My brain screams at me to breathe, but I know I have a little longer. I need to be calm. The bag on my back is pulling me down. I watch the air bubbles rise, and I know which way the surface is. I glance up, but all I see is the eerie underside of the ice. When I look down, I’ve lost the ship in the darkness.
I desperately want to draw in a breath.
The ice, and the surface, is getting further away as I sink. I should fight, but the cold has sapped my strength. I kick, but every movement makes me hungrier for oxygen.
The creature is close now.
Should I breathe in and drown first? Then I realize the glowing creature is a man.
Impossible. Maybe he’s an angel and I’m already dead. His skin is pale like ice, his eyes are blue, and he has long pale hair and pointed ears and a tail. No wings. I thought angels had wings.
My body convulses, needing oxygen. Before I can draw water into my lungs, the man places his lips over mine, and he breathes into me.
Not a kiss. He’s saving my life with his ice-cold breath.
Does this mean I’m not dying?
He smiles, then glances up. His chest lifts as he draws in a breath, like he’s breathing water. What is he? Bubbles slip from my lips. I need more air. I need to sleep. The cold is eating me from the inside out.
His fingers slide behind my neck, and he kisses me again. Something sharp stings my butt. Heat floods my muscles as he drags me toward the surface. We skim beneath the ice, locked in a tight embrace that I never want to leave. Him breathing in water and somehow giving me air with every kiss. He holds me firm to his body as he swims.
I have no idea where he’s taking me, only that I’m not dead. I don’t know if I should be elated or terrified…maybe I’m both. But I’m safe. I know that with a certainty I’ve never felt before. My hand slides around his waist. His skin is cool and rough. Before he kisses me again, he smiles. This kiss is different. I still get a much-needed breath of air, but his lips move against mine. My mouth is numb, bubbles of precious air escape as I try to return his kiss.
Light streams through the water, then I see a hole in the ice. He kisses me again, filling my lungs with air and my blood with heat. For a moment I don’t want to leave him. He saved me. I need to know who he is. What he is.
His fingers trace the shape of my face, my lips. Then he pushes me through the hole. I’m launched out of the water and onto the ice. I gasp and cough and flounder, not sure where I am. My teeth rattle and I shake so violently I think I’m going to slide straight back through.
“Leah!” Ava’s voice cuts through my confusion.
I scrabble around at the sound of my name. I’m not far from the tree line, from the rest of the crew. Scattered on the ice, only a few meters from me are the emergency bags, but my muscles are so cramped with cold I can’t get up. The ice is sharp beneath my palms as I try to claw my way over to Ava. Beneath me, the ice creaks and groans as the water rushes beneath. When I glance at the hole, there’s no sign of the man who saved me. The water is empty and dark like ink.
Ava skids over and drops to her knees. “I thought you were dead. You went under and were gone for so long.”
I try to speak, to tell her what happened. but I can’t force the words out. My teeth are locked together with the cold. I need to strip and get warm. I’m the medic and I can’t tell her what to do.
She stands, then picks me up, slinging me over her shoulder with a grunt. I watch the hole in the ice as it gets farther away. For a second, I see a soft glow on the surface. I lift my hand, wanting nothing more than to see him again. There’s a splash and then nothing.
On the edge of the frozen lake Ava sits me by the fire the others have made in the time I was under. The med kit bag is still on my back and she takes it off and wraps me in a survival blanket. Only four others made it to shore, including Calloor.
Did the two other security guys drown?
I accept the cup of hot water. My hands are shaking, but not so much I can’t drink. Every time I blink, I see the man beneath the ice. My guardian angel.
“We thought you were gone.”
I would’ve been dead if not for the glowing man. “So did I. What happened to the others?” My voice is little more than a whisper.
“They were in the ship… they didn’t get clear in time,” Ava says, her face grim. No one had helped them breathe and shown them to the surface. Had I imagined it? “You were under a fair while? Are you okay?” She peers at my face.
I nod and drink the water, slowly warming up from the inside. The heat from the fire can’t penetrate my wet clothes.
“Most of our supplies are gone.” Calloor pokes at the fire with a stick. “The ship’s fucking gone.”
I turn and stare at the hole in the ice. It doesn’t look big enough to swallow a ship, but it did. For all we know, the ship has been sucked downstream. Or it could be sitting at the bottom with the two security guys guarding it forever. I shudder.
“What do we have?”
“Not a lot. One emergency survival bag, your med kit.” Ava shakes her head. “We’re all underdressed. And over exposed. We need shelter and food.”
