“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
Shifting uncomfortably, he amended, “I’llbefine. I wanted this to be about you. Quit worrying and take a nap. I’ll wake you once the storm lightens up.”
“Okay,” she grumbled, settling back against his chest. “But I’m keeping track. There’s a sticky note in my brain that says, ‘I owe Derek one happy ending.’”
He laughed. “I’m definitely collecting on that. Now sleep.”
Without any further argument, she closed her eyes and almost instantly went limp. Then, he just held her, loving that he could.
* * *
All of this—Chase falling through the ice, running off, getting lost—was her fault. Zoe tightened her arms around Maya, knowing that it wouldn’t help, that it wouldn’t make them be warm or safe at home. She was a bad sister. Now it was getting dark. Although she hated to admit it, Zoe was terrified of the dark.
Her seat was numb under her jeans, thanks to the cold rock under her. Even though she’d always been told to stay in one spot if she got lost, she knew there was no way they could be seen where they were. When the wind had really started raging, Maya had almost been blown off the edge of a ledge. Zoe knew they couldn’t keep walking, so they’d wedged themselves into a hidden spot between two large boulders. Now, though, it sounded as if the wind had died down a little.
“Maya.” When her little sister didn’t respond, Zoe jostled her lightly. “C’mon. We have to move.”
“C-can’t w-w-we stay h-here?” Maya was shaking so hard that the words were interrupted by her teeth clicking together.
“No one’ll find us in here.” As she stood, Zoe unsuccessfully tried to pull Maya to her feet. It was amazing how much her tiny sister weighed when she went limp. Tears threatened, but Zoe forced them back. “Maya. We need to walk. You’ll stay warmer that way, too.”
“I th-thought we didn’t w-want anyone to f-f-find us,” Maya whined through chattering teeth, but she allowed Zoe to pull her to standing.
A jolt of fear shot through Zoe at the thought of what would happen when they were found. Looking at her shivering sister made her more scared of what would happen if theyweren’tfound, though, so she took Maya’s hand and led her back to the path.
Between the low light and the snow, it was hard to see things on the trail, and Zoe kept tripping. As she walked, her toes went from numb to painful pins and needles. She wished they’d stayed numb. She wished she had a flashlight. She wished her dad was there. She wished she’d never had the stupid, stupid idea to egg Chase into walking out onto the ice. She wished she’d just stayed and taken her punishment, so that Maya wouldn’t be here, cold and hungry and scared, just like Zoe.
Something moved in front of them.
“What w-was that?” Maya whispered.
Squinting through the dusk, Zoe opened her mouth, ready to tell her sister that she didn’t know, that it was nothing, just a shadow or a trick of the dark. Then it shifted closer, morphing into the terrifying shape of a mountain lion, and the reassuring words she was about to utter turned into a scream.
* * *
Every step hurt. She knew that Derek was watching her carefully. He’d wanted to stay at the cabin longer, but she couldn’t stay cuddled with Derek while their friends were slogging through the snow, searching for them. It had been almost impossible, though, to force herself to leave his arms and the tiny, ramshackle cabin.
Trying to mask her limp was making it worse, but Artie was worried what would happen if she stopped trying to hide it. He’d either insist on carrying her or make her stop so he could light a flare, and then all the searchers would converge on them, endangering everyone for the second time that day for an injured would-be rescuer who’d gotten all of them into this mess in the first place by being such a crappy chaperone.
Gritting her teeth against the pain and the guilt, she swept her flashlight in a steady rhythm, watching for obstacles on the trail and boogeymen in the bushes. Instead, the light reflected against the swirling snow. The toe of her boot caught on the edge of a rock, making her stumble and sending a shock of agony through her right knee.
“Artemis…”
“I’m fine,” she barked, focusing the beam of her flashlight on the area ahead of her. The wind had eased slightly, to her relief, allowing a half inch of snow to settle on the ground. Then an odd depression in the white blanket caught the light, and Artie stopped abruptly, her bad knee forgotten.
“What is it?” Derek asked from right behind her.
“Prints.” Keeping the light focused on it, she forced herself to step closer. Crouching, she extended her right leg to the side so she wouldn’t have to bend her bad knee. It was a total giveaway that she was hurting, but the new discovery trumped hiding her injury from Derek. “What does that look like to you?”
Even with her attention focused on the impression in the snow, she could tell he stiffened. He leaned closer to look over her shoulder at the print, his chest lightly brushing her back. “That”—his voice was quiet and eerily calm—“looks like the paw print of a really big cat.”
Not wanting to be crouching and vulnerable any longer, Artie stood so quickly that she clipped Derek’s chin with her shoulder.
“Ow.”
“Sorry.” She moved her flashlight, searching farther along the trail. Her stomach dipped when she found them—neat, even rows of overlapping paw prints. “Mountain lion?”
