Page 13 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

In that moment, he made a promise to the universe that he’d keep.

If it helped him get the girl, he’d protect her to his dying days.

That was a vow.

No one would ever hurt her again, and he’d find a way to heal her heart.

Listening, she was talking to Ceit.

“We’ll come get you later,” she promised. “And we’ll respect you too. I don’t know how you’re going to feel being in the same room with your ex, but we can’t help that. You belong in the crypt in your once home.”

Brushing some moss from the stone, Gabby was grateful to have this time to make peace with Ceit. The last thing they needed was for her to be a pissed-off ghost.

Pass on that.

All around her, the wind was blowing, and she kept talking.

“I think you’ll like the new Mistress of the manor,” she admitted as she was picking some weeds that surrounded her stone.

“Elizabeth Blackhawk is a tough, badass woman who fights for justice. She will let you stay in the castle as long as you don’t haunt her. That’s a bad idea,” she said, laughing.

A really bad one.

Oh, it was amusing as hell to picture it, but somehow, she believed Elizabeth would get final say about the ghosts.

She kept talking to Ceit.

“You’ll be safe there. I hope that there’s someone in the afterlife that can protect you. Everyone needs to be protected when they are at their weakest.”

That was a very true statement for Gabby. She wished all of the time that she’d find that person who would forever have her back.

Her ex-husband surely didn’t.

Both she and Ceit were discarded by their men.

And that hurt.

Now that she’d gotten a good look at the grave, it was time to just chill out and explore. The promise of bunnies was a little too big of a lure. After seeing the fainting goat, now, she wanted to enjoy some bunnies.

With that, she turned and headed back the way she came, blissfully unaware that she was being tracked.

By a cop.

As she was walking down the trail, she could see from the one side of the cliff that there was, indeed, a lake.

Holy shit!

It was so pretty.

Then again, Scotland was a gorgeous country, and her only regret was she didn’t have more time here.

All she could do was get some pretty pictures there that she could look at and remember when she had to return to DC.

It appeared to be time to enjoy nature like Graham suggested.

As she moved down the hill that led to the water, she heard something crying in the distance. They weren’t human cries, but instead, some kind of an animal.

What was this?

Immediately, being an animal lover, she had to investigate.

Jogging down, she saw on the ice there was a little fawn that had walked out there and couldn’t stand back up. It was laying there helplessly.

Oh, no!

It was spring, and all of the babies were being born, and this baby went too far out on the ice.

The little one was in trouble, and without its mother anywhere in sight.

Immediately, she knew what she needed to do.

It was time to save the baby deer.

“Oh, little one,” she said, racing to the edge of the water. “Let me help you.”

As Gabby looked around, she tried to find something to help her. All around the lake, the air was ice cold, and had nothing to do with the temperature outside.

Her breath puffed from her lips in little clouds of condensation.

Picking up a stick, she tried to pull the fawn toward her. Only, it kept scrambling further onto the ice.

Well, shit.

This was going to take more than just a stick. Someone was going to have get the baby deer.

“Oh, damn it,” she muttered, testing the ice with her boot.

It felt solid.

There wasn’t any cracking under her weight. That was a good thing.

She recalled Elizabeth telling Ivan that she would have paid good money to see Ian and Gryphen in ice skates. This was likely the water they were on when they were here.

That gave her hope that she might be able to get on and off without going under.

As the baby fawn kept crying, Gabby didn’t hear the laughter. It was masculine, and hidden under the sounds of the bleating fawn.

It was now our never.

Gabby knew that she needed to help it.

Going onto her knees, she slowly began moving onto the ice, disbursing her weight at multiple points so it didn’t crack under her body.

When she reached the baby deer, she grabbed the gangly creature and shoved it toward the shore. Gabby pushed so hard that it rolled onto the bank like the awkward limbed fawn it was.

Well, at least it was safe.

Now, she began moving toward the shore, and that’s when she heard it.

The male laughter.

It echoed all around her.

What was this?

Looking around, she felt chills on her body as the ice below her cracked.

And then, Gabby went in.

