He smiled. “All right. I was just asking.”
Before long, two heaping plates were placed in front of us. I watched Kevin eat a bite of his first before cutting a piece of mine. The warm, soft dish was perfect. I especially loved the banana. I had expected the fruit on the side. The closest comparison in Energo was a type of pastry we usually reserved for special occasions.
Kevin nodded at my empty plate. “Glad you liked it.”
“I would eat that again.”
“Good to know.”
He paid the bill, and we walked back out to the car.
“This is our last stop before we set out on foot, is it not?”
“Yeah. We need to make up lost time. We’re supposed to meet Charlotte in two days.”
“Then I am glad we had pancakes. It will be good motivation to get out alive.”
“Is that a joke?” He held open my door. I wondered if that was the typical gesture of a man in the lost world. Maybe they were more polite than I assumed.
“Yes.”
“Nice. I like it.”
***
“Well, if we’re going to willingly walk into the Alaskan wilderness, at least we’re wearing the right stuff.” Kevin pulled on the hood of his coat.
“Hopefully, these clothes can really protect us down to twenty degrees below freezing as the tag says.” I was not positive if we measured temperature the same way, but I assumed the word freezing was universal. Twenty degrees below that was cold.
“I was thinking the same thing about the sleeping bags.”
I adjusted the fancy pack on my back. I had never seen such a thing before, but evidently it was also meant for cold weather. “You packed that old map of Monty’s right?”
“Yes. We should be able to locate the gate to Kenset as soon as we find the Onyx.” Kevin took out a length of rope, attaching one end to him and the other to me. He had come a long way with the survival skills since we had first met. “We need to stay together. The storm’s let up, but it’s going to be rough.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
My new boots kept my feet warm and dry as we moved through the snow. The wind picked up the farther we moved from the car, and I was grateful for the surprisingly warm clothing. I had never seen materials that could be so warm even though they were thin.
Kevin took the lead, and I stayed close. We did our best to follow the coordinates, but as the storm picked up again, I did not know how far we could make it. My body ached, and the cold seemed to magnify my exhaustion. I followed Kevin almost blindly as the storm swirled around us.
Hours passed, and I could barely feel my limbs. The cold stung, and even the best clothing could not prevent the deep chill from penetrating my bones. For the first time, I started to doubt our mission. Could we really fight the cold long enough to find the Onyx? What if Kevin’s father was wrong about the location? We could not afford to wander around this terrain. We were already spending too much time in the elements.
My body fell forward, and I stopped just before I reached the edge of a deep crevice. Kevin was already halfway down. The only thing keeping him from falling farther was me, and I was barely able to hold his weight. My heart beat a mile a minute. I summoned every ounce of strength I had and pulled. At first, the effort was useless. Any movement up was followed by him slipping back down, but finally, his head peeked out from the white ground. His expression of pain and fear was all I needed to muster greater strength. I pulled again, and combined with the momentum of his own frantic efforts, we were able to pull the rest of his body up.
“You saved me.” The words spilled through his blue lips, and all I wanted to do was kiss him.
I eyed blood seeping from his pant leg. “Do you need to rest? Can you go on?”
“Yes.” Instead of moving forward, he hugged me.
I hugged him back, knowing that the physical contact said more than his words could.
I used a medic kit from my pack to make a tourniquet, but that only slowed the blood loss. His leg still had to bear his weight. We could barely see a foot ahead of us. We were both frozen.
“We cannot make it much further in this storm. We need to find shelter.”
“Maybe we can find a natural shelter if we head back over to the mountain.” Kevin struggled to speak.
We took off toward the mountain, and I kept my eyes open for an overhang. We needed to find some cover. I tried to get Kevin to put some of his weight on me, but he fought against it. Either he was too proud or too afraid I could not handle it. I assumed it was the former since I had proven my strength to him already. After nearly an hour of searching, I considered just setting up a tent outside. Getting Kevin off his bad leg was important.
Then, I spotted the entrance to a small cave. Each step felt like a mile until we squeezed through the tiny entrance.
“Even covered, it’s going to be cold.” Kevin sat down on the floor of the cave. He grimaced when he tried to stretch out his leg.
I pulled aside his pants leg and examined the cut. The wound wasn’t as deep as I originally thought, but there was significant bruising all around it. Kevin shivered as I replaced his bandage. Even more than the injury, we had to worry about staying warm.
“Body heat. That is the best way to stay warm.”
Kevin winced. “As in, nothing between us body heat?”
“Do you know of a better way to stay warm tonight?”
