Ice Kissed by Amanda Hocking Read Free Book Online Page B

“You can’t go running off without letting me know. I told you before that we’re in this together, and with Viktor back, I mean that now more than ever.”
    “I can do that,” I agreed. “And I promise not to keep secrets from you anymore.”
    “Friends again?” he asked with a hopeful smile, holding out his hand to me.
    “Friends.”
    He’d had his hands shoved in his pockets, but mine were cold and damp from touching the vehicle to check for damage. When I took his hand to shake it, the warmth that enveloped me was astonishing. Instantly, I knew this was a bad idea, but I didn’t let go of him.
    The air smelled of snow, water, and fresh pine needles. The dripping water had dampened our hair, making his a bit wavier than normal, and for some reason it made his mahogany eyes appear brighter. I was cold and wet, and I imagined how much warmer it would be in his arms.
    And then I wasn’t imagining it. We’d both moved forward, filling in the gap between us, and he let go of my hand.
    “We should, um, probably get going,” he said in a low voice.
    “Right,” I agreed, forcing a smile when I stepped back from him. “We should check the GPS and find out how close we are.”
    Pushing down all the conflicting emotions I had swirling inside me, I turned to the job at hand and got back in the car.
    The coordinates for the lake weren’t exact, so we’d made our best guess with longitude and latitude on the GPS app on Ridley’s tablet. I grabbed the tablet off the dashboard, but it was updating slowly. Service could be sketchy out here, blinking in and out. At least it was working now.
    “What’s it say?” Ridley asked when he got in the SUV. He shook the water from his hair then peered over at the tablet in my hands.
    “According to the GPS we’re not that far anyway, and there isn’t a road going directly to Lake Isolera. Want to try walking it?”
    “Sure. Why not?”
    I started the Land Rover and carefully drove it back up to the road, parking it near the tree that had diverted our course. It ran normally, which was a bit of a relief, and parking it along the road would make it easier to find when we came back.
    We added ponchos over our winter gear, then grabbed our packs and locked up the vehicle before making the trek out into the wilderness. Ridley had a waterproof case for his tablet, which was good because the weather showed no signs of letting up.
    The first hour we wandered through the trees was the worst. We went where the GPS directed us, and when we found nothing, we began circling out further. Every time I had the chance, I broke branches and tied red string to trees, trying to leave some signs so we wouldn’t get lost, and we’d be able to find our way back to the SUV.
    Though we had put on boots, hats, and gloves, it had all soaked through. We were used to the cold, but it seemed to permeate everything, making my bones ache. Every step had become painful, but neither Ridley nor I were willing to give up so easily.
    Just when I was getting to the point where I wasn’t sure I could take the cold much longer, I saw an odd shimmer through a patch of pine trees. A subtle change in the snow falling down, like it was bowing around the side of a snow globe, but it only lasted a moment. When I tilted my head, though, I was almost certain I could see rays of light spilling out through it.
    I started walking forward, moving more quickly than I had before, with Ridley following.
    “What’s going on?” Ridley called from behind me.
    I stopped long enough for him to catch up, and I pointed at the trees in front of us. “I think I see something.” I tilted my head again, and for a split second, I saw it—a shimmer across the air. “When I look just right, I can see it.”
    Ridley squinted and brushed back the snow that clung to his eyebrows. “I can’t see anything.”
    I knew that I might be crazy, that this might be some cold-induced insanity causing me to see a mirage, but deep down, it