Fear hit hard, and I struggled. He pulled me into him, his arms wrapped around my body, his legs around my waist, and his hand over my mouth as I fought. I was crying, damn it, but he didn’t understand. Dogs never gave up; they never quit. They sang for your blood as you ran, heart pounding and lungs burning, until they clawed you down and tore you apart and your screams mixed with their snarls for your blood. I had to get out of this hole. I had to run!

“Go to sleep, baby, Mama will sing. Of blue butterflies, and dragonfly wings,” Pierce sang in a whisper, his lips by my ear, and his hand clamped over my mouth, hurting me. I fought, and he squeezed me harder.

“Moonlight and sunbeams, raiments so fine. Silver and gold, for baby of mine.”

He was rocking me, his hand hurting, and his arms too tight. My sobbing breath came in through my nose, and I began to shake. He wouldn’t let me go. I couldn’t run. I was going to die. I was going to die right here, and it would be his fault!

“Sing with me, Rachel,” he whispered, eyes on the ceiling. “Go to sleep, baby. Sister will tell, of wolves and of lambs, and demons who fell.”

I didn’t know the words, but the tune plucked a faint memory. Sing. Why do they always sing lullabies? Stupid asses.

A thumping cadence came right overhead, and my eyes shot to the ceiling. Terror filled me, and I whimpered behind Pierce’s hand, pressing into him.

Pierce’s singing cut off. “Sweet mother of Jesus, protect us,” he whispered.

My heart pounded so hard I thought it would kill me outright. A dog bayed, muffed but clearly, right over us. I jerked, Pierce’s grip tightening even more. I started to shake, my eyes clamped shut as I remembered the crashing of branches and the sound when the horses and dogs grew close as I had tried to escape. I couldn’t outrun them, but the horror of being torn apart alive had pushed me through the brambles and across swales of thorns. I trembled in Pierce’s arms. We should have run. Tears leaked out. I couldn’t breathe. Oh God, we should have run.

A horn blew more distantly, and the dogs answered. My eyes flashed open at the soft patter of dirt falling on my face in time with the thumping of horses’ hooves. And with a rapid cadence … they were gone.

My gasping breath came in around his fingers, wet with my tears. Pierce’s arms wrapped around me eased. He didn’t let go, shaking himself as his fingers fell from my mouth and I took a clean breath of air, almost a sob.

“I opine that was as near to death as I’ll get afore I make a die of it again,” he said softly.