Page 60 of In the Cover of Darkness

“Go find them,” I practically yell at Ragnar as I open the door to his kennel, his head squeezing out as soon as I start to pull the door. He zooms past me almost instantly at full speed, barking as he heads out into the meadow, out into the darkness.

I race around the side of the house to meet Ace. Not bothering to get inside the truck, I stand on the footrest and hold on to thesteel roof racks, banging on the top to let him know I'm good to go.

Flicking the high beams on we can see a small dust trail floating in the air, showing the path Ragnar took as it dances in the light.

“Hang on,” Ace yells out as we hit the harsh terrain of the meadow, not slowing down as we speed over the small dips and divots. A couple of minutes pass and I can see the fence come into view, the tree Ace recognised looming overhead.

And then I see the bodies.

“MILA,” I scream, as I leap from the side of the truck before Ace can bring it to a complete stop. Tripping and falling as soon as I hit the ground, my body is not doing what it needs to.

I need to get to her.

I have to get to her.

Stumbling toward her as I try to get my footing, I fall to the ground on my knees, unable to stop the sobs coming from me.

She is still.

Not moving.

The glow of the headlights shows her body tightly holding onto Attila, neither one of them moving as her face is covered in his dark fur.

I can't bring myself to touch her. If I do that then I'll know for sure she's gone. Right now I still have a little hope that she's alive, that she's okay. Ragnar is panting next to me, sniffing Attila, whining and crying out after attempts at nudging his head fail to rouse him. There is a small pool of blood underneath the two of them, but I don't know who it's coming from.

Getting the courage, I hold my breath and I finally reach out to move her. Ragnar has become restless and stands next to me, pawing my arm as I try to move the hair covering her face.He's getting in the way now, nudging his head against Mila’s, her body rolling away from Attila, covered in blood. I know Ragnar has to be hurting, he can sense his brother is gone. It’s clear Attila is no longer among us, the knife in his chest all but confirms it. I can also see he tried to help her, knowing with certainty that he fought to the death, sacrificing himself trying to save her. I just wish he succeeded.

Carefully, I place one arm under her shoulders, the other under her knees, and I pull her into my lap. Pushing my face against her neck, I breathe her in, committing her smell to memory one final time. My tears mixed in with the blood smeared on her face.

“Mila, baby … come back to me. I can't do this without you. Please, baby. Please,” I mumble into her ear. Willing her with every fibre of my being to come back to me. To live the life we promised each other.

I hear a small groan and instantly rear my head back, looking at Mila, Ragnar and then Ace. My mind is searching for any rational place that sound could have come from.

Another moan and this time it's clearly from her.

She's alive.

My sunshine is still here, and I'll be damned if Trevor is the cause of her light fading. I adjust her in my arms and her eyes flutter, before she falls still again, her head dropping to the side. At this angle I can see her shallow breaths, her chest barely moving in the headlights. But itismoving, and that's enough.

Gently, I move to stand, not wanting to cause her any further harm but still knowing we have to go back down the mountain to the medical centre. I can see bruises on her face, her arms are covered in cuts and her beautiful blue sundress is covered in crimson. There is so much blood that it drips from the cloth.

“Ace, we got to move. She is in bad shape,” I yell at him as he stands over Trevor’s lifeless body.

Placing her in the back seat of the truck, I look over at Ace as he takes the gun from his thigh holster and three shots are fired, echoing like thunder across the valley. I don't need to ask what he's just done because I know. He did what I would have if our roles were reversed. He shot Trevor, once in the head and twice in the chest. Leaving no doubt that he is no longer among the living while my focus has been on Mila. Turning, he races back toward us, jumping in the driver's seat while I sit in the back with my sunshine, her head resting gently on my lap. Pushing strands of hair away from her face, the cut on her cheek is bleeding again but her eyes flutter open for a moment, locking with mine. Leaning in close to her face, I tell her how much I love her, exhaustion washing over her as she struggles to keep her eyes open. Only moments later, her eyes close again, and her body falls lifeless in my arms.

I can see the blue and red lights of the Sheriff flashing in the distance, Ace quickly calls him to explain the situation.

“You find her?” Sheriff Miller snaps, pleasantries all but forgotten.

“She's in the back. She's in bad shape, going in and out of consciousness. We're taking her down to Woodman Medical now.”

“I'll call ahead and tell them to expect you.” Silence echoes through the truck before the now soft voice of Sheriff Miller continues. “Ace, what am I going to find out in that meadow?”

“One male, deceased. It's Trevor, but I haven't checked his ID to confirm it. It looks like the dog attacked him and he bled out. Sheriff ..." Ace says, sighing. “Seth … I’m going to call in a favour with the body, with this whole situation. There's a blade in his chest and a few bullets just to be sure.”

Holding our breath, we wait to see what the Sheriff responds with.

“No favour needed. We look after our family here okay, and you all are family.”

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