His Mountain, Her Frozen Grave

The others joined in the jeering.

"Yeah, right. Captain Reed is your brother? A man like that could never have a spoiled sister like you."

Then, Garrett grabbed my arm, yanking me violently to my feet.

"You're a disgrace," he snarled. "Don't you feel pathetic telling a lie like that? Say one more word, and I'll throw you out of this tent myself."

I knew they wouldn't back down. They were determined to squeeze every last drop of value from me by forcing me to lead the way. Fine. I stopped arguing and made one final request.

"I'll walk. But I need my sleeping bag back. My foot is frostbitten. I can't move without warm gear."

"Shut up," Garrett roared, stuffing my sleeping bag into Jenna's pack. "You're a liability with that frostbite. Why should the best gear be wasted on you? Jenna's a novice. She needs it more."

The smug self-righteousness in his tone was nauseating.

I never imagined the man who had once sworn to protect me would trade my life for another's without a second thought.

Ever since Jenna had been parachuted into his department, Garrett had been different, constantly talking about "Jenna this" and "Jenna that."

I had told myself he was just being polite to a partner's niece. After all, we were engaged. We had been through so much together. I was a fool.

Seeing that I wasn't moving, Garrett stormed over and hauled me to my feet.

"Don't test me. Get up and lead the way."

Left with no other choice, I grabbed an ice axe and forced my numb body to stand.

Jenna came over, her face a mask of false sympathy. "Let me help you, Cassidy."

Before I could refuse, she feigned a stumble and brought her crampon-fitted boot down hard on my injured ankle. The sharp spikes tore through my outer pants.

A searing pain exploded through my body, and my vision went black.

Instinctively, I shoved her away. "Get off me!"

She let out an exaggerated shriek and tumbled into the snow, her eyes instantly welling with tears.

Garrett didn't even hesitate. He shoved me so hard I nearly tumbled down the steep slope. "What is wrong with you? She was trying to help! Why did you push her?"

Jenna cut in, her voice choked with sobs. "Don't blame Cassidy, Garrett. She's just upset that I'm using her sleeping bag. I don't mind. As long as she can get us down the mountain safely, that's all that matters."

Her words were gasoline on the fire. Garrett glared at me, his eyes burning with a warning.

"Don't think you can push Jenna around just because she's nice. You touch her again, and you'll see what happens."

My ankle throbbed with a white-hot pain.

But the searing pain in my ankle was nothing compared to the feeling of my heart shattering into a million icy fragments.

I gave up trying to explain. I didn't even have the energy to want to.

"I can walk. I don't need her help."

Jenna shot me a look of mock innocence and lowered her voice so only I could hear. "It's not that you don't need help. You're just waiting for a chance to sneak away, aren't you?"

Garrett overheard her, and his face hardened. "Don't try any tricks, Cassidy. If you slow us down, I'll make you pay."

He turned to one of the other men. "Kyle, keep an eye on her. If she tries anything, tie her to you. In a blizzard this bad, if something were to happen to her, we can just blame it on the weather."