I was too exhausted to speak. The next thing I knew, he'd carried me into the living room and stretched me out on the sofa next to the fire. I was dully aware of him searching my pockets, possibly looking for some clue to where I'd been. Finding nothing, he pried off my boots and massaged my feet. He bundled me in warm, dry blankets, and fit a hat snugly over my head. Then came a litany of questions that jumbled in my frozen brain.
Can you hear me? How many fingers? How long outside? Alone?
I tilted my chin up, gazing into his green eyes, reassured by their competence. I wanted to climb into his arms and weep while he held me, but I didn't know how to make my body move. A tear dripped down my cheek, and I hoped Calvin understood the words I was too tired to say. We were together. Everything was going to be okay. He'd take care of me.
Calvin slapped my cheeks. "Can't fall asleep."
I nodded obediently, but sleep dragged at me. He didn't understand. I'd used all my energy getting here. I didn't have any left. I had to sleep. I'd been outside, walking and freezing, while he was here at the cabin. Why hadn't he come looking for me?
While I faded in and out of awareness, Calvin left the room several times, always returning swiftly to poke and prod at me. I faintly noted him sticking a thermometer under my tongue. On the next trip, he nestled warm water bottles near my armpits and tucked what felt like a heating pad around my lap. He ordered me to drink a mug of herbal tea and even offered me some candy, but I shook my head. They could wait. I wished he'd leave me alone long enough to let me sleep soundly.
". . . stay with me, Britt."
I can't, I thought back, but the words dissolved inside me.
He grasped my head, forcing me to look directly in his eyes. "No sleep. Not . . . leave alone. Focus . . . me."His words sounded muffled, like they traveled down a long tunnel before reaching me.
Oh, Cal.
I sighed, trying to squirm out of his grip. He slapped my cheeks again. With a deeper pang of annoyance, I wished he would stop bothering me. If I'd had the strength, I would have shoved him away.
"Let go,” I slurred irritably, batting weakly at his hands. "Keep . . . fight. Stay . . . me. Warm you up."
He grasped my shoulders, shaking me incessantly, until what little patience was left inside me snapped and I lashed out in anger. "Stop, Cal, leave alone!" After the words exploded out of me, I sagged back on the sofa, breathless and exhausted. But fully awake.
Bent over me, Calvin relaxed. He smiled, stroking my cheek affectionately. "That's more like it. Get as angry as you want, if that's what it takes to keep you conscious. I'm not letting you sleep until your temperature climbs above ninety-six."
"Says who?" I sniffed weakly.
"Really? You're going to argue with me now?" Cal's eyes softened, and he smoothed my damp hair off my face. Reaching under the blankets, he clasped my hand, squeezing hard, like he was terrified he's lose me if he let go. "I was so worried about you, Britt. Korbie told me everything. I know about Shaun and Ace."
I blinked a few times, thinking I must have misheard. My brain muddled through this new information at a lagging pace. "Korbie?"
"She's here. Upstairs sleeping. I found her at the cabin. They left her to die, Britt. I found her just in time. She had no food. She's going to make a full recovery, but this isn't over. They tried to kill my sister and my-my girl,” he finished, his voice cracking slightly. "If anything had happened to either of you-" He broke off, turning his face away, but not before I saw his eyes burning with rage.
Calvin had found Korbie. of course he had. Cal was Cal. He loved Korbie, and he loved me. He would do anything to keep us safe.
But if I was his girl, and he loved me, why hadn't he gone back out to look for me?
I pushed myself upright against the pillow. My limbs were uncoordinated from the cold, but that didn't stop me from fighting to free myself from the blankets. "I have to see Korbie."
"In the morning,” Calvin assured me. "I only found her today. She was bad off, panicked and delusional, and she hurt herself she tripped on the stairs and bruised her back and elbow. She wouldn't let me touch her, kept screaming at me and calling me Shaun. I gave her a sleeping pill to help her relax. She needs a good night's rest. Same goes for you-can I get you a pill? My mom left her prescription up here last summer, and it hasn't expired yet."
"No, I just want to see Korbie."
Calvin tried to lower me back onto the sofa, but I struggled against him. I had to see Korbie. I needed to see for myself that she was okay.
"All right, you can see her,” he relented, "but let me bring her to you. You should rest. I'll make you some dinner and then go get her."He dragged his hands down his face, but not before I saw his eyes moisten. "I thought the worst, Britt. I thought it was a miracle I'd found her, and I'd never be lucky enough to find you too. I thought-My life-Without you-"
Tears streamed down my face, and a knot swelled in my throat.
Calvin loved me. Nothing had changed. At that moment, it was so easy to forget the pain and heartache of the past. I forgave him completely. This was it-our fresh start.
"I'm scared, Cal." I scooted closer to him. "He-Ace-is out there." I didn't bother calling him Jude; explaining the name change would only complicate things.
Calvin nodded curtly. "I know. But I won't let him hurt you. As soon as the roads clear, I'm getting you and Korbie out of here. we'll go to the police and tell them everything."
I shook my head, indicating there was more. "Ace killed . . ." I licked my lips. I hadn't expected the words would be so difficult to say. It was hard to admit Jude had killed Lauren Huntsman, because it pointed glaringly to my utter lack in judgment. I'd trusted Jude. I'd kissed him. I'd let his hands explore my body, the same hands that had ruthlessly slayed an innocent girl. It was appalling and humiliating. If there was one event in my past I wished I held the power to go back and change, that was it. Failing to see Jude's revolting true character.
"Shh,” Calvin murmured, gently pressing his finger to my lips. "You're safe with me. You lived through a nightmare, but it's over. I won't let him hurt you. He's going to pay for taking you hostage. He'll go to prison, Britt. You'll never have to see him again."
I tried to let Calvin's confidence console me, and forced myself to push aside the memory of Jude's searing, rousing kiss. whatever had happened between us, it was a lie. He had deceived me; I had to remember that. Any lingering feelings I might have for him were based on the lie, and I had to cut them out, like a cancer.