And tomorrow will be full of wonderful surprises.
CHAPTER 48
Evander
Something is very wrong.
My eyes fly open.Phoebe clings to me, one leg thrown over my thigh.She’s breathing, so that’s not the issue.
I’m on my back.We’re bundled up.I see daylight filtering through the wool blankets over our heads.Everything smells like fire.
It all races back to me—what’s happened, where we are, and all the intensely personal shit I shared with Phoebe last night.
Totally out of character for me.
Not that I’ve done anything in my usual way since—
Hold up.
I throw off the blankets.The light hurts my eyes.It’s too bright.
It’s too fucking silent.There’s no wind.
“Phoebe, wake up.”
“Hmmm?”I gently remove her octopus limbs and give her a gentle shake.
“Wake up.The storm’s over.We need to prepare for rescue.”
“What?”She springs upright and blinks against the light.“The storm’s over?”
“Yes.We have work to do.”
I slide on my ass to the small, tarp-covered archway.I peel the tarp back, get myself outside and on my feet, then help Phoebe to a stand.
“Holy shit, Evander.”
I don’t know what to gawk at first.
It looks like a bomb went off.
Hissing charcoal is all that remains of the shack and outbuilding.Debris has been tossed around on the snow like a spray of black ink on a white tablecloth.Thin tendrils of smoke still rise into the sky.
The river rock chimney toppled straight down in the blaze, forming a small stone mountain.
Whatever was in there is no more.And by the looks of it, there must’ve been more than a container of kerosene and a half bottle of rot-gut whiskey to feed this destruction.Whatever it was, I’ll never know.
As I move my focus to the bigger picture, I can’t quite process what I’m looking at.
Never have I seen snow like this in Nevada.Accumulation is well over my head, and I’m looking at drifts rising as high as a two-story building.
If I hadn’t shoveled pathways every day, we’d have no way to move around out here.
“Is this real?”Phoebe asks.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
“I have to pee,” she says.“I’d rather wait until we’re rescued but I’m not sure I can hold it any longer.”
