Cloudburst Ice Magic (5 page)

Lily’s awareness funneled down into repeated
motions. Slam shovel into the snow. Drag the snow out of the way.
Stamp with her feet to make a foothold. Check the compass for next
step. Move forward. Lily’s shoulders and hands ached from chopping
steps, and her legs shook from holding her body against the wind’s
push and gravity’s pull. She made progress and hoped the others
followed, but the going was slow.

When her mind began to whimper at the
continued efforts, Lily turned her thoughts to the goal of reaching
the edge of the ridge and the protection of the trees.
And Zach
might be waiting for me there. With a hot mug of chai.
She
snorted with the last of her humor.
And as long as we’re
wishing…

The ground steepened and she had to shift
her path to a more gentle incline to allow for stable footing. Snow
stung her ear where her hat didn’t cover and the wind increased in
intensity. The scents of wet ferocity filled her nose and she had
the sense they were running out of time.
The Ice Demons here
aren’t fooling around. Zach, I need you.

She almost berated herself for the wish when
her latest step gave way under her and she slid back into the
avalanche chute. Lily slammed the shovel into the snow above her
shoulders, praying it’d catch on something solid and keep her from
dragging the others down with her. Panic roared through her, but
she fought it back as something caught her hand.

The scents of cloves and cardamom filled her
nose and a shadow blocked out some of the blinding snow. Lily
tilted her head to stare up into a shape looming over her,
connected to the large hand wrapped around her arm. Crimson red
Gore-Tex added color to her world as the man with the solid grip
dragged her upright against his chest. He wore goggles to keep out
the snow, but she recognized the lips mouthing words at her.

“Oh, thank God, Zach.”

Chapter Six

Zach made the climb to Quicksilver Chute in
record time considering he carried a pack full of extra gear and
supplies for others. He tried to keep his focus on making tracks,
but it would stray to Lily every time he sensed a bolt of yearning
and fear from her. The emotions pushed him harder and faster than
he would normally go in a whiteout blizzard.

He’d been halfway down into the Chute when
he caught sight of Lily’s brilliant purple jacket struggling
through the snow and wind. When her feet slid out from under her,
Zach let go of caution and glissaded down the remaining feet to
where she arrested her fall with her shovel.

“I got you, Lily. Are you all right?”

“Oh, thank God, Zach.”

He dragged her up against his chest and held
her tight for a few moments, his world resetting to where it needed
to be. Some of her golden blond hair escaped from her hat and the
silky strands brushed his cheek. Her floral scent filled his nose
and tension fled from his body. They’d been apart for too long and
he hadn’t noticed how tight his gut had become until it loosened
with her body held close.

“You got my text.”

“Yes. Did you get my response?” He pushed
her back to meet her gray gaze through their mutual goggles. He
would’ve preferred to kiss the hell out of her, but the weather
made it problematic.

She shook her head. “No. The phone died and
we’ve been stuck out here overnight. How did you get here?”

“Drove and hiked. Where are the others?”

“Follow the rope.” She held up a yellow and
red woven climbing rope, and he followed its length where it
disappeared into the driving snow. “We’re all connected so we don’t
get lost.”

“Good call. Let’s get you all out of here.
The Spring Fling starts at noon.”

Lily dropped her gaze to her wrist to check
the time. “Shit. That’s only a half hour from now. How do you know
that for sure?”

“I stopped by the local Ice Demon clan
before I came out here. The Matriarch promised to hold everything
off until twelve, but after that, we’re out of luck.” Zach wanted
to lean forward and rip off her scarf so he could seal his mouth to
hers in a hungry kiss, but they were out of time. “Come on. The
edge of the ridge isn’t far from here.”

“How will I keep up with you? There’s no
more rope left and visibility is down to less than a couple of
feet.”

Zach nodded and unhooked a length of rope
attached to two carabineers from his pack. “Clip this to your
shoulder strap.” He handed her one end and clipped the other to the
loops on the back panel of his pack. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Zach.” She caught his hand before he
moved away.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks so much for coming.”

“Anytime, princess. Let’s get moving.”

