“Nowhere near the other side yet.” Better to crush the hope now. No point letting it linger. Like trust, hope was pointless bullshit that only led to disappointment.
And death.
Geez. Morose much?
He swiped a hand over his face to clear the water from his eyes. Had the rain slowed?
It had better not. It was too early. As long as it continued, keeping the helicopter from joining in the manhunt, he and Leo could outpace the enemy. He glanced back. Where there’d been nothing only a short while ago, the other bank now appeared as a dark, hazy mass, the mountain like something out of one of those Japanese pen-and-ink drawings. The weather was improving. Dammit. “Come on. Gotta hurry.”
Instead of following his gaze and looking over her shoulder to confirm whatever he’d seen, she picked up her pace. As if she believed him. Trusted him.
He shivered and tried to shake off the extra weight on his shoulders. Damn word again.
“What is it?” She glanced up at him.
“Rain’s slowing down.”
After a few minutes fighting the headwind, bent almost double, she spoke again, her voice barely audible. “You’re worried about the aircraft returning.”
He nodded.
“So, what? You think they’ll hunt us down across the ice? And when the sun comes out, pick us off from above like…”
“Alaskan wolves?”
Unless he was mistaken, they’d shoot her on sight. She was expendable. More collateral damage in a senseless war. He sped up. Pushed himself faster, harder.
He was a different story. They needed what he had.
Or they thought they did. Either way, they’d stop at nothing.
He knew this from experience.
“Guess we’d better hurry across, then, huh?”
“Yeah. And once we make it, pray the ice cracks.” He forced a grim smirk to his lips. “With them on it.”
She stumbled, righted herself, and nodded. “Will do.”
***
Leo was not used to being the ball and chain in situations like this. She was used to speeding ahead, her body strong, her mind clear.
Right now, neither was true. But if she focused on a far-off object, she could keep up. The second she turned to the side or slowed or looked at the ground, she lost her steam.
Then again, even without the head injury and a body that felt beaten and broken, she would have had difficulty matching Elias’s pace. It wasn’t just that he was fast either. It was that he was fast in a place that wasn’t meant for humans. It was made for wolves and bears. Leo eyed the man’s wide back. And yetis, oh my.
Elias’s hand lifted, the movement sharp and sudden, and Leo froze instantly, eyes wide-open in the drizzle, poised for whatever came next.
Her eyes dipped to take in what she could see of his solid, muscle-bound form. He had the sure, careful gait of a man who’d definitely seen action. Of all kinds, whispered a lascivious little inner voice.
She blinked. What the hell was that? Had the bump to her head damaged her brain?
No, she reasoned. The action, the fatigue, and the stress of this situation felt like being back on deployment, where shit-talking was the norm. Except here she was having dirty, trash-talking conversations in her head instead of with her guys.
She flicked a look around, searching for whatever had made him freeze, and instantly regretted it when the world spun out of control.
The protein bar he’d foisted on her burned its way out of her belly and up her throat as her knees tried to give out.
Oh, hell. Not again.
She straightened her knees, swallowed to keep from gagging, and blinked fast and hard to keep the world right side up. Bile down. Air in. Bile down. Air out.
Her vision blurred, darkened. She shut her eyes and waited for the wave to pass.
When she opened them, Elias squatted beside her and leaned in, hand outstretched.
Whoa. Had she fallen?
“I…I’m fine. I can get up.” Maybe. If she concentrated really hard. Ignoring his hand—not to be a jerk, but because depending on him seemed like a long, slippery slope in a world of slippery slopes—she shifted back, steadied herself, and shoved up to standing, eyes screwed tight until the spins went away. Mostly. The ringing in her ears continued. Not a good sign.
“You walk?”
No. “Yes.” Definitely maybe. She put as much certainty into the word as she could. Sometimes confidence was all a girl had.
He pulled away, then returned with a curse when she started another slow slide earthward. Iceward.
“It’s fine,” she tried, but the words slurred together to make a sibilant mess in her mouth. “I’m fine. Don’t carry me. I can…”
He didn’t release her. Didn’t even look her way. Just trudged on, lugging her with him. The two of them a sodden, limping mass of humanity, with the happy dog leading.
Oh God. “Hang on.” She managed to pull away and yank her ski mask up just before throwing up on the ice. The pressure made her head feel close to exploding. Once she caught her breath, she breathed deep.
“Sorry.” Groaning, she put her hands to her streaming eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He didn’t respond.
When she looked up, it was to find him staring back in the direction from which they’d come.
“Let’s go.” The words were staccato quick. She grabbed the hand he offered this time and let him help her to standing just as a sharp bark burst through the quiet, so loud that she didn’t know where it had come from at first. Then another and another, the echoes pinging from one side of the lake to the other until the dueling retorts sounded more like rolling thunder than individual gunshots.
Gunshots.
