Dane's Storm(72)

I’d gone all the way to the edge of the forest when I’d decided to give up. And that’s when I heard the growls behind me, the soft crunch of snow as they stalked closer and closer, backing me toward the cliff.

And then Dane. Dane had come up behind them like a warrior charging into battle. For me. Hot tears leaked from my eyes and rolled down my cheeks to collect in my ears.

I heard a small sound to my left and let out a small, fearful gasp, clutching the metal in my sock-covered hands and whipping my head toward the noise. A cardinal. We made eye contact and he lifted from the ground, soaring up and away into the safety of the trees. I let out a gasping breath, the white vapor rising and dissipating in the cold air as I released my grip on the weapon Dane had thrown me. I hardly had the strength to hold it. How would I use it against something that meant me harm if I needed to?

“Audra?” I heard Dane call and a gasping moan of intense relief burst from my lips at the sound of his voice. He was back. I was hurting so badly, but I wasn’t alone. I wasn’t alone. “I’m tying the leather strips together. I have them all here. This isn’t the ideal spot to climb from”—his voice faded away for a second as if he needed time to collect his breath—“but we work with what we have, don’t we, honey?”

I nodded my head, my teeth chattering as the wet snow beneath me soaked through my jeans, into my very bones. My jacket was ripped where the wolf had torn at my arm and I could feel the blood freezing on my skin. “Y-yes,” I agreed. We did. We worked with what we had.

“Okay, but first, I have my duffel bag here,” he said, his voice slurring just slightly, “and I’m going to throw it down to you. Pull it toward you and take out the shirt on top and wrap it around your arm like a bandage. Stop the bleeding as best you can, okay?”

“O-okay.”

“Good. I know you can do it, Audra. You’re the strongest person I know, baby. You’re Wonder Woman.”

I let out a small, strangled sound, halfway between a laugh and a sob just as the duffel bag landed on the ground near my left leg.

“Shit, sorry, I tried to get it closer to your arms. Can you get it with the piece of metal?”

I nodded, lifting my head just enough to see exactly where the duffel bag was, using the long piece of metal to hook on the strap so I could drag it closer.

“Good work,” Dane said. “After you tie your arm, there are blankets in there, too. Try not to get them wet because we need them, but cover yourself with them, all right?”

“Y-yes,” I said, unzipping the bag now next to me on the ground. I pulled out the cotton shirt and then unzipped my jacket, crying out in pain as I pulled my right arm from the sleeve, inch by slow inch. I heard Dane swear above, so I attempted to reassure him. “I’m okay. Just h-hurts.”

I didn’t want to look at my arm. I just wanted to continue to cradle it against my body, but I stole myself, taking a deep breath and looking down. The top of my arm was relatively untouched. It was the underside that was bloody and mangled, the flesh hanging loose in two spots. Bile rose in my throat but I swallowed it down, searching for every ounce of courage. Dane was going to rappel down to me on a handmade rope while practically unconscious with fever. I was not going to lose it over a bloodied arm.

Using the cotton to wrap around the worst of my injuries, I used one hand to tie the sleeves at my wrist so it was pulled as tight as possible. I worked as quickly as I could, shivering so severely I could barely manage the task. But I did, and as soon as it was done, I pulled my coat back on, took the blankets from the duffel bag, and carefully put them on top of me, ensuring the edges didn’t touch the snow. Better, better.

“Just a few more,” Dane said, referring to the knots he was tying, I assumed. God, how was he doing it while he could barely walk? How could this be happening? Even if he did make it down to me, what were we going to do? I couldn’t walk. Don’t think, not now. Wait for Dane and come up with a plan together.

Together.

My heart raged in my chest, and my harsh breathing plumed in the air and I focused on Dane’s voice above me as he talked. “Did I ever tell you I took sailing lessons when I was fourteen?” he asked. I knew he didn’t expect me to answer because he didn’t wait for my replies, just peered at me between sentences. I was thankful, because the effort it took for me to yell up to him was too taxing. I was sure talking wasn’t any easier for him, but at least he didn’t have to shout. His voice carried down to me. But there were unusual pauses between his words, so I knew he was having trouble catching his breath, or perhaps concentrating. “Dustin took lessons too, and he was better at it than I was, which pissed me off. So I decided, fuck it, who needs to sail when you can swim? That’s what I was good at. But, one thing that came out of it is I learned how to tie a damn fine knot.”

I felt my lips tip into a small smile and my love for him was a living, breathing thing around me, swirling in the icy air. This awful, awful, unfathomable moment and I felt my love for him so clearly, so profoundly, a current of warmth, a burst of light in the darkness. Nothing was certain, nothing except the love beating through my veins, wrapped around my soul. I closed my eyes and let it burn inside me like I’d swallowed one of those glowing stars and made it mine.

“I’m going to throw a few more things I grabbed at the camp, but just leave them where they land. And then I’m coming down.”