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)
Our shared bed by the hearth cocoons us in furs, my head resting on Kody’s lap. Leo’s arms encircle my legs, his chin a gentle weight on my hip.
A week in an arctic blizzard clawed itself upon my body, but with my limbs entwined with theirs, my aches and pains fade into oblivion.
In a deep, velvety cadence, Leo recounts our confrontation with the grizzly and the storm that tried to claim us. His words vividly portray the terror that gripped him when he saw me running for my life.
But the way he tells it inaccurately shifts the hero’s cape to my shoulders.
“You should’ve seen her.” He kisses my hip bone, his hand lazily caressing my thigh. “Tearing through the whiteout, bold and unstoppable, leaving that bear eating her dust.”
“All lies,” I mumble, half-asleep. “Leo’s the brave one, always jumping into danger, or in this case, sprinting toward it. Me? I was just losing my mind, screaming my head off, and peeing my pants.”
Kody’s reaction is immediate and intense, his rugged features hardening, his lip curling, baring clenched teeth. From the way his grip on me tightens, there’s no mistaking the surge of protectiveness.
“Don’t even joke about it.” His eyes, usually so commanding, flare with a rare glimpse of fear. “The thought of you being that close to a grizzly…”
“Hey.” I lean up and place a soft, lingering kiss on hard, growly lips. Then I pull back just enough to whisper with a playful smile, “Guess we need to be better prepared for our hike to the hunting cabin, huh? You, me, and a bear-proof plan. How about we make a pact? If we encounter another beast, we’ll be brave together. Or run together. Whichever comes first.”
He grunts, his hand absently playing with my hair.
I’ve never heard him laugh. Not sure he knows how. A man cruelly shaped by abuse and raised in the wild doesn’t express emotion in normal ways.
But I can read the glint in his eyes. I saw it when he hunted me down in the tundra. I notice it when we bathe together every night, and I feel it now.
Happiness, love, hunger—it all rolls into a spark in the dark. That’s how he laughs. With stars in his black bear eyes.
The conversation shifts, turning toward the flight manual and the enigma of the thumb drive. Speculation bounces between them, a potluck of possibilities, as they debate why Denver chose that hiding spot, when he placed the dry bag there, and how Wolf’s butterfly engraving might’ve inspired the riddle.
“He thought up that riddle long before we put him in a cage.” Leo yawns through a slow, contented stretch and presses closer to me.
“Maybe.” Kody rests his head on the wall, breathing deeply. “Impossible to guess what he was thinking or planning. To be honest, I don’t want to know.”
As they delve into the mysteries left by Denver, their tones shift, laden with curiosity and unanswered questions.
I fight the pull of sleep, trying to listen to them, to be part of this moment.
“What do you think is on the thumb drive?” Leo inches closer, nuzzling his nose in the dip of my waist, the heat of his body wrapped around me.
“The truth, hopefully.” Kody caresses my ear, my jaw, his voice a calm counterpoint to Leo’s burning intensity. “Maybe it’s the key to everything. Denver’s secrets, our past, maybe even access to his fortune.”
“Wouldn’t that be something?” In my drowsiness, my mind swirls, imagining the unimaginable. “If it were all there, every question answered with just a click…”
“He would never be that generous,” Leo scoffs. “It’s probably videos. Disgusting recordings of us as children. Of his abuse.”
“Did he…?” My stomach sinks. Deep down, I’ve always wondered. “Did he record you?”
“We don’t know. But it wasn’t his style.” Kody spirals a strand of my hair around his finger. “If the riddle is true, the thumb drive is exactly what he claimed. Answers.”
Their conversation turns technical as they open the flight manual and pore over every illustration and instruction.
“This lever.” Leo leans over me, pointing. “It controls the flaps. Critical for reducing speed for landing.”
“If we pull it twice, will it dispense vodka?” Kody turns the page. “I’d rather not be sober when we start defying gravity.”
“There will be no in-flight cocktail service for the pilots.” I scan the next diagram, intimidated by all the lines and tick marks. “What is that?”
“The artificial horizon.” Leo quickly reads about it, his tone eager. “It shows the aircraft’s orientation relative to the Earth. See the pitch and roll here? Without that, we’re flying blind.”
“Just to clarify…” Kody tips his head at Leo. “You’re flying this thing, not me, right?”
“Yes. But we’re all going to learn. If something happens to me—”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.” I brush a braid from his face, hooking it behind his ear. “But I’ll gladly be a co-pilot.”