Time ticked away while they listened. They’d been waiting for close to thirty seconds when he heard it: a scraping that ended abruptly. It wasn’t close. If he weren’t so attuned to everything right now, so on edge with expectation, he’d think it was a normal noise—ice shifting and falling, maybe a waterlogged branch hitting the ground. Could be. Could be something else, too. Like the downed plane seesawing under the weight of a person straining to look inside.
He torqued his head back and squinted at the woman. It almost felt like they exchanged a look, though he couldn’t be sure in this light.
After a few more seconds, Bo let out a hushedwoof, dropped her paw, and dipped her head to sniff the mud at her feet before moving on. Cautiously, he followed, turning his head from one side to the other as he went.
A few hundred yards from the cabin, he armed the first perimeter trap and half buried it under the snow, pointing it out to the woman before leading her west, arming more, leaving only subtle tracks as he went. She was doing better with that, he noted—no more blood drops in the snow, and her prints mostly stuck to his. Good. They’d left just enough to ensure they were followed, without making it so obvious the others would feel they were being led.
He made the final approach with his usual caution, leaving as little trace as possible. He’d never figured out how to make sure Bo didn’t leave footprints on the ground, but he’d taught her to cut away in order to enter the protective rock circle from above, through a hole that most people couldn’t see, much less access.
Once within the sheltered area, he eyed the unlit structure warily, sniffed the air, and listened. No unusual scents. No sound but the wind singing through the black spruces’ top branches. Storm moving in. He caught its high, electric smell, the underlying sweetness that could only mean snow. As if that weren’t enough proof, he could feel its approach thrumming deep in his bones, lighting him up with expectation.
Once he was sure the coast was clear, he made his way to his cabin, assessing the situation as he went.
Weather was on its way, which would limit movement. While he knew the lay of the land, knew how to escape and where to hunker down safely for tonight at least, the others did not. And therewereothers around. That scrape had just confirmed what his instincts told him.
So, right now, he’d just assume there was an army after him and take things from there. Assuming the worst was how he’d survived this long after all.
Which meant he had to assume that this woman was the enemy.
***
Leo plodded up the slope, her feet slipping on ice and sinking into snow. She reached out a hand and wiggled her fingers, surprised at how hard they were to see in the eerie, bluish light.
A few feet ahead, the steady crunch of the man’s footsteps came to a stop. She did the same, waiting for him to move again, to lead the way or take off running or, with the way things were going, just turn around and shoot her point-blank.
It took a few seconds for her eyes to pick out a strange irregularity in the scenery up ahead. Trees, boulders, a rock face, natural shapes formed by wind and water and then—there: a dark rectangle. Another. She tried to focus, but her vision felt wrong.
Swiping a hand over her eyes to clear them, she stared until the shapes became a structure, built up against the stones or, actually, into them.
She cast the man a quick a look and blinked, her lashes sticking together. “What is that?”
“Cabin.”
“I’m not going in there.”
“It’s the only way.”
She scanned the area. From what she could tell it was a dead end. “We’ll be trapped.”
He shook his head. “Got a way out.”
A way out of a cabin built into a mountain? What earthly reason could he have for leading her here, with people after them? Understanding dawned. “Ishein there?”
She couldn’t see his face in the dark, but she pictured those big brows lowering. “Who?”
“The man I came to find.”
“Nobody in there.” With an annoyed noise, he took off for the cabin, leaving her standing in the middle of the clearing. “Your choice,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m going in.”
She looked around. There was nothing but woods in every direction, with a dip that appeared to be a creek to one side. The cabin was built into what looked like solid rock. No way out.
Something snapped in the woods behind them and Leo jumped.
Decision made, she followed him up and into the dark cabin. As soon as the door closed behind her, the man lit an oil lamp, then opened cupboards, emptying things into a pack. “Take off your wet clothes,” he said without even glancing her way.
“No.”
“Here.” He threw a cloth. A towel? She caught it, blinking in the near dark. “It’s clean. Put pressure on your head.”
