She darts away from the window and appears at the front door, before running down the stairs towards me. She stops short when she sees the state that I’m in and I see the devastation and panic in her eyes.
“Oh, my God,” she breathes. “Oh, my God… Artem…”
“It’s not what you think,” I say hurriedly, before I can think things through.
I can’t tell her the truth.
I can’t bear to destroy the happiness that’s radiated from her ever since we arrived in these mountains.
I say the first excuse that pops into my head. “It was a deer.”
“A deer?” she repeats incredulously.
I nod and force a smile onto my face. “It’s the craziest story, but… this is just deer blood,” I say. “I’m fine.”
She stares at me for a long moment.
For a second, I think she’s going to call my bluff. Demand to know what r
