Page 56

THEY COVER OUR EYES and shove us out of the van. My knees crash into the icy ground, the cold piercing me like a blade. The snow stings my palms, and the sharp air burns my lungs with every breath. Around me, the wind howls like a creature of the night, but even that can’t drown out the frantic hammering of my heart.

I start counting to sixty as they ordered, my voice trembling.

“One...two...three...”

The crunch of tires grinding against snow echoes in the distance. They’re speeding away, leaving us unharmed. Just as they promised.

By the time I reach thirty-eight, the sound of the van fades into silence. The wind dies down, leaving only my broken voice to shatter the eerie stillness.

I know it’s over.

I know we've been saved.

But my body doesn’t seem to believe it. My hands won't stop shaking, and my tears keep falling.

Hands pull me up, gentle but firm, and the blindfold slips away. The taut lines of Flint’s handsome face come into focus, his violet eyes raw and unguarded.

“I’m sorry,” he says hoarsely. “This should never have—”

I cup his face with trembling hands, and the words I promised myself I’d say come tumbling out.

“I l-love you.”

His eyes close, his jaw tightening. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispers. “But I promise—”

A wet, sloppy sound interrupts him, his words cut short by the sloppy lick of true love.

“What the—”

Flint barely gets the words out before eighty pounds of boundless canine energy tackles him to the icy ground.

Sunlight barks nonstop, tail wagging furiously. Is he thanking Flint for rescuing him...or is he holding a grudge after being stabbed—- oh, good, it's the first.

I'm absolutely sure of it, with how my baby's licking Flint's face nonstop, and all I can do is laugh as Flint shoots me an exasperated look.

How long is this going to last, his violet eyes seem to ask.

I lift my shoulders in a helpless shrug. Forever, maybe?

His gaze narrows. You're having fun seeing me attacked like this, aren't you?

I look at him chidingly. He's just being affectionate—-oh!

Flint effectively distracts my baby by taking off one of his shoes and throwing it in the distance.

"Fetch, boy."

Sunlight has barely loped off when Flint yanks me down, and I land on top of his chest with a gasp.

"You—-"

Uh...oh.

"—- really are an angel, aren't you?"

Oh, Flint.

The gentleness in which he runs his knuckles down my cheek makes me cry anew.

"I don't deserve you," he whispers. "I don't think I ever will. But if you'll give me a chance—-"

"Y-You know I w-will," I say between sniffling back tears.

"I love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you, too..."

His expression turns guarded. "Why do I have a feeling there's a but coming?"

"I...just want to ask."

"What is it?"

"What exactly does ' Culo ' mean anyway?"