Filed to story: Kissed by Claw and Fang
I glance down at the ground and realize she’s right-Quinn, Marc, and two other guys are heading our way. They’re moving stealthily instead of quickly, almost like they know we’re here. And maybe they do-it’s not like I was exactly quiet while Sebastian hauled me up this tree.
Either way, it doesn’t matter, because all we need is for them to get a few steps closer and-
Bam. Sebastian sends a snowball soaring straight into the leader’s chest. Macy follows up with a one-two shot to the guy in the back. Which leaves Marc and Quinn. Which I’m definitely not going to complain about. I send a volley of snowballs straight at them, one after another. I hit Marc twice and Quinn at least four times, which-if their curse-laden complaints are anything to go by-knocks them completely out of the game. Something I’m also not going to complain about.
Sebastian is all but crowing in triumph as he dispatches a second group that made the mistake of coming this way, and Macy takes care of a couple of loners trying to sneak in from behind us. I restock from the thick snow on the branches and wait for whoever comes next.
Turns out it’s a couple of girls dressed in teal and navy outerwear, who look like they’re having about as much fun as I do at the dentist.
I think about pulling my punches-no reason to make them even more miserable-but I figure it’s only putting off the inevitable. The faster I knock them out of the game, the faster they can head back to the castle. And the faster we can win this thing.
I reach for my last three snowballs and am just waiting for them to come within range when a powerful wind comes up and knocks me off balance. I make a grab for the tree trunk and manage to hold on while the wind shakes the whole tree.
Sebastian curses and makes a grab for the trunk, too. Then calls to me, “Hold on, Ivy! I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Just stay there,” I call back. “I’m fine.”
Then I turn to look for Macy, worried my cousin might be in worse shape than I am. But just as I turn my head to look behind me, another gust of wind hits the tree, hard. It’s an eerie sound, and as the trunk starts to sway under the wind’s assault, I get more nervous. Especially when another gust comes through and hits me hard enough to threaten my grip on the tree.
Above me, Sebastian curses again, and Macy yells, “Hold on, Ivy! Sebastian, go get her!”
“Wait!” I shout back to be heard over the wind. “Don’t!”
But then Macy screams, and I whirl around, terrified I’m going to see her plunging to her death. And that’s when the worst gust of wind yet hits, and I lose my grip on the tree completely.
I scramble to grab on to something-anything-but the wind is too strong. The branch I’m sitting on issues an ominous crack.
And then I’m falling.
There’s Never a Parachute Around
When You Need One
For one second, I have perfect clarity-I can hear Macy screaming, Sebastian calling my name, the wind roaring like a freight train-and then it’s all drowned out in the panicked beat of my heart as terror races through me.
I brace myself for bone-crunching impact, but before I hit, Sebastian is grabbing me, pulling me against him, spinning us in midair. He hits the ground, back first, and I land on him, my face buried in the curve of his neck.
We hit hard enough that the breath is knocked out of me. For one second, two, three, I can’t do anything but lay there on top of him, trying desperately to drag a breath into my abused lungs.
Sebastian’s not moving either, and panic is a wild animal inside me as I struggle to get my weight off him. His eyes are closed, and I’m terrified that he’s hurt-or worse. He took the brunt of the fall, deliberately spinning us so that he slammed into the hard, snow-packed ground while all I slammed into was him.
It’s as I push up into a sitting position, knees on either side of his thighs, that I finally manage to pull in a huge gulp of air. It’s also at that moment that all hell breaks loose.
Macy is screaming my name as she scrambles down her tree, and people swarm us from all directions. I’m too busy shaking Sebastian and slapping at his cheeks-trying to get him to respond-to pay any attention to what anyone else is doing.
At least until he opens his eyes and drawls, “I’m beginning to think I should have let you fall.”
“Oh my God! You’re okay!” I scramble off him. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” He sits up with a little groan. “You’re heavier than you look.”
“You shouldn’t move!” I try to shove him back down, but he just laughs.
“The snow broke my fall, Ivy. I’m good.” To prove it, he jackknifes to his feet in one lithe movement.
It’s as he stands up that I realize he’s telling the truth. There’s a Sebastian-shaped indention in the snow from where he hit. For the first time since moving to this state, I’m grateful for its ridiculous climate. After all, when you’re falling twenty feet, snow is so much softer than ground.
Still, if that’s the case… “Why did you jump after me? You could have been hurt.”
He doesn’t answer, just kind of stands there watching me, a weird look in his eyes. It’s not concern or annoyance or pride or any of the other expressions I’d expect him to be wearing right now. Instead, it looks an awful lot like…shame.
But that doesn’t make sense. He just saved me from a concussion or a couple of broken bones-at least. What does he have to be ashamed of?
“What was the alternative?” Macy demands, voice shaking like she just got back the power of speech. “Let you be hurt?”
“You mean it’s better for Sebastian to get hurt?” I ask bewildered.
“But he didn’t, did he? And neither did you.” She turns to him with a grateful look. “Thank you so much, Sebastian.”
Her words make me realize that I’ve been too busy worrying about-and yelling at-Sebastian to do what I should have right away. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
The words sound awkward after all my admonishments, but they are nothing compared to the look on Sebastian’s face as he stares over my shoulder into the crowd. It alternates between looking like he’s going to throw a punch and like he’s dying to run away.
I figure it’s because he’s bad with gratitude-I’m terrible with it, so I get that-but as the talking in the crowd dies down and people start parting like a human Red Sea, I turn.
And nearly wither on the spot at the coldness in Zane’s eyes. Only the fact that it’s directed at Sebastian and not me keeps my knees from giving way completely. Because I only thought he was intimidating at the welcome party.
Right now, the look on his face is absolutely terrifying. And the five inscrutable guys at his back-I assume I’m seeing the whole of the infamous Order for the first time-only reinforce the fact that there’s a problem.
A big problem.
I just wish I knew why.