Gasping, she fought to get back to the edge, but there was a small current. The water was pulling her away from Colm.
She saw Colm splash knee-deep into the water, reaching for her. Honor tried to swim, but she could feel the intense cold already affecting her. Her movements were sluggish and clumsy. Her breaths had turned into sharp pants. God, she was so cold, and it hurt. Awkwardly, she shrugged off the weight of her backpack.
She heard a noise. Behind Colm, she saw the creatures appear.
Honor tried to warn him, but her voice came out as a hoarse rasp.
It didn’t matter—he’d already heard them.
Colm turned, drawing his sword. In a blinding rush of speed, he launched at their pursuers.
Honor fought to stay afloat and reach the edge, but the current was just too strong. She bumped into something and realized it was a large formation of ice spearing up from the floor. She grabbed it, her hands sliding over the slick surface.
But then she wrapped her arms around it, and stopped herself from being dragged farther away in the flow of the icy river.
She heard the grunts and growls of the animals, and saw Colm fighting with frightening, lethal skill. He cut down two beasts, blood spraying across the ice and the white fur. Another roared at him and Colm roared back. Her teeth chattering, she stared worriedly at his face. Again, his control seemed gone, and there was a wild warrior left in his place.
He impaled another creature on his sword. Another beast rushed forward and Colm gave it a vicious kick. It stumbled backward, and it was enough time for Colm to swing his sword around and kill it.
All the beasts were dead.
Honor blinked. She was drowsy with fatigue, her body was numb, and she could barely move her arms and legs anymore.
Colm reached the edge. He was covered in streaks of blood and his face was a lethal, primitive mask.
He looked frightening. But she knew she couldn’t stay in the water much longer and survive. And this was Colm. Whatever was wrong with him, she knew he had a core of warrior honor at his heart.
He’d never hurt her.
The water dragged at her and she realized she couldn’t hold on much longer. Any second now, she was going to lose her grip and go under. She looked over at the warrior who’d burrowed under her skin, who made her feel.
She hoped he survived. She hoped he stayed safe.
The next thing she knew, Colm leaped forward. He splashed into the water just a meter from her. She tried to protest, but her frozen lips wouldn’t move. She saw the blood wash off him, staining the water. He grabbed her, hauling her to his chest, and then with strong kicks he pushed them to the other side of the tunnel. Honor looked up into his face. It was a wild mask, with that primitive edge.
He pulled her close, but Honor was so cold she couldn’t even feel the heat of him.
Colm started to run through the tunnels. She knew he had to be cold, but if it affected him, he didn’t show it.
She wasn’t sure how far they went, but suddenly he stopped. Honor couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. He set her down, but her legs went out from under her. He growled and caught her, keeping one arm wrapped around her.
There was movement and she heard fabric rustling, but she wasn’t sure what he was doing. She tried hard to open her eyes, but she just couldn’t do it.
He moved her, laying her down and she felt fur against her back. Hands tugged at her clothes.
“No,” she muttered fretfully. “So cold.”
He ignored her, stripping her wet clothes away and leaving her naked. Honor heard more noises, the clink of Colm’s sword. Then his big, naked body wrapped around her and pulled her close into his arms. He yanked the fur around them.
This time she felt the faint brush of heat. She tried to burrow closer to him. She felt his hands rubbing all over her body, chafing against her freezing skin.
He kept rubbing her with short strokes—up her back, down her sides, along her legs, up her arms. Slowly, so slowly, the heat of him seeped into her, and she started shivering—huge, bone-rattling tremors. She was shivering so hard she worried her teeth would shatter.
Colm held her tighter. Then he started to kiss her. Small kisses along the edge of her hairline, then down her cheek, along her jaw, down her neck.
He kept up those tiny kisses and the long, warm strokes of his hands. Soon the shivering stopped, and the icy pain disappeared. “Tired.”
“Sleep.” His voice still sounded strained. “I’ve got you.”
Colm held a sleeping Honor tightly in his arms. He’d almost lost her.
Even now, his nanami were still buzzing through his body with rage. Seeing her trapped in the icy water, and unable to get to her while the beasts had attacked him, had almost driven him out of his mind. He barely remembered fighting the creatures. It was just a blur of sound, color and rage.