Page 35 of Blades of Ice

Blackness closed in, and the last thing he heard was Lydia yelling,No! You hang on. I’m coming for you.

Chapter 15

The metal ofthe sai grew colder in her hands, but Lydia wouldn’t dare send them back.It’s all about intention.If that were true… Lydia held the weapons in front of her and imagined the steel was ice instead. Where seconds before she held black metal, now Lydia gripped icy hilts. “Yes!” Her voice carried, and she flinched. Now if only they weren’t freezing her hands off. Lydia willed them back to metal, and thought about heating them, but she was afraid she would be burned. With nothing else to do about it, she placed the sai on the ground, put her gloves back on, then picked them up again.

Lydia.

Her heart sped each time Beck returned to her. Hell, he made her heart race any time he merely looked at her. It was due to the mate bond, and she relished the flutters. When Lydia scanned the area, she didn’t see his large body ambling toward her in either form.

Beck’s hurt. We must go to him.

Shit! He was calling to her in her mind. Lydia placed both blades in one hand, picked up the smaller of the two packs, the one that had food and water in it, and shrugged it on. She debated kicking off the snowshoes, then nixed that idea, and traveled as fast as she could in the direction Beck had gone. She had no idea how far away he had gotten. He could move much faster in his animal, but she wouldn’t fail him. Lydia studied the snow and followed his prints.

Beck? Bear?

Lydia. I’m… s-sorry.

No! You hang on. I’m coming for you. Beck? Beck!

Why couldn’t she have wings? Lydia’s legs burned. She needed something to help maneuver faster. She stopped, imagined the sai being that something different, and they shimmered into ski poles with pointy tips. “Yes. Thank you, Luna and Lilly.” Using the poles, Lydia was able to move more quickly. It was still slow going, but at least the poles helped with the exertion. After what felt like days, a strange odor caught her attention. “Is that gas?” she muttered. Not wanting to be caught weaponless, Lydia changed the poles back to her sai, then continued. About a hundred yards out, a downed helicopter came into view as did the Sagan Adventures logo on the side.

Lydia called on her Gargoyle senses to search for anyone close by. When she felt no one, she called out, “Beck? Chloe?”

As Lydia neared the helo, the scent of blood was mixed with the smell of gas, and her heart fluttered for a different reason. When Lydia reached the craft, she followed the scent. Her eyes filled with tears at the red snow. It wouldn’t do for Lydia to fall apart, so before she completely lost her shit, she took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled. The amount of gas on the ground meant someone had cut the fuel lines since the helo didn’t look as if it had wrecked. She scanned the area on the ground around the blood. There was a large impression in the snow roughly the size of Beck’s body if he were lying down. Next to it was their satellite phone. No, that wasn’t right. Theirs was in their pack. Heading away from the helicopter were deep gouges in the snow as though Beck had been dragged off. Lydia followed the indentions until she came across footprints as well as skinny lines leading away from the area. The only thing she knew of that could make that size mark was a snowmobile. Lydia wanted to follow, but she knew it was useless. She only had enough food for a week at best, and there was no telling how far the snowmobilewould have traveled. She had no choice but to turn back and call for help.

Hang on Bear. I won’t let you down.

Needing to call Carleigh, Lydia slid her backpack off. When she didn’t find their satellite phone, she remembered it was in the other bag. She returned to the helicopter for Chloe’s phone, but when she tried to call out, there was no tone. Fuck. The battery was dead. With no other option, Lydia returned the backpack to her shoulders and set out to where she had been waiting for Beck’s return. All she could do was retrace their footsteps back to the seaplane and pray she didn’t run into any wild animals along the way.

When she told Beck this was their initiation into the fated mate’s club, Lydia had been mostly joking. What she thought would be a trek through the snow, finding his mother or sister, and bringing her back safely in time for Thanksgiving, Lydia never imagined she would be alone in the wilderness with her mate injured, possibly dying. No. She would not believe that. The fates wouldn’t be so cruel as to lead her to her bear only to take him away after only such a short time.

Keeping her senses open for any animals, wild or otherwise, Lydia switched the sai back into poles, allowing her to make better time with less exertion. She didn’t want to camp alone in the wilds, but there was no way she could make it back to the seaplane without stopping for the night. When Lydia reached the pack that contained the tent and other supplies, she pulled out the satellite phone and called Carleigh.

“Hey Cuz, how’s it going out there?”

“Not good, C. They took him. Beck’s injured, and I don’t know how badly. There was blood, but I don’t know if it was…” Lydia swallowed hard before continuing. “When we got close to the coordinates, Beck went ahead in his fur to scout the area. I heard his voice in my head, and my Goyle told me that hewas injured, so I took off to find him. The Sagan Adventures helicopter was there, but there was no sign of Chloe, and her satellite phone was on the ground. I was going to call you then, but the battery was dead. It looked as though someone dragged Beck’s body across the snow, and then there were skinny tracks leading away from the area, which I assume belong to a snowmobile. I heard him, C.” Lydia choked back a sob. “He told me he was sorry. Maybe he was sorry for leaving me alone out here. I don’t know, but I won’t believe he was telling me goodbye.”

He's alive.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Lydia trusted her Goyle. It wouldn’t lie to her.

“Oh, my gods. What are you going to do?”

Lydia clenched her free hand. “I’m going to find him, and then I’m going to make whoever took him pay.”

“How, though?”

“I don’t know. I can’t use the helo because someone cut the fuel lines, and I don’t have enough provisions to follow the tracks on foot. I have the funds to rent a helicopter somewhere, but I don’t have a license. Please, C. You’re the one with the brains, so help me figure this out.”

“If it’s a license you need, I can do that. But first, you gotta get back to civilization. Fucking hell, I wish Dooley had gone with you. Speaking of the bear, I’m going to call him as soon as we hang up and get his ass headed your way. Sebastian’s going to have my head when he finds out what’s going on.”

“Don’t tell him. He has enough on his plate right now.”

“Are you nuts?” Carleigh hissed.

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