Chapter Three

Or…You Could Just Kick Him in the Jingle Balls

The problem with handcuffing yourself to a supernatural mass murderer twice your size was that if you realized it was a terrible idea while you were already cuffed, it was probably too late.

It took Lyla all of three seconds to realize she didn’t have a key to unlock the handcuffs. It took her twice as long to figure out what that spelled for her.

Holy crap.

In retrospect, cuffing his wrists to hers had seemed like the only sensible plan. If she’d cuffed both his wrists, he could easily have overpowered her and taken off again. While he was secured to her, he couldn’t get anywhere without taking her along. But her plan wasn’t exactly foolproof. A man like Theophilus Hill wouldn’t care about having to drag her corpse with him all the way down the mountain.

Yeah, I really should have thought this through.

He gazed down at the handcuffs, then at her. In the semi-darkness, she saw his eyes widen with fury and knew what was coming next. Before she could brace herself, he gave her a hard shove, knocking her off balance. The titanium cuffs held, leaving her dangling in midair by her wrist.

“Christ!” Lyla cursed.

“Get this…thing off me!” he snarled.

With that, he yanked her back toward him. She’d expected him to put up a fight, but she wasn’t going to let him overpower her. Years of hunting down men like him had taught her to defend herself. Planting one foot into the ground, she launched a kick at him, hitting him between the legs.

The unmanly shriek that followed was music to her ears.

I just kicked Theophilus Hill in the nutsack , she thought almost giddily.

She expected him to double over and slam his jaw into her upraised knee, but he recovered quickly and grabbed her, pulling her close to him.

“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” he growled, his breath hot against her chin.

“Could’ve fooled me.” She struck out at him. “You’re not going anywhere, Hill.”

It was too dark to make out his features easily, but she could’ve sworn she saw confusion flicker in his eyes. Before she could dwell on it, he gave her another shove and made to take off.

“Titanium handcuffs, genius,” Lyla snapped just before she got a mouthful of snow. Instinctively, she stuck out her leg and was pleased when it connected with his shin. With a groan, the man went down in the snow. Unfortunately, he took her along with him, and they tumbled downhill together in a series of grunts and curses, kicking and punching at each other until they came to a stop in the snow.

She was vaguely aware of her body being flipped. The next thing she knew, she was flat on her back, his large torso hovering above her. The sound of a heart pounding filled her ears, but she couldn’t tell whether it belonged to her or the man who now had her pinned beneath him.

Panting, she glowered up at him. “Let go of me.”

“You’re the one who attacked me,” he retorted.

A tremor traveled up from the base of her spine. This man was much bigger than she was. Not only that, but he was a supernatural. She really hadn’t thought this through. What had she been expecting, cuffing herself to a man who hadn’t hesitated to murder several geriatrics and law enforcement?

“So…what?” she breathed. “Are you going to kill me, too?”

She felt him stiffen. His grip on her shoulders relaxed a little. “You’re mistaken.”

“What, you expect me to believe it wasn’t you who murdered those people?” No doubt, she was right about him sabotaging the plane and dooming all those passengers. At this point, there wasn’t much she could put past this scumbag. “I’ve been following you ever since you took off. If you were innocent, you would’ve stayed put and—”

His grip tightened again, reminding her that she was still very much in mortal danger. Lyla’s brain spun into overdrive, devising multiple strategies to escape his hold. Maybe another kick to a soft spot…

“I am not the killer that Angus and his men think me to be,” he told her. “You hear that? I don’t know if he sent you after me, but you all have the wrong idea. It wasn’t me. I’m not a murderer.”

Lyla frowned. Wait a minute . “Angus? Who’s Angus?”

She sensed his confusion even before he responded. “Angus did not send you? You’re not from Elorn?”

“Elon Musk?”

“My village.”

“ Village ?” Okay, this man wasn’t making any sense. “Don’t play dumb with me, Theophilus. You were on that plane to Chicago, weren’t you?”

“Who’s Theophilus? What plane?”

She wanted badly to kick him for toying with her, but something about his tone told her he wasn’t kidding. This man really had no idea what she was talking about. But that couldn’t be right. He was Theophilus Hill, wasn’t he?

Taking deep breaths to steady herself, she squinted into his face. It was still too dark to see much, but she registered his dark hair and beard. Dark eyes stared down at her, filled with a mix of emotions. The man looked pretty much like the same criminal whose photo she’d been gazing at on the plane, the same criminal she’d tried to arrest before…but something was different about him.

“You’re not him,” she breathed, more to herself than to him. “I can’t believe I got the wrong guy again.”

