Chapter 3

• Blaise stopped and turned to check that her gear was still secured. Tugging on the glove, she pulled it off and wiped her hand over her numb cheek. It was going to take hours to thaw out once she got to the cabin. Briefly, she was missing the warmer climate she grew up in where it never snowed—until she remembered why her family had left there in the first place. She’d take the snow any day.
• Working the glove back on, she was thankful she’d grabbed them and the snowsuit from in the shed. Raymond Hardy thought of everything, otherwise, she would have headed out in this storm dressed as she was and would have frozen to death. She did regret not taking one of the helmets. It would have kept her face warmer. Pulling the collar up, she tugged it over her mouth and then revved the machine. Turning it slowly to the left, she throttled it up and crouched again. She’d already found out the hard way that sitting made fast movement harder and as a result avoiding trees almost impossible.
• She wasn’t sure how long it had been, but when she saw the lights, she blew out a hot breath that traveled down to her neck inside the material. She’d made it and could still feel most parts of her body. Her feet were questionable, none of the boots in the shed had fit her, so she’d had to wear her shitkickers. Normally she loved her boots, but the steel plate in the toes had been the first thing to freeze. She wondered if shifting to rejuvenate was a good or bad idea when she was this cold. Maybe she’d message and ask Kenzo; he probably had more experience with it—considering his animal was more than comfortable in the snow and cold.
• The cabin looked nothing like what she’d pictured, in fact, it looked more like an above-ground bunker than a cabin in the woods. She stopped in front of the shed beside the cabin. Getting off, she opened the door and checked if there was space enough to pull in.
• Going up onto the deck, she hefted her gear awkwardly with numb arms and went to the door. She didn’t bother knocking, Graham would have been told she was on the way up—and right now she just wanted out of this weather. That feeling wouldn’t last, she couldn’t be indoors for long. Her home, of sorts, was a testament to that.
• The shocked look on Graham’s face told her how frosted over she must look. Lowering her gear to the floor with a thunk, she started to work off the gloves and dropped them to the floor. Her hands were red. Glancing, she saw Graham walk over to the woodstove and open it up. By the time he turned back around, she was working her arms out of the cold material.
• “Pretty bad out there?”
• She only nodded, or it felt like she was, but it was hard to tell.
• “Shit, I was hoping it only looked bad up here.”
• “It’s everywhere down there.” She peeled the suit down her legs and then stopped when she reached her boots. This was going to suck, she thought. Shuffling over, she sat on the bench beside the door and began to work the frozen laces loose.
• “Okay, I’m going to head out before it starts to get dark then.”
• “You have orders?” She glanced over at him, then back to her boot, and winced as she pulled her numb foot out. It burned like nothing she’d felt and silently vowed to grab some winter gear and stow it in her ride from this point on.
• “Yeah.” He cleared his throat, “quick rundown here, that cage and the bathroom are the only spaces that block signals.”
• She glanced at the cage and the man sitting in it before looking back to her other boot.
• “Any trips to the bathroom, he has a blanket to wrap around him, most particularly his neck, and shoulder area,” when he paused, she looked up at him again and nodded so he’d continue. “Check-in is every two hours. To Illias.”
• Blaise paused before she pulled off the boot, “supplies fully stocked?” She was beyond hungry. It had taken a lot of energy trying not to freeze. How did one forms do it without animal heat to tap into?
• Graham smirked, “there’s enough here to survive an apocalypse. Boss is ready for anything.”
• She smirked and then regretted it because it made her cheeks burn, “good to hear.” She looked over at the man that was Aiden Tomas’ half-breed brother, “and him?”
• Graham shrugged and then looked at him, “he’s no trouble,” he turned back to her, “then again, where is he going to go?” He motioned to the window.
• She clenched her teeth together and eased the boot off slowly. When she pulled her legs free of the suit, she stood up and wished she hadn’t. Hanging it up, she walked awkwardly to the stove with her boots, each step hurt. Setting them down, she dropped down on the chair to the side of it. Yanking her hat off her head, she saw it was frozen in the shape of her head and dropped it beside her boots. “Is there an objective yet,” she jerked her chin toward the captive.
• “Nothing yet.” Graham went over to a bag and did it up, “I think the weather shit on any plans that were going to happen.”
• “Yeah, the teams are cooling their heels waiting for it to clear.”
• He went over to the door and grabbed a suit from the hook, “Boss’s gear is through there if you want to check on the weather or anything.”
• “Thanks.” She glanced around the space, it was furnished sparsely, with a couch and one chair, a small table and a couple of chairs in the corner, and then the caged-off area. What exactly did Raymond do here? She’d pictured, a fireplace, a bookshelf, somewhere to relax away from the rest of the world, this was not meant for any of that. Then again, her own home followed no norms.
• Nothing else was said until Graham was standing at the door ready to go out, “don’t tell anyone where you are, and don’t make any calls or texts without authorization.”
• Blaise stood up and nodded, “got it. I’m just hanging out here until I have orders.”
• He grinned, “it’s a peaceful gig so far. I was okay with a few days’ downtime.”
• She nodded, despite not needing downtime. Something like that led to thinking and that always pissed her off or broke her heart. “Safe travels,” she grinned, “or warm ones at least.”
• He laughed, “I’m used to the cold.”
• She had no idea what clan he was from, but being part of Raymond’s team, he probably got to travel a lot. Or had, until all out-of-continent travel had been halted. When word reached her that other continents were working with the Tomas organization, she’d almost laughed out loud. Her family knew firsthand about corrupt ambassadors working against their people.
• Rolling her shoulders, she stood up and moved a little closer to the stove. Thawing out was almost as painful as the freezing part. She shifted to the side of the stove, so she could check out their prize captive as she waited for feeling to return to all of her body.
• He sat on a cot in an otherwise empty space. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but he looked perfectly normal, which annoyed her. Being a half-breed, she’d expected, no, hoped for some visible flaw. His skin was normal, and his hair was dark and not mixed shades. She couldn’t see the color of his eyes from here, but they were a human shape and not noticeably odd.
• “If you move around, you’ll warm up faster.”
• She stared at him across the space. He stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. Looking away, she flexed her hands over the stove. “I’m fine.” It was a lie, she told often, for many reasons. There was nothing fine with her or her existence.