Jesus Christ, but it was cold, dark, and she lost her way as it felt like there were fingers around both of her ankles, pulling her deep into frigid water.

She fought, but her body was paralyzed with fear and the sound of that laughter.

It chilled her to the bone.

She didn’t need to worry about going home.

This was going to be how she died, and no one would know until the ice melted.

Gabriella Lopez was going missing.

And she was dead.

Not Far Away…

Because he was trying to figure out a good time to approach Gabby, Finn was watching her as she trekked back to the castle.

Most of the time, it was about not getting caught, and trying to get up the courage to ask her to dinner.

Only, he had to stay back far enough so as not to let her know he was there. If she spotted him, surely she’d believe he was some pervert following her around.

How would he explain that?

So for him, it was best to stay back where he wouldn’t be seen.

In his head, he was trying to figure out how to approach her about a dinner date.

Or lunch.

Or breakfast.

Or anything.

Only, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t give him the time of the day since she was planning on heading back to her big career, and fancy life in the States.

Call it a hunch.

As he reached the top of the hill that looked down on the lake, his heart was pounding in his chest. What he saw chilled him to the bone.

The woman he was interested in was sliding a baby fawn off of the ice, and risking her life.

Yeah, that was a dangerous place to be.

Oh, shit!

The ice was thin at this time of the year, and that lake had an undercurrent. If she went through, she wouldn’t be easy to find.

It would take a miracle.

Now, he was holding his breath, not wanting to shout her name and startle her, but in his head, he was praying she made it.

He wasn’t sure if she was brave or careless. Clearly, they didn’t teach Feds not to go on thin ice.

Just as he thought about shouting a warning, that’s when the worst thing happened.

She went under.

Immediately, Finn started running down the hill for HER life.

There wasn’t much time.

He raced down the hill, and he was able to see her fingers trying to grasp the ice, as she was pulled under.

He didn’t have a moment to hesitate.

With a running start, after tossing his badge and gun to the ground, Finn slid across the ice on his belly, and reached for her hand.

Only, he was seconds late and she slipped through his fingertips, going under.

Fuck.

Getting up, he shouted for Graham, knowing he was going to need help. Hopefully, the man was still outside working on feeding the animals.

He’d be their only chance.

“GABBY WENT UNDER WATER! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!”

Then, he did the only thing he could do.

Standing up, Finn used his body weight to slam himself down, breaking the ice to follow her in.

As soon as the cold water hit him, he could hear screams from the water, underneath.

At first, he thought it was Gabby, but how could she be breathing under the water to scream?

And it was a male voice.

Then, he heard it.

There was one single, solitary word said, and it sounded like the voice was right by his ear.

‘Punishment.’

Well, that couldn’t be good.

All Finn knew was he had very little chance to come out the hero in this, and a much bigger chance that he, and Gabby, were about to turn up dead.

As her vision began going gray, Gabby couldn’t hold her breath anymore, and she knew she’d never find her way back out.

She.

Was.

Dead.

She thought about Bark Twain, and her friends at the FBI, and how she would never find love again. A part of her began praying, promising that if she was given another chance, she’d learn to trust again.

That she’d have faith.

Only, she knew the odds were not in her favor.

As she was pulled deeper, or that’s what it felt like, the fear slowly passed, and suddenly, there was calm.

She was drowning.

Just as her eyes closed, and she was about to give up, she felt it.

There were fingers on her wrist yanking her up and doing battle with the force trying to pull her down.

Sadly, she couldn’t stay awake.

It was too late.

As Finn got damn lucky, or a miracle happened, he somehow found her in the darkness of the water.

That’s when he fought for both of their lives. With pure adrenaline and tenacity, he fought the current and that twisted laughter to pull her to the surface.

Hopefully, it wasn’t for naught. In this temperature water, they had minutes.

The water was so goddamn cold, and Gabby was lifeless in his arms. When his head broke the water, Finn saw Graham running, and he had a rope around his shoulder.

“Get it to me,” Finn shouted. “I don’t think she’s breathing.”

