Snow and the Seven Men (Seven Ways to Sin 1)

“It’s Mirror, Mirror,” Sasha gasped. “They’re evil! They’re a danger to the environment and they’ve been covering it up. She’s been trying to kill me. She’s the one who sent me out into the storm. She’s the one who shot me. I don’t know who else knows…”

She wasn’t making a lot of sense, but from what I could glean, she’d stumbled upon some form of corporate espionage.

And that was never good.

If the secret is worth killing for, we’re all in trouble.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” I promised her. “I’m going to cauterize the wound, and we’ll fly you out on the chopper—tonight.”

“I’m going with her,” Graham said firmly.

“Me too!” Bash cried.

“Yeah, me too,” Harry offered, and I nodded.

“I think we should all go with you,” I told her. “It’s the safest thing for everyone.”

Sasha looked at me dubiously before gazing around the room. “You can’t just pick up and leave in the middle of a contract,” she murmured. “You’ve got work to do.” Her gaze returned to me. “You’re stressed enough as it is.”

I almost laughed.

She was bleeding from a gunshot wound, on the run for her life, and she was worried about my stress levels.

“We’re doing this,” I told her, glancing up at my companions. “Unless anyone has any objections.”

“Nope.”

“No way.”

“We’re going.”

She raised her head weakly and stared at us gratefully. “I should have never left you guys,” she muttered weakly. “I shouldn’t have left…”

“Shh,” I murmured, gently dropping her head back onto the pillow. “I’m going to give you something for the pain now. It’s going to hurt like hell when I cauterize the shot, but if I don’t, you’ll bleed out.”

“Do what you have to do, Doc,” she mumbled, and I could see she was losing consciousness again.

I needed to work fast, and I signaled for the others to help me.

“Stevie, get the chopper ready,” I instructed. “We’re getting the hell out of here within the hour.”

22

Sasha

It was my first time on a helicopter, and I found myself wary about the eight of us traveling in such a small vessel, but Graham assured me it was perfectly safe. And if Graham were claiming it was safe, I couldn’t really be worried, could I? He was the biggest alarmist out of all of them.

We rose into the blackened sky, and I looked down at the frozen landscape with bittersweet emotions. It seemed like a lifetime ago that I’d wanted to come on this trip, so young and idealistic, so full of hope and inspiration. That wasn’t even a week ago.

Now, I was running for my life in a helicopter with a bunch of stranger-turned-lovers, wondering where the hell it had all gone so wrong.

Or had it gone right?

To say I was confused was an understatement. I couldn’t settle on a single emotion. In one moment, I was staring around the chopper with adoration dripping from my eyes. My gaze darted from one concerned face to another, and a part of me wanted to strip off my clothes and have my way with all of them in the helicopter, thinking about how hot it would be.

I quickly decided against it, simply for safety’s sake, no matter how tempting it was.

Then, I’d peer down into endless waters of the North Atlantic below us, and I would realize how close I’d been to death. In those moments, shudders would encompass my body. Bash and Dan would sandwich me between them until I was still again.

“Where are we going?” I asked. We’d been flying for over an hour, and again, the rush of fear seized me.

“We’re going to stop for fuel in Scotland,” Graham explained over his headset. He was piloting the chopper. “We can figure out a plan from there.” I wondered if there was no end to the talents of my men. Drillers, accountants, helicopter pilots, sexual deviants. What else would I learn about them?

I looked forward to finding out.

“How long until we get there?” I asked.

“A couple hours,” came the reply and Bash squeezed my hand.

“Just relax,” he murmured, and despite my overwhelming anxiety, I found his nearness soothing.

“I’ll try,” I agreed, dropping my head against his shoulder.

We arrived in Inverness before dawn, but the sky had already lightened enough by five a.m. that I realized I was going to see dawn at its proper time for once since I’d left home.

Speaking of home, I’d need to get in touch with Alex ASAP. I’d promised to call her today, and she’d be in a panic if I didn’t. My phone was still on the bathroom floor at the research facility where I’d dropped it. What was it with me losing phones? First, I’d lost one the day the storm had started and then I dropped my backup. Maybe if I weren’t in mortal danger all the time, I’d be more careful.