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He needed all of her.
Forever.
Shifting closer to the scant shelter the open ambulance doors provided from the wind, he felt for other injuries and begged into her ear, “Wake the hell up, Snow Angel.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and the sound of his name on her lips chimed as sweet as silver bells.
“That’s it, baby. It’s Cannon. Wake up for me. Yell at me for trying to be a hero. Tell me I’m old. Remind me you’re in charge.” His words grew thicker. Pleading. Desperate. “I don’t care what you do; just come back to me.”
Slowly, she opened her eyes and croaked his name again. Tears pooled in her cloudy amber gaze. “They took Julia. I’m so sorry. I tried… You’ve got to believe me.”
“I know you tried.” She’d put her life on the line for his sister. How could she think he wouldn’t believe she’d done everything she could? “I love you for trying.” And loved her for so many other reasons. He wiped a tear off her cheek as a ragged exhale shook her body. “We’ll get Julia back.” Tears swam in his vision. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Snow Angel, even for a second, you hear me?”
He yelled the last part over wailing sirens and skidding tires.
A car door slammed. Easton jumped from the police vehicle, scrambling for purchase on the slick pavement. “Where’s Julia?”
Frosty steam spewed from Cannon’s gritted teeth. “Taken.”
Easton tensed as if Mother Nature flash froze every muscle from his snow-crusted eyelids to his shaky knees.
Cannon tightened his grip on Rosalie. “Where the hell were you while my sister was being abducted?”
Flashing lights from an approaching emergency vehicle illuminated the snow flying around Easton’s heaving body. His eyes flashed brutal fire. “Trying to pry my brother out of a crashed police car.”
Blood dripped from a slice on Easton’s chapped cheek, but Cannon only saw the orange taillights of the van stealing his baby sister. Only heard blood boil in his ears like a red-hot poison. “I needed you here to help stop that van from taking Julia away.”
Easton fell to his knees. “I’m sorry, man, but Grady was trapped.” He held up red-stained hands. “His head. So much blood.”
“Fuck. Is he okay?” Not even the doctor part of Cannon cared if every one of the motionless fuckers on the ground were dead, but every part of him needed Grady to be alive.
“I don’t know. I think so. I couldn’t leave until help came. As we were prying him out, a van sped by. State patrol is looking for it. I jumped in a car and came here.”
“Good. I’m…” He dragged in a shaky breath and caught Easton’s gaze. The cowboy’s nod said he understood the unspoken apology. Later, Cannon would properly say he was sorry for giving him shit about choosing his brother’s life over Julia’s. Cannon, of all people, understood impossible choices.
Easton’s eyes widened as if noticing Rosalie for the first time.
“How is she?”
“Alive. The fuckers knocked her out with some sort of aerosol.” He brushed the hair away from the growing knot atRosalie’s temple and whispered, “Just a scratch, Snow Angel. I got you.”
Easton crouched beside them. “You love her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
THIRTY-FOUR
The scent of chocolate, pine, and outdoorsy male wrapped around Rosalie like a blanket. Without opening her eyes because the effort seemed monumental, she reached for Cannon and found his hand.
Why did her head and throat feel like she’d slammed whiskey shots in a smoky bar? What time was it anyway? It still had to be night since she felt like she’d only slept for ten minutes. In that short time, she’d had the strangest dream.
Cannon had said he loved her.
He squeezed her fingers and pressed a kiss to her forehead. A sense of home washed over her as she cracked her eyes open. Fighting through the haze, she focused on Cannon’s face. A purple bruise marred his chin and eye. Scrapes etched his cheeks. She bolted into a sitting position and swayed. Cannon’s strong hands steadied her, but the room kept spinning as the reason for his injuries swirled into dizzying clarity. “Where’s Julia?”
Something dark and unruly flashed in his eyes. “They took her. I tried to stop them, but?—”
“Oh my God. The smoke. They drugged us.” Her hands flew to her mouth. “I promised I’d keep her safe, and I failed.” Tearsleaked down her cheeks. “I tried so hard. We fought them. They shot Dean. And what about Ken? And Grady? Tell me they’re okay.”
