Page 132 of Steinbeck
But blackness swept over him.
Hands broke in from the surface—and grabbed Luis off him.
Another set of hands grabbed Stein’s shirt.Steinbeck surged up, breaking the water, gasping, the cold air knifing his lungs.Conrad stood in front of him, waist-deep in the lake, breathing hard.“You’re okay—you’re okay!”
Jack’s arms locked around Luis while Declan wrenched his knife hand back.Jack and Declan wrestled Luis to the shallows, pinning him against the muddy shore.Luis thrashed, swearing in Russian.Fighting.
Declan hit him, and he went still.“That’s enough,” Declan said.He glanced at Jack.“Got him?”
Jack nodded, and Declan turned, searching the darkness.
Emberly.
Steinbeck staggered up, coughing, also searching.
A boat motor fired up.No?—
Teresa hit the engine, and the skiff peeled away across the lake.
“Stein!”
He found her, crawling across the dock, gasping, holding her ribs.Nimue stumbled behind her, trying to help her.
Steinbeck sloshed over to the dock, lifted himself onto it, walked over, and picked her up.
Just like that, into his arms.“You okay?”
She trembled against his wet frame, her hands gripping his soaked shirt, nails digging in, anchoring him, her green eyes locking on his, fierce.“You came for me.”
He cupped her face, thumbs brushing blood from her cheeks, her skin cold and damp but alive, lake water dripping from his fingers.“Get used to it,” he said, voice low.
Sirens whined in the air, distant.
Her beautiful eyes filled.“Someday you’ll get tired of rescuing me.”
“Nope.”Then he leaned down and kissed her.Gently, but his arms tightening around her.Never.
The sound of sirens swelled, a high-pitched wail rolling over the grounds, red and blue lights pulsing through the haze.Tires crunched gravel beyond the trees, headlights slicing the night.The inn stood, soggy and scorched but intact—smoke thinning, flames doused to smoldering embers, the air heavy with wet ash and smoke.
He spotted Doyle and Oaken dousing the house, the porch, Austen and Tia still pulling out furniture.
Behind him, Conrad sloshed out of the water, shirt clinging, hair plastered to his forehead, exhaustion carving lines in his face.Jack and Declan hauled Luis up, his hands secured with Jack’s belt.
Conrad trudged up, wringing his shirt, water pooling at his feet, a tired grin breaking through.He turned just as Penny ran down to the shore.She launched herself at Conrad.
“I didn’t even see you.Where?—”
“Had to help out my brother.”He glanced at Stein, winked.
“The house—” Stein started.
“We got it,” Penny said.“The fire department is here, but the flames are out.”
“I’m okay, Stein.You can put me down.”Emberly said softly.
She might be, but he wasn’t.Still,he let her go, his arm still around her.
A smile tugged her lips, and her hand tightened on his, warm against his chilled skin as they headed up to the house.