That was all he had to hear. He tossed the rope, and Finn caught it with one hand, but barely, His fingers were numb, and he knew if they didn’t get in, they were both getting hypothermia.

And dead.

As Graham pulled, the ice broke around them, and he was able to hold onto Gabby.

At the shore, Graham pulled them both in, and Gabby didn’t move as she was placed on the ground.

Without any hesitation, Finn checked her pulse, and there was none. It was time to see if he could bring her back to life.

Immediately, he began breathing for her.

One.

Five.

Seven.

He lost count of how many breaths he gave her, but right when he was about to start chest compressions, that was when he heard her start to cough.

Rolling the woman to her side, she choked up the murky water.

“Jesus,” Graham said. “What happened?” he asked.

It was too cold to talk.

“I have to get her warm,” he said, freezing himself. “Run and get her room warm. I can get her there. We don’t have much time.”

The wind was picking up, and in it, they both heard the sick laughter.

Uh-oh.

Only, now, wasn’t the time or the place.

Graham told him the room name, and took off to get the water started, and the fireplace going.

Finn was running on adrenaline and the shock over what he’d heard in the water.

Was someone trying to hurt this woman like his dream warned him?

Dream Gabby told him she was going to die, and then she nearly falls backward into a stone crypt, and now this?

Holy shit.

What was going on here?

Scooping her up, Finn knew he had very little time. Her lips were blue, and his had to be too. He began hauling ass to the castle.

In his arms, she focused on him, and what he’d just done.

“You saved me,” she whispered.

Oh, well, not yet.

It was going to mean getting her upstairs in the castle where they could both get warm.

And seeing a doctor.

“I have to get you inside and out of the wet clothes,” he stated, as he navigated the hill.

Gabby was shivering, but considering the alternative, this was a far better option.

She also recalled what she’d promised the universe if she survived.

It looked like she was going to start showing some faith in men.

Particularly this one.

Because she had no other choice, she held on.

The whole time, she rested her head on his shoulder and couldn’t believe how lucky she’d gotten.

Not only had this man saved her in her dream, and by the crypt, but now in a frozen lake.

At the castle, they got inside, and Finn carried her up the stairs.

And this was why he worked out and ran.

This.

Right.

Here.

One never knew when he was going to need to be able to carry a gorgeous, wet woman up some stairs.

Oh, and this was NOT the kind of wet he liked, but wet, nonetheless.

At the door to her room, he kicked it open, and Graham was lighting a fire not far from the foot of the bed.

“Call for a doctor,” he said, knowing she’d breathed in murky water, and needed to be checked out.

“Do you want to put her by the fire?” Graham asked, seeing they were both so cold.

He shook his head, the mission his only focus.

“Not enough time. She’s cold,” he said, heading straight to the shower.

This was going to have to be a quick heat-up.

Inside, he was grateful it was big, and that Graham had already turned it on.

Getting in, they were hit with steam and warm water. Sliding down the wall, he sat with her in his lap as they were pelted with the hot water.

It felt so damn good too.

At first, no one spoke. Then, finally, it was Gabby who broke her silence.

“Thank you,” she said, staring into his eyes. “You saved me again, Detective.”

Yeah, that seemed to be his full-time job today, and he was scared shitless that he’d drop the ball. He was vastly uncomfortable with what he’d heard under the water, and how she seemed to be targeted.

“I have a question,” he said.

She waited, curiosity there as to what he could possibly want to ask.

“What?”

He went there.

How could he not?

At that very moment, Finn was in the middle of an adrenaline crash like none he’d ever experienced before in his life.

This woman was clearly a menace to her own safety and well-being.

“What’s your full given name?” he asked.

She was confused but she gave him her maiden name and middle name.

“It’s Gabriella Heather Jones. Why?” she asked, not sure where this was going.

Oh, well, he let her have it.

“Gabriella Heather Jones, are you out of your goddamn mind?” he asked.

She stared at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said. “I also want to know because I think I deserve to know the name of the woman who is going to be the death of me.”

She stared at him.

And then, it happened.

They both began laughing.

Because clearly, they’d lost their minds.