The rope supporting Conrad’s weight moved slowly in a circle, turning him away from Bruce to reveal more shapes in the ice, blue on ghostly blue.
Luka. Felix.
God, no.
One was arching backward as if caught in a backflip, a look of terror on his face, the other curled in a fetal position. Both frozen. Both dead.
The serac.
Conrad remembered now. It had collapsed. It must have knocked him into the crevasse—and buried the others.
Refusing to accept this, Conrad caught the rope in a fist and began to climb it, hand over hand, trying to free himself. Then he noticed what he hadn’t before.
His blood went cold.
The ice was moving. It was closing in around him.
Then something licked his face and whined.
Conrad woke with a gasp to find Gabby sitting on his chest, licking him and whimpering. Confused, he fought to rein in his adrenaline, to figure out what the hell was going on.
A nightmare.
He’d been having a nightmare, and Gabby had woken him. He held the puppy close, accepting her kisses, his throat going tight.
The dream had feltso damned real.
He was here in his bed in Scarlet, but Bruce, Luka, and Felix—they were gone, buried beneath the ice forever.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
The torrent of his emotions seemed to catch in his throat, bringing him to a sitting position, a rush of rage and despair making him want todosomething. But there was nothing he could do.
Nothing at all.
It was a damned miracle he’d gotten out of there alive.
Gabby pranced on the bed beside him, wagging her tail.
Conrad glanced at the clock. It was almost five. “You have to pee, don’t you?”
He scooped her up, carried her to the back door, and stepped outside with her, not caring that he was naked. Who would see him at this hour?
Okay, so it was a bit cold, close to freezing.
He stood next to the back door, freezing his nuts off and watching while Gabby walked a short distance away from the door and squatted down to pee. He hoped she would be quick about it and do her business before his testicles sought refuge in his throat.
Whose fault is it that you’re standing out here naked?
It sure as hell wasn’t the puppy’s fault.
From somewhere nearby, he heard the hoot of a great horned owl. He glanced around, saw its dark outline high in the branches of a nearby tree.
He loved owls. Beautiful birds.
It hooted again and then took to the sky, gliding toward the house on silent wings.
Gabby.
