Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
We follow a trail that’s barely perceptible but wide enough, for now, to walk side by side.
Despite the thrill of knowing we’re closing in, the relentless elements are starting to wear us both down.
The biting wind snakes its way under collars and sleeves to find any sliver of exposed skin, and my legs ache with every step.
Our pace has slowed, each movement feeling heavier than the last. The short days of winter are against us, the dimming light urging us to hurry despite our exhaustion.
I don’t know how many more days we can survive on little sleep, protein bars, tea, and sheer hope. Today has to be the day. It will be the day. There isn’t any other choice.
We inch around a steep curve, the trail thinning until it’s barely more than a jagged ledge clinging to the mountainside. A misstep here could send us plummeting into the abyss below.
My focus narrows to the extraordinary effort of sliding one foot forward, planting it with care, then dragging the other to meet it. Above us, snow begins to flurry down, dusting our shoulders and obscuring the already treacherous path.
Just when I think the rest of my existence will be nothing but cold, gray trudging, Sita lets out a sudden whoop of excitement. I force my tired legs to shuffle faster and round the final bend, breath catching at the sight before me.
She stands, grinning at an enormous pillar of ice in a small clearing.
“The frozen waterfall,” I exhale, my voice hardly more than a whisper.
We drop our packs and approach together, necks craning to follow the frozen wonder as it arcs skyward.
The blue ice glimmers in the fading light, every jagged edge and smooth plane refracting a spectrum of color.
I can’t resist placing my gloved hand on it, marveling at the chill seeping through even the thick material.
As my gaze drifts down the icy column, something small wedged into a tiny fissure catches my eye. I brush it free from the light dusting of falling snow and pull it free.
Sita peers over my shoulder. “Is that a—”
“Soapberry,” I finish with a smile.
For a moment, the cold and hardship melt away replaced by warmth flooding through my veins.
We made it. But our victory is short lived, as the sound of slow clapping shatters the burst of happiness.
I whirl to find Ben, flanked by his team and a man holding a familiar snarling wolf, straining against its leash.
“They must have paid him well,” Sita says, her voice taut with anger at seeing a local guide with Ben’s group.
I nod grimly, my hand tightening around the soapberry. “Well enough for him to risk the Migoi’s wrath—especially since, to him, he’s no myth. We had a run in with this guy before.”
Sita's voice cuts through the tension, seething with a fury that matches the storm that has started raging around us, as if even the mountains are angry.
She calls out, “How could you betray the Migoi who has guarded these mountains for centuries? To turn against him is to break your dharma and dishonor the balance of nature.”
“Greed,” I say, my voice cold as I pass judgement on the group in front of us. All guilty of the same sin.
My poor Eryon. Why must this be the price he pays over and over? Why is this his reward for centuries of watching over the mountains and forests, helping wherever he could? Another evil man coming to take what he has painstakingly recultivated?
Rage bubbles up inside me, scorching and relentless. I came here to show Eryon that he is worth saving too. And damn it, I’m going to do just that.
“Ben,” I call out, extending my hand toward him in a placating gesture. “I guess it’s my downfall, too. You’re right. There’s no way I can finish this without you. Can you at least get me back into the University? I know how much pull you have there.”
I take a few hesitant steps and say, “I’ll help you get the plant, but I need access to the future drug—and something to go home to. I know you could never forgive me, and I’m not asking you to. But please, throw me a bone here.”
Years of being with this narcissist have taught me how to play him like a fiddle. Pander to his pride, stroke his ego, make him feel like the big man who's doing a favor for poor, helpless Dahlia.
Sita stands frozen, her eyes wide in disbelief at my sudden change of heart. I have to trust that she will sense my plan and not give me away.
I turn to her, pretend to dig in the pocket of my parka, and then place the soapberry in her hand. “Here, you might as well take the key to my room back since I won’t be needing it anymore.”
She cocks her head at me, brows furrowing in confusion as she looks down at what I’ve pressed into her hand. She hardens her voice and says, “I don’t want you back anyway if you’re going to join these men.”
I feel her fingers curl around mine, a subtle but telling signal that she understands.
“Oh, Dahlia,” Ben croons. “You always were a stupid girl. The men are already here. I don’t need you. And I don’t want you.”
He lets out a cruel laugh, but I lean into my facade and push the farce further.
“Ben,” I cry, pretending to be heartbroken. “You still need to navigate the cave system. You have no idea what that beast is like. I can help you.”
His eyes narrow as he considers my words. Thankfully, all of my field notes were strictly professional, no mention of my relationship with the Yeti, so as far as he knows, what I’m saying is true.
I hesitate, not wanting to overplay my hand but knowing I’m running out of time.
I need him impulsive, not analytical. “Ben, I barely escaped with my life. Please, let me help you. I just want to make sure this plant gets turned into medicine. I am the one who needs it because I inherited the gene. You have the power to save my life.”
A smile spreads across his face at the crack in my voice, at my desperate plea. I didn’t need to act that last part out. It’s my truth.
His chest swells with self-importance, and I see the gloating aura settle around him.
“Dahlia, you know I’m a good man. Of course, I’ll save your life.
The headlines will be incredible. Hell, the PR story will have investors scrambling to fast-track this drug and my payout.
Fine. You lead the way. But make no mistake—I won’t hesitate to kill you.
This plant is worth more to me than your life. ”
“Of course, Ben. Thank you,” I say, eyes downcast to hide the victory that must be shining in them.
