Her expression thunderous.
“I told you.” My whisper comes out serrated. “I’ll be paying for that later.”
“I’ve got your back,” Landon’s voice is low. “Just stick with me.”
Mildred’s breaths fog at her face in furious bursts. The look of it, ofher, has tingles spreading through me.
My legs turn to lead, boots and skis heavy on the platform. The next chairlift is already ascending, advancing on us.
I don’t have much of a choice.
I need to go down the slope.
I need to ski past Mildred.
Landon cuts in front of me with a sudden push from the podium. The base of his snowboard screeches over the concrete before it slips down onto the snow—and like that, he’s a shield in front of me.
Mildred’s jaw rolls.
I kick off right behind him, and there’s no hanging around, no slowing down for me to get my legs. It’s a sudden whir of icy winds lashing at us.
We whizz by her—but not before I see her twist around, the edge of her snowboard kicking up snow, and eyes fixed on me.
The target.
I knew it.
I should’ve avoided the slopes.
I should’ve told Landon to go fuck himself or at least faked a headache.
‘Be careful out there.’
Dray’s warning lurches through me.
I propel myself faster down the slopes.
The world whips by me in a blur, the hiss of snow, the cold tearing at my face.
She’s gaining on me, her shadow stretching over the snow, and I canfeelit, the heat from her churning rage scorching my back the closer she gets.
I flinch as something crashes behind me.
I throw a panicked look over my shoulder, but my balance wobbles, and I can only look for a second before I throw my head back into place.
But I saw it.
I saw Landon slashed into her path, Mildred spinning out behind him.
He floored her.
His own balance wobbles as he regains control of his board and, with a jut towards me, we are leaving the shouts and curses of Mildred behind, shrouded in a mist of snow.
By the time she even gets up, we’ll be too far ahead. Landon bought me time. Enough of it to speed down the slope, all the way to the plateau and the chairlift station.
I don’t waste a moment.
I don’t give Mildred a second to spare.
