Chapter 36 #2
Beneath him, she climbed up like he had asked, following his lead. Grabbing the same foot- and handholds. If he didn’t want her to fall, he’d better focus.
“Sure. Good. You?”
“Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”
He agreed. Over with. He needed closure. He, too, needed to let go.
They’d found his father’s body three days later, buried under six feet of snow. Ryder had wanted to yell—to roar back at the mountain, even now in this moment. But the ice would answer with silence. It always had. It always would.
I didn’t reach you in time, Dad. I could have saved you. But Dean never should have led them out onto the ice that way, and Ryder had blamed him for the longest time. The man had saved their lives back there today, giving his own so they could make it out, if possible.
I’m sorry, Dean. I never should have blamed you. But it was too late for Ryder to say those words. And he didn’t want Dean’s death to be for nothing, so Ryder had to get Sarah out of here. Take the chance they’d been given.
“You can do this,” Ryder called down, the words meant as much for himself as for her. They both needed reassurance now, if they were going to climb their way out of this cave and survive.
What choice did they have? She was counting on him.
I can’t fail her too.
He reached the narrow opening, heart pounding, and glanced down. Sarah clung to the icy rocks, her breath ragged in the cold.
“Almost there,” he said, forcing steadiness into his voice. “Hold on. I’ll get through and pull you up.”
Bracing himself, he fumbled to shrug off his pack, which wasn’t easy as he gripped the rock, his fingers stiff from the cold even through the gloves. With a grunt, he shoved the pack through the opening ahead of him.
“Hang on, Sarah.”
“My arms are shaking,” she gasped. “Hurry.”
He slid through the opening, out onto a snow-crusted ledge, the mountainside dropping away below to the sweep of forest they’d still have to reach. Whipping around, he shoved his head and shoulders back into the cave, arms outstretched.
“Come on. I’ve got you!”
She was still too far for him to reach, even after he slipped farther in, but any farther and they’d both tumble down the cave wall. Come on, come on, come on.
Sarah scrambled upward, boots scraping for purchase. Suddenly, one foot shot out from under her, knocking loose a chunk of stone that clattered away and vanished into the darkness below.
Ryder’s heart slammed into his throat. “Sarah! Grab my hands!”
Her fingers slipped, scrabbling at cold rock. Wide eyes filled with panic flashed up at him. She reached instinctively, grasping at air.
With a surge of everything he had, Ryder lunged deeper into the opening, anchoring himself against the ledge above. His shoulder roared with pain as he caught her wrist, his fingers clamping tight just as her body scraped against the wall, the impact rattling through them both.
She let out a sharp grunt as he gripped her.
“I’ve got you, Sarah. I’ve got you . . .” he said, gasping, his voice raw.
His grip locked, the snow-packed ice under his boots shifting, brittle and treacherous. He dug in harder, pulling inch by inch, until her other hand latched onto his arm.
Her eyes, wild with panic and fear, met his. “Ryder,” she choked, shaking her head, “you’re going to fall too—”
“No,” he growled. “I’m not letting you go.”
He heaved, muscles burning, breaths surging from his lungs, as he dragged her up and out. She kicked and scrabbled, shifting her weight, fighting for leverage, until—
At last she was through the opening, and with the momentum, they tumbled into a heap on the ledge, and this time, Sarah collapsed on top of him.
For a beat, he didn’t move and neither did she.
He stared into her eyes, and she held his gaze, both of them gasping for breath, ignoring the wind that howled around them.
Her face hovered inches from his, cheeks flushed, eyes wide. A shaky breath left her lips, half laugh, half sob.
“I guess it’s my turn,” she whispered, “to finally knock you off your feet.”
And then she grinned.
Her smile shocked him, stunned him to the core. The sudden urge to kiss her coursed through him. They’d made it out of the cave alive. Survived the avalanche. Survived their hunters and faced off with the chaos around the bioweapon in the plane.
And he couldn’t stop the truth that took hold. Ryder wanted to know everything about this woman in a deep, personal way. But now . . . now wasn’t the time. Or was it?
She remained where she was and stared down at him with a dazed look, her eyes so beautiful. Then she leaned closer and planted her lips on his. He responded and gently gripped her head, wishing he could feel her soft hair between his fingers instead of the insulated gloves.
Sarah Ellison. What are you doing to me?
Much too soon, she ended the kiss and rolled away. “Thank you, Ryder, for saving my life.”
“Oh, was that what the kiss was for?”
“Yes and no. Make of it what you will.” She stood and dusted off the snow and ice and dirt.
And he was frozen on the ground.
“That was close,” she said. “I could have died. We could have died.”
“Too close.” Yeah, she was getting far too close to him, getting even deeper under his skin, and maybe with that kiss, she’d already embedded herself like a covert operative into his heart. His voice had broken when he said it, and she hadn’t missed it.
“Are you okay?” She stared at him now, seeming to have composed herself, found herself again. Resolved to hike down the mountain and find her son.
I will be once I get over that kiss. He stood and got his bearings. They still had to make it down the mountain. He didn’t answer her but hung his head, closed his eyes.
“Ryder?”
“I couldn’t save my dad,” he whispered as he pointed. “I watched him fall right there. I didn’t make it to him fast enough. We crawled through the cave to get to this point. So that’s how I knew about it.”
Sarah stepped closer and took his hand in hers. “I’m sorry about your father, Ryder. But you saved me. You didn’t fail me.”
And you might just be saving me too, Sarah Ellison.
A few heartbeats passed. Then he finally snapped out of it and nodded.
His nod hadn’t been meant for her, but it was more to release a part of himself that had been stuck in time here on this mountain for far too long.
And that silent part of him, the wounded part, had finally broken open .
. . and he was free now . . . at least from the past that had held him for so long.
But he and Sarah and her family—Jeremy and Tessa?
They weren’t out of danger yet.