Page 42 of Protecting the Flame

“What if it was you?” Will asked.

“What if it was you what?”

“Out there.” He inclined his head toward the woods. “What if the situation had been reversed? If you were the one stuck out there alone and afraid, hurt, maybe dying?”

“Is that a trick question?”

“Something’s really bothering you.”

“You think?”

“Stop that.” He scrubbed the air with his good hand. “You don’t have to play tough with me. As a general rule, I don’t like bad people. I think you’re a much better person than you’re letting yourself be right now.”

“Oh?” She heard the tremble and wanted to slap herself silly. She’d be damned if he made her cry. “So, you’re a shrink now?”

The air was so cold, the words seemed to turn to ice the instant they left her mouth.

“No. I already told you. I know a lot about death.” Something shifted beneath his face, and his gaze fell to her wrists and their scars, hidden by sleeves and gloves. “And I know grief when I’ve touched it.”

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