Page 55 of First Snow

“Does this look like a costume to you?”

He can’t believe this careless, reckless, oblivioushuman! He pulls Arttu to his feet again. He still needs to get him out of the snow. Arttu’s clothes are completely soaked by now. But this time Arttu fights Jareth’s grip with all his might, although he can hardly move.

Jareth shoves him against the trunk of a large pine tree to keep him still and have a look at him. Arttu glares up at him, but he looks as if he might collapse on the spot, pale and shivering as he is.

“What you did was incredibly stupid,Detective,” Jareth growls. “What were you thinking, seducing a suspect?”

“Detective Inspector to you,” Arttu shoots back. “And they were letting you get away with a serial killing. I’m not going to let that happen!”

Jareth believes him.

“Oh, Arttu,” he sighs. He brushes some tangled strands from Arttu’s brow and examines his injuries. There are deep scratch marks on Arttu’s left shoulder, and he’s bleeding from a laceration on his temple, and a split lip. Jareth brushes a thumb over the corner of Arttu’s mouth. “Where else are you hurt?”

“I’m peachy, you psycho!” Arttu spits.

Jareth can barely contain a smirk. He can’t help but find Arttu’s defiance endearing.

“Your trembling tells me otherwise, Detective. Now, let me have a look.”

Arttu makes a noise of protest as Jareth brushes his hands all over him, checking for further injuries. But by now he seems too exhausted to resist any further. So Jareth continues his superficial examination and is relieved to find no serious injuries.

“Can you walk?”

Arttu bites his lip. He shakes his head after a second of consideration.

Jareth frowns.

“Oh, but you can walk, can’t you?” Jareth asks, following a hunch. “You just want to preserve your strength, and you want to slow me down. More time outside means better chances for you to escape. Am I right, Detective Palosaari?”

Arttu doesn’t flinch at the accusation, but his eyes widen ever so slightly. It’s as much of a tell as Jareth is going to get from a competent liar like him. Oh damn, all the times Arttu let Jareth see him vulnerable he was probably just playing him. The thought hurts more than Jareth would’ve expected.

“No! That’s not what I—” Arttu stammers.

“No need to sweet talk me anymore, you won’t have to walk,” Jareth cuts him off.

This time, Arttu does flinch.Shit, that probably sounded too much like he was going to kill Arttu and bury him in the woods. Jareth sighs, trying to get a grip on his anger and confusion.

“I meant I’m going to carry you, okay?”

Arttu answers him with a stubborn glare, which Jareth decides to ignore. He picks Arttu up and throws him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“Wait—Put me down!”

Jareth doesn’t deign that with an answer. Seriously, what is this man thinking?

Arttu’s vicious cursing in his mother tongue keeps them company all the way back to the mansion.

Chapter 19

Arttu

Arttu’sheadisspinning.He’s not sure if it’s from the blood loss, from being thrown upside down over Jareth’s shoulder, or from the madness unfolding around him. In the end, this whole fuck up is his own fault, because heknewJareth was dangerous and, still, he made himself believe otherwise. The great Detective Arttu Palosaari, killed by his own horniness.

“Can you put me down?Please?” Arttu doesn’t like having to resort to begging, but he’s out of options and he must manage to escape somehow.

But Jareth doesn’t bother to answer him, and his silence makes the dread sitting heavily in Arttu’s stomach grow even thicker. Jareth makes his way back to the mansion undeterred, showing no signs of struggling with Arttu’s weight even in the deep snow.

Arttu twists helplessly, but Jareth only tightens his grip on him. And the rope Jareth had thrown after him is still tangled around Arttu’s legs and torso, making it almost impossible to move. It must be a throwing weapon with weights attached at the end of it to trap Arttu this effectively.Damn, he almost outran Jareth in the thicket. He fears he won’t get a second chance anytime soon. Arttu knows that the odds of escape dwindle as soon as Jareth gets him inside the house, but there’s nothing he can do to stop him.