2. Nolan
2
NOLAN
I registered her physical condition before anything else: skin pale and waxy, eyes glazed, lips blue. Her jeans and black long-sleeve T-shirt were soaked through, her honey-blonde hair hanging in wet ropes around her face.
But the second she looked up at us, her expression turning from fear and relief to accusation, I knew it was her.
Lilah Abbott.
Her green eyes flashed. “You!”
In the split second before I remembered what we’d done to her, I was almost surprised she could muster the energy to be pissed. She looked like she was on the verge of death.
“What the fuck…?” Jude said, because he was a man of few words and that summed up the situation as well as anything else.
“They’re coming!” Lilah gasped, glancing back at the open door, her anger momentarily forgotten. “They’re… coming…”
I’d heard the snowmobiles a couple minutes before and hadn’t thought anything of it. We lived in the woods. People used snowmobiles and ATVs for recreation, although the No Trespassing signs usually kept them out when they weren’t locals who didn’t need a No Trespassing sign to know there were risks involved in stepping onto our property.
Rafe slammed the door fast, then locked it and strode to the closet where we stored some of our gear and weapons.
I wasn’t surprised he didn’t say anything. He was a man of few words too, although for a different reason than Jude.
My medic training kicked in and I reached for Lilah.
She shrunk back. “Don’t touch me!”
I held out my hands, like I was trying to calm a wild animal. “I’m not going to hurt you. You have hypothermia. We need to get you warm.”
She looked back at the closed door. “The men…”
The sound of snowmobiles had gotten closer, but now they were idling.
“Don’t worry about them. Rafe and Jude will take care of it.” I started to say trust me , then realized that was about as dumb a thing as I could say to Lilah Abbott. “I was a medic in the military. I want to make sure you don’t lose any of your fingers or toes.”
Or worse. I left that part out because I didn’t want to scare her, but I knew she was in real danger. Her core body temp was obviously low, her system shutting down as her body used every resource it had to keep her organs running.
I reached for her again, slowly, and was relieved when she let me help her off the floor.
Rafe pulled on his parka and opened the door, gun in hand. He stared across the snowy field leading to the woods.
“Who the fuck are these fuckers?” Jude muttered, pulling on his coat and following Rafe's gaze.
From my vantage point in the foyer, I could see a row of three snowmobiles idling at the tree line. Their riders wore bulky coats and balaclavas, making it impossible to see their faces.
Not that it mattered.
Rafe stepped outside, followed by Jude. The door swung shut behind them.
“This way.” I reached out to touch Lilah’s arm and she pulled back, her eyes wild. Right. That was a bad idea. “Follow me.”
I was worried she might collapse before we could get to the living room, but since she didn’t want me touching her, I led the way and hoped she could make it to the sofa.
“Sit down.” I gestured at the sofa and pulled off my sweatshirt. She needed a blanket, but that would have to come from the other room. “Put this on. I’m going to get my bag.”
She hesitated, then tried to take the sweatshirt from my hands. It slipped from her fingers. “My hands…”
“You have some frostbite.” I picked the sweatshirt up off the floor. We needed to raise her core body temperature. That would get her circulation going again, get some blood to her fingers and toes. “Can I put this on you?”
More hesitation before she nodded.
I sat next to her and slipped the sweatshirt over her head, then helped her get her arms through it. She looked small and helpless, like a wounded bird, but I knew from the hate still shining in her eyes that she’d become a fighter.
A familiar swell of shame rolled through me. She hadn’t always been a fighter. She’d been forced to become one.
Because of us.
“I’ll be right back.”