. The stoners are laughing and pointing at the two squirrels fucking not far away, and I have to resist looking over my shoulder at the van and giving myself away—not to Pete and his friends but to my mountain men watching.

I can’t see them, but I can feel them.

They haven’t attacked yet, and I don’t have to wonder why. They’re giving me one last chance to save these clueless but well-meaning campers.

Come back to them, and they’ll be spared.

Run, and they die.

Both options are a lie.

Pete and his friends are dead either way. They’ve seen me. They know I’m alive. They could tell someone.

There’s a chance I’m wrong, and Thorin, Khalil, and Seth haven’t found us yet. If Seth went back for his brothers, it would have bought us some time, but not much.

Seth saw me with Pete.

I know what will happen if Thorin, Khalil, and Seth find me with Pete and his friends. I also know it will be so much worse when they come and I’m not here.

Once I’m done with the hot cocoa, I hand the empty cup back to Sam, who gives me a weird grin that I choose to ignore. “Pete.”

He doesn’t look up as he sloppily stacks chocolate bars and marshmallows on a graham cracker. “Yeah, babe?”

“Are you going to take me to town or not?”

“Yeah, sure. In a minute.”

“You don’t have a minute.” My gaze lifts to the tree line again, and I swear the shadows move. “ Pete .” My attention returns to the friendly stoner, and his gaze is slightly annoyed when his head finally lifts, but I don’t care. I’m trying to save his life. “I’m going to go now. Are you coming?”

“Don’t go. We’re making S’mores.”

“I have to, and so do you.”

His brows dip with confusion. “Why?”

“Because you’ll die if we don’t.”

Pete sobers as he gives me a weird look, but I don’t shy away from the scrutiny. I hold his gaze as I move back toward the van. The others fall quiet while Pete’s head swivels back and forth between me and his friends. He’s looking at me now like I’m the scary thing in the woods they need protection from, and maybe I am.

It scares me how comfortable I got in my cage.

It scares me that a small part of me is even willing to climb back inside.

It scares me that I feel safer in my cage than I do now when the ones who put me there are also the reason I’m afraid.

“Whoa!” Ronnie shouts, standing up for his friend. “You don’t have to be such a bitch.”

The only sound is the crackling fire as I reach the driver’s door. Ignoring him, I turn and grab the handle, ripping open the door and climbing inside. “Thanks for nothing, gentlemen.”

I slam the door just as Jonah shouts, “Hey, she’s stealing your van!”

The first bass solo in the song drowns out the rest of their shouts as I wrap my hand around the key and turn it. The van rumbles to life, but I don’t get a chance to throw it into drive.

My dumb ass forgot to lock the door first.

It’s yanked back open with an angry screech of metal, and Sam grabs me by my hair, dragging me right back out and throwing me on the frozen ground.

“And by the way, your music sucks!” he spews. “My girlfriend likes Tania better anyway.”

That fucking does it.

Forgetting that I’m the one in the wrong here, I lift my leg and drive my foot into his kneecap. Sam howls in pain as he bends over to grab his smarting knee just as an arrow flies over his head where his face was not a second ago.

At first, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. It happened too fast to be sure, but there’s no mistaking the familiar green arrow embedded in the side of the blue van.

Hearing the thunk and following my gaze, Sam forgets all about his knee when he looks over his shoulder and sees the arrow lodged into the side of his van. “What the hell? My van!”

“Shit,” the curse falls from my lips in a stunned whisper, and then I snap out of it, yelling, Run!”

Flipping over, I try to scramble to my feet, but I’m tackled to the ground by Jonah. It knocks the wind out of me long enough for him to turn my onto my back again, grab my wrists, and pin me down.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“They’re here!” I scream inexplicably as I wrestle to get from under him. “We need to leave!”

Jonah blinks at me through his glasses like I’m crazy, and then he sneers. “Nice try, thief. There’s no one out here but us.”

“Get off me!” When all he does is nudge my thighs apart and wedge himself between them, I scream. It’s not until Jonah attempts to stuff a meaty paw down my tights, and I scream again, that I realize why I’m screaming or, rather, who I’m screaming for.

My mountain men.

“Yeah, you’re not going anywhere, princess. You—”

I hear the familiar whistling sound of another arrow cleaving the air and then a wet, sickening crunch as it finds its target this time.

