AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After undoing the outer lock, I wrap my hand around the cold metal handle and close my eyes, steeling myself for what waits beyond the door. It opens with a clunk and a creak. I open my eyes.
“Aurora?” I yell into the freezer. I step inside the dark trailer and head toward the light at the end.
My gaze moves toward the body that I already knew about, then I allow myself to scan for the second one I hope isn’t there. But there she is, curled against the wall with a blanket draped over her body.
I watch for signs of life, for the blanket to move up and down with each breath or for her head to turn as my feet clunk against the floor. She remains still, and panic clutches my heart in a vise. I care so much for that girl, even though I’m not allowed to. It’s not fucking fair. And now she’s gone.
“Oh, sweet girl,” I say as I walk up to her frozen body beneath the blanket.
“I’m not dead,” she whispers, but her voice is so low I almost don’t hear it over the hum of the reefer unit.
I wrap my arms around her and tug her to her feet. The blanket falls away from her head, and the scent of alcohol smacks me in the face. I pick her up and carry her out of the truck and into the warm air. I rip the cold blanket away and take off my shirt so I can wrap it around her. Violent shivers tear through her body, so I draw her as close to my warmth as I can.
“I’m so sorry, sweet girl,” I say. And I am sorry, even though I didn’t do this. But I’m glad I was able to find her before...
I don’t even want to think about it.
I carry her into the cab of the truck and flip on the bunk warmer as high as it can go. As I wrap her in every blanket I can find, my mind races through a labyrinth of confused thoughts. I don’t know if Kane meant to kill her, but he came too close. He’s done a lot of terrible shit to women, and he’s often very creative with his slaughter skill set, but freezing a girl to death isn’t anywhere near his typical MO.
Her teeth clack together, and the shivering hasn’t slowed. She needs my warmth. I peel back the blankets and squeeze in beside her. Her head drops to my shoulder, and I let her cold body freeze mine so that she can take my heat. I’ll give her all of me if it means she’ll survive.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Kane’s a fucking dick,” she says through clattering teeth.
I stifle a laugh, glad to see her tenacity is still very much intact. “Fair. But why did he do this?”
“I don’t know, Jax. One minute I was getting dressed, the next I was getting shoved into the freezer. He got an erection, but that’s the only weird thing I can think of.”
That would have enraged him, especially if she’d seen it, but I can’t think about that right now. I’m just thankful she’s alive and that I’ve been gifted this time with her. Even given the circumstances. Even knowing I can’t keep her.
The sinking feeling returns and settles in my gut. She probably would have been better off if she’d died in that trailer. The Nameless will sell her to someone who will use and abuse her until she’s no use to them anymore. She may think she’s living through hell right now, but she’s only standing outside the gates.
The worst part? There’s absolutely nothing I can do about her future. I can’t change Kane’s mind. He nearly killed her just for giving him an erection.
Something clicks inside my mind.
If Kane wanted her dead, why did he write the note that told me where I could find her? If I hadn’t seen the note, I would have kept driving and assumed the worst, and she would certainly have frozen to death.
In some weird way—a way Kane himself probably doesn’t even realize—he saved her. His raw emotions were too powerful to contend with, so he shoved the danger into the freezer. Out of sight, out of mind. But he wrote the note and allowed me to take control, which means he didn’t want her to die, even if that lack of want was subconscious.
But Kane is not unselfish. How could he do something from the kindness of his heart when his heart has no kindness? Has she affected him more than we realize?
I lift her chin and bring her eyes to mine. The icy pallor has begun to give way, allowing her cheeks to take on a pink hue. Better yet, the shivering has eased up. She still has a mild tremble to her lips as her jaw clenches and unclenches, but on the whole, she looks so much better.
I lean down and kiss her. She accepts my lips in ways I don’t think I could if I was just in a freezer with a dead body. She’s like no one we’ve ever met or anyone we’ll ever meet again. She’s a multi-faceted gem in a world of soot.
“Jax,” she whispers against my lips. “Thank you for saving me.”
I pull her into me and clutch her to my chest. “Are we going to talk about what you saw back there?”
“Can we not?” she asks. “Not right now, at least. There’s a time and a place for discussions about dead bodies, but this isn’t it.”
I smile and brush back her damp hair. I wish so badly that he would let her inside him like we’ve let her in. Maybe he’d find something that could make him happy for once.
Being inside Kane is like living within an abstract painting. I’m surrounded by nonsensical shapes painted in blacks and grays and reds that represent his terrifying desires. I’d love for him to find some happiness so I don’t have to feel so dreadful all the time too.
A sob works out of her chest, and I pull her tighter against me. Her tears don’t fuel me the way they fuel Tobin or Kane. They destroy me. I never want to be the reason she cries. Technically, I’m not, but because we all share the same body, my hands placed her in that freezer.