He shook his head. “You don’t need to twist my arm.”
“Can we both fit in one sleeping bag? Is there a way to connect them?”
“So you’re completely serious?”
“Yes, Kevin. I am serious.”
“We can try one. Want me to turn around while you get changed?”
“Just get undressed and in the bag.” I appreciated his attempt at chivalry, but it was not the time to be embarrassed. We need to strip and get warm. I knew enough about survival skills to know we had been outside too long.
I waited until Kevin unrolled the blue sleeping bag before pulling off my clothes. I tried not to look, but I could not help it once he took off his pants. He wore shorts, but I still got quite an eyeful of his muscular body.
I slipped into the bag. “Come in, Kevin. This stalling will not help us at all.”
He looked nervous for a moment before joining me. His body felt cold at first; the extra few moments of hesitation had cost him heat. We held each other while shivering and listening to the storm. After a while, our bodies warmed, and the shivering died down. Not everything stayed calm though. Kevin’s body made his interest in me very clear.
“That isn’t my fault.”
With only the light of the moon, I could not see his face. “I suppose it is mine.”
“I’m not saying it’s your fault.”
“It is a joke, Kevin.”
“Oh.”
I snuggled closer against him, wanting to lose myself in his warmth. I moved one of my hands to his chest, loving the feel of the muscular planes.
He chuckled. “This might be seen as torture to some.”
“Torture?”
“Being in a sleeping bag with a beautiful naked woman who you’re crazy about… it’s hard to keep my hands to myself, to say the least.”
“Your hands are not being left to yourself.” I ran a hand down his arm that was currently wrapped around me.
“You know what I mean.”
“You did not keep them to yourself last night. Why should you now?” Where had those words come from?
“You don’t mean?”
“I almost lost you today…”
“And that means you’re ready?”
“I have been ready a long time. I just needed to know you felt as I do.”
“And you believe that now?” His voice was soft.
“After I pulled you out… the way you looked at me…”
“I love you, Samantha.” His lips brushed against my ear. The words and touch caused a chill to run through me.
“I love you
, Kevin.”
“I will never let you down.”
He kissed me, and I knew my life was forever changed.
Chapter Sixteen
Kevin
The world stood still, or at least that was how it felt. I held Samantha in my arms, and I knew she belonged there. Outside, the storm continued, but inside our little cocoon, nothing touched us.
“Did that mean the same thing to you?” she asked.
I brushed some hair away from her face. “Yes. If we make it out of this alive, you’ll have to explain the whole uniting thing to me.”
“We will get out alive, and I will hold you to it, Kevin.”
“You better, and I love how you say my name.”
“Kevin? Do I say it differently than others?”
“Maybe it’s just the way it sounds on your lips.” I kissed her lightly.
“I like how you say my name, too.”
“Yeah? How do I say Samantha?” I asked.
“Say it normally.”
“Samantha.”
“Do you realize we did not worry about a watch tonight?”
“I can’t wait until all of this is over and we can forget about sleeping in shifts. I plan on sleeping with you like this every night.”
“Like this? Squished together?”
I kissed her gently. “Yes. Squished together naked with you in a sleeping bag. It’s quite comfortable.”
“I might prefer a bed.”
“Hmm… okay, only if we keep the squished together naked part.” I ran a hand down that beautiful body of hers. I dreaded facing the cold and losing the feel of her warm body pressed against mine.
“We need to get moving.”
“I know. It’s time to find the Onyx.”
***
When the storm passed, we packed up our gear and headed outside. My leg felt better, but I wasn’t looking forward to walking on it again. The lake was visible only a few miles down the mountain, so we made our way back through the snow.
“Do you think the ice is solid?” I asked. We’d reached the lake, the part I was most worried about.
“Yes.”
I took out the GPS and checked the coordinates. “Well, I hope so. We need to get to the center.”
“Very convenient.”
I smiled. I liked it when Samantha was sarcastic. “On the positive side, the lake is frozen, so we can walk on it. On the negative side, we have to break through the ice to get the Onyx.”
“We can do this.”
“Well, I don’t see any other choice.” The dry suit fit like a glove, and theoretically, it was designed for arctic water, but the thought of jumping into the frigid water still sounded completely unappealing.
We used the drill to cut a hole in the ice double the size of my body. At least Dad had been prepared with the tools. Still, after my fall the day before, I didn’t like the idea of jumping through the ice. I tried not to think about it, but what I was about to do was crazy. For all I knew, the Onyx wasn’t there. I really hoped Dad’s coordinates were correct.
