Page 26 of Sanctuary

“I won’t let you burn.” He’s moving now.

My body is being lifted. I don’t struggle since the hands aren’t rough or violent. When I’m set down again it’s closer to the fire. I can feel the heat wafting toward me. I lean closer, wanting it. Needing it.

Hands on my shoulders hold me back. “Not too close. I promised I wouldn’t let you burn.”

“Oh. Okay.” I sit still.

He moves in front of me, kneeling to pull off my wet gloves and dripping jacket. Then the hiking boots I’m wearing. He has to unlace them first.

He rubs my hands, which seems strange to me since Aidan doesn’t touch me. I let him. I have no reason not to.

It doesn’t feel bad. Just kind of tense. Stressful.

When I can feel my hands again, he moves and does the same with my feet. For some reason, it almost embarrasses me, but I can’t understand why.

It takes a few more minutes for my mind to clear enough to realize what’s going on. Remember where I am, what’s happening, and who I’m with.

“I’m okay,” I say.

Aidan has been focused down on my feet, but now he lifts his eyes to meet mine. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I can feel my feet now.”

His posture relaxes almost imperceptibly. “All right. That’s good then.”

I glance past him and realize the fire isn’t actually freely blazing in the middle of the church like I imagined earlier. It’s in an old cast iron wood stove, which evidently used to be thischurch’s main method of heating. It’s positioned near the back of the sanctuary.

It’s old-fashioned and not very big, but the church itself is quite small. The heat it generates is already breaking through the frigid temperature in the building.

“Was there actually wood here?” I ask—rather irrelevantly.

“Nah. Had to improvise.” He nods to his right, where I see the broken remains of an old wood table. He somehow managed to break it into pieces with his bare hands.

I giggle.

He leans closer, peering at me with close scrutiny.

“I’m okay,” I say again. “Not at my best, but I think I’ve basically recovered from that frozen daze.”

“All right.”

“Thanks for your help.”

He shrugs and glances away.

“Don’t shrug it away. You saved my life.”

His face is deeply flushed from the cold and the wind and the blaze of the fire, but the look he gives me now is oddly cool. “And you’re still surprised by that fact.”

I swallow. Feel kind of guilty. But I’m not sure why I should feel guilty. Anyone might be surprised, after the way he’s acted for the entire time I’ve known him.

The interaction feels weird and uncomfortable, and I don’t like feeling that way. So I change the subject. Focus on what’s more essential.

“I wonder if we can find blankets or old clothes or something here. We’re both still wearing our wet clothes, and we need to get out of them if we’re ever going to warm up.” I start to heft myself up until a sharp tug of pain makes me gasp.

I forgot my damned injured leg.

“You’re not going anywhere right now,” Aidan says as he stands. “I’ll see what I can find.”

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