Page 34 of Demon Shock

I glanced at his shirt and nodded. He continued watching me expectantly. Feeling my face heat, I slowly pressed it against his chiseled chest. He was rock solid. I resisted the urge to nuzzle the firmness of his muscles. How was he so incredibly built?

“Thank you for trusting me, Ava,” he said before he started moving.

The calm wind probably saved me from immediate frostbite as he ran. As it was, the cold temperature slowly bled the heat from my legs first. When I pressed closer to him, he seemed to know what was wrong because the hand supporting my legs began to roam over my thigh. It helped. How could I be so cold when his exposed hand was still warm?

The thump of his heart near my ear was louder than his breathing and soft footfalls. But not loud enough to drown out the low moan that rang out in the silence.

Chills raced down my spine. Gyrik patted my leg in a reassuring way, not in a “hurry up and look away” way. So, I kept my head down as another moan sounded in a different direction.

It felt like he ran forever before his grip on me tightened.

“Don’t scream.”

Those softly spoken words were the only warning I had before he jumped, and my stomach did seven somersaults in a row. When he landed, I gagged into his chest. He dropped my legs but didn’t push me away like I’d expected. He held me to his chest while rubbing my back.

It was distracting enough that I stopped gagging and focused on the feel of his hand and the numbness in my legs. After a few deep breaths, I lifted my head to look around. We stood on top of the snow-covered flat roof of a building.

He turned me and pointed. On the other side of the Mississippi, across a bridge clogged with cars, a group of infected shambled through the snow. I could tell they werelooking for us in the way the group slowly broke apart and went in different directions.

Creepy.

“Which direction?” he asked, his voice low and soft.

Remembering Bram’s warning that sound carried, I pointed to the south. Gyrik nodded and took a knee like he meant to tie my shoe. Instead, he started rubbing some warmth back into my legs. I quickly set a hand on his shoulder for balance.

The way he cared for me felt nice, and the break gave me a minute to really look around. Everything was so still. Snow-covered cars were mysterious white lumps on the roads. I didn’t see any infected moving around, but I knew they were there now.

I couldn’t see anything but distant trees when I looked off toward the cities. Were the buildings gone? Nothing but rubble now?

“Ready?” Gyrik asked.

I held my arms out to him, and he picked me up slowly. Grinning, I looked up at him and pointed south again.

“Ten blocks,” I said as softly as possible.

He nodded, walked to the roof's edge, and hugged me close. Taking the hint, I tucked my face against his chest and held my breath so I wouldn’t scream as he jumped off the edge.

Going down was less nauseating than jumping upward.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the house. Instead of going inside, he nodded toward the dormer’s roof, which was less pitched than the rest. Understanding what he meant to do, I shook my head.

He grinned and nodded. He jumped before I could hold my breath, and I felt my stomach turn again. It wasn’t as bad as the last time, though. No gagging.

He patted my back as he steadied me.

“Wait here,” he said quietly.

He jumped down again. The sound of wood splintering carried through the otherwise quiet area. The responding moan didn’t surprise me.

I watched an infected person run forward more swiftly than any previous infected had. His skin, tinged blue from the cold, peeked through his torn and bloody jacket.

He paused in the street, and I watched the way his head slowly lifted to me on the roof. My pulse kicked into overdrive.

In all the rules they’d told me, they’d never said what to do when one spotted you.

Just stay put. Bram said Gyrik would put you somewhere safe. Up high is safe. That guy can’t get you up here.

He moaned really loudly. It startled me, and I slipped a little.

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