I could really use your help, GG.
“My phone is dead.” Vale plopped down beside her. “How about yours?”
“Dead.”
“Crap! We forgot to bring a charger. No worries, though. The guide will come back with the cabin’s owner, and all will be well.”
But fourteen worry-filled days passed, and neither the guide nor the owner ever came back.
Early on, Nola and Vale had raided the pantry. They’d eaten conservatively, but the limited food supply dwindled fast. So did her medication.
Nola dreaded the coming withdrawal. The aches and pains, the flop sweat, the constant shivers. Muscle spasms. Feeling like she’d come down with a nuclear flu. Crying over everything and nothing. Vomiting and diarrhea would be a forgone conclusion. Yay me.
On the fifteenth day, Vale said, “If we stay, we die slowly. If we leave, we’ll find help or die quickly.”
“If I’m going down, I’m going down swinging.” No way Nola would stay here and watch her wonderfully vibrant sister starve to death. And what about GG? The search could begin again!
Stop! Just stop. He isn’t real, and you know it. You’re only setting yourself up for disappointment.
“Then it’s settled.” Vale squeezed her hand, pulling her from her musings, and offered her a sad smile. “We head out in the morning.”
Nola tossed and turned that night, desperate to hear GG’s voice. Alas. He’d ceased all communication.
Because I’m taking less medication than usual.
Tears welled. So, he’d been a product of her medicines all along, just as part of her had feared.
When morning came, she put on a brave face and donned the survival gear they found in the closet. They packed two backpacks with essentials and set out, and it didn’t take long for hypothermia to set in. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, an earthquake in her jaw. Despite goggles and a full face mask, her nose and lungs burned every time she inhaled.
But, through it all, instinct urged her to turn here, go there. Then, a miracle happened. As the sun set, silvery moonlight falling over the terrain, Vale discovered a large cavern tucked inside a hill of ice. They had to climb twenty feet to get inside, but...worth it. Even as Nola’s knees buckled, that instinct shouted, Yes! He’s near.
Uh, what the what? No way! Just no way.
“Stay there. I’ll get us warm.” Vale extracted logs and matches from a backpack and built a fire, then used climbing rope to create a hanging-line for their wet clothes.
“Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you.” Nola removed her hat, goggles and face mask, even the gloves. Delicious warmth licked each newly exposed patch of skin.
She scanned the cavern, finding carved images on the far wall, featuring a horned monster and a headless corpse. Nice. “Is that ice graffiti?”
“Let’s find out.” Vale stripped out of her gear and crossed to the other side of the cave. Her jaw dropped, excitement radiating from her. “Someone has to live here, or at least visit upon occasion. We could be close to civilization. I’ll look around for more clues.”
“Be careful.” Whoever had carved those images might be a wee bit...disturbed.
“I’d rather be armed and ready instead.” Vale winked, palmed a climbing ax and disappeared around a corner.
—I sense you, princess. You are close. Get closer. I’ve waited so long.—
His voice! She’d heard it again, and it was sexier than ever, all smoke and sensuality, heating her blood. Her belly quivered. Just a figment of your imagination. Manage your excitement.
She tried to stand, but her legs refused to support her weight. Frustrated by her weakness, she banged her fist into the ice.
Helpless? Me? No! She would eat something, and regain a bit of her lost energy.
She trembled as she extracted a small copper pot from a pack, as well as the last can of fermented herring. Do not gag. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. As a baker extraordinaire, Nola would utilize the one skill she possessed in this type of situation: turning an unpalatable dish into something that wouldn’t murder anyone’s taste buds.
After bringing a chunk of ice to a boil, she readied the fish. Another five...ten minutes passed, but her sister never returned.
Nola choked down a couple of bites and finally called, “Vale?”
No response. Her ears twitched, picking up other noises. Whispers...cracking ice... Foreboding skittered down her spine. Had something happened to Vale?
Nola drew from a hidden reservoir of strength, and lumbered to unsteady legs.
Putting one foot in front of the other required great effort, but somehow she did it. Step. Step. Step. Tremble. Step. Step. She snaked around a corner, entering a larger chamber, with a higher ceiling and over twenty pillars of ice, all cracked. Vale stood on the other side, staring at one of those pillars as if it held the secrets of the universe.
Voice drenched with relief, GG said, —There you are. Come closer, princess. Let me get a good look at you.—
Wait. He was here here? He wasn’t a figment of her imagination? Hope rippled through her, as glorious as a warm summer’s day. Where are you?
An invisible rope seemed to wrap around her middle, drawing her deeper into the room. Deeper still, bypassing pillar after pillar.
Instinct spoke up again, saying, Not this one. Not that one. No. No again. Yes! This one.
She stopped and gasped, her hand fluttering over her heart. The pillar...it... She squinted and edged closer. There was a man inside it. An honest to goodness man, shockingly lifelike, glaring at her through the ice. He wore a black shirt, black leather pants and combat boots...just like the golden god she’d seen in her dreams. But more importantly, he had the golden god’s face.
I’m not delusional. Her heart pounded, and her skin heated. But, but...how was this possible?
Did it matter? She’d felt his presence for so long, now here she stood, inches away. It was fantastical. Shocking. All she could do was marvel. He was real, and he was here, and he exuded primitive animal magnetism.
She thought, Perhaps I gave up on romance too soon.
He was big—huge—both tall and muscular. The most powerful male she’d ever beheld, and the most beautiful, golden from head to toe. While he had long, thick lashes, and soft, plush lips, a broad jaw and strong chin gave him a hard edge.
A realization hit her, something that should have computed already, and her heart began to race. He’d spoken to her. That meant he was alive. But he couldn’t freaking be alive. He was encased in ice.
“Vale!” she squeaked. “Are people trapped in here?” Can’t be real, can’t be real. I must be wrong.