»» BOOK #2 of the X-MARKS: Shadows Series «« Valen and her friends are on the run once again. After their camp is disassembled, they take shelter in a series of traveling homes and meet hosts that will shape their journey in unexpected ways.
When...
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I screamed as I fell back and felt a crack knock at the thick soles of my boots. Evee locked onto my arm tighter as Ocean pulled me all the way over.
"Are you okay?" Ocean said from the other side of the snow pit.
"I think so," I said and held my sore wrists.
Evee grabbed my numb hands, "Are you sure?"
"It's just," I said and wheezed, "I think I felt something."
"What happened?" Ocean said and looked down into the open pit of snow.
"Something broke," I said.
"Are you sure?" Evee said reached into my bag, "Everything looks fine to me."
"No," I said and knelt into the snow, "Something's under the snow."
Ocean and Evee got onto their knees beside me as I dug into the snow and watched it pile at my side with no end.
"Valen," Evee said, and tucked her hands into her pockets, "I think we should keep walking."
"There's something down there. I know it," I said and threw snow behind my shoulder.
"I think I've got something!" Ocean said from my side and dug into the snow faster.
With one last shovel of snow, I felt what she had found.
A hard sheet of ice.
Evee rubbed the glass like ice with the sleeve of her coat where the bubbles foamed to the surface.
"Is that -" Evee said.
"Ice," I said, "We're standing on ice."
It had happened only once at camp, but once was enough to know better. Three boys lost their lives playing on ice one winter. They were found once the spring sun thawed the frozen water for all to see.
We popped our heads over the pile of snow like burrowing squirrels. I clutched my bag and hovered my shoes above the soft snow.
"Slowly," I said as if my voice alone could break the fragile ice.
Evee looked past my shoulders and said, "Someone should tell him that."