My struggles stop as I stare up at Jonah in horror.

His grip on my wrists loosens, and then his astonished gaze lowers. He tries to speak when he sees the bright green arrow piercing his chest and the red bloom slowly spreading, but only a hoarse, hollow gasp escapes.

“Hey, Jonah,” Ronnie calls out. “You all right, man?”

Only a gurgling sound answers back, and then Jonah’s eyes roll back before he collapses.

“Oh, shit!”

I push their friend off me while Pete and Ronnie panic. Sam is the only one whose shock won’t let him make a sound. He’s also the only one standing between me and freedom.

This time, I don’t hesitate.

I make the cold and calculated move of trying to push past him for the van, and just as I predicted, he reacts and backhands me hard enough that I go flying.

By the time I blink the stars away and look up, Sam’s clutching his bleeding throat. This time, the arrow sticking out of his neck is yellow from the compound bow. My bow. Our gazes lock as he chokes on his own blood, and then he falls to his knees first before faceplanting in the snow. I cringe when the arrow is shoved deeper from the impact and punches through the back of his neck with another sickening crunch. Shaking it off, I step over Sam’s body to get to van now that he’s no longer in my way.

I can feel bad about what I’ve done later.

“Yo, what the fuck!” Ronnie screams as I climb into the front seat.

“Sam!” Pete cries in vain. His friend doesn’t answer. Sam’s eyes are still open but unseeing as his crimson blood stains the snow red. “I think…I think he’s dead!”

Ronnie panics and tries to run for cover, but another yellow arrow to the leg keeps him from getting far. He collapses to the ground with a scream for help, but the only thing that answers is four more arrows, both green and yellow, when he tries to crawl away. After far too long of trying to cling to life, Ronnie eventually slumps in the snow with a haunting death rattle.

“Aurelia,” Pete calls for me, and I tear my gaze away from the steering wheel to meet his through the dirty window. What’s happening?” His hands are shoved in his red hair and he’s crying. He’s the only one still alive, and it’s because Seth, Thorin, and Khalil want it that way. They’ll want him to suffer in order to punish me.

I’m not even aware of my hands leaving the steering wheel and moving to the door handle until I’m already standing on the other side and moving over to Pete. I’m careful not to look at all of the blood and bodies staining the once white snow.

When I reach out for Pete, he flinches and backs away from me, and I don’t yet understand that I’m the unknown thing he’s afraid of until he speaks. “Please don’t hurt me. I’m sorry, okay? We just wanted to have a little fun. You wouldn’t have even remembered anything!”

What? “Pete…” I try once more to reason with him—to save his life. “We don’t have time for this. We need to go .”

His eyes fly over my shoulder without a word, and I know then it’s already too late.

I feel his presence like an angry cloud looming over my head before he even speaks.

“ Wolf .”

Hearing Thorin’s voice, I squeeze my eyes closed. I can feel the other two there as well, adding to Thorin’s fury with their crackling energy and endless deluge. If Thorin is the cloud, then Khalil is the lightening and Seth the rain that makes up this storm I’ve caused.

The three of them try to close around me, to cut me off from Pete, so I turn to face Thorin, Khalil, and Seth before they can, using my body to protect Pete’s. My gaze bounces between my three captors because I can’t decide which one is my best chance to reason with.

Seth looks like a rabid dog.

Khalil keeps trying to edge around me to grab Pete.

And Thorin still hasn’t lowered the compound bow.

“Don’t hurt him. Please. It’s my fault.”

“Of course, it’s your fucking fault,” Khalil snaps. “We warned you.” Grabbing my neck, he yanks me away from Pete and shoves me into Seth’s waiting arms.

“Please! Don’t hurt him!” I turn to Seth when Khalil and Thorin ignore me. They’re closing in on poor Pete who’s trembling like a kitten staring down two pissed off mountain lions. “It’s not Pete’s fault. He was just trying to help me.”

“Pete, huh?” Seth’s eyes seem greener than ever.

“Are you fucking serious?” I gape when I realize he’s actually jealous of me simply saying another man’s name.

“Are you serious?” Seth yells back in a rare show of anger. “ Him ?” He flings a disdainful hand toward Pete and then takes my arms in both hands. I almost can’t believe my ears when he shakes me and says, “How could you hold his hand, Sunshine? How?”

I should have known Seth was the last person capable of reason.

