Page 25 of A Secret Crush Valentine's

With a shudder, Julian looked down at their feet. She listened carefully for the sign of a current, but there was none. No surprise there. The entire lake looked like a solid block of ice, but for all she knew, it could be an illusion. There was no telling if the ice would hold. Damon seemed convinced they could make it safely across with no trouble, but he’d felt the same way 16 years ago. What were the odds that the ice wouldn’t shatter under their feet like the last time?

She chuckled nervously. “I don’t even like the snow, and you want me to cross a frozen lake.”

He nodded gravely.

“You know what happened last time.”

“I’ve lived with that memory for years,” he told her without hesitation. “The pain, the guilt… I think I know how you feel, and if I could take it all away, the memories and the pain, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

His hand found hers, and he squeezed it, just like he had when those Collectors attacked. Again, a tingle shot up her arm at his touch.

“Look, I know you’re afraid,” he said, “but we don’t have a choice right now. We need to get to Caprichor before something else happens. The Collectors aren’t going to stop looking for us, especially not after what happened back there.”

Her mind flashed back to the men in the clearing. It had all happened so suddenly. Julia had been frozen in terror. And theneverything became a blur. The next thing she knew, the snow leopard’s survival instinct kicked in, and she’d shifted.

Damon hadn’t been too happy about that for some reason. But her curiosity was piqued. She could tell something was going on with him and that he knew more about it than he was willing to say. And the more curious she became, the more she wondered if shereallywanted to know the truth.

That aside, she had a bigger question facing her:to cross or not to cross?

If they crossed, they risked falling through the ice. Damon had told her there was no way off Frost Mountain. The portals only worked one way. If they ended up in the lake, they wouldn’t end up on earth; they would simply drown.

But if they didn’t cross, then the Collectors would find them, and who knew if Damon could fend them off again. Julia glanced at Damon. He certainly wasn’t the same guy she remembered from Laudville High. His time on Frost Mountain had changed him. Somehow, she knew that if he’d wanted to kill those men, he could have easily done so.

Why he’d shown them mercy when they’d been prepared to kill, she had no idea, but if the tables were turned, she doubted those Collectors would return the favor. And just how many times could Damon hold them off before they overpowered him?

“We’re going to cross the lake,” she muttered, taking a deep breath. “We’re crossing it.”

He gave her hand another affectionate squeeze, which momentarily distracted her from the expanse of ice before her. “We are, Red. And we’re going to make it across. Nothing will go wrong, I promise. I’m with you. You can trust me.”

Julia felt a sudden twinge of annoyance. And she thought she knew why.

***

“You’re not wearing a jacket,” she observed, pointing at his shirt. “Aren’t you cold? It’s freezing out here.”

“A little,” he said with a shrug. “The cold doesn’t bother me much after a while.”

“Huh?”

“You could say I’m warm-blooded.”

She frowned. “So is every other human.”

If she didn’t have such a huge crush on him, she might have smacked him upside his head for saying something so dumb.

He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped himself. “Right.”

Itwasa cold afternoon in Laudville. The roads and sidewalks were slippery, and their brief walk from school was starting to feel like an eternity. Not that she minded much, not withhimbeside her.

Damon McLaurent is walking me home,she thought, feeling a little giddy.

Cars rolled by slowly. Up ahead, the road bent into another street. Directly in her line of sight was a row of tall, snow-covered trees, beyond which she couldn’t see much. It was mid-January, and it would be weeks before the weather turned.

You should be a weather reporter, Julia,she thought and chuckled to herself.

“Quarter for your thoughts?” Damon asked, flashing her that same heart-stopping grin. “I’d offer a dollar, but I’m short on cash right now.”

She chuckled out loud, then wondered if she was trying too hard. “Nothing much.”

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