Page 167 of His Last Nerve

I needed more than forever when it came to my Valerie.

I wasn’t going get forever.

I was only givendays.

My heart would stop beating soon, and as the flames burned my body, erasing my existence from this planet, I would still be grateful.

Grateful for the short time I got to have my enchantress. Grateful for falling in love. Death would take me, leaving me in ashes, and my soul still wouldn’t belong to the Grim Reaper.

No, it belonged to a green-eyed miracle named Valerie.

My soul was hers, and not even death could take it from her.

Denver.

My eyes opened, and I knew I had been sentenced to hell.

That’s where most cowboys ended up, anyways.

With a groan, I sat up, coughing into the crook of my elbow. The forest was still burning around me, and I heard the sounds of a helicopter in the distance.

Holy shit.

I wasn’t dead.

Pushing to my feet, I scanned the area around me. I was still on top of the boulder, a crowd of flames surrounding the base of it. Something glistened to the right of me, catching my eye.

The stream.

The water was still flowing, defying the will of the harsh flames. There was a fallen tree ten feet away, but the water still pushed underneath it. I followed the line of the tree trunk, my stomach in knots. Then—then, something else caught my eye.

My enchantress.

Her red dress was like a beacon in a sea of darkness, calling out to me. She was on the ground at the base of a tree. A guttural cry left my body.

“VALERIE! BABY!”

Coughing, I reached for the walkie. “This is Denver! I got her! She’s at Momma’s spot, Hallow point,” I yelled, breathless.

“The chopper is coming! Hold on, Denver!” That was Jigs.

I was heading to my love, too busy to respond. I backed up to the opposite edge of the boulder. “I’m coming, baby. Hold on,” I murmured before I broke into a run. I leaped off the boulder and over flames. The ground greeted me with resentment as I crashed and rolled. Pain shot through my shoulder, but I ignored that. Pushing to my feet with a grunt and a curse, I was running again.

As I got closer, I saw she was face down in the dirt, her dark hair spread around her shoulders and back.

“No, no, I’ll have none of that, baby. Ya hear?” I rasped, coughing through the thick smoke. I dropped to my knees and rolled her over.

Fuck.

My beauty.

My enchanting Valerie.

Frantically, I bent, putting my ear to her chest, and my fingers on her neck. There was a pulse, but it was fading.

She was fading away from me.

No, no, no.

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