Hearing the first punch land, I plant my hands on Seth’s heaving chest and shove him away. He lets me but only enough to turn around so I can see what’s happening, and then he wraps his arms around my waist like we’re lovers taking in a beautiful view instead of a murder scene.

“Be a good girl, and we’ll make it quick, Sunshine.”

“Like hell we will,” Thorin barks. “Khalil.” Khalil stops pummeling Pete long enough to look over his shoulder at Thorin, who unsheathes his big, scary hunting knife and tosses it into the snow next to them. “Take his fucking hands for touching our girl.”

“What?” I scream and renew my struggle. Seth curses and tightens his hold when I nearly get free. “Are you insane? You can’t do this!”

“Yes, the fuck we can,” Thorin says while staring at Pete. “You have a lesson to learn, and since we’re not willing to give up any part of you, Pete here will rescue you after all.”

“I’m sorry! Please. I won’t try to run again. I swear! Just leave him alone!”

“You know the harder you fight for him, the worse we’ll make it, Sunshine.” When I kick Seth in the shin, he grunts and then huffs out a frustrated breath. “Fuck it. I’ll do it. Give me the knife.” Tossing me down in the snow, Seth stalks over and picks up the knife.

Pete manages to land a punch that loosens Khalil’s hold on him, so Thorin steps forward and aims the crossbow before he can even think about getting away.

This is real.

This is happening.

They’re really going to torture and kill an innocent man and all because they won’t hurt me.

So many people dead because of me.

Tyler. Cassie. Harrison. Susan. Ronnie. Jonah. Sam. And soon, Pete.

And those are just the names I know. There are also the pilots and the rest of my security team whose names I never learned. How much longer will the list get? How much blood do I need spilled before I’m satisfied?

No.

It ends here.

I have to do something.

Their focus is on Pete right now as Seth decides which hand he wants to cut off first. The psycho is actually reciting, “Eeny meeny miny moe.” When the knife lands on Pete’s left hand and Seth frowns his displeasure before choosing the right one, I know it’s because it’s the hand I grabbed when I ran from the meadow and from him.

“Are you watching, Sunshine?”

Hell no. I already feel like I’m going to pass out, and they haven’t even begun. My eyes are heavy, and I feel so sleepy, but I can’t. The only way to save Pete from being mutilated is to take their focus off him, so I burst to my feet and start for the lake. Even though running is what started this and is the last thing I should do, it’s the only way.

“Aurelia!”

I ignore Thorin calling after me, as well as the temptation of the van. There’s no time.

Besides, this isn’t about getting away. I’ll never outrun them. I just have to distract them long enough for Pete to save himself.

If he can.

I make it to the shore of the frozen lake, and even though the edges of my vision are darkening and my bones feel heavy for some reason, I keep going. I stumble my way onto the ice and ignore the terrifying sound of the subzero water moving beneath the surface. God, I hope the ice is still thick. Spring is just around the corner and the snow has already begun to melt.

“Aurelia! Aurelia, don’t! It’s not safe!”

They’re the ones who aren’t safe.

Somehow, I’d forgotten that, and I can’t even recall when it happened. I just stopped fearing them and started craving their darkness, but this…this is too much.

The sounds the lake makes under my feet terrify me, but I don’t stop. I don’t look behind me either to see which of them is chasing me. Hopefully, all of them are, and Pete got away.

I’m nearing the middle of the lake when a new sound reaches my ears that has me slowing against my will. The splintering and rumbling continue, getting louder as it reaches me. My stomach tightens and my ears ring from how hard my heart is pounding.

Don’t look down.

Don’t look down.

I’m too afraid of what I’ll see. Instead, I slowly turn and meet blue eyes.

“Thorin…”

His gaze is on the ice beneath my feet, and I swear I see him pale. “Songbird, don’t look down.”

“The ice.”

“I know, baby. Don’t move.”

A few feet behind Thorin, I see Khalil frozen in place, and then a few feet behind him is Seth.

I knew at least one of them would come after me, maybe two, but I was wrong.

They all came for me.

Pete is a distant memory.

The ice cracks again as if it can sense that I’m swooning over cold-blooded murders and is deciding whether I’m too stupid to live.

Then again…the only safe way is back to them, so maybe the lake is Team Psychos.

“Thorin, I’m scared.”

