Page 73 of Emma's Element

The men abandoned the snowmobiles and moved quickly, following the trail. Each feather he found giving him a boost of hope. But it was still taking too long to catch up with Emma and her captors.

How long had she’d been gone from the cabin? An hour? Two? Whatever it was, it was too long for her to be with an unstable group like Harrison and Colleen. Fear for her constantly threatened to overwhelm him until he spotted the next feather. Then the next.

“What’s with the feathers?” Jude asked as he plucked a white bit of fluff off a bush.

“Emma’s jacket is filled with down. It’s one of the ways I found her when she was training me on tracking,” Marcus answered.

“You found her using these little feathers?”

Marcus shrugged. “I always noticed them coming out of her jacket. So, when I recognized a couple of them floating toward me in the woods, I figured they were from her.”

The men gaped at him. “You spotted these tiny things floating to you?”

Marcus shrugged. “I’ve got good eyes.”

“That’s an understatement,” Jude mumbled.

“But why are there so many of them now?” Logan asked.

Marcus continued to relay the story about how he’d found Emma when she was training him, and because of it, he’d hoped she’d get the message when he’d insisted she get her coat. And if the number of feathers drifting through the air was any indication, she’d known exactly what he’d wanted her to do. He smiled. Brilliant, beautiful, and brave. That was his Emma.

After another ten minutes, which felt like ten hours to Marcus, an agonized scream erupted through the forest, sending a flock of birds into the sky a few yards in front of them. Marcus ran, slipping every few steps but not slowing down. His only thought was to get to Emma.

Finally, there she was, but the scene in front of him made his blood freeze then boil. Emma lay on her back with Harrison on top of her, a spike sticking out of his back. Blood oozed from the wound. But the image that stopped his heart was the man’s hands wrapped around Emma’s throat. Her hands lay loosely beside her. The fight squeezed out of her.

A roar erupted from deep inside him as he rushed his father in a move that would make any linebacker proud. Marcus tackled him, driving him off of Emma. In a blind rage, he punched. And punched. Harrison fell to the ground, but Marcus wasn’t done. He stood over the man who dared to put his hands on Emma and pummeled him again and again. Grabbing him by the front of his jacket to lift him slightly and hit him again, not noticing he wasn’t putting up much of a fight anymore. His attention focused only on eradicating the threat to his Emma.

“No!”Thedistantroarsounded like it was coming to her through a tunnel. Marcus! He’d found her. She fought to stay conscious until Marcus reached her. Then Harrison was gone. She coughed violently, breathing hard. Opening her eyes, she saw Marcus punch his father. The man tried to fight back, but it was hard with a spike in his shoulder. One brutal punch sent him to the ground. He didn’t get back up. But Marcus didn’t stop. He lifted Harrison by the front of his shirt and punched again. And again.

“Marcus!” Graham yelled. “Stop. You’ll kill him!” Graham grabbed Marcus and pulled him off. “He’s done!”

“Marcus,” Emma croaked. He turned to her, a look of tortured relief on his face. He was by her side in an instant.

“Emma,” he murmured, gently cupping her injured face.

“You found me,” she whispered.

“I always will,” he promised. “Are you okay?”

“I am now,” she said. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his heart. For a moment, she forgot how cold she was, surrounded by his spicy cedar scent. With his arms locked tightly around her, she found sanctuary, and the pain she was in subsided as if by magic. His strength and tenderness gave her peace.

While he held her, Jude and Logan dragged Colleen and her minion back up the embankment, the former still spitting out her hatred for Emma. Graham tended to Harrison, pulling the stake out and bandaging the hole in his shoulder. Emma closed her eyes and concentrated on Marcus’s heat. When she opened them again, she locked her gaze onto him, letting out a huge breath.

His aquamarine eyes, so like the lake on a sunny day, were clouded with anguish while he studied her battered face. She touched his chin dimple with a shaky hand, the smile he offered her brittle. “I’m okay, Marcus. I’ll heal. I’m more worried about you.”

He scoffed. “Me? You’re the one who got beaten. By my family.” He lowered his eyes and shook his head, his features conveying his guilt and sorrow. “Fuck, I’m so sorry?”

She moved her hand to his lips, cutting off what he was going to say. “None of this is your fault. You cannot control other people’s actions. I will never blame you, don’t you go blaming yourself. You’re a good man. A heroic man. You give and give, expecting nothing in return. And you keep giving even when you are constantly knocked down.”

Marcus seized her hand from where it rested on his lips and kissed her fingertips. “It’s you who is the true hero. You entered my life when I didn’t even know I needed you and completely changed it . . . changed me. I do not deserve you,” he whispered.

“It’s not about who deserves what. All I know is that you are my kind of perfect. My perfect protector. My perfect companion. My perfect heart.” Her voice trailed off to the barest whisper as the emotion combined with the pain from her bruised throat trapped any more words she may have spoken in her chest.

Marcus seemed to understand. He rested his forehead against hers and cupped her cheek. Emma closed her eyes, soaking in the peace and comfort his arms afforded her. “Let’s get you out of here, Sweetheart,” he said, his voice as hoarse as hers. She nodded. He stood with her in his arms and carried her down the path they’d made. Emma didn’t complain. She was too tired to walk back to the cabin. In a few minutes, they’d reached the snowmobiles the team had left behind. Thank God. Marcus sat on one with her in his arms while the others discussed how they were going to get Harrison, Colleen, and the third guy back to the cabin. Graham sent Marcus and Emma on ahead. Logan and Tin Man were going to walk back with the thug while Graham and Jude rode with the other two on the remaining snowmobiles.

“You still with me?” Marcus asked as they rode back. She nodded.

“So tired,” she croaked.

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