Page 66 of In the Dead of Night

Then he was shoving her to arm’s-length, his eyes sweeping over her in a quick physical inventory. His heart stopped dead in his chest when he spotted blood dripping from her fingertips. “Oh, honey, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m hit,” she said. “I don’t think it’s too bad.”

For a moment, Nick was overcome with emotion. Unable to speak, unable to function, all he could do was wrap his arms around her and hold her against him.

She trembled violently, but he could feel her life force pulsing strong and warm. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said.

“How did you find me?”

“The necklace,” he said. “That was incredibly smart.”

Reaching up, she cupped his face with her uninjured hand. “You saved my life.”

Nick closed his eyes against a hard rush of emotion. He knew he was holding her more tightly than he should, considering her injuries. But he couldn’t help it. She was alive. At the moment he didn’t think he was ever going to let her go again.

Pulling away slightly, she made eye contact. “Stocker?”

He shook his head. “Dead.”

“He tried to kill me,” she said. “He was going to make it look like suicide. All because he wanted to claim the manuscript as his own.”

“He’s never going to hurt anyone ever again.” He ran his fingertips down her arm, his gut tightening at the sight of the blood. “Hang tight. There’s an ambulance on the way.”

She offered a smile. “I’ll let you know if I need to faint.”

He smiled back. “You’re incredibly brave.”

“So were our parents.”

He nodded, wiping at the tears that had begun to stream down her cheeks. “We’re going to be all right,” he said.

“As long as we’re together,” she said, “We’re going to be just fine.”

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Nick Tyson truly believed it.