Nothing. Just snow and wind and darkness.
What if they can’t find me? What if the storm’s too bad? What if Ben tried to drive and got stuck too and now there’s two of us out here freezing to death?
Stop it. Stop spiraling. You called for help. Help is coming. Just wait.
I flex my fingers, wincing at the sting. My hands are still raw from trying to dig out the car. The skin is red and cracked, a few spots bleeding sluggishly.
Idiot move, Tessa. Really smart. Now you have frostbitten fingers AND you’re still stuck.
The clock ticks over. Almost two hours since I got stuck. Close to an hour since Ben said they were coming. Where are they?
And then?—
A light.
I sit up straight, heart hammering, and press my face to the window.
There. A flashlight beam cutting through the white. Then another. Then?—
Three figures. Moving through the blizzard, barely visible through the white. They’re roped together, I realize, connected so they don’t lose each other in the storm.
Three?
He said “we” on the phone, but I figured maybe one other person. Not three. Who else came out in this?
They walked. They actually walked.
For me.
I grab my purse, shoving my phone inside, then fumble for the door handle. It sticks, snow packed against the outside, and I have to throw my shoulder against it before it finally pops open.
The wind nearly knocks me down.
I stumble out into the storm, purse clutched against my chest, snow driving into my face, stealing my breath. I can’t see, can’t breathe, can barely stand?—
“Tessa!”
Arms catch me. Strong, steady, sure. A scent that cuts through the cold—cedarwood and honey and something warm underneath.
Elijah.
“I’ve got you.” Low and rough, his voice barely audible over the wind.
And then I’m being lifted. Scooped up like I weigh nothing, cradled against a broad chest.
“No.” I shove at his chest, hard. “Put me down. I can walk.”
“You’re not walking.” That’s Ben, appearing out of the white. His face is red from cold, ice in his hair, and he looks furious. “It’s twenty minutes back in good weather—twice that in this. You’re half frozen.”
“I’m fine. Put me down.”
“Tessa—”
“Put. Me. Down.”
Elijah hesitates, looks at Ben, then sets me on my feet.
The wind hits me like a wall. I stagger, catch myself, and take a step forward.