Not just of the cracking ice, but the fracturing happening inside of me. What am I to do when I’m being pulled in opposite directions and without a compass to guide me? I don’t want to be a prisoner, but even now, even after seeing them murder four innocent people out of jealousy —God, help me, I still want them.

Something is seriously wrong with me, but the thing is…I’m pretty sure I don’t care anymore.

“I won’t let you fall,” Thorin promises.

“I’m so tired.”

“I know, baby. They drugged you.”

Even my shivering bones seem to pause. “What?”

“The one who gave you the cup.” Sam. “I was watching him through the scope. He slipped you something, Aurelia. It’s what’s making you sleepy. My guess is you have another five to seven minutes before you’re out cold.”

“W-why would they do that?”

“Take one guess,” he answers tightly. When I don’t respond, he speaks again. “I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, wolf.”

“I don’t care what they were going to do. You didn’t have to kill them, Thorin. That was extreme . You have to know that.”

“The only thing I know is that I’ll cross any lines to keep you safe.”

“If they deserved to die, so do you, you hypocrite!”

“I didn’t say we saved you because we’re good. We saved you because you’re ours, Aurelia.”

Thorin takes a step forward, and I take one back.

The thin ice between us cracks a little more.

“What’s the fucking hold up?” Khalil yells. “Stop fucking chit-chatting! The ice is going to give!”

“Aurelia, we don’t have time for this,” Thorin says as gently as he can. I can still hear his irritation, though. And something else. Something foreign. He’s…scared.

If I fall, I die. Probably.

Well, so what? I should have died in that crash. I should have died when I fought to save an assistant I cared nothing about. I should have died so many times in the three days I searched for salvation and found my penance instead.

Thorin, Seth, and Khalil aren’t the only ones who deserve to die. I do, too. Yet here we are, defying death at every turn.

“I think it’s the perfect time, Thorin. You want me off this ice, and I say we need to get a few things straight.”

Thorin reacts in a way I don’t expect, but I guess I get? He tips his head back and yells his frustration at the sky. Out of the three of them, I probably test his patience the most. When his gaze falls on me again, it’s carefully blank, and then he gestures for me to proceed like we’re two war generals negotiating a cease fire across a table.

“I don’t want to be your prisoner anymore.” His jaw tightens, and I can see him fighting not to tell me what I already know. “I know you won’t let me go. I know. I’ll stop fighting you. I won’t run. But I want something in return.”

“And what is that?”

“No more punishments, no more indentured servitude, and I want this tracker off .”

The ice rumbles another warning, but I hold my ground—so to speak.

It won’t hold for much longer.

“What’s she saying?” Seth calls out.

“How the fuck should I know!” Khalil yells back.

Thorin ignores his brothers, his gaze remaining locked with mine. “And you?” he finally asks when the splinter in the ice spreads and reaches the tips of his boots. We’ll probably both go down at this point, but he doesn’t seem concerned as he says, “Can we still have our wolf?”

“I said I won’t run.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it, Aurelia.” Thorin steps toward me, and the ice breaks where he just was. Water rises from the small hole, but he keeps inching toward me until he’s within grabbing distance. “You want more, and so do we. Just your body isn’t cutting it anymore. You’ve given us a taste of the real forbidden fruit, wolf. Mind, heart, and soul. It’s the only way I can sell it to them.” He jerks his head toward Khalil and Seth. “And it’s the only way you can sell it to me .”

“You haven’t earned that.”

“Give us the chance to.”

“You haven’t earned that either.”

He perks a blond brow. “Are we negotiating or not, songbird?” When I hold my stubborn silence, Thorin gives in with a sigh. “Aurelia…please, baby. The ice.”

“So leave. Save yourself.”

“Not without you.”

I bark a dry laugh and blink away the exhaustion creeping in. “So much for ‘run, and we’ll let you die,’” I mock with a slur. “You hurt me, Thorin. And don’t tell me I liked it or that you’re sorry, or I’ll let this lake take me before I let you have any part of me.”

Thorin falls to his knees, and I don’t expect that.

Behind him, I can see that Khalil and Seth more clearly now. They’ve managed to gain a few feet. They’re edging to opposite sides—away from the splintering ice so that they can be in position to grab us both.

“Then let it have me instead,” Thorin says quietly so Seth and Khalil don’t overhear.

My gaze snaps back to him. “What?”