An inhuman roar echoes, small stones tumbling down the rock walls surrounding us. Ben’s team exchanges worried glances as the man with the wolf backs away, wisely disappearing.
The remaining men close ranks, flanking Ben. When their eyes go round, I don’t need to turn around to know Eryon is behind me. The very air shimmers with his presence, menace and danger radiating off him in waves to collide against my back.
My lizard brain screams at me to run. Fear licks through my veins like fire and pools low in my belly, bleeding into desire that pulses in my core as I recall the feel of him against my skin, the heat, the lust. To be this close to him again yet so far away is excruciating.
I don’t ever want to be apart from him again.
“Sruhnar,” he growls.
I spin to face him, dragging my gaze up his terrifying form, awed at his presence even after we had explored every inch of each other’s bodies. He appears larger and more fearsome than ever. Chest heaving, luminous silver eyes snapping with ice cold fire.
When our eyes meet, I see his filled with exquisite pain and realize he must have heard my ruse.
“Er—” I start, but he cuts me off.
“Do not say my name,” he snarls at me, lip curling to reveal his sharp teeth.
“He told you his name?” Sita asks, shocked into speaking.
When I glance at her questioningly, she whispers, “Migoi only tell their mates their names. They have great power. In all the centuries this Migoi has been here, no one knows his name. Except you.”
Her words knock the wind from my lungs. I fell in love with a Yeti. And it sounds like he had loved me, too. If the rage bleeding off him is anything to go by, I think he still does. I know he watched our journey here, leaving me breadcrumbs along the trail.
Now it’s my turn to be the white knight.
I’ll save the day, and then I can explain my subterfuge and we can forget about the rest of the world.
Even if staying here with him means my death, I’d rather die by his side than live without him.
Being devoured by him, filled with his heat hidden away in the caves sounds like a fine way to pass whatever remaining time I have left.
I would finally be living for myself—on my terms, driven by my own goals and ambitions.
If love is the sum of those things, then so be it.
I deserve it. I deserve Eryon. His name thrums through my veins like a mantra, fueling me with a fierce determination.
My gaze snaps back to him, trying to communicate with my eyes my true intentions.
I try to piece together a solution, shifting the invisible chessboard in my mind, searching for the elusive strategy that will save us.
But the odds are daunting. Ahead of me stands one very enraged Yeti, and behind me looms one very dangerous man.
The space between them feels like a no-man's-land, and I am the one caught in the crossfire.
A loud click breaks the silence, and I spin back to Ben to see him holding a gun, aimed straight at Eryon.
“I can’t imagine what the payout will be for this monster plus the plant. You won’t be so fierce when you’re locked in a cage, snowman,” Ben sneers.
I don’t think, I just react.
Time plays out in slow motion as my boots dig deep through the layer of freshly fallen snow and crunch down into the gravel, propelling me towards Ben until I am launching myself at the outstretched weapon in a desperate attempt to shield my love.
I'm already marked for death. Let Eryon have a second chance.
Above the pounding of my heart, I hear Sita scream as the gun recoils in Ben’s hand. I should be scared, terrified of being shot but instead, all I feel is a deep sense of calm in achieving what I had set out to do. For even if I die, Eryon will know that he is worth saving.
As something pierces my shoulder, time resumes its normal pace.
I brace myself for excruciating pain and reach up to grab my shoulder.
I pull my hand away expecting to see blood from a gunshot but instead, I pull out a dart.
I try to bring it up to my face for a closer look but my arm falls limply to my side.
Sticky syrup floods my veins. My legs buckle, and I land hard on my knees, then fall to my side. I am completely paralyzed, helpless to do anything except watch the drama unfold around me.
For a second Ben looks shocked, almost as if he can’t believe he shot me. As if maybe, at one point, he really did love me.
“You’re the only monster here, Ben,” I want to scream, but I can barely force the whispered words past my lips as the fast-acting sedative courses through my body.
Fierce determination crosses his face, erasing any semblance of a human with feelings or morals, as he grabs for another dart.
Before he can reload, the Yeti is on them.
I watch in deep satisfaction as Eryon goes feral, swiping at the men with his great arms and knocking them over like bowling pins.
Red splatters the ground and the thick pelt of the Migoi, a startling contrast against a world of white. He picks each man up, breaking them like kindling and tossing them over the edge of the trail, down into the abyss.
Except for Ben, crawling away on all fours like the coward that he is. Eryon swipes him up but doesn’t kill him right away. Instead, he takes him in his massive hands, hoisting him into the air as if he weighs nothing. For a terrifying moment, the Yeti holds him there, staring deep into Ben’s eyes.
Then Eryon shatters the silence with a fierce roar, the sound ricocheting off the mountains and rumbling through the earth itself. The air vibrates with its fury, dislodging loose rocks to cascade down the jagged walls like rain.
Ben’s eyes go wide, the whites showing all around in a mask of terror. Without warning, the Migoi hurls him skyward, flinging him out into the abyss. His screams stretch out, growing fainter as he plummets into nothingness, the echoes haunting the mountain long after he’s vanished from sight.
I desperately want to move, to run to Eryon and reassure myself that he is okay. Tell him I love him and I am so, so sorry. But not only am I paralyzed, I feel my heart slowing, my breathing softening in reaction to a sedative dose for something much larger than me.
I give myself over to this soft world. At least I’ll die with the satisfaction that Ben got exactly what he deserved. I just wish I had the chance to tell Eryon that I love him.