"What an excuse to get out of finishing the class." "It'll make the logbooks for sure."
She stumbled behind him.
"You okay?" he called over his shoulder.
"Just tripped over something in the dark. I'm fine." Tripped? Trip. Trip wire. Ah, hell.
A sixth-sense premonition burned over him a half second before rumbling echoed behind them. A collapse? No. More of a squeak. Rolling. Opening. Like a gate or door.
Woof.
A bark. Another. Growls grew louder behind the walls, not the storm howling at all. Guard dogs or wolves? Either way, a death pack. Josh's hand convulsed around Alicia's.
"Shit," he bit out. "Run!"
Chapter 3
Alicia gripped Josh's hand.
She held tight, not from fear of the snarling reverberations chasing them through the cave. But out of a gut-sure sense that her husband would do something recklessly macho if he thought she was in danger.
Holding firm, she sprinted, her feet slipping along the slick rocks and frozen mud. The flashlight beam bounced ahead.
Josh's heat, sweat and intensity seared through their form-fitting flight gloves as they ran. Around a corner. Left or right? Josh shoved right.
Ten steps later, the mouth of the cave came into view.
"Gloves," she shouted. "Grab them."
Her hand sailed down to scoop up her discarded arctic mittens. No time to snag the snowshoes. Thank God they had their goggles dangling around their necks.
Alicia scrambled on her belly through the narrow opening. Her boots sunk into the snow. Snow flurried and she yanked up her hood.
"Trees," Josh huffed. "Back into the forest. Climb up. We'll call for rescue from there." The trees were farther from their pickup point. But the snarling beasts were closer.
She trudged through the drifts in a high-stepping run that screamed death. They needed to go faster, but the deep snow turned their sprinting into slow motion.
Ominous barking swelled from inside the cave. Then pow, the deadly symphony cleared the cave and exploded full force across the open tundra.
The trees grew closer. But were they close enough? She vise-gripped Josh. Ran. Prayed. Worked to dispel the image of hounds tearing at her husband.
She could feel the steamy caress of hot breath as her hood flopped behind her. Was it her husband breathing beside her? Or were the beasts that near? She didn't dare look.
Snowfall thinned from tree cover. She picked up speed, plunging deeper into the icy forest. She searched for a pine or birch strong enough to hold them.
There.
Five more steps. Josh knelt, hooking his hands together in a step.
She opened her mouth to protest and send him up the tree first to make the call while she...what?
Scrambled up as best she could.
"No time to argue," Josh shouted. "Go. That's an order, Captain." Her soldier soul couldn't ignore the command even as her wife heart screamed in protest.
"Yes, sir." Stuffing her survival mittens inside her flight suit, she placed her boot in his cupped hands. She bounced once, twice for leverage, and up...
She grabbed for a low-hanging branch. She gripped, her flight gloves slippery around the icy branch.