Shiver(62)

There was no point in rehashing the past. What did she do now? She needed to talk to Fox, but what if he hated her for keeping the truth from him? What if she lost him? Aidan could take her to court. Fox could choose to live with Aidan. The thought crippled her.

All right, stop it now. Fox wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave her. To be truthful, he wouldn’t leave his dogs.

She needed to smooth things over with Aidan. And she’d better do it now, before Aidan told Fox anything.

Raven shut down the studio and entered her house, slipping out of her overalls into a pair of jeans, and wrote a quick note to Fox in case she wasn’t back by the time he got home from school. She struggled into her parka and mukluks, grabbed her keys and left.

The drive over to Earl’s was fast. Too fast, she didn’t have what she wanted to say organized in her mind by the time she arrived. Her stomach churned, but she was better off confronting this situation head-on rather than waiting. There had been enough waiting. While she’d have happily kept the fact of Fox’s parentage quiet until the end of her days, she had to admit she felt relieved having the truth out there. A purging of sorts. In fact, it felt like her stomach was going to purge everything she’d eaten in the last twenty-four hours.

Raven parked her Suburban next to Aidan’s rental and climbed out. The sun reflected fiercely on the snow, hurting her eyes. Squinting, she viewed the path Aidan had forged, coming up quick when she spotted blood staining the snow.

Bright red, fresh—frozen—blood.

She looked around at the peaceful, crisp, serenity of the wilderness. There was nothing to suggest she should be on guard.

Except the blood in the snow.

Blood trailed toward the back of the cabin. Had Aidan stepped into another trap? She hurried, but was watchful in case there was a threat she couldn’t see or feel.

The door to the cabin stood wide open, sending another shiver through her. Slowly she entered, softly calling Aidan’s name.

No answer.

The hair on the back of her neck rose. The blood trail led through the kitchen and into the main room. She followed, finding Aidan face down on the floor.

“Aidan!” She rushed over, dropping to her knees. Blood congealed in an ugly spot on the back of his head. She felt for his pulse, giving a sob of relief when she found it strong and steady. “Aidan?” She shook him. “Come on. Wake up.”

He grunted but didn’t open his eyes.

“Aidan, you have to wake up.” She shook him again, harder. He groaned but still didn’t open his eyes.

There was no phone and no way she could get him to Eva by herself. She could leave him and get help, but disregarded that thought as soon as it entered her mind. No way was she going anywhere without him.

Raven rose to her feet and rushed back to the door, shutting and locking out the cold. Aidan hadn’t done this to himself. Unless he’d slipped and fallen. But then he would have fallen on snow. There hadn’t been anything sharp or solid around the blood she’d seen. Had someone snuck up and hit him?

She grabbed towels, wetting them with the pan of melting snow on top of the stove, and returned to Aidan. Placing the wet cloth on the back of his head brought another groan from him.

“Where the hell did you come from?” he grumbled.

“My place.” She almost sobbed in relief. “What happened?”

“Someone hit me.” He cocked a brow, his eyes still closed. “Sure it wasn’t you?”

“Not this time.” She continued to carefully clean the wound, his dark hair making it hard to tell if she was getting all the blood. A huge goose egg had formed, which relieved her. If his head was swelling on the outside, it wasn’t swelling on the inside. “Did you get a look at him?”

“No. It could have been a her.”

He was quiet for a long while, and Raven began to think he might have slipped into unconsciousness again. She gave him another shake.

“Stop doing that. My head hurts bad enough without you tossing me around.”

“Keep talking to me then so I know you aren’t dead.”

“Having me dead would make your situation easier.”

“Haven’t you figured out that I prefer things complicated.” She changed cloths, glad to see the new one coming away cleaner. Good. It didn’t look as though the wound was still bleeding. “Eva needs to look at this.”

He groaned. “Just kill me now.”

She choked on a laugh. “You’ll be better for it. You might need stitches.”

“Is it still bleeding?”

“No…I don’t think so.”

“Then I don’t need Eva, but I do need to get up off this floor. I’m freezing.” He pushed his upper body off the floor. She helped him get to his feet, catching him as he wobbled.