The Shadows in the Hills: Triple Threat

Chapter Eight

I felt the change in her instantly. The fear screamed at me silently from across the room. I turned instinctively to her and followed her gaze towards Marcus. I never should have brought him there. She was in a vulnerable state. I never considered that she would see him as a threat after she had kicked his ass the way she did. It wasn't until that moment that I realised she wasn't the same person that had dealt with him before. The confidence, the recklessness had all disappeared.

"Just go! Find Jackson and get him back here." Mikkel had already filled them in on where he had gone and possible routes home. I was confident they would have him back at the house in no time. After I shut the door, I was left with nothing else but to face her. To try to explain why Marcus was there, but she was hardly in a good enough condition for that conversation. If I was going to have a hard conversation, that wasn't the one I wanted to start with. It wasn't as though there wasn't plenty to cover as it was.

I hate seeing her like that. Everything was bad enough without her being laid on the floor. As Mikkel approached, I decided it was best to try to fix at least one thing about the situation. "We need to move her."

"It's just not an option. I wish it was. I'm pretty sure that she has a dislocated hip. The force of the pups coming down has pushed it out of the socket. Not only would it be painful, it could be really risky. She needs a section." I knew he was right, but I had seen the roads and there was no chance we were getting her out of the village.

"Can you do that?"

"I can, but it's not a good idea. It's not exactly a sterile environment. I've got nothing medical with me. I wouldn't even be able to stitch her back up. We have to find a way for her to do this, no matter how difficult." I felt so useless. There was just nothing I could do to help her at all. I couldn't even find the words to respond to Mikkel. He was telling me that he could only intervene if it came to choosing between her and the baby. If it was already too late to save her.

I headed back to Esme, even though I knew what was coming my way. I wanted to avoid it, but that wasn't really an option. It wasn't something she was likely to forget about. Despite knowing that bringing him along was the right decision, I still felt like I had let her down by doing it. "Are you feeling any better?" Mikkel had managed to get her back on the sofa. I was relieved she looked at least a bit more comfortable.

"The pain is a bit better. What is he doing here? Why on earth would you bring him?"

"I'm sorry baby, I didn't expect you to get so upset by it. You don't need to worry. We took precautions." I very nearly tried to explain the change in Marcus, but I thought better of it. "I needed him to help me find you."

"I really can't deal with any of this. Jackson, I need Jackson." It felt like a slap in the face. Stabbing me would probably have hurt less, that in her moment of need she wanted to turn to him instead of me. The way I felt about it all didn't really matter. I just couldn't believe I had messed up so badly that she would turn to him over me. It was like I meant nothing to her anymore and it was all based on misunderstandings. I couldn't even set the record straight or defend myself.

"They will find him, I promise." My jaw clenched as I spoke, but I tried my best to stop it. It wasn't like I blamed Jackson or Esme for the situation. The only gripe I had with Jackson was that he hadn't bothered to speak to me and find out the truth before he left. The idea that he could believe those things about me was abhorrent. I thought he knew me better than that. I would have bet money on him being the last person to go behind my back. The danger he had put her in was angering me more than a little, but I knew it was out of ignorance.

No matter what Jackson did, it was all rooted in what I did and the decisions I made. Cassie should have been dealt with so much longer before I actually dealt with it. I should have sent her packing the day she barged into the cabin and threatened Esme. The only reason I didn't was because of the protection her dad's position in the police provided the camp. No doubt, in my absence, Gerald was dealing with the backlash from my decision. The truth was, he could handle it and I had more important worries on my mind.

She had stopped talking and was concentrating on the pain which had come back. Except it was no longer the pressure of pregnancy and was instead contractions. Which even I had no way of taking from her completely. I tried to hold her hand, but she pulled it from my grasp. I had never expected seeing her alive to be quite so painful. Spending so long convinced that she would be dead by the time I found her. I hadn't even considered what her rejecting me would feel like.

It left me thinking that I never should have tried to find her in the first place. My presence seemed to be doing more harm than good.