“I’m sorry,” she rasps. I touch her throat. He hurt her. “This was a dumb idea.”
“It’s okay; my idea was dumb, too.”
“To stop killing?
“Yeah.”
“Yeah,” she agrees before she gives a husky laugh. I start laughing with her.
“Maybe next time, you can be more clear in your note that you aren’t leaving me for good.”
“Sorry,” she sighs. “I wanted this to be a surprise.”
“Well, you accomplished the surprise part pretty well, at least.” Her phone starts vibrating in her pocket. She pulls it from her coat. It says “mom” on the screen.
“Hey,” she says, flicking it on speakerphone.
“Hi, Sophie. Is Soren there with you?” Her mother asks tentatively.
“Yeah,” Sophie says, smiling at me. I smile back. “We’re together.”
“Right, well… we opened some presents.” A long moment of silence stretches between the three of us.
Sophie suddenly bursts out laughing, tears falling from her eyes. I start laughing, too. She sits up, throws her phone off the cliff, and flops back down next to me in the snow. I touch her face. She’s mine—really and truly.
“I love you,” she says breathily, carefree almost.
“I love you too. I promise.” I flash her a smile. “Psychopath’s honor.” I cross my heart. She snorts.
“I believe you. But Soren, how fucked are we?” She groans.
“Depends on when we make it back,” I say, looking at my phone. “If we hurry, everything will work out.”
“Oh, why's that?” She laughs.
“I’ll drug them. They won’t remember a thing.”
“Are you serious?” Her eyes bug. I shrug.
“Yeah, absolutely. I’m in the medical field. Don’t worry. Pop ‘em a little forget-me pill. They’ll all go down for a nice nap. Oh! Gives us time to wrap the real presents we got delivered too.”
“I get the feeling this is going to happen a lot,” she sighs. “Why are you smiling about that?”
“Because that means you’re really staying. And that we’ll host your family again.”
“The prospect of drugging my family multiple times makes my husband excited,” she groans.
“Husband, eh?”
“I’ve gotten used to saying it.” Sophie blushes. Her lips are cold when I kiss her.
“Come on.” I pull her into my arms and start to carry her back down the hill.
“Thank you for saving me.” Her frigid fingers touch my jaw.
“I’ll always save you.”
“I know.”
