Page 41 of Forged in Peril

She walked toward the small window, remembering that it was mostly hidden from the outside by a hedge, a fact that Cameron had no doubt taken into consideration when he had sent her in here.

Seeing only darkness through the glass, she decided that she’d rather stay out here where she had two potential escape routes, rather than hiding away where she might get cornered.

Time seemed to pass with impossible slowness as she waited beside the bed. For a while she heard nothing outside of the room at all, the seconds marked only by the hammering of her heart.

There was a thumping sound, and then another.

Without quite meaning to, Bristol found herself cowering on the floor, resisting the urge to cover her ears.

She didn’t want to hear what was clearly a struggle coming from the living room, but she had to listen.

Should she go for the window? Should she try for a phone and call for help?

She wanted to force her limbs to move, to get out there and do something, anything at all, but instead, she found herself whispering urgent prayers, her face pressed against the side of her mother’s bed.

Just as soon as the noise had come, it was gone again, leaving only silence behind.

She pressed her eyes shut, trying to keep her balance as she felt the blood pulsing within her ears.

“It’s clear, Bristol.”

A voice. His voice.

“You can come out.”

Relief flooded through her, and as she stumbled to her feet and made for the living room, she thanked God that Cameron was alive.

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

CAMERON

Cameron rested his head against the cool wood of the kitchen island. Now that his adrenaline rush had ended, he realized that he was too tired from the momentary exertion to get to his feet, let alone to go and find Bristol.

Fortunately, she had heard his call, and a few seconds later, she rushed into the kitchen.

She looked as bad as he felt. Her face was pale and drawn, and her eyes were wide with fright as she sat down next to him.

“You’re bleeding!”

He reached up to his face, and his fingertips came away red.

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

She said nothing as she got to her feet, rooting around in a nearby drawer until she found a first aid kit. He could see her fingers shaking as she opened the zipper, but after a moment, she found what she needed.

He gritted his teeth as she swabbed the wound with alcohol and taped a piece of gauze over top of it. The moment she finished, she sat back against the island beside him, rubbing at her temples with her fingertips.

“What happened? Are you sure it’s safe now?”

He nodded.

“As far as I can tell, the intruder walked right in through the back door, though I assume it was locked,” he said. Bristol nodded, and he continued.

“Even though my Jeep is parked right out front, it didn’t seem like he expected to see me here, which is sloppy on his part, but it’s not as though there’s any shortage of dumb criminals out there. Anyway, as soon as he realized that he was walking into a fight he couldn’t win, he took off.”

He paused, refusing to meet Bristol’s questioning gaze.

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