Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
No response from Aaron.
The skin of my cheeks burning hot, then going ice-cold, over and over again, I had to focus to check his pulse. It beat steadily, in a far better rhythm than Ash’s.
The realization did nothing to stop the screaming inside my head—because he was unconscious.
They were both unconscious.
In a part of the house so frigid that we might as well be outside in the snow; it was a miracle Ash hadn’t already frozen to death.
I had to get them to safety.
“Think, Luna. Think.” I gave myself thirty seconds to run through the breathing exercise Dr. Mehta had taught me, just long enough to stop the skittering in my brain and regain some semblance of control.
I looked at Aaron, then angled the flashlight at Ash.
One tall and lanky, the other slightly shorter but more built. Neither one small or light in comparison to my own body. And right now, both incapable of helping me.
Dead weight.
I shoved away the whispering reminder of Nix’s body, how hard it had been to handle him.
Biting down hard on my lower lip, I decided my priority: to get them out of this section exposed to the snow and frigid external air. It wasn’t too far to the other side of the doorway, all of it on a flat surface.
If I could stash them in a corner, the walls would provide protection from the cold air, and their bodies could share heat. I’d then find blankets, rugs, whatever I could to insulate them from the cold.
I decided to try to move Aaron first, since he was closer to the door—and healthier. My mind was working now, and I had an excellent idea of what was wrong with him. If I was right, then while Ash’s chances of survival were low, Aaron had a good chance of making it as long as I could keep him warm.
My thoughts felt cold, inhuman—but I wasn’t cold at all.
Everything burned, fear a shriek inside my head that repeated Vansi’s name over and over again.
Because my best friend was in the same room as the person who’d stabbed Ash and left him here to die.
43
Shoving away the thought before it could paralyze me, I tucked the flashlight into a pocket of my jacket at an angle that did enough to illuminate the area in front of me that I could see where I was going. My eyes hurt from the effort, but there was nothing I could do about that, so no point focusing on it.
Managing to push the burned armchair behind Aaron far enough back that I could slide my hands under his armpits, I began to drag him in the direction from which we’d come.
“If you can hear me at all”—I grunted and twisted around a fallen chair—“try to take some of your weight off me.” Maybe it was my imagination, my brain trying to make things easier, but I could’ve sworn I felt a renewed tension in his body, a determination to assist. “Thanks, Aaron. That’s it. We can do it.”
I had to stop multiple times, my back sending out warning shots and my breath hard gasps of frosted air. I couldn’t even think about if the damaged floor, the nails exposed in places, might be cutting through his jeans to gouge his skin. I didn’t have the capacity to move and protect him.
His cheek scraped against a serrated edge on a twisted piece of the doorway. “I’m so sorry,” I said, glad to see that the cut appeared minor.
Sweat trickled under my arms, cold and wet, my nose threatening to run. I kept on going, sure that if I stopped, I’d never again move.
Just one more step, just one more step.
And though I’d intended to place him on this side, I realized it was still too exposed, too cold.
I kept going.
Until I finally reached the door that led to the stairs. Putting him down, I went to open it. My arms screamed. I had no idea how I was going to do this a second time around—but I’d face that problem when I got to it.
“Just a little farther,” I said, and dragged Aaron through the door to prop him up against the wall of the landing.
It was much warmer here in comparison to the other side, more survivable. The biggest danger was that he’d move without conscious volition and tumble down the stairs, but I had to take that risk. To leave him on the other side would lead to exposure and certain death within a short period.
“I’ll get blankets after,” I said, then ran back to Ash.
The trip was much, much harder this time around. He was true dead weight. And though shorter, he was more muscled and thus noticeably heavier than Aaron. I collapsed at one point, my knee throbbing from the force with which I hit the floor.