CHAPTER 22
A s Ava expertly maneuvered the powerful snowmobile through Skydovia’s forest, she felt Justin’s arms around her waist, his body pressed against her, sending a warm, tingling sensation through her.
“How are you doing back there?” she asked.
“Do you always drive this fast?” Justin replied, sounding nervous.
Grinning, Ava accelerated, going even faster.
This was her happy place—racing through the snow-covered trees. She smiled, remembering the first time she had gone snowmobiling with her parents. She was five, and they had given her a snowmobile suit and helmet for Christmas. It was the best present she’d ever gotten.
On that first ride, and every ride after, she rode with her father because he said her mother was too wild of a driver. He wasn’t wrong. She had often watched her mother veer off-trail, searching for new places to explore, while her father stuck to the marked paths, riding at a more cautious pace.
Secretly, Ava had always wanted to ride with her mother because it looked like more fun, but she’d never told her father that. She hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings.
When she was finally old enough to ride solo and went off-trail for the first time, she instantly understood why her mother loved it so much.
Snowmobiling gave her a true sense of being free. She was able to do whatever she wanted and go wherever she wanted, something that was very rare in her perfectly planned royal life.
Now, being on a snowmobile again felt exhilarating. This last hectic year, she hadn’t had the time, so she was determined to make the most of it now.
The view was spectacular as they climbed the mountain up a steep and winding trail.
“Isn’t it beautiful up here?” Ava asked Justin.
Ava felt Justin’s arms tighten around her. “Uh, right now all I’m looking at is how close you’re driving next to the cliff—”
“Relax. I’ve got this,” Ava said with a laugh. But as she turned a sharp corner, she was caught off guard by a tree branch, heavy with snow, that was hanging over the trail.
“Branch! Duck!” she shouted as she swerved to miss it.
They both ducked and narrowly missed it smacking them in the face.
“That was close!” Justin shouted.
“Sorry,” Ava said, laughing. She was having a blast. She was still laughing when she took another sharp turn and out of nowhere, a deer suddenly jumped in front of them.
“No!” she screamed as she swerved to miss it, sending the snowmobile skidding toward the cliff.
“Stop!” Justin shouted.
“I can’t!” Ava hollered back. “Jump! JUMP!”
They both jumped off the snowmobile right before it plunged over the cliff.
It slammed into a tree and burst into flames.
Then there was nothing but silence.
A few feet down the cliff, a mound of snow suddenly shifted. Then—whoosh!—Ava’s arms shot out, breaking through the heavy powder. Gasping, she sat up, yanking off her helmet. Her breath came fast as she gulped in the frosty air. She frantically looked around for Justin.
“Justin? Justin!”
Panicking, Ava fought to dig herself out of the snow so she could stand. “Justin! Where are you? Oh my God. Please be okay. You have to be okay—”
“I’m okay!” Justin’s voice rang out from above.
She whipped her head up to see him standing at the top of the cliff, covered in snow. Overcome with relief, she dropped to her knees. “Thank God. I didn’t see you,” she said as tears started to fall. “I thought…”
“It’s okay. See? I’m right here,” Justin reassured her as he fought through the snow, making his way down the cliff. “You said jump, so I jumped. I didn’t need anyone to tell me twice.”
Ava laughed through her tears as Justin made his way to her.
“Wow, you’re way down here,” Justin said. “Looks like you should have jumped earlier. Hold on, I’m almost there.”
Ava looked below her to where the snowmobile was still burning. A tremor ran through her. The reality of what had just happened was sinking in fast. “I could have killed us both,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“It wasn’t your fault. That deer came out of nowhere,” Justin said as he finally reached her.
She met his eyes. “You don’t have to let me off the hook. I was going too fast.”
Justin gently wiped away one of her tears. “I’m good. You’re good. That’s all that matters.” His gaze shifted skyward, his expression turning serious. “But the snow’s coming down harder. Looks like that storm is hitting early.”
