Page 38 of Twins for the Enemy

I just wish that I wasn’t.

I need to cut this off now. I can’t continue in this spiral of feelings.

I abruptly stand up. The deer’s head jerks up. It awkwardly bounces sideways before turning around and dashing back through the hole in the fence.

“I have some things I need to get done,” I say. Before he can respond, I rush back down the path.

The cold air sears into my nose. My feet hit against the shoveled path so easily that a moment of gratitude slips in before I can push it back out.

As if the world is punishing me for my lack of appreciation, my foot hits against a puddle of slush. I don’t remember seeing it when I first passed through, so it must have melted while we were watching the deer.

My foot kicks up from under me as my other knee jerks from side to side to try to stabilize. It doesn’t work. As I fall, I see a glimpse of the sky—bluer than blue, so vibrant I can almost taste it.

But as I crash back down, the pain is black. Sickly, endless black.

Chapter twelve

~KIERAN~

It’s terror in a way I haven’t experienced since seeing Olivia’s head slick with blood.

I run over, feeling like my lungs are constricted. Her legs are splayed at an odd angle. She’s not moving.

I drop to my knees, the piece-of-shit slush splattering under my weight. As I reach toward her, her hand grasps her ankle, but she flinches away as soon as she touches it.

“Ow,” she mumbles, eyes squeezed shut. I consider unlacing her boots to check how badly she injuredher ankle, but the compression of the boot could be keeping some of the pain at bay.

I carefully slip one arm under her knees and the other around her back to pick her up. She still winces, and it’s like an electrical current—the pain coursing through me too.

“We need to get to the hospital,” I say.

“We can’t,” she says through gritted teeth. “They’ll tell the police that I was there.”

“I’ll just tell them that you’re my pregnant wife,” I say. “I’ll deal with any fallout.”

“They won’t—” She stops, her hand moving over her abdomen. Her whole body tenses in my arms. “Did you see how I landed? I didn’t hurt the twins, did I? Kieran, if I—”

“You landed on your side,” I say. “This isn’t your fault. I should have shoveled better. I’ve lived here long enough that I should’ve known the snow would melt and create a hazard.”

“You shoveled like a deranged person, which we know you are.” She pauses. “I’ll go for the twins, but if any police come around—”

“I’ll deal with them,” I say firmly.

Adrenaline turns off everything except instinct.

I carry her through the house to the garage. She takes in a sharp breath, seeing the stretch of cement and the rows of vehicles on either side of us. I put her in the passenger side of the Audi, my fastest car that can maintain control in the snow. I bundle up a blazer I had left in the car, making a cushion with it for her to rest her foot on. It should also help prevent it from moving too much when I drive.

As I strap her in, she tries to smile, but I see the edges of pain in her eyes, and it stabs right into my chest.

I carefully, but firmly, close the door and run to the driver’s side.

The garage door opens too slowly, but I take off as soon as I can slip underneath it. The gate is also excruciatingly slow.

What is the point of all of these security measures if the risks are just as dangerous on the inside?

I push the speed limit, dodging between the other cars. I’m certain the other drivers are cursing me out, but they’re irrelevant. They don’t have Farah in their car. They don’t know what’s at stake.

“Kieran,” she says. I glance over. She’s gripping the door’s armrest. “You can slow down. My ankle isn’t going to be any more sprained or broken by the time we get there.”

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