Cursing, he sprawled on his belly and sank his ax deep into the ice. The safety rope held. Two hard tugs on his harness told him that Layah had fallen with the girl.
Damn it.
The rope might have prevented them from plummeting to their deaths, but they could both be seriously injured, tangled together and bleeding. He looked back again. The other teams were a minute or two behind them. They appeared to be moving quickly, but they couldn’t run on ice. He moved his gaze to the Yazidi grandmother, his jaw clenched. She was in danger of falling over the edge with them.
Jesus.
He didn’t want to scare her by shouting orders, and she wouldn’t understand him anyway. She exchanged words with someone in the crevasse, which was a good sign. Then he felt the unmistakable ease of tension in the line.
Not a good sign.
Yelda started tugging on the rope with all her might. Hud rolled over to assist her. Together, they brought the girl up easily. The grandmother hugged her, sobbing with relief.
Okay. Now what about Layah?
He yanked his ax out of the ice and scrambled to his feet. Yusef’s team had almost reached the other side of the crevasse. Hud tore off his goggles as he approached the edge. Then he dropped to his stomach and shouted for Layah.
“Here!” she screamed.
She was in a glacier hole at the bottom of the crevasse.
His chest constricted at the sight. Falling into glacier water was no joke. It was like a river beneath a mountain of ice. The cold shock alone could be deadly. If she got swept under, he couldn’t go after her.
Luckily, she seemed alert. She wasn’t fully submerged. He could save her.
He shrugged out of his pack and bit off his gloves, trying not to panic. He needed a fixed line, immediately. He grabbed an anchor from his belt, then took several seconds to hammer it into the ice with his ax. He threaded his rope through the anchor with shaking hands and lowered himself into the chasm.
Heart racing, he rappelled to the bottom and braced his boots on either side of her. It was an awkward position, but the ice around her was thin and the walls felt solid. The glacier hole appeared shallow. When she reached up to him, he got a grip on her arm and yanked her out of the slushy water.
Her skin was cold, too cold. She managed to find a foothold, with his help. She climbed his body like a tree. He wrapped his arms around her, afraid to let go. She shivered violently, her face pale and her lips dark.
One of her cousins threw down another rope. Hud clipped it to her harness and shouted for them to pull. She clung to the line as it moved upward. As soon as she was safe, he retrieved her pack and climbed the fixed rope on the other side. The Yazidi girl and her grandmother watched him with tearful expressions.
Most of the snow bridge was still intact, so he used it to cross the gap and join the others. Everyone was huddled around Layah. She was on the ice with Ashur, her eyes closed and her head cradled in his lap.
“She is dying,” Ashur said.
“She’s not dying,” Hud assured him. “She’ll be fine as soon as she gets out of those wet clothes and warms up.”
“I need the tent,” she murmured.
Hud swore under his breath. She wouldn’t undress out in the open. He set up the small tent for her and she crawled inside. Her sluggish movements concerned him. He yanked off his jacket, preparing to climb in with her.
“Not you,” Yusef said in broken English.
“She needs help,” Hud said. “And body heat.”
“Not you,” Yusef repeated.
One of the women took over, nudging Hud aside. It was Yusef’s wife. She joined Layah in the tent. Another woman gathered wool blankets and sheepskins for them. A third unpacked the camp stove and boiled water for tea.
The men stood around, faces tense. Hud couldn’t tell if they were glad he’d rescued Layah or angry that she’d fallen on his watch. He felt responsible for the accident. Frozen terrain wasn’t his forte. He never should have agreed to travel over the glacier. He’d done it only because she’d looked so goddamned beautiful, her eyes bright with excitement.
Hell.
She had a touch of the same ailment he suffered from—an overly adventurous spirit. Hud hoped she recovered, because they couldn’t take her to a hospital. They couldn’t stay here on the glacier, either. He’d have a hard time carrying her even a short distance. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, his strength was fading.
After about ten minutes, Ashur unzipped the flap to check on them. Yusef and Aram crowded closer. Hud waited for an update, his pulse pounding with trepidation.
Was she unconscious? Awake? Sipping tea, warm and naked?
Ashur gave a short order in Arabic. One of the women brought a bundle of clothes from Layah’s pack and dropped it inside. Then he zipped up the flap again.
“Is she okay?” Hud asked.
“Yes, she is okay.”
Aram glared at Hud.
“Is there a problem?”
Ashur paused, as if searching for the right words. “My cousins think you dishonor Layah with your familiar ways.”
“What does that mean?”
“You should not touch her or share a tent with her. You should not look at her with desire.”
Hud rubbed a hand over his mouth, stung by the criticism. No beating around the bush in their world. “How was I supposed to rescue her without touching her? Should I have left her to die in the crevasse, just to be polite?”
Ashur translated this sentiment to his cousins and listened to their response. “They thank you for the rescue.”
He inclined his head.
“But you will stay away from her. She is not yours.”
Hud crossed his arms