Ava glanced up and was instantly blinded by the swirling snowflakes that stuck to her lashes. “We need to get off this cliff. Now.”
“Come on,” Justin said, taking her hand and guiding her over a deep snowbank. “You go ahead of me.”
“Why?”
“Because if you slip, I can stop you,” Justin said.
Ava shot him a look. “Or I’ll take you out, and we’ll both go down. No, let’s do this side by side.”
“Together,” Justin agreed. “Okay.”
They took a deep breath, then carefully started climbing, one slow, deliberate step at a time.
When Ava slipped, Justin caught her.
When Justin slipped, Ava grabbed him.
They were a team, and slowly but surely, they made their way up the cliff…together.
When they got to the top, breathless and shaken, they stood shoulder to shoulder, clutching their helmets, staring down at the smoking wreckage below.
Ava squeezed her eyes shut. She felt like she was in a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from. She couldn’t believe how close they’d come to the unthinkable.
If anything had happened to Justin, she knew she’d never forgive herself. She shivered, remembering the moment the snowmobile went airborne…
“Are you okay? Are you cold?” Justin asked.
Ava studied him through the swirling snow. Even after she’d almost killed him, he still looked genuinely concerned for her.
“You really continue to surprise me,” Ava said.
“How so?” Justin asked.
“By being so…nice. You should want to throw me over the cliff.”
Justin looked over the edge. “I’m not saying I haven’t thought about it, but then how would I get out of here?”
Ava laughed softly. She brushed some snow off his shoulders. “The snow is really starting to come down hard.”
“And it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon,” Justin said. He got out his cell phone and frowned when he saw he couldn’t get a signal.
“There’s no cell service up here,” Ava told him.
“Okay, so that doesn’t leave us a lot of options, does it?” he asked.
“Only one,” Ava said. “The only way out of here is to walk.”
Justin’s frown grew. “How far are we from the restaurant?”
“Not far, about two miles,” Ava said, trying to stay positive.
Justin’s eyebrow arched. “That might not be far on a snowmobile, but on foot, in this snow, fighting this wind, it’s going to take us a while.”
Ava nodded. “I know, but we don’t have any other choice. Let’s check to see if our helmet mics are still working.”
They both put on their helmets.
“Testing, testing, can you hear me?” she asked.
“Yes,” Justin said. “You’re a little faint, but I got you.”
Ava took her helmet off, and Justin did the same.
“It looks like they’ll work, as long as we stay close,” Ava said.
“No worries there,” Justin said. “Because I’m not going anywhere without you.”
They shared a smile.
“Okay, we have to keep moving,” Ava said as she put on her helmet.
When Justin tried to put his on, he struggled with the strap.
Ava stepped closer so she could help him. As she was getting everything adjusted, their eyes met.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
“Is it?” Ava asked. She wasn’t just talking about their current predicament.
For an answer, Justin took her hand, and they started walking together, moving in sync, as they fought the howling wind and swirling snow, just as they had when they’d climbed up the cliff.
Ava was fighting hard not to spiral, but she knew their reality was brutal.
They were alone in the middle of Skydovia’s forest during a snowstorm, with no cell service, miles from civilization.
To make things worse, the trail was rapidly disappearing under the snow, and powerful gusts of wind were snapping off tree branches, turning them into dangerous projectiles flying through the air.
“Watch out,” Ava yelled after one branch almost hit Justin.
He jumped out of the way just in time. “Whoa. Thanks.”
Ava was quickly losing the battle of trying to scrape the ice off her face shield. “It’s starting to get impossible to see. We need to try and move faster.”
“Roger that. Let’s go.”
When Ava slipped on some ice, Justin caught her before she fell.
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a grateful look.
They started walking again in silence.
She glanced over at him. “Justin?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m really sorry,” she said, fighting back tears.
He linked his arm with hers so they could steady each other as they walked. “Hey, we’re going to be fine. We just need to keep going, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.” She was thankful for his ability to stay calm and focused.