Page 44 of Hero Unbound

He held the cardboard over her head to protect her from the worst of the hail, and they made their way up the small hill. He kept an arm around her and ushered her into the truck.

“I’m going back for Spice. Stay here.”

She shook her head. “I couldn’t get her out. What if she won’t come out for you?”

“I’ll get her. But worrying that you might follow me back down there just adds to my problems, okay?” He cupped her face. “So, stay here. Please, Evie.”

She latched on to his wrist. “Please don’t hurt Spice. She’s just scared.”

He trailed his thumb over her icy skin. “I would never hurt that dog. I’ll get her, don’t worry.”

He tossed the cardboard into the truck—it was so wet now it wasn’t holding its shape anymore—and shut the door. The ground was looser under his feet as the rain picked back up again. He needed to move quickly.

He got to the car and opened the back door, heart cracking a little at the sight of the scared dog in front of him. He had no idea why Spice was already wet if Eva hadn’t been able to get her out of the car, but getting her out again wasn’t going to be easy.

So Theo got in and shut the door behind him. “Hey sweetheart, you look a little scared.”

She let out a heartbreaking whine as he reached toward her, but she didn’t growl or nip at him. He rubbed her head gently between the ears. She didn’t come any closer, but at least the sad noise stopped.

“We’re going to have to get out of this car. I know you don’t want to, but we can’t stay.” He rubbed her head a little more, before reaching over and opening the door. “Okay, Spice. Let’s go.”

Spice shook harder and began to whine again. Theo shone the flashlight outside. The water was already rising.

“Pup, we’ve got to go.” He didn’t ask for Spice to come to him. She was too overwhelmed and scared. Instead, he scooped her up in his arms. At least she didn’t wiggle to try to get away.

Backing out of the car, he closed the door with his hip then slowly made it up the hill, careful to balance himself and the dog. Spice remained tucked against him. She really was scared—he couldn’t blame her.

By the time he made it up to the truck, he was breathing heavily. Eva had her face plastered against the window watching for them and immediately opened the door. Spice jumped in, and Eva threw her arms around the dog. “Okay, baby. You’re okay. We’re going to make it.”

Theo shut the door and cranked in the cord, soaked completely by the time he got back into the truck. He held his hands in front of the heater vents to try to get some feeling back into his fingers. Eva had both dogs pulled against her chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered, tears running down her face.

He nodded then started to back up the truck. They needed to get off this section of road, and turning around wasn’t an option.

Everyone was silent as Theo slowly reversed. Eva still had her arms wrapped around both dogs. All three of them were still shuddering.

He wanted to light into her about her stupid choices, but the most important thing was to get out of there in case any more of the road crumbled away. Followed closely in second by getting them somewhere they could get dry and warm.

He finally reached a point where it was wide enough to turn around and carefully did so then drove them to the big house. It was closer than his cabin, plus there was a connected garage, plenty of supplies, and space. He jumped out to put in the garage code to open the door. When he got back into the truck, Eva’s head was hanging exhausted on Sugar’s neck.

All the anger fled out of Theo at the sight. He didn’t know what the hell had happened, but she and the dogs were safe now. He needed to get them inside and cared for—not yell at her for choices she obviously realized were in poor judgment.

She made no move to open the truck door once he pulled into the garage, so he went around and opened it for her. “Okay, everybody out. Let’s get you all inside and dry.”

Both dogs jumped down, but Eva looked as if she didn’t remember how to move. He reached up and gently touched her cheek, checking her pupils as he did to make sure her head injury wasn’t worse than she’d let on. They weren’t too dilated and seemed responsive—both good signs.

“Doing okay?” he asked softly.

She nodded slowly. “I couldn’t get Spice out, and I thought we might die.”

“Yeah, those storms are scary as hell. It’ll all pass in a few hours, but I don’t blame you for being scared.”

“I just need a minute.” A tremor worked its way through her whole body.

The garage wasn’t as cold and windy as outside, but it still wasn’t warm. He needed to get her inside.

“Can you put your arm around my neck?” he asked.

---