Her eyes finally locked with his for a spell. “Why are you doing this? He threatens your kingdom. You should be hunting him, not trying to save me.”
“You mean as much to me as my kingdom does.”
Her gaze slid away, her eyelids dipping. “I’m so sorry I lost your necklace. Please look for it. By my house.”
“Open your eyes,” he demanded. “Don’t stop looking at me. We’ll find the necklace. That’s the last thing I want you to think about. Keep healing.”
Several tense minutes passed and then he felt the ends of her hair dry and thicken. After wiping his hand on his leg to clean it, he tested the wound again, but it was gone. So too was the blood at that particular spot.
Relief washed over him. “You did it.”
But her breathing was still labored, and the very slow rise and fall of her chest told him her heart rate and pulse had dropped drastically. Her lips had turned purple. She was likely freezing in the snow, yet he couldn’t move her until something was done about her chest.
He wanted to yank off his sweater and press the material to her in order to stop the flow of blood, but he’d wipe too much of it away in doing so. And he’d aggravate an already horrific-looking injury.
Instead, he lifted her hand to his own chest, slipping it inside his shirt. He flattened her cold palm against his skin, over his heart.
“Feel the beats,” he said. “They’re strong and steady. Try to match them with your own heart.”
She appeared exhausted and defeated. As though she honestly didn’t want to continue on. As if she’d merely humored him by healing the head wound.
“Jade,” he said in an insistent voice, his dread resonating strongly. “I want you alive and safe. I want you healthy. Happy. I’ll do whatever I must to make it happen, but you have to help me. You have to repair your heart. Please. For me. For you. For both of us. For…Michael and Lisette. Everyone in the village. Hell, even Sheena will stop speaking to me if anything happens to you.”
He heard the desperation and the agony in his tone. Neither was manufactured nor exaggerated to persuade her to give in to his begging. They were real, raw emotions that could bring him to his knees, were he not already on them.
“Jade,” he whispered. “I love you. And I know I don’t deserve you, but…I don’t want to lose you.”
Another short breath fell from her lips. “You don’t play fair. Telling me you love me…”
“I wouldn’t lie about it, you know that. I’ve been very forthcoming with my feelings for you. Right now, you’re devastating me.”
Her gaze locked with his once more. “I actually can feel your heartbeats. They’re erratic.”
“That’s because I’m completely freaked out.”
She laughed softly, surprising him. Fat snowflakes began to fall on them and they shared a few tranquil moments as they stared at each other.
He wouldn’t—couldn’t—let her give in to the pain.
“Darien.”
He heard Morgan behind him, along with Thunder, who nudged his arm.
Without taking his gaze from Jade, he said to his general, “Get the village doctor and take him to the cottage. She’s going to need help.”
“He can’t help me,” she muttered.
“We’ll see.” To Morgan, he said, “Go.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
Darien carefully lifted Jade into his arms and she squealed in pain, shattering whatever serenity their delicate moment had brought her.
“Sorry,” he said as fury tore through him again over her agonized state. Thunder seemed as deeply affected by her suffering. He knelt so Darien could easily mount him with Jade nestled against his body. “Careful.”
The horse slowly rose, with some effort, given the weight he bore. Then he gingerly crossed the church and descended the steps with caution, though the movements still jarred Jade, as evidenced by her gasps and groans.
They rode through the snow and Jade shivered against him as a light, albeit frigid, breeze whistled through the trees. By the time they reached her house, whatever healing she’d accomplished seemed to be negated by the pain she’d experienced from the jostli