Page 14 of Possess Me at Midnight
Agreed, but he’s not dead. He will be if Mathias finds him.
A glance reveals Sabelle’s white sweater flaring in the moonlight like a damn spotlight. As the Anarki close rank around us, I curse under my breath. A tree stripped of its foliage by winter provides little cover.
“Give me your sweater,” I demand in a whisper, standing at the base of the tree.
Sabelle recoils. “What?”
The Anarki are so very near now—maybe a few hundred meters away—based on a muttered curse and the footsteps shuffling through dried leaves. We have mere seconds left before discovery.
“Your sweater. Now!” I hiss, scanning the approaching shadows.
Sabelle glances down, understanding dawning in her eyes. Without hesitation, she crosses her arms and peels off the cashmere, revealing inch after inch of golden skin that gleams in the moonlight.
I catch the garment, trying not to notice what she is—or isn’t—wearing underneath. The thin fabric carries her warmth, her scent filling my nostrils. Focus, damn it. Somehow, I have to keep her from freezing.
But the threat of discovery is more immediate. Her safety must come before her comfort.
“I’ll be back,” I murmur. “If the Anarki find you, transport yourself and the book somewhere you’ll have help.”
“Leave you and Bram? No.”
For a princess, she is terribly stubborn. “Promise me.”
She shakes her head.
“Now,” I demand in a low voice the wind sweeps away.
“Bloody cold!” an invading wizard shouts fifty meters to our left. “Hate winter.”
I dodge behind the tree trunk and send Sabelle another glare, mouthing, “Please.”
Finally, she rolls her eyes. And nods.
Thank heavens.
With her sweater crushed in my hand, I try not to think that my soiled hands have probably dirtied it. Or that I can smell her alluring feminine musk rising to my nostrils.
“Stay. I’ll come back for you,” I murmur softly.
I hate leaving Sabelle for even a moment, and it’s a gamble, teleporting to the far side of the riverbank, inside a cluster of smaller trees. Crouched in the mud and remnants of snow, I smell the recent rain. My heart pounds in a violent rhythm that matches the litany of my thoughts.
Must return to Sabelle. Must return to Sabelle.
I spot no Anarki on this side of the river. They’re still near her, and she was so brave when I left… Bloody hell, my distraction must draw them away from her, to where I now stand.
Jumping, I grab a thick branch and lift myself, then sling my leg over the spindly wood. Shimmying down the branch on my belly toward the junction of several smaller branches, I position Sabelle’s white sweater in the moonlight, then leap to the ground and dart to the next tree.
Thankfully, I hear no shouts of discovery from the other bank of the river—yet.
Clambering up the old tree, fighting a cold sweat of fear for Sabelle, I make my way into the giant tree, frantically glancing around for a weak limb. Spotting one above, I climb for it.
“Look!” I hear from a distance. “Over there. I see something!”
Hoods swerve in my direction. Time to draw them away…
I edge out onto the limb and, with a roar, jump high, then land on the fragile branch. A sharp crack rents the air, echoing with my scream.
“On the far bank,” Mathias calls. “Capture them!”