Adrenaline was already pouring into her system by the time she recognized the sound. And this guy, superhuman machine that he was, didn’t even flinch when a bullet hit the ice inches from his foot—sending crystal in all directions, the shards sticking to his dog’s fur like minuscule chunks of glass. Aside from a grunt, his only response was to grab Leo, throw her over his shoulder, and run.
Chapter 15
Ash spun, ready to throttle whatever absolute wanker had fired a weapon. Were they idiots?
Deegan’s team—or what was left of it—was behind this. He couldn’t see them, but he knew they were there. The cretins had spent all morning thrashing through the woods, as if they were alone in the world. And now this.
He’d bet the shot hadn’t connected.
And the next had bloody well not either, or he’d have to pick off his ostensible allies himself before going after his far more intelligent quarry. Nobody was supposed to be killing their target. That wasn’t their mission. And it certainly wasn’t his.
He made his way to the cliff’s edge and put his thermal monocular to his eye just in time to catch a heat signature southwest of him. Almost in the very center of the ice. He could only assume it was the two he’d been following all along, with the dog, though it was difficult to tell from this distance.
He narrowed his eyes at the loping shape, almost sure that it was a running person.
It could be an elk, he supposed, or even a bear, though neither animal would venture onto ice that could be just hours from falling apart.
There! Another shape, low to the ground. That must be the dog. So, where was the second person?
He watched for a few moments before the truth hit him. He’s carrying her, he thought, his stomach dancing. Who were these people?
Goose bumps spread out over his skin, with shivers of excitement rather than cold.
The edge of the lake, he could see, even through the mixed precipitation and even from this height, was beginning to get that mottled look that said the ice was close to breaking.
My God. They were doing it, weren’t they? Ballsy bastard, whoe
ver he was.
He swung the monocular left, toward Deegan and his team who, like Ash, were too far above the lake to reach it in good time.
Assuming that he was right and that was his target racing across the kilometers-wide lake, then the man had taken the risk of heading out onto the ice knowing full well that whomever followed would likely get caught in the breakup.
Quite the gamble, wasn’t it?
Unpredictable. Another long, slow shiver went through Ash. His quarry was not to be underestimated. He didn’t know yet if this was good or bad, but it stirred him. He hadn’t felt this energetic in forever.
After a final look at where the man and woman and dog made their way across treacherously thin ice toward the other side of the lake, followed by a deep breath, he set off again, rounding the lake to the other side. It might take him longer than Deegan’s team, but at least he’d get there with his life. He couldn’t say the same for them. Then again, if the lake took those fools, that would be one less problem to solve.
Spurred on by the excitement of the chase, he started off again, slow and sure and steady, the way he’d always stalked his prey—human or otherwise.
***
Elias jogged through a frosted mist, so thin it was more cloud than rain. Beneath his feet, the lake was a soggy ice rink, wet and frozen and melting all at once. One misstep and they’d go down. Except smashing to the ground at this point could be a whole lot worse than a broken coccyx or a twisted ankle. It could shoot the three of them straight through the quickly weakening crust into the treacherous water beneath.
A death sentence.
“They’ve stopped shooting,” Leo called, her head hanging at waist level. “I’ll walk.” When he didn’t respond, she smacked him on the ass. “Elias! Put me down. Please.”
“I’ve got you,” he huffed out, tightening his hold, adjusting her weight. “I got you.”
“Come on, Elias, we’ve outrun them. Put me down.”
He wanted to set her down—he meant to. He just couldn’t.
“Too dangerous,” he muttered.
Driven by something stronger than him, he humped on, listening for more shots, voices, and below it all, like the rumbling of a volcano about to blow, the telltale crackle of ice pulling apart. A glance at Bo showed her scraggly wet fur tufted along the spine. “Away,” he whispered to his dog, hoping that dispersing their weight would lessen the chances of falling in. Because breakup was coming. And if this rain continued, it could happen today.
“Put. Me. Down.” She smacked his hip with each word. “I swear I’ll vomit on you.”
The threat didn’t bother him, but he slowed anyway. She was right. He couldn’t keep going for long like this. He squatted, let her slide to her feet, and studied her from below, ready to intervene if she passed out or anything. “You gonna throw up?” He kept his hands wrapped around her legs at the knee. To help her, not because he needed steadying.
“I should. Just to get back at you for ignoring me.” She glared at him before turning to Bo. “He do this to you too?” Bo cocked her head, ears pricked, listening. “Or is it just females of the human persuasion?”
Bo yapped a reply and a grin pulled at Elias’s mouth. Which would have been strange under normal circumstances. Out here, in pain and running for his life, stranded in the middle of a body of water as dangerous as a minefield, it was completely bizarre.
Dropping the smile, he rose. “Come on.”
“Wait. I didn’t clock them. Where were they? On the ice? They gonna shoot at us again?”
He turned to scan the horizon. “Doubtful.”
“Why?”
With a nod, he pointed out a rock shelf high above the lake. “See the dark point, straight over that way?”
“Dark point? You mean at the top of the cliff I almost crashed into?”
He grunted.
“I see it.”