I took a deep breath before pulling the mask over my face. I didn’t have an oxygen tank, but at least the suit meant I was somewhat prepared.
The lake was dark and murky, nothing like the oceans where I’d scuba dived. I held my breath as long as I could while searching for something that could possibly be a powerful stone. Nothing. The water was only about twenty feet deep, but the limited visibility made it difficult to see. After searching the lake floor for over a minute, I had to surface for air. Thankfully, the ice hole glowed with light.
I gulped down air as Samantha watched me worriedly. I didn’t stop for long. Giving up wasn’t an option. Back underneath the water, I scanned the area. I wished I were Charlotte and could sense things as she did. Then, I noticed a small metal box covered with green algae. I grabbed it and swam to the surface. Samantha pulled me out and covered me with a thick blanket.
I handed the square, black box to Samantha. She tried to open the box first, but the lid didn’t budge. “Here.” She handed it to me.
I prepared to wrestle with it, but the lid opened as soon as I touched it. I looked up at Samantha in shock.
She shrugged. “Maybe only a Winthrop can open it. That would be a smart precaution. Maybe that is why you had to be the one to retrieve it.”
I nodded. “I guess so.” I glanced back down at the open box in my hands. “This is it?” I picked up the round black stone, roughly the size of a golf ball, and turned it over in my hand. For its size, the rock seemed heavy. The smooth stone didn’t appear any different from a thousand other rocks I’d seen.
“Yes. It is smaller than I expected, but we should not let that fool us. It is still powerful.”
“I wonder what it does.”
“We can talk about that later. Right now, we have to get you warm, Kevin.”
“Body heat?” I asked through chattering teeth.
She smiled slightly. “The gate should be just beyond those trees. Can you make it?”
I followed her gaze to a clump of evergreen trees probably a half mile away. “Only if you promise me body heat.”
“Now is not the time to joke.”
“I’m going to be okay. The dry suit helped.”
“You still need warmth. We must go.”
We grabbed our gear, and I carefully stowed the Onyx in my coat pocket. The box was too bulky, so I put that in my pack. I didn’t love the extra weight, but I figured it might be useful later.
We slowly pushed through the snow. Between the cold and the ache in my leg, I desperately wanted to find someplace warm and dry. Samantha kept her eyes straight ahead. She was so tough and determined.
“Over there.” I could barely make out the snow-covered structure in the distance. It was the only thing that could possibly be the gate. We used our gloved hands to brush off the snow from the frozen metal gate.
I paused. “Let’s hope this key works.”
I inserted the key and twisted. At first, the key wouldn’t budge, but with a bit more effort, I was able to turn it. I pushed on the gate, letting the door swing wide open before leaning in to investigate. All I could see were trees, so I took a tentative step through the opening with Samantha right behind me.
I looked up at the sun, loving the way it felt on my chilled body. “Wow! that feels good.” If I couldn’t get naked snuggling with Samantha, the sun was the second best way to warm up. “So this is Kenset, huh?” The only thing we had to go by was Monty’s map. I assumed they at least got the nation right. I didn’t see anything that distinguished the landscape from my own world. We were in a grove of tall trees, and the rest of the vegetation looked familiar, too. The only thing that seemed off was how quiet it was. Usually a forest would be full of all sorts of noises. Maybe there weren’t any animals.
“I assume so. I have no idea how we get from here to Energo, but I trust we will find someone who knows.”
“We need to find Ollis.” I thought about my friend on the Pact council. I’d earned his respect by holding my liquor—but I think it went beyond that. There was a true camaraderie there that I hoped I could rely on.
“You make it sound easy. He is the representative for the Pact. He could be anywhere.”
“Is there a capital?” I scoured my memory for any hints Ollis might have given. If I’d known how important he’d be, I would have at least feigned interest in his nation.
“Yes. Maldin. I think it is in the western section of Kenset.”
I pulled out my compass. The needle spiraled without settling on a direction. “Yeah, so this obviously doesn’t work here. Any idea where west would be?”
She pointed toward a thick growth of trees. “It is that way.”
“What makes you say that?”
“The sun.”
“Okay. You can teach me later.”
We walked toward the forest. The trees were denser than I expected, blocking out almost all sunlight. Samantha moved closer to my side. It was n
ice how she viewed me as protection, whether she’d ever admit it or not.
“What was that?” she whispered.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“I saw a blur. Someone is following us.”
“Really?” I glanced around, seeing nothing but trees.
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