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His first port of call was finding the damn bathroom and relieving himself of too much coffee on the journey.
Opening the door, Saul dropped his bags in the doorway as he stepped in, then closed it behind him. Ignoring the open living and dining areas, he headed for the hallway he could see just off the kitchen, and opened the first door he came to, stepping inside without hesitation the moment he saw the white tiles, still whistling under his breath.
Note by note, the cheery tune died, and Saul could do nothing but stare at the very naked, very shocked blonde staring back at him with huge green eyes in an incredibly pale, disturbingly gaunt face.
Well fuck. Surely he hadn’t come to the wrong cabin. No, no. The key wouldn’t have fit the lock if he’d made a monumental fuck-up of that magnitude. So who was this woman, and where was her vehicle, her things? Had she dropped in from nowhere?
A hiker maybe? She looked skinny enough to have been lost out in the forest for a while.
The thoughts bouncing randomly through his head as he studied her cut off instantly as those pretty eyes rolled back in her head and her boney knees buckled. She seemed to drift toward the floor, a feather cast adrift.
Cursing a blue streak, Saul leaped forward and caught her, using her momentum to swing her up and into his arms. It wasn’t hard—he’d carried groceries that were heavier than her. Cradling her gently, feeling every ridge and bump of her bones, he cursed again.
For fuck’s sake, there was nothing on the girl.
Livid, he carried her limp body out into the living room and yanked a pretty floral blanket from the arm of the couch. Shaking it out, he wrapped her in it with quick, competent moves, and then tucked her into the cushions.
Her skin was still slightly damp, chilled, just like her long blonde hair.
Saul yanked his phone from his back pocket, his urgent need to pee forgotten, and called Thane as he crouched down by the fire. Hunting down a box of matches on the hearth, he had to strike two before one held flame long enough to light the bundle of kindling and paper.
His friend answered the call as flames licked across the dry sticks.
“What the actual fuck, Isaacson?” Saul snapped.
“Saul?”
“You know damn well who it is,” he growled as he straightened. Turning, he rested his arm on the mantel and stared at the unconscious female bundled up in the blanket. “Care to tell me why I have a scared little rabbit passed out on the couch?”
“A what?” Thane sounded confused.
“Blonde, green eyes, about five-foot-nine before she fucking fainted, and as emaciated as a stray fucking puppy who hasn’t been fed for six months.” Anger bloomed in Saul’s voice with every word he spoke. He couldn’t stop his free hand from clenching into a fist. “What the hell did you do, Thane?”
“I…fuck. Hang on one second, okay?”
Obviously he didn’t have a choice, Saul thought sourly, tapping his fingers impatiently on the wood. Heat kissed the back of his legs as the fire took hold, and he took a step to the side so it would permeate the room and warm the little rabbit.
“Saul? Is she okay? Is Caera okay?” Connie’s panicked voice shot down the line. “What happened?”
“Oh, I think you’d better tell me that,” he replied in a dark voice. Not quite his Dom voice, but he’d only have to lower it another octave to get that dominant punch. “Thane sent me up here, leading me to believe I’d be on my own and at peace to work. I get up here to find a naked girl in the bathroom, who promptly passes out at the sight of me.”
“Oh God. She isn’t going to take this well.”
Frustrated, he smacked his hand on the mantel. “I’m not taking this well, Constance. Who the hell is she, why is she here, and why the hell have I been set up? I should have known there was a fucking catch to the offer.”
“Don’t blame Thane, Saul. This is my fault partly.”
“Partly? Who owns the other part?”
“Fate. I loaned the cabin to her because she needed to get away for her own health. I didn’t realize Thane had made the same offer to you, not until I called him when he was with you yesterday. I asked him not to say anything because…well, maybe this is her destiny, and yours.”
“For fuck’s sake, Connie.” Saul scrubbed his hand over his face.
“Before you do something we can’t fix, just listen to me. Caera is just a baby, really. Something happened to her a long time ago, and she can’t remember it. But her subconscious does; it won’t let it go. Every time she closes her eyes, whatever haunts her comes alive.” Connie’s voice tightened. “She won’t sleep for days at a time, and when she does, she wakes screaming. Yesterday, she told me I had to resign myself to the fact that no one can help her, and she’s on her way to the end. Look at her and tell me you think she was lying.”
Saul blew out a long, heavy breath. He didn’t need to look, he’d already seen how ravaged her body was. “So, basically she’s a suicidal child with issues. Fucking fantastic, Connie.”
“She’s not a child.”