Moving in close, he lowered his head to line up with hers and indicated a high, tree-covered rise. “The rifle shots came from that direction. Just down from my cabin.”
“Okay.”
“Only way off the cliff is through the woods. It’ll take ’em a while.” Unless the helicopter managed to get here. Then all bets were off.
She squinted. “Don’t see any movement.”
“I’d imagine they’re heading down now.” Something jittery ran through him. “To the lake.”
“Those shots came awfully close. They can’t be that far behind.”
“They’ll hit the ice soon. We need to go.”
“Are you saying that we got that head start we needed?”
“I’m saying that by the time they get to where we’re standing right now, this lake’ll be water.” He threw a look up at the sky. “If we’re lucky.” He bent into the wind again, the chill settling hard in his bones. “Better go fast so we don’t get caught in our own trap.”
That was the problem with nature. You couldn’t count on her to be on your side. Even if it was the right one.
She muttered something under her breath and followed in his footsteps.
The air grew noticeably cooler as they crossed, the winds stronger in the middle of the lake. Above them, the sky was as clogged with clouds as ever.
He tried to forge on, but Leo lagged.
He glanced her way, looked down at her boots and back up. Was she hypothermic? She was so little that even with the thick hood on, the top of her head didn’t hit his shoulder.
Little, but not weak.
He threw another surreptitious look her way, scanning her figure from top to bottom and back up again. Under those thick outer layers was a strong, agile body. Before she’d added those bulky layers, he’d had an impression of curves. She was narrow, but not frail. Strong, but breakable.
Vulnerable.
And wounded, dammit.
He wanted to pick her up again. Wanted to sprint straight to the other side and not stop until he got her to safety.
But those assholes would be right on their tail. And where the hell was safety anyway? Schink’s Station was undoubtedly compromised. Once these guys marked you, you were as good as dead. As far as he knew, he was the only one who’d ever gotten away.
Then again, what did he know? Maybe there was a whole underground network out there, of folks like Leo, who’d gone against the people behind this and survived.
“The people” being the U.S. government sort of complicated things.
A sense of urgency rushed him, adrenaline ridding his body of everything but the need to run. “Come on.”
“Are they gaining? You see them?” She turned to look back. “You just said they were a couple hours behind us.”
“Hours aren’t enough.”
Would Leo have a place to hide out in the world? She said she worked with a team. That was good. Safety in numbers and all that.
So, what the hell was she doing out here alone?
They picked up their pace, which wasn’t easy given that he needed to test the ice with his pole every couple of feet. Her breath was audibly ragged, even with the racket of wind and rain and the cacophony of crackling ice all around. Her head was bad enough, but God forbid she’d suffered some kind of internal damage in the crash, because that wasn’t something he was equipped to deal with.
The thought sent something hot and bloodthirsty running through him, put murder in his veins.
“If only we could crack the ice.”
“What?” She squinted up at him, and it was all he could do not to take her shoulders in his hands and pull her into his arms. Which would be weird. “You want to…” She panted. “Break the ice?” And then, the woman laughed. “Feel like we kinda did that last night, don’t you?”
Something shifted far behind them. It rumbled beneath their feet, like an earthquake. The kind of sound that made every living creatu
re stop and take notice.
“Made you smi—” She slipped and caught herself, legs apart, eyes wide, arms suspended, the stance so Bambi-like that he almost laughed.
“That made me smile,” he said, more to get a rise out of her than because it was true.
She threw a dirty look his way, snagged his arm, and pulled herself back up to standing.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s get off this thing.” Clenching his sleeve in one hand, the other still up, like an acrobat balancing on a high wire, she asked, “What happens if it breaks now? With us on it?”
“We swim.” He turned to continue walking. “And hope we’re close enough to shore to survive.”
“Great. Just freaking great.”
He’d gone maybe a hundred yards in her cautious footsteps before he realized that, for reasons he couldn’t begin to explain, he wore a massive grin.
Chapter 16
No more gunshots, no sign of their pursuers. Still, they kept moving at a quick clip. Which wasn’t particularly good in this cold. If they weren’t careful, they’d sweat and the sweat would freeze. Hypothermia was right around the corner.
Meanwhile, a fog rolled in fast and thick, surprisingly opaque, given the continuing rain. Right. Probably didn’t need to worry about sweating when they were already soaked through.
He blinked at the landscape around them. Were they going the right way? The run had disoriented him.
He shifted the bag on his shoulders, cringed, and squinted. There. Was that Dead Tree? No. Just a pine. He turned, stumbled, and just barely managed to stay on his feet.
He shut his eyes for a few seconds, breathed until his pulse slowed, then opened them. There was Dead Tree, its branches spread wide, the tallest of the bunch raised up like a spindly middle finger, towering over the trees around it. And, though it wasn’t visible right now, beyond it was the first in a long line of peaks. Unlike the mountains they’d just left, they weren’t white-capped beasts soaring to blend with the sky. These hunkered low and dark, rooted in the earth, veins of copper and gold, silver and zinc, pulsing straight from her core.
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