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)
With every heartbeat, I feel Wolf’s absence, endlessly deep. I know Leo does, too, especially in the familiar spaces they once shared.
My chest aches for all that he was and all that we’ve lost. I’ll carry that devastation forever.
“Why a butterfly?” I ask.
“Arctic Blue butterflies flourish here in the summer, nectaring on the primrose that grows in the riverbed.”
“Are they truly blue?”
“As blue as Wolf’s eyes.”
“That’s such a rare color in nature.”
“So was Wolf.” He rises to his full height, the snow raging around him, indifferent to our pain. “If we get separated, if something happens—”
“I won’t leave you.”
“Frankie.” He flexes his jaw. “Pay attention.”
“Fine. I’m listening.”
“Look for Wolf’s butterfly. The cave is deep and provides good shelter. We’ve slept there many times. If you find your way to the cave, you’ll find your way to Hoss. Take the trail to the top and follow the river all the way back. Understand?”
The ice beneath my feet cracks.
I would never leave him, but that’s not what he wants to hear. “I understand.”
“Let’s go.”
And so, we press on through the increasingly turbulent snowfall, lost in our thoughts.
I keep my ears perked for the howls of wolves, watching for predatory eyes glinting in the shadows. We could be walking right into their territory, but I trust Leo implicitly. He would protect me with his life, standing between me and any threat without a second thought.
Doesn’t mean I’ll let my guard down. I’m so focused on the dangers that could be lurking on every side that I don’t realize he stopped until I slam into his back.
He spins toward me, eyes wide.
“What’s wrong?”
“Beneath its wings…” His gaze drifts over my shoulder. “Lies the answers…”
“You figured it out?”
“Beneath its wings,” he repeats.
“The butterfly?”
In a cage of ice and echoes.
“The cave,” we say at the same time.
“Holy fuck.” He shakes his head. “It can’t be that easy.”
“Easy? Which part of this is easy?”
“I don’t know. If he meant the cave, why did he say cage?”
“He was in an actual cage when he said it. Why didn’t he just tell us where he hid the answers? Or better yet, why hide them at all? Why force you to make a dangerous trek for coal when he could’ve restored the power? He was a fucking psychopath. That’s why.”
“He came here a lot, usually in the summer with Wolf. But I was just here less than two weeks ago. In that fucking cave. I didn’t see anything, so I’m struggling to believe that’s the answer.”
“Is it a big cave?”
“Yeah. A lot of tunnels. And ice.”
“And echoes?”
“Right. It seems too obvious. Like another trick.” He pivots in the direction of the snow machine.
It sits somewhere along the river, ensnared by the frozen landscape, awaiting revival. It’s our only hope for a fast return, our only way to outrun the approaching storm.
“We don’t have time for a goddamn scavenger hunt.” He stares up at the sky, his face quickly submerged in snow before he wipes it away.
“Can we wait out the storm in the cave? Spend the night there?”
“What if the blizzard last days? Or weeks? We can’t risk being snowed in. The trail to the top could become impassable, and we only have two days of food.”
“This is the only opportunity, Leo. If the answer to the power system is in that cave, we don’t need the coal.”
“We need the snow machine to get back.”
“Do you need my help repairing it?”
“I’m not leaving you here, Frankie.”
Our caloric intake is too low to make a second trip back here. Kody and I still need to hike to the hunting cabin and retrieve the pemmican.
This investigation must happen now.
“I’ll be right here in the cave.” I point behind me. “I have a gun and a lantern. I’ll search for the answers while you fix the snow machine. We’ll be back at the cabin before the blizzard hits.”
“No.”
Goddamn, he’s hardheaded.
“Splitting up the tasks is our best option.” I clench my teeth. “If Kody were here instead of me, you would do it exactly that way, no hesitation. Put some damn trust in me!”
“Fuck!” He paces in a tight circle, pulling on his hat. “Fuck!”
He knows I’m right, and man, he doesn’t like it.
Overprotective brute.
In the next breath, he’s in my face, grabbing the back of my head and hauling me close.
The man can find my mouth in the direst moments, in the dark, in the blistering cold, in an arctic snowstorm with the sky falling down around us.
Sleet melts between our lips as he kisses me, jaws open, tongues sliding, breaths heating. He eats me alive, pouring all his fears, hopes, and trust into our connection.
With a tormented snarl, he comes up for air, barking orders.
“Keep the rifle at the ready at all times.” He takes my gun and swaps it with his. “You have three rounds.”