A blast of wind and snow ripped away
anything she might have said and Zach turned his attention to
getting the humans out of the avalanche chute. They had no time
left and while the ridge wasn’t far, it would take a fair amount of
effort to reach it before noon. Zach’s Ice Demon abilities remained
curtailed by his human guise, but what little leaked through
allowed him to make a fairly stable path up the edge of the
chute.

He and Lily crested the ridge, and he
breathed a sigh of relief. They’d made it.

“I think we did it.”

Lily smiled. “Yeah, we—”

Her words cut off as a deep rumbling started
upslope. Lily gasped and hauled on the rope, bringing the next
person within sight through the snow.

“Fuck! Help me, Zach. We have to get the
others out of there before we’re all swept with the avalanche.”

The next person in line was a weeping blonde
woman, her strength degraded by fear and cold. She smelled of fear
and candy, and her full lips appeared chapped from the wind.
Where the hell is her scarf?
She scrambled over the edge of
the chute and crawled a few feet away, folding in on herself. Zach
marked her as secure for now and focused on hauling the rest to
safety. The rumbling increased and the wind picked up with scents
of moving moisture.

Lily didn’t pause as she dug her crampon
heels into the ground and jerked the next figure up onto the
ground. This one was male with boyish good looks, and Zach
swallowed a growl as he fell on top of Lily. Fortunately, the man
scrambled off to grab the cowering blonde, cradling her against his
chest as he whispered to her.

Two more people pushed over the side of the
chute. One white-faced woman with tendrils of red hair escaping
from her hat, and an older man with the rest of the gear needed for
a rescue team. He pulled himself up and jerked his legs out of the
way just in time.

The rumble increased to a roar and they all
stood back from the edge, their attention riveted to the chute
below them.

A wall of snow and ice cascaded down the
valley, sweeping everything downslope in its path. Everyone just
stood and watched the remarkable destruction of nature. Powerful
energy bloomed in the wake of the avalanche and Zach inhaled as
much as he could in his diminutive human form. He resisted the urge
to shift into his true form and dance in the residual power from
the slide.
Damn, these guys really know how to have a good
time.

“Lily, are you all right?”

The voice of the older man brought Zach back
to himself and he clamped his jaws tight over a snarl. Now was not
the time to get territorial, but Zach didn’t like the stranger’s
familiarity with his woman.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks to Zach.”

“Zach?” The older man turned and met Zach’s
gaze as he peeled back his goggles. “
The
Zach?” A smile
creased the man’s lips and he held out a hand to shake. “Great to
meet you. I’m Randy Montesque, Lily’s SAR partner. She’s told me a
lot about you. How did you get here?”

Some of Zach’s possessiveness retreated with
Randy’s friendly greeting. “I got Lily’s text and headed out. I
knew the weather here would be rough this weekend and it wasn’t
time to fool around.”

Randy nodded, his brown eyes narrowing, but
whatever thoughts passed behind his gaze, he kept them to himself.
“I’m damn glad you made it when you did.” He glanced over at the
swirling snow left by the avalanche. “We might not have made it out
of there without your help.”

“Not a problem. But we can’t stay here. The
weather will get worse as the day gets later.”

“We’re trying to reach a Forest Service
equipment cabin to the southwest. Did you see it when you hiked
in?”

Zach shook his head. “No. I followed the
ridge line until found you.”

“I think it’s no more than a hundred and
fifty meters from here.” Lily pulled out her map and Zach and Randy
hunched close. She pointed to a little green dot between the red
and blue contour lines. “Zach, do you know how far you came up the
ridge before you got to us?”

“I crested this hillock.” He pointed to a
small circle in the contours. “We should be right about here.” The
spot gave them almost a straight shot to the cabin if they hiked
directly west.

“Thank God.” Lily pulled out her compass and
took a reading. She nodded and stuffed her map in her front pocket
as she rose to her feet. “Let’s get these people out of the
snow.”

“How much farther do we have to go?” Another
male voice made Zach tense at the surly tone, but he chalked it up
to concern for the blonde woman. “Tammy can’t take much more of
this.”

