Using the jagged table leg, she worked a hole into the shirts until she could tear them in two. She wound two of the halves around her feet—only then realizing the still frozen extremities were also bleeding—before wrapping the other two halves around her hands.
She made sure her skin was covered before returning to the porch. Taking a deep breath, she grasped him under his arms and started wiggling, turning, and shoving him onto the blanket. When she still couldn’t get him on, she gritted her teeth, leaned her back against the doorframe, planted her foot on his shoulder, and shoved him.
He flopped over onto it, and his arms sprawled out at his sides. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees as she panted for breath and glared at the immobile vamp. The blood streaking from his nose had dried, and the bruising across the bridge of his nose and around his eyes told her he’d broken it when he fell.
More dried blood, from a cut on his head, was caked near his temple, and a bite mark marred his throat. Beneath all the blood and bruising, he was a handsome man. He was also completely unaware of the misery of their surroundings while sweat streamed down her body, and she shivered from the cold as the wind blew snow around them.
Exhausted, she wanted to retreat into the cabin and sleep for days, but she still had to get him inside. She pushed herself away from the door and almost collapsed when she bent over to lift a corner of the blanket.
Resting her hand on the floor, she didn’t move as she waited for her racing heart to calm and her dizziness to ease. She should give up; the answers weren’t worth this, but for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to quit now.
When she felt strong enough to try again, she gathered the blanket and started tugging it toward the door. She was pretty sure she had frostbite, hypothermia, and would have a heart attack by the time she managed to drag him over the threshold and out of the way of the door.
Closing the door against the rising wind, she locked it before leaning against it and sliding to the floor. She gazed longingly into the room to her right as she recalled the fireplace in there, but even if it were the only source of heat in this place, she wouldn’t go anywhere near it.
She listened to the sounds of the vamp’s breathing as needle pricks of feeling returned to her extremities. Biting her lip, she drew blood as she tried to keep from crying, but as the pain intensified, she couldn’t withhold her tears. Curling into the fetal position, she shoved her fist into her mouth to keep from screaming while her body defrosted.
Chapter Five
Saxon cracked open his eyes and stifled a groan when the light caused him to recoil. His head pounded like someone was taking a hammer to it, and every muscle in his body felt like the same hammer had battered it. The dryness in his throat was matched only by the aridness of his veins.
His fangs lengthened as hunger coursed through him. He went to push himself up, but something caught at his arms and tugged them back. Weak and disoriented, it took him too long to realize he was tied to something. When he pulled again, something scraped, and he got a little more give to his right hand.
“Stop that!” a female voice commanded.
The panic in her voice caused him to stop tugging, and he inhaled the sweet scent of cherry blossoms drifting from her. “Who are you?” he demanded.
Elyse gulped; now that he was awake, she didn’t know what to do. She’d had a lot of time to study the man while the snowstorm turned into a blizzard outside. During that time, he’d practically healed before her eyes until most of his cuts and bruises were gone.
And completely healed, this massive vamp was a big threat to her. His broad shoulders were easily twice the size of her, and his jeans emphasized his tapered waist. His straight, dark blond hair fell to the collar of his sweater. He had a roman nose and full lips that were blue when she first dragged him in here, but now they were a pale red color. Dark blond stubble lined his high cheekbones and jaw.
Saxon sniffed the air. It took him some time to get past her cherry scent, but eventually, he smelled death and snow. However, he didn’t detect any of the garbage stench that came with the Savages.
“Who are you?” he asked again.
“Who are you?” she retorted. “You’re the one who showed up here.”
Saxon twisted to see in the direction of the voice, but the woman remained out of sight. His fingers rubbed the cloth binding his wrists, and when he lifted his foot, he discovered his ankles were also restricted, but a couple of jerks on them caused more scraping and more give to his bindings.
“I said, stop that!” she snapped.
Elyse shifted her hold on the broken chair leg as she studied the binds she used on him. She’d taken one of the sheets off her bed and torn it into strips to tie his wrists to the couch. Afterward, she moved the coffee table closer to the door and tied his ankles to it. The bindings wouldn’t keep him restrained for long, but she didn’t have a whole lot of options to work with here.
Saxon went still again when bruised and bloodied feet came into view. The jeans above those feet were rolled up to hang at the woman’s ankles. Craning his head, he tried to see the woman belonging to those feet, but she moved away before he could see more of her.
Testing his bonds again, he realized he could break free at any time, but something kept him where he was. Judging by the rapid beat of her heart, the woman was terrified, and he couldn’t bring himself to scare her more. If she hadn’t killed him while he was unconscious, and this was the best she could do to restrain him, he didn’t see her as much of a menace.
“I’m Saxon Voyse,” he said. “And you are?”
There was a slight hesitation before she replied, “Elyse Hughes. What are you doing here, Saxon?”
“I’m not really sure. Are all of the Savages dead?”
“What are Savages?”
“The vamps outside, are they all dead?”
“Oh.” She’d never heard them referred to like that before, but it was a fitting name for the bastards who kept her here. “Yes, or at least I think they’re all dead. I’m not sure how many of them were out there, but I haven’t seen any since you killed those.”
Saxon frowned as he tried to figure out what was going on here. She was in a cabin the Savages were guarding, but she didn’t know how many of them were out there, and she was a human.
Why was she here, and was she lying to him about not knowing the number of Savages? He didn’t think there were any more Savages out there. They most likely would have all come for him, but they were cowards, and he wouldn’t assume they were all dead until he knew for sure.
Elyse gripped the stake tighter. While he was unconscious, and after she stopped pleading to die from the ordeal of defrosting, she’d wiggled his jacket off him and removed one of the stakes from it.
The weapon was far better than her chair leg, but she didn’t feel any reassurance about having it in her hand. She’d have to get close to him to use it, and she didn’t know if she could stab someone, even if they were a vampire. However, she required answers.
Taking a deep breath, Elyse padded back toward the vampire. His head turned toward her as she approached, and he stiffened as if he were about to tear himself free and lunge at her. Despite her instincts screaming at her to run, she gathered her courage to kneel at his side and hold the stake over his heart. Elyse found herself gazing into a pair of hazel eyes that were more golden brown than green.