This man looked somewhat older. Heck, he even sounded different. How hadn’t she realized it sooner? Maybe the cold and hunger were affecting her discernment.

Lyla, you idiot.

He took his gloved hands off her shoulders and sat back on his haunches. “I don’t know who Theophilus is. I don’t even know who you are.”

For a second, his gaze shifted from her face, his eyes rapidly taking in their surroundings. When they settled back on her, she held her breath. They gleamed with annoyance and frustration, but as she gazed back into them, she registered something else: fear. This man might not be the person she was after, but he was definitely on the run from something.

No, someone . What was the name he’d mentioned again? Angus. Whoever that was, he’d made this big man uncomfortable enough to go running down a freezing mountain at dusk.

It’s not your problem, Lyla , she told herself. He’s not your guy.

As if that mattered. Curiosity prodded at her. He might not be Theophilus Hill, but that didn’t mean he was innocent. From what she’d gathered so far, this Angus person seemed to think he’d killed someone. Maybe handcuffing their wrists together hadn’t been such a bad call after all.

A flutter of relief filled her chest. This guy was the first person she’d come across ever since she’d left the crash site. Criminal or not, she had to admit it felt good to know she wasn’t alone out here.

The man rose to his feet all of a sudden, nearly yanking Lyla’s arm out of the socket in the process.

“Hey!” she protested, glaring up at him. “What the hell?”

“Get these shackles off me,” he growled. “I need to keep moving before—”

“I don’t think that’s possible. You’re stuck with me until further notice.”

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and for a second, she thought he might attack her. He towered over her, his broad body almost completely filling her vision. She masked her trepidation with a fierce look.

“This is more serious than you think,” he told her. “Take them off.”

“What, you think being handcuffed to you is a fun experience for me?” Lyla scoffed, then looked away. “I’d take them off if I could. But that’s the problem.”

“What?”

“I don’t have the keys anymore,” she admitted. “I lost them in the crash.”

The man’s eyes narrowed further, and she could tell what he was thinking: She was probably lying to me. Fair enough. It wasn’t like she trusted him, either. Sure, he wasn’t Theophilus Hill, but if there were a chance that he’d murdered someone…well, taking him in herself wouldn’t be wrong, would it?

He jerked his hand up, momentarily lifting her off the ground. “I could break the shackles.”

“Gee, I wonder why no one thought of that earlier,” she said through gritted teeth as she picked herself to her feet. She gave an eye-roll she doubted he could see. “Those handcuffs are designed to hold. You’re not breaking them easily. You’d need to use a shit ton of force.”

It occurred to her a split second late that she’d just told him how to get free. Lyla bit her lower lip. “Like I said, you’re stuck with me until further notice.”

Yippee.

God, the longer she remained cuffed to this man, the more she considered kicking him between the legs again. She reminded herself that it was probably a good thing she had the wrong guy, and honestly, he was just as annoying, but she could still take him in, assuming he didn’t kill her.

He growled, a low, inhuman sound, but he did nothing.

“I need to keep moving,” he said. “You will only slow me down.”

Lyla smirked. “Got someplace you need to be?”

He lifted an eyebrow at her as if he thought she was a nitwit for even bothering to ask. “I must find sanctuary. The last thing I need is to be slowed down by a strange woman.”

“Strange? Says the guy who calls handcuffs shackles ,” she muttered. “You said you came from a village. I didn’t see any villages on my way down.”

“Frost Mountain is a large place,” was all the reply she got.

Lyla frowned. “Frost Mountain?” That had to be what this place was called. There was only one problem: She’d never heard of it before.

Definitely not weird at all…

“Clearly, you’re not from around here,” the man said, glancing about again like he was expecting someone to burst out of the snow and yell, “ Gotcha!”

“No, I’m not,” she told him. “Why the hell would I be living on a mountain like this? Not exactly many motels around here.” She took a deep breath. “I’m from the Bronx.”

The look he gave her made her wonder if he had any idea what she was talking about.

She went on anyway. “I’m a bounty hunter.”

“A what ?”

“You heard me. My name’s Lyla Jensen—I doubt you’ve heard of me anyway. I was on a plane headed to Chicago, but our plane went down. The next thing I know, I’m on this strange mountain. It hasn’t exactly been fun. Now I’m just trying to get away from this damned place.”

To her surprise, the man simply chuckled.

Lyla felt her irritation grow. “Something funny to you?”

His next words sent chills traveling down her spine.

“Indeed,” he replied, “you can never leave Frost Mountain. You’re trapped here…forever.”