“Well, she’s gonna have to, now isn’t she?”
The redheaded woman stood in front of her companions with her hands
on her hips. “You were the one who wanted to go hiking this
weekend, Tammy, and now we’re up here in this mess. So if you want
to be safe and warm, get your ass out of the snow and let’s get to
the place we can at least rest.”

“Back off, Caroline.” The young man
struggled to his feet to face off with the redhead.

“No, Brad. She got us into this mess. Now
she has to deal with it, just like we do. No one’s going to rescue
her except her.” Caroline pointed at Zach. “They’re risking their
lives coming out here to save us. The least you can do is make
their job a little easier.”

“Easy, everyone. Let’s just calm down.”
Randy patted his hands on the air in a soothing motion. “We’re
almost to our destination for today, but the weather is getting
worse, so we should head out. Ms. Sinclair will lead us to the
Forest Service shed and we’ll make plans from there. Our chances of
survival have just increased tenfold. So let’s gather our stuff and
head out.”

Randy resecured the ropes to everyone as
Brad tugged Tammy to her feet.

Lily glanced at her compass as she studied
the map and Zach sidled over to her, needing her scent in his nose.
Damn, this woman is sexy.
He’d known she was remarkable when
he found her on Mt. Charleston, but now, working, she turned him on
with just shrugging on her pack.

“Know the way?”

Lily bit her bottom lip and Zach had to
ignore the flex of his cock with the motion. “Yeah, I think so.
There isn’t much visibility, but the trees help keep some of the
snow off us. We’re looking for a short wall.” She pointed to the
narrow contour lines. “Looks like they built the shack right up
next to the face. There might even be a road up to it. Will you
hike with me and keep your eyes open for it?”

“I think that can be arranged.” Zach wished
he could get away with kissing her, but such displays weren’t
professional.
Later, though, I’m going to remind her she’s
mine.
“You said it was an equipment shack?”

“Yeah. Sometimes they keep old chainsaws,
climbing gear, and camping supplies there in case someone from the
service needs them.” She scanned the snowy woods. “Usually it’s for
the fire crews, but right now, it should work for us.”

“I should be able to smell some of the
items.”

“Really?” Lily’s smile held hope.

“Yeah. Motor oil for the chainsaws and metal
smell different than snow to an Ice Demon. It shouldn’t be a
problem.”

Lily gave him a grin of pure mischief. “I
knew I loved you for a reason.”

“My nose?” Zach laughed.

“Among other things.”

Zach wanted to grab her and kiss the hell
out of her, but she turned away to give Randy the plan. Zach
dropped his chin to hide his grin and made sure Lily’s pack
remained connected to his. A new scent intruded as he worked and he
looked up to meet the gaze of Caroline.

“Hi, I just wanted to thank you for coming
all this way out here to rescue us.” She gave him a shy smile. “I
didn’t think anyone knew where we were.”

“They had a vague idea.” Zach gave her his
best noncommittal smile. “Ms. Sinclair got a text out to me and I
managed to get up here in time.”

Caroline brandished her smile again. “I
don’t know very much about mountain rescues, but don’t Search and
Rescue people always work in pairs?”

Zach nodded as he clipped the carabineers
onto each of their packs and screwed them down tight, stalling for
time. “Usually, that’s true. It’s always better to go as a team.
But I happened to be closest”—while not strictly true, he could
find his mate anywhere—“and already out here when she texted me.
And I had an idea of where you were.” He shrugged. “I’m just glad I
made it in time to help them get you out of the chute.”

“Well, I just wanted to say thanks. Do you
think we’ll get out okay?” She looked vulnerable for a moment and
his primal male need to protect stepped forth.

“I know we will. Ms. Sinclair is one of the
best and now that there are three of us, it shouldn’t be a
problem.”

Caroline nodded and opened her mouth to say
something else, but Randy’s voice calling for them to get ready
interrupted. Zach caught Lily’s eye and gave her a smile, but she
didn’t respond as she picked up the rope and tied the end around
her waist.

“Ready to move out?” Zach held her pack as
she fit her arms through the straps.