A wall of snow rushed toward her.
Shit. Avalanche!
Rachel ran, but it moved with the power of a swift tsunami. It would engulf her in seconds. A big chunk of ice or rock grazed her head, knocking her down. Stunned, nonetheless her adrenaline kicked in and she stood.
A large body encased her like a womb as the snow pounded on top of them. Both she and her savior would freeze to death. Rachel closed her eyes to sleep forever.
Then the sound and burial ended. They were trapped deep beneath the snow. The man had cocooned them in. A pocket of air, but for how long? A frozen coffin.
“Rachel, are you all right?”
“Lev?” Here in the flesh. She felt a cut on her forehead.
“Da.”
Part of her wanted to slap him for making her think he had died in the terrorist explosion, and another part wanted to kiss every inch of him. No chance of either. She trembled so hard it felt like she was having a seizure. Her teeth chattered. “I’m freezing, but nothing broken, just a cut. Unless, I’m so numb I don’t realize it.” For all she knew, her brain might be exposed from the gash on her head. Please don’t let this be a hallucination.
He touched her cut, and she winced. “Deep, but I don’t think you need stitches.”
“W-w-what…does…it…”
“Remain still. You will warm up soon.”
Comforting words before she fell asleep forever, she thought. How ironic to die with the man she’d thought dead. The air around her heated with the glow of red. WTF? The ice around them melted until their enclosure turned into an igloo. Big enough almost to stand in.
Lev sat up and drew her in and wrapped her in his arm. “Better?”
Still shivering she blinked. “What…d…did you do?”
“Old military trick.”
Special forces. Probably trained in extreme weather for surviving an avalanche. He wore the same black jacket her abductor had and yet was warm to the touch. Was he one of them? The only thing that mattered was she wasn’t freezing to death. As if he were a human heater. “How can you be so warm?”
“I’m hot blooded.” He laughed.
> “Right.” She blew into her mittens. “What…now?”
Later, she’d deal with whose side he was on.
He cocked his head as if listening. “We wait for a few more minutes and then I will dig us out.”
“T-t-t…tunnel us out?”
“In a matter of speaking. Our heat will start melting the snow.”
Rachel had so many questions she didn’t know where to start. The warmth helped but not by much. His unusual heat no longer combated the lethal freezing cold. Her teeth chattered, threatening to break. “B-b-but you n-n…not freezing?”
“I’m used to snow.”
“Okay, so you’ve been to Siberia, b-b…but even Sherpas f-f-f…freeze all...” Breathing and talking proved too difficult. Would she soon succumb to hypothermia?
He turned her face toward him and kissed her forehead. “Rest. I’ll explain later.”
Her eyes grew heavy. “Okay,” she slurred. Dying in his arms, better than dying alone.
Chapter 10
Lev swallowed his guilt. He regretted using mind control to knock Rachel out, but he’d no choice. Best to keep his powers a secret for now. He released mutant body heat and the ice melted giving him enough room to stand. To dig out. Rachel had warmed, but not enough. Her parka was next to useless. Especially, since his heating abilities waned. Her temperature dropped to dangerous levels. Hypothermia set in. He needed to get her to safety, now.