the rush of blood in his veins, the thunder of his heartbeat, but he was wrong. His muscles tightened instinctively as he listened and heard an eerie groan. An ominous, near-silent creak that slithered a warning through his brain.
He lifted his head. The shore was five hundred feet away. How had they gotten so far from land? “Don’t move,” he whispered, shivering. Maybe it would go away.
But he knew better.
Another deep groan that echoed through the valley as well as the chambers of his heart. The hairs on the back of his arms lifted.
“Oh, God.”
“What?”
They were too far from shore. Too far. “Come on!” he ordered as another splintering sound reverberated through his brain. He felt it then, the subtle shift beneath his boots. He grabbed her hand. “Run!” he’d cried over the louder, sharper crack, the sound of a fissure etching frantically through the ice.
“Why? Oh, God!”
“Run!”
“I can’t!” Her feet, in slippers, found no purchase on the glazed surface and she slid wildly. He grabbed her wrist and ran, dragging her toward the shore. She was a dead weight, pulling against him, but he didn’t care. Faster and faster he ran, his own feet sliding wildly. He aimed for his house, where, through the leafless trees he saw patches of warm light in the windows, smelled the scent of burning wood drifting from the chimney, heard the soft sound of tinkling laughter and music, noticed the unfamiliar car parked in the snowy drive.
Nina was crying now, her fear manifesting in tears. “Come on,” he urged, yanking hard on her wrist, forcing her forward; then he turned toward the house. “Ma!” he yelled so loudly his voice seemed to reverberate over the ice. “Ma! Help!”
The earth shifted beneath him.
Nina’s hand slipped from his gloved fingers.
He spun as she screamed, a terrified shriek that sliced through the night.
Craaaack!
The ice beneath them split.
His legs slid from beneath him and he saw the crack, a great, yawning crevice that moved and slivered as if it were alive.
No!
The cleft aimed right for Nina.
She gasped. Tried to get her feet under her and run.
“Hurry, Nina!” He scrambled toward her. The crack widened into a gaping crevice and Nina—beautiful, trusting Nina—screamed horribly as she fell through the ice in a sickening, heart-stopping splash.
“No! Oh, God, no!” He threw himself to the spot from which she’d vanished, searching the murky, frigid depths, hearing ice crack and split all around him, but she submerged quickly, disappearing into the black depths.
He didn’t think. Jumped into the dark, gaping hole. Frigid water engulfed him, strangling him, dragging him down with cold, cruel fingers. He thrashed beneath the surface, searching the murky waters of the lake. Please, oh, God, please…His lungs burned from lack of oxygen. His eyes saw nothing and he was shaking from the inside out.
Where are you? Nina…WHERE?
Swimming in wild circles, feeling as if he was going to explode, hoping for a glimpse of her, of the nightgown, of anything, he searched. Frantic. Knowing he might die.
Bubbles of air came out of his nose. He let in a little breath. Frigid water rushed into his nose and throat. Desperately he kicked upward, propelling himself to the break in the ice. He gasped as his head broke free. Coughing. Sputtering. Spitting water. “Nina!” he cried wildly, his voice a croak in the cold darkness. “Nina!”
Nothing.
No sound of her sweet voice.
His gaze scraped the surface of the lake, but he saw no sign of life. Oh, God, she was still down there. Freezing. Drowning. Dying.
He dived downward again, deep into the inky depths. Nina, where the hell are you? Oh, baby. Come on, come on! The seconds ticked by and he saw nothing through the murky water. What were the chances that she would survive? How long could someone stay under water, under near-freezing water? Were there air pockets locked near the surface? Could she even now be pressing her sweet lips upward to the ice, hoping to find a small pocket of air trapped beneath the surface? His mind was spinning crazily, a kaleidoscope of sharp images of Nina cutting through his brain as he swam in a panic, his lungs once again on fire.