“You said we deserved death. Promise me you’ll take care of them, and I’ll make it right. I’ll fall through the ice and you’ll never see me again.”

“Thorin, that is…that is not what I meant.”

He holds up his hands in supplication. “I don’t know what else to do, songbird. Tell me how to make it right, and I will.”

“You can’t.”

His blue eyes shutter. “Then take two steps to the right, and let me go.”

“ No .”

It’s then I realize my weight is the only thing keeping him from going under. I hadn’t even noticed the crack spreading around us, creating our own little island while the water laps the surface. It makes sense now why Khalil and Seth separated. They’re hoping to grab us both at the same time. But if one of them is too slow…

I eye Khalil as he reaches me and then Seth as he reaches Thorin.

Khalil is faster. They must have known that.

It means Khalil and Seth chose me over their own brother, and Thorin chose me over himself.

When my blurry gaze returns to Thorin, my tormented heart punches against my chest, and the mob of unspoken words that I’ve been too cowardly, stubborn, and prideful to speak burst free.

“I—”

I’m too late.

My side of the frozen island gives, and I fall through the ice so fast I don’t make a sound.

The freezing temperature of the lake immediately sinks into my bones and cuts off my shout. The drugs in my system have finally kicked in, relaxing my muscles so that I can’t fight my way back to them. It’s as if the mountain had given me one last chance to accept the eden it had offered me before deciding to devour me instead.

While the water pulls me down, and the darkness awaits me at the bottom, my eyes remain locked on the surface and the last of the sun’s rays, illuminating the hole I fell through. I fight past the heaviness to keep them open, and when the light suddenly blinks out, I assume that I’ve lost.

Allowing myself one last gift before I’m lost forever, I picture their faces one last time—Thorin, Khalil, and Seth. I imagine them surrounding me like they always seem to until all I feel is them. The cold becomes a distant memory while the drugs keep me docile. It keeps me from fighting the water pulling me down.

Keeping the image of my three mountain men firmly in mind, my eyes finally start to close when the sunlight at the surface suddenly returns, and I see him.

He cuts through the current-less water like it’s…well, water.

Our gazes find each other through the endless dark, and he swims faster. I can’t swim, but somehow, I use the last of my strength to reach out a hand to him. I’m losing my fight with consciousness almost as fast as I’m losing the air in my lungs, but I hold on.

I cling to life until I feel our fingers graze, and then I keep holding on when Thorin links them together. He uses that tenuous connection to pull me closer and locks his arms around me before pushing us both back toward the surface.

Who could love a monster?

As it turns out, I can.

I can love, crave, and forgive three of them because they’re my monsters.

I’m claiming them.

It’s what I was going to say before I fell through the lake, and now it looks like I’ll get my chance after all.

“Fuck, he got her!” Khalil shouts the moment Thorin and I break through the surface.

Khalil pulls me out of the lake while Seth helps Thorin, and then the two of them hover while Thorin catches his breath, and I expel the water from my lungs.

It’s not a pretty sight.

The moment I’m done, Thorin uses the last of his energy to pull me on top of him and scans my face for proof that I’m really alive before dropping his head back with a heavy sigh and staring at the sky.

I rest my cheek on his chest and just listen to his heart as it beats wildly under my ear.

Why am I still conscious?

Worst roofie ever.

“I-I-I’m s-s-s-s-o c-c-coooooold.”

It’s all Seth needs to hear.

He lifts me off Thorin’s chest and into his arms, and I burrow into his warmth. Khalil gives Thorin a hand up, and then the four of us carefully get the fuck off the ice before we press our luck.

I swear this damn mountain might be sentient.

Each encounter with death feels like a trial, and each time I pass, it doesn’t just make me stronger. It brings me closer to the men who insist on keeping me.

Khalil shakes his head as we go and steals glances at me until I’ve had enough and grumbles, “W-w-what?”

This cold is not only making me grouchy, it makes me want to die.

“You’ve got nine lives, Goldilocks.”

I snort as I lay my head on Seth’s shoulders. “D-d-dea-a-a-ath ca-ca-can’t ki-kill me. I’m-m-m- Aure-Aurelia Geo-Geo-George.”

Thorin sighs his exasperation.

Seth throws back his head and howls like a wolf.

Khalil leans over to kiss my frozen cheek. “And don’t you fucking forget it, Goldilocks.”