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They were relatively safe down here in the canyon with the cold water feet away.
She took a moment to breathe and hug her dog, then crawled over to Donovan.
His eyes were closed, and blood poured from a gash in his temple. He groaned softly as Spirit worriedly licked at his face.
“Oh, God. Your head. You should’ve worn the helmet, not me!” Sasha probed around the wound. It looked like he’d been hit by a piece of his house when it exploded. “Are you okay?”
He winced. “Should be... asking you... that.”
“I’m not the one bleeding.”
He opened one eye to squint at her.
She shrugged. “Much.”
“Sasha,” he said suddenly, his voice cracking.
She clutched his hand. “Yes, I’m here.”
“I did it. I’m sorry.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I killed.”
“Yes. You did. Well done.” She cringed. That didn’t come out right. “I mean, you had to do it. You were defending us. You did what you had to do.”
“Not him.”
She stared at him for a stunned moment. “You didn’t kill Darcy. Or Chrissy. I know you didn’t.”
“No.” He held her gaze, his eyes filled with pain. His pupils were different sizes, which was not a promising sign. “My dad.”
“Oh.” But she wasn’t surprised, was she? She’d known it when he told her the story of his family over dinner. And the podcast had only confirmed her suspicions. “The blood on your bat and in your carpet. You were protecting your mom, weren’t you?”
He nodded but winced and raised a hand to his temple. “He was going to kill her.”
“You did what you had to do then, too. Nobody in the world would hold you accountable for protecting your mom.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and his eyes rolled back, and his limbs started to jerk.
Oh, God. He was having a seizure. She tried to protect his head from slamming against the rocky shore as best as she could until it passed. When he finally went still, there was little color left in his complexion.
“Donovan. Oh, no. Please.” She cradled him and kissed his cheeks, his nose, his lips. “No. Please. I love you, too. Please, come back!”
chapter twenty-six
Three Months Later
Donovan shuffled through the front doors of the ballroom and instantly spotted his angel across the dance floor, shimmering in a pale silver gown as she laughed with his team. Everyone was there—Zak and Anna, Bella and Poppy, Sawyer and Zelda, Pierce, Ash, Cal, and even Veronica, though she looked like she wanted to bolt.
But Donovan only had eyes for one person. It had been a month since he was released from the hospital, and his doctor had given him tentative permission for sex. And he planned to make the most of tonight.
It was New Year’s Eve, but this ball was more than a celebration to welcome in the next year. It was marking the start of a new era for Redwood Coast Rescue and the entire town of Steam Valley. It was a celebration of survival and renewal.
Donovan crossed the room in measured strides, his cane tapping the floor like a drumbeat. His balance was shit since the surgery to relieve the pressure in his cracked skull, but he took comfort in knowing that Spirit had bounced back from balance issues after her brain surgery. He could do it, too.
When he reached Sasha, he held out a hand. “Angel, may I have this dance?”
