“And a backup for the backup.”
Her eyes cut over to him again. Was this an actual Ice Man joke? Nope. Same stern Batman mouth, hard and somehow kissable all at once.
What the hell?Not kissable. She craned her neck to look behind them as they pulled away.
What is wrong with me?His mouth was about the most rigid thing she’d ever seen. Kissing it would be like putting your lips to a Greek statue.
Except she didn’t actually believe that anymore. And suddenly, the hot-blooded, reckless part of her that had tried to get him to dance demanded that she find out.
“No.” The whispered word popped out hard, low, and guttural.
“What?”
“Nothing.” The station was invisible now, behind a hazy screen of wind-blown snow.
When she finally turned back toward the front, she caught him eyeing her for a few long beats.
“Also brought a compass,” he offered.
“I thought those didn’t work at the poles.”
“We’re far enough from the magnetic pole for it to work. Besides, the farther we get from ninety south, the better off we’ll be.”
“Good. Good.” She nodded and let the passing landscape blur into one big white nightmare, feeling…alive?
How was that even possible?
Well, I’m not dead.
She turned to take in the man beside her. And because this man had saved her life, because he was the only hope she had, because her world right now wasn’t this landscape they chugged slowly across, buthim, she leaned forward to place her gloved hand over his, and spoke. “Thank you, Ford.”
“Don’t thank me, Angel.” His voice was uglier than its usual croak, as ifthank yous rubbed him the wrong way. “’Cause things are gonna get a lot worse before they get better.”
Chapter 16
Day 1—254 Miles to Volkov Station—21 Days of Food Remaining
The PistenBully cut off suddenly, its silence filling Coop’s head as fully as the engine noise had. They came to a slow, eerily quiet stop.
Above them, the sky was a perfect blue, the sun’s focused rays heating the vehicle’s interior so that they’d needed only a couple layers for the ride. Aside from minor variations in the surface of the ice, there was nothing outside to break up the view.
Coop knew exactly how much this vast place contained: limitless untold secrets inside each layer of ice, each molecule. It was beautiful, this pure, endlessly repetitive landscape.
But then he looked at the woman passed out in the seat beside him and the ice had never looked so unpredictable.
He forced his eyes away from her. “Angel.”
She stirred with a sleepy sound that went straight to his groin.
“We’re, uh…” He cleared his throat and stared outside rather than watching her slow, sleepy awakening. “We’re out of fuel. Time to start skiing.”
“Oh.” She sat up, appearing alert and ready. “Right. Right. I’m awake.”
“Let’s have a snack in here and get going.”
Without a word, she dug into the pack at her feet, handed him a bar, and opened up one of her own. No argument, no questions, no delays. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from her, but it hadn’t been this.
After polishing off his protein bar, he put his hand on the door, caught sight of her, and paused. Instead of eating, she sat rigid, staring out the windshield.
