Forgotten Sea Read Online Free PDF Page A

to a faint static along her skin, as if she’d never been driven from her bed to seek him. As if . . .
    Her breath caught. As if her compulsion was satisfied now that he was found. Now that he was with her. “Maybe we’re meant to bring him with us,” she said.
    Gideon’s shoulders stiffened. “To Rockhaven.”
    Recklessness seized her. Why not? “Yes.”
    “We can’t bring an outsider into the community. He’s a threat.”
    “Hardly a threat now,” she pointed out. “He can’t even hold his head up.”
    * * *
    Their voices rolled like a fretful tide, rushing, retreating, never still . Justin tried to focus on the words, but pain sank red talons into his skull , gripping his brain. Just a bump on the head. He’d survived worse. Floating in a cold green sea, limbs leaden, lost . . .
    He shook his head to clear it.
    Bad idea.
    Agony seared his temples, speared his neck. His gorge rose as his stomach lurched in protest. He gritted his teeth, swallowing beer and bile, fighting not to vomit in the back of the moving car.
    “Easy.” Her voice, clear and soothing, as she petted him.
    Gratefully, he inhaled her scent, absorbed her touch, letting himself fall into the comfort of her body against his, sweaty, soft, female.
    The white lane markers flashed and faded in the beam of their headlights.
    Breathe , he told himself. In, out, in . . .
    Jesus, he was dozing off. Or passing out. He clung to consciousness, fighting to snatch meaning from the conversation taking place over his head.
    “Treat him at the infirmary,” Lara was saying.
    “Assuming he survives the trip.” From the boyfriend.
    Thanks, dipshit.
    “Wow. I am so touched by your concern,” Lara said.
    “You know what concerns me? Trying to explain to Axton what we’re doing with a dead body in the backseat.”
    Justin felt Lara stiffen. “Would you rather explain why we left him behind to die?” she asked.
    He wasn’t dying, he wanted to tell her. He was remarkably hard to kill.
    “More lives than a fucking cat ,” the freighter captain had said when they pulled him from the sea.
    But her fierce concern made him feel good. For the first time in years, a woman had his back.
    Thankfully, he turned his face into her neck and slipped into the dark.
    * * *
    “Behind me,” he ordered, his mouth dry, his voice strained. “They attack from behind.”
    The girl stumbled to obey, filling her hands with stones from the path. He admired her courage. But it was his duty to protect her. His responsibility.
    He turned to face the wolf— Not a wolf, not a wolf , pounded his heart—blocking their way. It snarled, taunting. Testing.
    Tightening his grip on his knife, he braced to take its charge.
    It sprang. The world exploded in a blur of heat, claws, teeth, eyes. He staggered, thrusting, thrusting, felt the blade sink in and the sickening thunk of iron on bone.
    Pain ripped his arm. His vision blurred.
    A hoarse cry. His? Hers? A flash. The air stank of scorched meat and burning hair and blood.
    He struggled to tug his knife free, fought to breathe. He couldn’t move. Buggering hell, he couldn’t move his arm.
    He groaned.
    “It’s all right,” she said.
    He struggled to warn her, but his cry was an incoherent croak.
    Demons.
    “Ssh,” she soothed. Her hair fell thick and pale as straw around her quiet face. “It’s just a dream.”
    Justin opened his eyes to find Lara bending over him.
    Shock momentarily robbed him of speech. His head throbbed. His arm tingled with the pain of returning circulation.
    He blinked at her, disoriented. “Not blond.”
    Her lips curved. “Only in your dreams. Disappointed?”
    “No.” He struggled to lift his arm, to touch the ends of her hair. “Pretty.”
    “Thanks. How are you feeling?”
    “No hospital,” he mumbled. Hospitals meant bureaucracy and forms and questions. The last thing he needed was Homeland Security inspecting his passport, demanding a copy of his birth certificate.
    “Shh. We’re