Page 52 of Knot a Chance in Hell

Not being able to hear him, I stopped and took off my helmet. “What?”

Silas pulled up beside me and removed his helmet too. Ezekiel lifted his visor. “She’s not in there. The only other place she could have went is into town.”

“Nothing’s open!” Silas frowned. The look on his face said the same thing I was feeling. Nicolette was in trouble. Either she hadn’t made it down the mountain or she was still wandering looking for shelter.

Over the wind’s howl, I heard it: a scream.

If I had my helmet on, it would have blocked out the noise.

A second scream followed along with a bear’s bellow.

“She’s that way!” Silas was on his machine and so was I, leaving my helmet behind. Ezekiel, who had not heard the distant scream, stared at us with confusion.

“Nicolette’s there!” I pointed, and hearing that mother-fucking bear again, I was off.

Silas was ahead of me, and I could see enough to know that he had pulled out his bear spray. I lifted off my seat as I sped toward the roar and checked under it. I’d hoped I had the machine with the shotgun, but I only felt bear spray, a first aid kit, and a blanket. Dammit.

If Silas had the gun, he would have taken that out instead. Ezekiel was riding the single seater Ski-doo, so that meant the machine with the shotgun was the one Nicolette had taken. Yet I didn’t see the light of another snow machine ahead of us.

My instinct to protect her made me feel like a fireball streaking through the blizzard. Every second mattered.

Silas’ light hit the bear first. The big bastard turned and thundered at us.

It was a grizzly. No running from this monster.

My headlight hit a snow machine on an angle against a thick tree. But no Nicolette.

Where the hell was she?

I was off my machine before it fully stopped and ran to the crashed machine. Silas was yelling “yo, bear!” at the top of his lungs, diverting its attention to him. My lungs burned andthe pain from my injuries became background noise as I pushed myself to move as quickly as possible.

Nicolette was standing with her back against a tree. She had opened her coat and was holding it wide, trying to make herself look bigger. I might have found it adorable if she wasn’t trying to scare off a bear five times her size.

“Nicolette!” I shouted her name, and when she turned to look at me, she let out a hiccuping cry.

Silas sprayed the bear, but it turned out of the full shot of the pepper and snarled furiously as it was now facing Nicolette and I. I stood in front of her, arms up and roaring right back at it.

The furry fucker would not have her.

It raised up on its hind legs, over nine feet tall. I’d never seen one this big. It raised a paw with vicious claws to strike at me.

I would die for her.

I did not move.

Nicolette screamed my name.

Ezekiel was suddenly on the grizzly’s back. He yanked on its ears and punched its eyes. The bear barked and grabbed him, tossing Ezekiel into the snow.

Silas threw his helmet at it, hollering for its attention. Another squirt of spray missed its mark, but it was enough of a distraction for me to grab Nicolette and throw her behind the crashed machine. “Stay there!” I couldn’t pause to see if she would listen. I flipped open the compartment under the seat and snatched the shotgun.

My broken ribs screamed at me as I twisted toward the bear. I bellowed with them, flicking the safety catch.

The grizzly charged on all fours. It was too close. I could feel its hot breath on my face.

I fired. Once, twice, and three times.

Blood splattered over me and the pristine snow. The bear fell to the ground less than a foot away from me. It drew a few more gurgling breaths before it went still.

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