Page 24 of An Avalanche Hero Christmas

“Feels good,” she said, grinning over her shoulder at him. “Back in my world, I had to tuck my wings every day, but at least I got to open them once I got home from work or in the ladies’ room. Can’t do that very often when your life expectancy literally depends on the weather and whatever wacko is trying to hunt you down.”

But Lance barely heard a word. A rapid flutter filled his chest as he gazed at her, from the gleaming tips of her wings to the brilliant smile that tugged at her lips. He felt a familiar stirring sensation in his trousers and moved, half-absently, to cover his crotch.

“You’re…beautiful,” he muttered.

Her eyes widened slowly. It took him all of three seconds to realize what he’d just said. It seemed the entire woods had suddenly gone silent, a fact that did nothing to assuage the embarrassment that now washed over him.

No…the woodshadgone completely silent. Lance frowned. That couldn’t be a good sign.

Green eyes flashed in his memory, sending a chill crawling down to the base of his spine. He was still healing from his last encounter with the Fae Hunter. Had he found them again?

“Lance?” Mallory’s eyebrows knit together in concern. “Is everything alright? Are you in pain, or—”

He held up a hand to silence her. His other hand reached for one of the blades strapped to his thigh, drawing it slowly.

A twig snapped ten feet to his left.

Lance threw the blade.

It sank into a tree trunk with a soft thud. And the woman next to it gaped back with wide eyes.

“Oh!” she gasped, her gaze darting from the blade to Lance and back. “Oh, my God.”

She looked almost as terrible as Mallory had when Lance first found her. The woman’s dark hair and freckled face were covered in snow and some frost, and despite the fact that she’d wrapped herself in several layers of oversized clothing against the cold, she was trembling. Looking at her, a single word filled Lance’s mind:human.

“Emily?” Mallory said suddenly.

The woman’s gaze landed on her. Lance saw the shock register in her eyes. A moment of confusion. Something else he couldn’t quite place crossed her face.

“You,” she breathed, taking a few unsteady steps toward them. “I know you.”

Lance turned to Mallory, his hand hovering over the handle of his other blade. “You know this woman?”

She nodded, frowning. “She was on the plane with me. She was one of the flight attendants. I didn’t know there were any other survivors.”

“I…I saw you,” Emily said. “You got sucked out of the plane. There’s no way you could’ve survived…”

She trailed off, her gaze landing on Mallory’s wings. The silence that followed was heavy with meaning.

“I survived,” Mallory said. “And I’ve been surviving, thanks to him. You look…”

She didn’t have to complete her statement. The truth seemed to hang in the air between them. Emily looked malnourished at best. From what Lance could tell, she’d been traveling for weeks, probably all alone. Her cheekbones were visible, and her eyes were gradually turning into dark, hollow sockets. Underneath the clothes she had on, he suspected she looked even gaunter. Lance was amazed she’d survived this long.

He registered a large, bloodied cloth wrapped tightly around her left thigh. A hasty attempt to stop some bleeding. If he had to guess, she’d sustained injuries when the plane crashed. Lance’s gut twisted. The whole experience must have been traumatic. Mallory hadn’t spoken of it, but he suspected it still haunted her.

“I’m looking for my brother,” Emily said. “He’s one of the other flight attendants. I thought I’d find him in the wreckage, but the plane split apart in midair. I’ve been searching ever since, but he’s nowhere to be found. I don’t even know where the hell I am. There’s no way to contact anyone, and I think I’ve started seeing things.”

“Emily, you need help,” Mallory told her. “Come with us. We…we can look for your brother together once we get to safety and get you patched up. You need plenty of food, water, and rest.”

Emily shook her head. “No, I need to keep searching for him,” she said. “He’s probably made it to the bottom of the mountain by now.”

Lance and Mallory exchanged a silent look. The message passed between them:She doesn’t know yet.

Distraught and malnourished, this woman was headed down a mountain that had no bottom in search of a brother who was most likely dead. Lance saw sympathy cross Mallory’s face.

“Emily,” she said, “this isn’t an ordinary mountain.”

“I can see that. I’m freezing my butt off.” The woman shuddered. “Getting off is my best shot at surviving or finding Drake. Ihaveto.”

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