Force of the Falcon. Rita Herron

eased Katie down beside her mother.

      Katie tugged at the coat sleeve. “Mommy!” Katie cried. “Mommy, wake up!”

      He tipped the little girl’s chin up so she’d look into his eyes. “Honey, I need for you to climb on my back and wrap your arms around my neck. I’ll carry you piggyback, then I can lift your mommy, too. Can you do that for me?”

      She bobbed her head up and down, then bit down on her lip. “But what about Snowball?”

      Hell, he could no more leave the kitten than he could the woman and child.

      He tucked the kitten into the pocket of his coat. “There, now he’s safe and warm.”

      Katie smiled at him then, so trusting, that he could have sworn a moonbeam bounced through the dark storm and lit her face like an angel.

      He gestured to his back. “Now, hop aboard.” He crouched to the ground so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He grabbed her hands to secure them, and she tried to wrap her legs around his waist, but they dangled as if she didn’t have the strength. His throat convulsed, but he patted her hands. “Good girl.”

      She pressed her face against his back away from the wind. He tucked Katie’s crutches below one arm pit, then scooped her mother into his arms and strode back toward Falcon Ridge.

      SONYA STIRRED from the depths of unconsciousness and cold. She had to live, wake up, find Katie. Make sure her little girl was safe.

      But she was so cold. So tired. Her limbs felt like dead weights and pain throbbed through her. Sleep offered a reprieve, and the darkness pulled her into its abyss. She gave in to it, but then she was trapped in a minefield where light had been obliterated by cave-like walls and where strange mythical creatures stalked the night.

      Terror splintered through the fog, and she forced her eyes open. She had to escape the tunnel of darkness, find the light. Then she was being jostled, moved. Somewhere in the haze, Katie’s small voice soothed her.

      Finally, she felt herself being lowered onto something soft. Warm. A blanket being tucked around her. Then another. And a fire nearby. The crackle of wood. The hiss of the flames. So cozy. She sank back into sleep, craving the peace it offered.

      “Mommy, mommy, you gots to wakes up!”

      Katie’s tiny, terrified voice shattered her rest. Sonya forced herself to blink through the fog of pain and cold, but the details of what had happened were fuzzy.

      Where was Katie? She couldn’t see her, had lost her in the blizzard. No, that creature had attacked her, and she’d warned Katie to run.

      A husky, deep voice followed. “The paramedics are on their way.” A brush of her hair, and she looked up to see a man’s face peering over her. Dark, scruffy hair. Black eyes. A wide-set jaw. He looked dangerous and unkempt, wild like the mystical animal creatures she’d been dreaming about.

      Was he the bizarre creature that had attacked her in the woods?

      No…he had saved her. And Katie was clinging to his back, her small hands clutching his neck in a choke hold as if she couldn’t let go.

      The man…he’d found Katie for her… Brack Falcon…

      “You’re at my place now, at Falcon Ridge,” he said in a deep voice. “The paramedics are on their way.”

      She tried to nod but wasn’t sure she had actually moved her head. “Katie?” she croaked.

      He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “She’s fine. I found her hiding in a cave nearby.” He swung her daughter from his back as if he’d been handling her all his life, and Sonya swallowed back tears. He was huge, had powerful muscles and the biggest, widest hands she’d ever seen on a man, but he gently cradled his arms under Katie’s weak legs and placed her beside Sonya as if Katie were a delicate china doll that might break if handled too roughly. Then he wrapped a thick blanket around Katie.

      Katie’s father had never held her like that.

      Fresh tears filled her eyes as Katie snuggled into her.

      “Mommy, I was s-so scared,” Katie whispered. “I…thought you was gonna leabe me.” Her voice caught, and she buried her head into Sonya’s neck.

      Pain shot through Sonya’s battered arm as she slid it below Katie’s back to hug her. “No, baby, Mommy would never, ever leave you.” She brushed Katie’s shoulder-length hair from her damp cheek, then rubbed small circles on Katie’s back to soothe her. “Do you hear me, sweetie? Mommy will always be here for you.”

      But fatigue and blood loss had drained all the life from her, and she felt herself slipping back into the darkness again.

      “Is there anyone I can call?” Brack asked, drawing her back to reality as if he, too, thought she might be fading off for good. “Your husband? Katie’s father?”

      Sonya shook her head. “No, no husband…. No one.”

      Worry flickered in the man’s black eyes. He was so serious, somber…maybe she wasn’t going to make it.

      “Call Miss Margaret,” she choked out. “She babysits Katie while I work.”

      He cuddled the blanket around Katie, wrapping them up together. “This Miss Margaret—how do I reach her?”

      “The paramedics…friends of mine.” Her voice broke off, weak. “They’ll know.”

      “No, Mommy.” Katie tugged at her face. “Don’t leabe me!”

      “Not leaving…” Sonya whispered. “Just have to sleep.”

      Katie tightened her arms around Sonya’s neck and squeezed so hard Sonya coughed for air, but she cradled her daughter tighter, unable to release her for fear she would slip away forever.

      Then Katie would be all alone with no one to love her.

      THE MINUTES DRAGGED by while Brack waited on the ambulance.

      He didn’t like the fact that the woman had drifted into unconsciousness. No telling how much blood she had lost. What if the attack had damaged internal organs?

      Twenty minutes passed. Still no ambulance.

      He had to check her wounds. He coaxed her to roll over to her side, and he carefully cut away the remainder of her flannel gown, leaving the blanket secure around her legs. Then he leaned close to study her wounds. Sharp claw marks remained where something had ripped away the flesh on her hands and back. Dirt, dead skin, leaves, and mangled tissue were matted together in an ugly maze. The wounds were deep, but not to the bone, so hopefully her internal organs weren’t injured. But she needed stitches, antibiotics and pain-killers. And the area had to be cleaned.

      He rushed to the bathroom, grabbed the first aid kit he kept on hand, then cleaned the worst of the dirt and debris from her back. She moaned and he winced, hating to hurt her but knowing it had to be done.

      In all the years he and his brothers had been rescuing birds of prey, he had seen vicious attacks by animals. But he’d never seen anything so awful as the tender skin on the beautiful woman—desecrated, clawed at as if her attacker wanted to literally taste her blood.

      If a bird had done this, it was supersized. Maybe injured. Or what if it was diseased? Was it possible that his beloved creatures had contracted some kind of strange illness that caused them to attack humans?

      Finally, a siren squealed outside, and the paramedics punched the gargoyle doorbell, causing a resounding lion’s roar to moan throughout the house. Katie jerked her head up, startled.

      He forced a small smile. “I’ve got a crazy doorbell, don’t I?”

      She nodded, a tiny smile lifting the corner of her mouth as if they shared a secret. Then she dropped her head back down against her mother’s.

      He hurried to let the rescue workers in and quickly explained what had happened.