Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Their meticulousness shines through in every action—calculations of payload, corrections for wind direction, vigilant checks for signs of inclement weather.
As the sun breaks the horizon, bathing us in light, the skies stretch out without a cloud or snowflake in sight.
“Perfect day to fly.” I hold Kody’s gorgeous face in my hands, stroking the clean-shaven skin.
“If Wolf were here, he would say perfect day to die.”
“Yep. Then he would take a drag from his cigarette, pause for effect, and follow up with put that in your pipe and smoke it.”
We share a sad smile.
“We’re not dying today.” He cups my jaw, matching my pose. “We’ll make it. We have to.”
“I believe you.”
The crunch of Leo’s footsteps draws our attention beyond the cargo door.
Rather than approaching, he strides across the field, a shovel in one hand and determination in his strides. With a practiced eye, he identifies a spot, rolls aside a large rock, and begins to dig into the icy, barren ground.
“What’s he doing now?” I crane my neck, trying to get a better look.
“No idea.”
The sound of metal hitting frozen earth echoes back at us.
We watch in silence as he uncovers a clear plastic bag, its contents obscured by slush and mud. With unhurried patience, he coaxes it from the earth, cradles it in his arms, and makes his way back.
“What the hell?” I glance at Kody.
He shrugs and moves to the front seat, making room for his brother.
Leo climbs into the cargo hold and stows the shovel and bag in the crate. As he starts to close the lid, the contents become heartbreakingly clear.
Bones and blueberries…frozen in ice.
I shiver with memories of the night I spilled those contents on the dinner table. Not my finest moment. It was a reckless temper tantrum with unimaginable consequences.
My gaze flies to Kody’s hand, to the jagged red scar that mars the top, a match to the one on his palm.
The marks of kin punishment.
“I thought…” My voice cracks. “Wolf returned the bones to the fire pit.”
“Not all of them.” Crouched before me, Leo wipes his muddy hands on his thighs. “That night…things started changing for me. For all of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“You helped me.” Kody opens his scarred palm, pressing against the healed wound with his thumb. “When you stitched me, lines were drawn, and you stood stubbornly on our side.”
“That night, you said we could escape. We only needed to learn how to fly the plane.” Leo touches a knuckle beneath my chin. “You were so adamant about it, demanding that I consider it. So I did.” He turns back to the crate, sealing the lid. “I took some of the bones before Wolf returned them. Kept them close.” He nods at the field. “Because, for the first time in my life, I had hope.”
“You kept them…my mother…” Kody regards Leo, his expression unreadable. “So we could bring her with us.”
“Yeah.”
Kody’s mother. Maybe Wolf’s mother, too. But not Leo’s. She wasn’t in the fire pit.
She was buried alive.
As their gazes hold, I feel their connection, their uncanny exchange of unspoken words, in the achiest corners of my soul.
But Leo doesn’t let the heavy mood linger.
“Shall we make our ascent?” He swings the cargo door shut, latches the lock, and looks at us expectantly.
Everything essential for our journey, or our survival beyond it, is packed in the crate beside me. The flight manual, survival gear, fur pelts, outerwear, medical supplies, firearms, and ammunition for whatever conditions await us. We also have my journal and personal documents from Sitka, the DNA samples, driver’s licenses, thumb drive, mementos of Wolf, and a bag of bones—everything that will tell our story…if we don’t survive to tell it ourselves.
The only thing we don’t have is food.
I really hope that’s not what kills us in the end.
“Cleared for departure.” I grip the edges of my seat and try not to throw up.
In a blink, Leo is kneeling before me, his hands around mine, prying them free.
He flattens my palms to his chest and floats closer, his lips parting mine in a slow, distracting kiss.
Against my mouth, he murmurs, “When we faced down that blizzard, and you wanted to search the cave, do you remember what you said?”
“Put some damn trust in me.” I lift a hand to brush a strand of hair from his face.
Unlike Kody, he didn’t shave off his beard. He trimmed it short and neat, which pairs so well with his tangled, braided hair. He doesn’t give a damn how civilized people perceive him when he barrels out of the Arctic looking like a Viking.
“I trust you.” I give his beard a tug. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
A flash of teeth in a gorgeously rugged face. Then he swoops in with a parting kiss before pulling away to strap himself into the pilot seat.