Page 43 of Dark Fey Captive

He blinked at me. “Carrying you.”

“Why aren’t you running?”

“The infected will not be able to keep up if I run.”

“That’s the point. Run, Nav!”

He sped up to a jog. It was half-hearted at best after his first sprint.

More infected appeared from between houses and the side roads, joining the first one. Soon, a dozen trailed behind us.

Nav paused again and hit another pole.

“Are you trying to get us killed?” I asked, clutching him as I fearfully watched the herd close in on us.

“Never. You are safe, Arena. I promise.”

“I don’t want your promise. I want your ass running the rest of the way to the bathtub you already promised me. Please!”

He dropped the tire iron, held me tightly, and started running as he had in the beginning. The infected did lose us after only a few blocks, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Another minute of running, though, and Nav slowed again.

Before I could say anything, he turned toward a brown bungalow. The windows were all intact, and there was a curl of wood smoke coming from the chimney.

“I started the fire before I left to make sure it worked,” he said, going to the front door.

Someone had already broken the lock—probably him since he seemed to like opening doors that way—so it opened with a nudge.

The inside of the house was a little warmer than it was outside, but only barely. He set me on my feet near a makeshift bed set in front of the fireplace.

“Stay here, and let me check the house again.”

He rested his forehead against mine before walking away.

I stayed by the door, looking at the lock and thinking of the infected wandering outside. How was staying here safer than the hotel? The lock was broken, and we didn’t have stairs to confuse the infected. All they would need to do was push their way in.

“No infected entered while I was gone,” Nav said, reappearing from the hallway. “I will return to your friends to make sure they are safe.”

“What? You’re going to leave me here? The lock’s broken. All an infected would need to do is push its way in, and I’d be dead.”

He glanced at the door. “I will block it from the outside.”

“Can’t you just fix the door?”

I could fix it myself, but my safety wasn’t the point. Keeping him here until the islanders saw my signal was.

He moved to the door and tested the deadbolt.

“This one still works. If any infected come, it will keep them out until I return.”

“But I’m scared.”

His hand captured the back of my head, and he pressed his forehead to mine.

“You are safe here, Arena, but your friends are not. I will find them and bring them to you.”

“But I don’t want to share you,” I blurted, desperate. “I want you to myself.”

He pulled back, his heated gaze searching mine.