Amber Eyes (Amber Eyes #1)(18)

Hunter pushed by the stunned Jericho and knelt on the floor in front of her.

“What happened?”

“My arm,”she gasped out. “It’s broken.”

“What the f**k?”Jericho finally found his voice.

Hunter curled his hand underneath her other elbow and hoisted her gently to her feet. He led her to the couch and eased her onto the cushion.

She trembled from head to toe, unsure of what bothered her most. The cold or the pain.

Jericho scrambled for a blanket and draped it around her body, taking care not to touch her arm again.

“Kaya, I didn’t know. God, I’m sorry for hurting you.”

She couldn’t find the words around her clenched throat, but her gaze found his and she gave a short shake of her head to let him know it was all right.

She watched as they broke away from her long enough to build up the fire. Then they returned to the couch, their expressions hard. Determined.

“Who is he?”Hunter asked, his tone cold and deadly. “Is he your husband? Boyfriend?”

She blinked in confusion as her teeth started to chatter. “Who is who?”

“The son of a bitch who did this to you,”Jericho said icily.

Her eyes widened in shock. “But—”

Hunter cupped her chin and turned her so that she faced him. “I’ll take care of it, Kaya. I swear to you I will. Tell me who he is and where I can find him. He’ll never hurt you again. We’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

“There is no one. I swear it.”

Jericho threw up his hands in frustration.

She sank back into the couch, bracing herself for what was to come. She had to see to her arm, and though she would heal quickly, she didn’t look forward to setting it.

Tired. Cold. She had reached exhaustion, the bone-deep kind that made processing her thoughts impossible.

“We’ve got to get her down the mountain,”she heard Hunter say to Jericho.

She turned her head to bring them both into view and frowned at the intensity on their faces. They weren’t talking to her. They were deciding her fate between them.

“We can take her in the sled,”Hunter said. “If we can just get her down to the truck, we can drive the rest of the way provided the roads aren’t too snowed under.”

“Where are you taking me?”she asked faintly.

Hunter turned, his gaze softening just a bit. “The hospital, Kaya. Your arm is badly broken. We have to get you care.”

“No!”

Her vehement exclamation startled the two men. Jericho frowned, and Hunter looked at her in bewilderment. Then he knelt down in front of the couch and took her uninjured hand in his.

“You’re badly hurt. We have to get you to the hospital. I don’t think you understand how bad that break is.”

She shook her head. “No. I won’t go. I can’t go. Please. Just let me stay here. I will be all right.”

“No, goddamn it, you won’t be all right,”Jericho bit out. “We’re tired of doing things your way. This time we’re not asking, and you’re damn well not going to talk us out of doing what has to be done.”

Desperation lent her strength. She couldn’t let them take her to the hospital. She would be found out. Fear lodged in her throat. What would they do to her? Lock her away in a cage as they once had? Take her away from Jericho and Hunter like she’d once been taken from her humans?

She struggled upward, out of the constraints of the blankets. Hunter and Jericho both reached for her, their hands firm as she fought against them.

“Let me up,”she gasped. “Please, this is important. There is something I must tell you.”

God, don’t let them turn away. The idea of trusting them with her secret terrified her, but how else could she make them understand that she could not go down the mountain?

“Kaya, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself,”Jericho said.

She stopped her struggles and met their gazes. She let all her desperation bleed into her expression as she pleaded with them.

“Please,”she finally whispered. “There is something I must tell you.”

Maybe the urgency finally got through to them, or maybe they realized she wouldn’t participate unless they listened. Their hands fell away, and Hunter let out a long sigh.

“Tell us, Kaya. Make it fast so we can take care of your injury.”

She struggled to her feet, ignoring their curses and their protests as they tried to keep her on the couch. Finally she broke free and put distance between her and them.

“Don’t even think about going out that door,”Jericho growled. “We won’t let you go this time.”

She shook her head in silent denial. That wasn’t what she planned. No, what she planned was to strip herself bare in front of these two men. To tell them what she’d never told another human being. And pray they wouldn’t reject her.

Chapter Eleven

It was all Hunter could do not to snatch Kaya up and haul her down the mountain. Only the knowledge that he had to tread carefully with her so as not to hurt her even more tempered his impatience.

He wasn’t convinced that there was no boyfriend, husband or lover. Maybe even an abusive father. Someone was hurting her, and he’d be damned if he let her go back.

She stood between him and Jericho and the door, her slight body trembling as she held her injured arm. There was stark vulnerability on her face as if something scared the hell out of her. She kept glancing from him to Jericho with nervous eyes.