Page 16 of Guarded from Havoc

While I feel on the verge of a heart attack, he seems completely unphased.

CouldI have a heart attack? I’m only thirty-four, which I’d normally assume is years too young, but considering how scared I am, I worry it might be possible.

Every twenty feet or so, Erik glances over at me, silently assessing. Searching my face for any sign of a setback or complication, or possibly to see if I’ve changed my mind. If I want him to help me up into a tree to hide.

The answer to that is a big fat nope. I think if I had to sit in a tree all alone, just waiting for someone to come along and find me, I reallywouldexpire from fright.

I’m not sure how long we’ve been walking—minutes or hours—before Erik pulls to an abrupt stop and yanks me to his side, wrapping his arm around me.

“Don’t move,” he murmurs close to my ear. “I think I see something.”

My heart stutters. Stops. Sluggishly starts up again. In an equally quiet tone, I ask, “What?”

“Just…” A muscle works in his jaw. Intensity practically radiates from him, every muscle tensed and ready to move. He lifts his chin, angling it slightly to the right. “Over there. In the grass. Do you see something shiny?”

I narrow my eyes as I follow his gaze. At first, all I see is a thicket of tall grass, just like the dozens of similar ones around us. Then, upon closer inspection, I see it. Just a tiny shimmer of silver amid the thick green blades.

“Yes,” I whisper. “What is it?”

If possible, his expression gets evenmoreintense. More… dangerous.

“I think it’s a trip wire,” he says. “I’m not sure how far it goes. But I’ve seen them before. And—” He bends down and scoops up a large branch from the ground. “We could backtrack. But if I can set it off instead…”

“Set itoff?” Intentionally trigger a trip wire? That sounds unwise, to say the least. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe we should just go around.”

“I want to know what we’re up against,” he replies. “If this is actually a trap. How big it is. And from back here, we’ll be safe if it does go off.”

Unless it’s a massive explosion, is on the tip of my tongue,and we get blown up right here.

Erik turns to me. “In the Army, my specialty was explosives. Locating them. Disarming them. Deliberately triggering them to mitigate damage. I know you don’t have reason to believe me, but I wouldn’t consider this if I wasn’t confident in what I’m doing.”

Well. When he puts it that way. And it’s not like I have a better idea aside from going back where we came from and trying a different route, which could have a tripwire we can’t see the next time.

I give him a jerky nod. “Okay.”

He holds my gaze, solemn and steady. “Get behind me. Hold on to the back of my waistband. Don’t move until I tell you to.”

My heart twists.

He’s protecting me again. Shielding me with his body so if something bad happens, I won’t get hurt.

I don’t argue. Don’t hesitate. I just move behind him and hold on to his waistband for dear life, silently praying that we both get out of this okay.

Erik lifts his arm, the branch held high in the air.

Distractedly—partly because his arm is right in my immediate vision, I’m sure—I notice how big his biceps are. How they flex as he pulls his arm back to throw. The vein that pops against his golden skin.

Is it bad that I’m ogling his arm right now?

Or is it a comfort, knowing that his very impressive biceps will be the last thing I see in case his plan goes south and we both end up dead?

Then he flings the branch and my attention snaps to it.

A moment later, it lands in the patch of grass, right where the sliver of silver was.

Nothing happens.

My held breath gusts out.

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