Hidden Deep by Amy Patrick Page A

rocketing through my veins, I scanned the ground immediately around me for a stick or anything I could use to at least make killing me more inconvenient. The beasts broke their stalking pattern and charged toward me. With a scream, I squeezed my eyes shut tight.
    There was a sudden and deafening guttural cry close to my ear, and my heart flew into my throat as something grabbed me hard around the waist. I was hauled upward. The crushing tension around my middle now pressed up painfully into my rib cage. It wasn’t the excruciating sensation I’d been bracing myself for—teeth tearing into my skin—but it was no less frightening than a coyote attack. Wind and small branches whipped my face as I was pulled higher, higher. The motion stopped with an abrupt thump, and I sat hard against a solid but pliable surface. I began to shiver. Somehow I was still alive, not in pain, and sixty feet off the ground. I turned my head, looking for the explanation.
    And saw his face.
    “Lad.” I blinked several times as my brain tried to process it.
    Lad tightened his hold around my waist with one arm, and with the other hand stroked my hair. “You’re safe now. It’s okay. They can’t get you up here.”
    They. I peered down at the feeding frenzy far below. The coyotes ripped at the deer carcass, snarling and snapping at each other in their greed for the dead flesh. The sound was nauseating. I couldn’t help picturing my own body in place of the doe’s.
    Awareness of my surroundings began to return as the near-death panic subsided. Lad was holding me securely on his lap, my back to his chest, and my thighs supported by his own steely legs. The scent of him was all around me, too, fresh like the woods and a little salty. I inhaled deeply. It was the fragrance of safety.
    Lad was really here, and I was wrapped in his arms, cradled by his body. I twisted again to see him. Impossibly-green eyes glinted with what looked like worry.
    “Are you injured?” he asked.
    I wasn’t hurt, but I was breathless. Probably in shock. Also, hearing his voice again, so much more beautiful than I’d remembered, and seeing his flawless face so close after days of searching and finding nothing was disorienting. I started considering the hallucination theory again.
    “Are you real?”
    His eyes crinkled slightly at the corners as the edges of his mouth pulled upward. “You’re always asking me that.”
    “I’ve spent most of my life doubting my memories of you. It’s a habit. But here you are—you saved me.” I looked at the ground again, shaking my head in wonder. “How…”
    “Yes, well, I couldn’t sit and watch as you became coyote chow.”
    “Right. Thank you. That was… close.”
    Another full body shudder rocked me, and Lad gently tightened his hold. I peeked down at the ground again. Mistake. Turning my head back, I pressed my cheek for a moment against Lad’s solid chest to let the vertigo pass.
    He was wearing leather pants that nearly reached his knees, and like the last time I’d seen him, his feet were bare. But today he wore a collarless shirt with a wide open neck. It was soft and thin, of a strange, almost sheer material. The heat of his skin passed through it to my face. He hugged me close and rested his chin on the top of my head. The vibration of his deep voice hummed through my cheek as he spoke.
    “You didn’t answer my question, Ryann. Are you hurt? I was worried I might have been too late.”
    I shook my head. “I’m fine. You were just in time. I thought it was all over. Where did you come from?”
    “I was… nearby. Unfortunately, I was so busy watching you, I didn’t notice the coyotes until too late. If I’d seen them sooner, I would’ve scared them away before they ever got close. You must have been terrified.”
    I raised my head to look at him. “You were watching me? Why didn’t you say something, let me know you were there?”
    Lad sighed heavily. “There are strict rules about contact