Page 2 of Snowed in with the Demon Lord
Reluctantly, I set out uphill. Downhill would be easier, but I hadn’t seen any lights so far. If I headed up, I might find safety waiting for me around the next turn. Of course, I wasn’t that lucky. All I found was more snow, more trees, more road to climb.
Everything ached, which I hoped was better than numbness. Without another plan, I pushed on, trying to stay on the road in case I lucked out and met someone else stupid enough to drive in this fucking snowstorm.
Though with my luck, they wouldn’t notice me in time, and I’d escape freezing to death by being run over. In this weather, I wouldn’t even blame them. The blizzard got heavier, the night got darker.
My phone’s flashlight app didn’t help me see any better, but it might let someone spot me in the dark and the storm, so I left it shining. Hopefully, I wouldn’t regret spending my battery life, though I had the sinking feeling I wouldn’t last as long as my phone’s charge.
When I spotted movement in the snow, I didn’t know whether to believe my eyes. Something dark moved in the swirling whiteness. Someone?I hoped, though part of me expected a wolf instead, or whatever that thing was that scared me off the road.
“Hello?” The wind whipped the word away, and I barely heard it myself. I gathered my strength and projected confidence I didn’t have. “Help! I need help.”
No answer, or none that carried over the icy howl of the storm. I waved my phone back and forth, hoping the light would draw their attention. Unless a wolf was stalking me, in which case I hoped I’d frighten it off.
Yeah, I doubted that would work, but what else did I have?
The figure in the darkness was definitely real, I decided. Real, and coming toward me. I staggered closer, relief filling me. I might make it out of this. Maybe I’d be lucky.
Whoever I’d found, they were tall. Like seven feet tall, looming out of the snow. I stumbled to a halt as the figure resolved. A few impressions crashed together in my brain.
Tall and broad-shouldered, muscled like a Greek god, his eyes burned like coals in the darkness. His skin was a deep, rich red, which I saw because he walked through the blizzard without a shirt on. Strangest of all, black horns curled up and back from his forehead.
Wonderful, I’m hallucinating.I gave up and collapsed, falling forward into the giant’s arms. They closed around me, holding me with easy, casual strength as the darkness closed in again. To my freezing body, he was hot as a furnace.
At least my brain conjured a hot guy for my last moments.I managed a small grin before passing out.
2
HOLLY
As soon as I woke, I asked myself the obvious question.Am I dead?This didn’t feel like any afterlife I’d heard of.
I took a deep breath, nose filling with a mixture of wood smoke and hot metal. The warm air was welcome and comforting after the frozen wilderness. My ribs didn’t hurt anymore, either. Perhaps I hadn’t cracked them?
Someone had wrapped blankets around me, snug and warm. The crackling sound of fire explained the smoke and the warmth. None of it answered the question of where I’d ended up or how I’d gotten there.
With a groan, I forced my eyes open, expecting immediate blinding pain, but the dim lighting didn’t hurt my eyes. Flickering firelight illuminated a cozy room with wooden walls and roof. Heavy curtains shut out all outside light, and bookshelves covered the walls completely.
Wrapped in a heavy wool blanket, I lay on a sofa made from rough wood and thick cushions. Cautiously turning my head toward the fire, I saw my rescuer sitting by the fireplace. Beside him, blocking much of the firelight, lay one of the biggest dogs I’d ever seen.
Usually, the dog would have held my attention. This time, it wasn’t enough to distract me from the man. I blinked and looked again, making sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks.
Okay, he really has horns on. Did he miss the memo that Halloween’s over?In the flickering firelight, his skin still looked crimson. And he looked magnificent. A strikingly handsome face framed by long black hair, eyes like smoldering coals. I remembered falling into his brawny arms, and seeing the muscles gleam in the firelight just reinforced my perception of his strength. His bare, muscular chest and rippling abs should be in the dictionary, illustrating the definition of ‘hot’.
Thank God he wore pants.
“You are awake. Good.” His voice rumbled like thunder, deep and low and powerful. I felt it in my bones as much as I heard it. With an effort, I pulled myself up to sit, keeping the heavy blankets tucked around me.
“Where am I?”
“You are in my cabin.” He stood as he spoke. Loomed would be another word for it—his horns almost touched the roof. “And you are lucky to be alive. You should not have been out in that storm.”
No shit.I didn’t say it aloud, but it was a near thing. “Yeah, well, you’re not wrong about that. I didn’t realize it would get so bad.”
He muttered something under his breath, something that sounded like ‘humans.’
“There were warnings. Many warnings. You cannot have missed them all.”
“I didn’t think it would take me so long to reach my cabin.” My cheeks heated as I answered. It was a stupid excuse, and I knew it. “And I think I got lost.”
