Page 63 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

He sighed. “Then that’s what we’ll have to do. Is there a landline there?”

“No. He wanted it to be off the grid.” I hoped I still had all of my toes when this was over.

“We can’t go like this. Stay here.”

He zipped up his coat and got out of the car again. This time when he opened his door and the frigid air blew in, it made me scared. This was serious. Life-and-death stuff. He popped up the trunk, and the wind pushed against my hair, icing my exposed skin. I tugged my shawl tighter around my shoulders, but it didn’t do me much good.

A red glow reflected in my mirror. I turned around, hopeful that it was a police car, but I quickly realized that it was from the flares Rafe had set around the car. He slammed the rear hatch shut and jogged around to his door. He threw a bag and some blankets to me. For the second time that night, he shook the snow from his hair, and he had to blow on his hands, rubbing them together because there was no more heat coming in. He pushed the button to turn on his hazard flashers. The snow fell even thicker and faster, and it reflected the pulsating lights and the red glow of the flares.

“That’s my workout bag. I keep it in the car in case I feel like going for a run. There’s a pair of sweats for you to put on. You give me the hoodie, and I’ll give you my coat.”

“I can’t—” I started to protest.

“For once, don’t argue. There’s a pair of socks and shoes in there, as well. You’ll have to put them on. They’ll be too big, but it’s better than what you have on.”

Nodding meekly, I climbed into the backseat. The windows had started to fog up. I had the jarring memory of the sheriff knocking on our car windows when we were teenagers and threatening to call our parents because we were parking and making out. I would have given anything for the sheriff to show up right then.

As I unzipped the bag I watched Rafe in the mirror, wondering if he might sneak a peek. Ever the gentleman, he didn’t. I pulled up the sweats, tugging the string at the waist as tightly as I could and knotting it in place. I passed the hoodie up to him, and he took off his coat, giving it to me.

I was so anxious and scared that I didn’t even pay attention to the masculine scent that seemed imbued in every fiber, or how warm his body had made the coat inside.

Okay, maybe I paid a little attention.

His running shoes were like big clown shoes on my feet, so I tied them as tightly as I could. I’d probably still get snow inside them, but they were much better than the flats I was wearing. I wanted to inappropriately giggle at the thought that Rafe was like a grown-up Boy Scout with his blankets and extra clothes and flares. I didn’t have any of that stuff in my truck, and I knew better. He had grown up in a place where it snowed constantly, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised.

While I got changed, he pulled something out of the glove compartment. I saw that it was a pen and some paper. He was leaving a note. He asked me to repeat the directions, and he wrote them down. He put the note on his seat and then climbed into the back with me, bringing the blankets.

He sat close, pulling me against him. I didn’t protest or try to move. Logically, I knew we could conserve body heat this way. Emotionally, I wanted to be held.

“The flares will last for about fifteen minutes. Let’s stay here and see if anyone comes along. If not, well, we’ll get a chance to get good and warmed up before we head out.”

That almost made it worse. It would be terrible and shocking to go from this heat and coziness out into the frigid cold. Sort of like knowing what it was like to fall in love with Rafe and then realizing I couldn’t be with him.

He rubbed my upper arm even though I wasn’t cold yet. It was a reassuring touch, but I wasn’t very reassured.

I could feel the edge of the cold in the air around us, as the car got slightly colder with each passing minute. Pretty soon it would be as cold in here as it was out there. The snow seemed to get heavier and thicker, enclosing the car in a white tomb. The silence was eerie. The world had become too still.

My claustrophobia started to creep in as the snow piled up against the windshield.We will be fine,I had to keep telling myself.Rafe will keep me safe.

He would. I knew he would.

“Maybe I was wrong about that whole no bodyguard thing,” I said, as an apology. Just in case.

“You’re only admitting you were wrong because you think we’re going to die.” He was teasing, and that made me feel slightly better.

Right up until my subconscious mind decided to terrify me. “The stuff that happened in the city—do you think it was deliberate? Did John-Paul do this?” I tried to remember the man who’d run into Rafe and the one I’d seen next to the car, but I hadn’t paid them much attention.

He sat quietly next to me, not answering right away. “Nothing’s impossible, but it seems unlikely. If his plan was to stop us or slow us down, then where is he?”

He sounded rational and reasonable, but he didn’t know John-Paul the way that I did. I could believe that he would orchestrate something like this. It put me even more on edge.

The car’s clock showed that our time was up. The fifteen minutes had passed too quickly. “Time to go,” he said. He reached into the pocket of his coat, brushing my side as he pulled out a pair of gloves. “I’m going to wear these. Keep your hands in the pockets or inside the sleeves.”

He wrapped a blanket around my head, telling me to keep my face as covered as I could as he knotted it in place. He zipped up his hoodie and took my shawl, wrapping it around his head and covering his nose and mouth. He took one blanket for his body and gave me the other.

“It’s like we’re going out into the ice world of Hoth,” I said, earning me a combination grimace and smile from him. “Hey, do you know what the internal temperature of a tauntaun is?”

“What?” He fastened his blanket in place.

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