Here Comes the Rainne Again (Invertary 6)

“Feel better now?” Joe asked him.

“Being stuck in here is driving me nuts,” Ryan said.

“Join the club.” Joe watched as Megan ruined her tough-guy act.

“Are you okay?” she asked her captive.

“No,” he said. “Want to kiss it better?”

Megan growled and turned her back on him.

Joe went back to looking out the window. The faint silhouettes of figures standing outside the castle hadn’t moved since they’d come up to the tower.

“Why aren’t they moving in?” Joe muttered.

“Maybe they’re waiting for something,” Ryan said.

Joe tensed. Of course.

“Waiting for what?” Kirsty said.

Joe looked over at her, his lips tight. “More men with transport out of here.”

He watched as the blood drained from her face.

13

* Rainne and Alastair *

Rainne watched Alastair sleep as she paced the tiny room. Eight steps across. Ten if you included the minuscule bathroom, which she didn’t. The gas fire had warmed the place to the point where she was glad she was in her underwear, although she didn’t dare turn down the heat in case Alastair needed it.

She checked the clock on her phone for the hundredth time. Twenty-three minutes. He’d been asleep twenty-three minutes. She promised herself she’d wake him at the hour mark if he didn’t stir before then. She couldn’t leave him longer than that, not while she worried he would never wake up again.

She stopped dead in the middle of the room. What would she do if he didn’t wake up? How would she get help? Everyone she knew was trapped either in the castle or in town. Even if she had a vehicle, she wouldn’t be able to get it through the snow. And she couldn’t leave Alastair alone long enough to fetch help. She wasn’t even sure she’d find town in this weather. Her sense of direction was terrible in daylight with clear skies overhead. She didn’t have a hope in hell when it was dark and thick with snow.

This was bad. It was very, very bad. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. She knew how to organise a protest march, how to raise hens from eggs, how to buy environmentally sound clothing and, thanks to her recent studies, the basics of running a business. She didn’t have survival skills. Apart from listening to Lake, what little knowledge she did have came from watching Bear Grylls on TV. Now that she thought about it, the skills he shared wouldn’t be any use to her. There would never be an occasion where she’d need to filter her own urine through a sock to make it drinkable. She’d rather die of thirst before she got to that stage.

She bent over, put her hands on her knees and took steady breaths. She’d figure something out. She was capable. She was able. She’d come up with a plan if she had to. Right?

“You’re stressing me out with all that worrying you’re doing.”

Rainne shrieked. She rushed to Alastair’s side. He hadn’t moved an inch, but his eyes were open a crack, watching her. She reached for him, caressing his face. Feeling for herself that he was warm and very much alive.

“You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought you were unconscious,” she whispered. “I thought I’d have to get you some professional help.”

He stared at her for a moment, the air charged between them.

“What kind of professional help?” he whispered back.

She cracked a smile. “That’s the part where I got stuck. It’s a long walk to the only doctor in town and I couldn’t leave you alone while I did it.”

“Did you have a plan B?”

“I was working on it. It might have involved making a sledge from an upturned desk and sliding you through the snow.”

His eyes twinkled in the firelight. “It’s almost a shame I woke up and missed out on the ride.”

Rainne smacked her hand on his stomach, letting it linger. “Don’t joke. I was really worried.”