After an hour, guilt at taking a day off prompted him to head toward Thedia. He wanted to see for himself if the roads really were closed due to bad weather or if his suppliers had been telling him a tale.
The trip would take another hour, but he didn’t mind. While he enjoyed running the construction firm, life had been a lot easier when Jace had been there. The two of them had made a good team. Tanner had only been at the firm a short while when Jace’s mate came into the picture. Since she lived in Edendale, his boss followed his heart and moved. As happy as Jace seemed, especially now that he had a new baby, Tanner promised himself that he’d never fall prey to his hormones. It messed with work too much.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the air, because he’d been feeling a bit sorry for himself and hadn’t been paying attention. When Tanner finally focused on the landscape below, the level of snowfall had dramatically increased. In fact, it had blanketed the area. The roads appeared to be open, but no cars were anywhere to be seen. Interesting.
Intrigued how bad things were in Thedia, he continued toward the mountains. Only when he dipped lower to better check out the conditions, did Tanner hear it—the low rumble of snow. Needing to find the source, Tanner soared higher. The closer he flew to the mountains, the louder the sound.
There!
A cascade of snow was tumbling between two mountains. Holy goddess. It looked as if the realm was crumbling. No homes appeared to be in the way, but the avalanche was aimed for the road and one unsuspecting driver.
Chapter Two
In her self-driving car, Ella was able to spend time enjoying the beauty of her home world. Sadly, she’d never had the opportunity to travel and see much of it. It wasn’t something Snowdens did—at least according to her mother. To Ella, the open road screamed freedom. Not that she wouldn’t miss her sisters and her father, but the isolation of staying on top of one mountain for the rest of her life was too much to bear—that and being forced to mate a total ass.
Her location panel told her she was headed toward Grindale Province. Having no idea what to expect, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, dreaming of a new life. She might have fallen asleep had the car not started to vibrate, causing Ella to jerk open her eyes. What the hell?
Everything appeared to be perfect, however. The sky was devoid of clouds, no wind was buffeting any trees, and the road in front of her was rather clear. But it was the loud roar that caused every muscle to tense. What prompted her to look to her left, she didn’t know, but when she did, she saw an avalanche heading toward the road—the one she was on.
For the next few seconds, she stared at the majesty of it all. Living in Thedia, she’d seen a few large slides, but none that had been close to her. Taking over the automatic function of the car, she pressed on the accelerator, trying to outrun the fast approaching disaster. Her heart pumped harder when she realized the impending avalanche was traveling too fast—way too fast.
Her animal instincts wanted her to stop the car and race for her life, but even she realized that would be futile. She could run up to thirty-five miles an hour, but only for short bursts and only on hard ground—not through several feet of deep snow. An avalanche traveled more than twice that fast.
Oh, crap. There was nothing she could do about the inevitable but hold on. When the snow slammed into the side of her car and spun her around, she grabbed the wheel to keep from being tossed against the window, but she failed. Her head hit the roof and then the window, cracking the glass—or else that was her head breaking. Her breath caught as she was deafened by the thunderous noise. Her pulse soared. The roof bent. White surrounded her.
And then there was nothing but quiet.
Ella sat there stunned, not quite comprehending that she’d just been buried alive. The side of her head pounded, but when she ran her hand over her scalp, she didn’t detect any blood. She’d been lucky.
Ella didn’t bother trying to open the door. Even if she could roll down the window, then what? She had to be buried under a good ten feet of snow. Damn. Even if her father’s guards attempted to locate her, it would be days or weeks before it melted enough for them to find her. People would know the road was closed, but no one would have any idea where to look for her. Her air would run out long before any rescue team arrived.
She needed to find a way to signal someone. Ella pulled out her phone and turned it on. Great! The battery was dead. In her haste to leave, she hadn’t taken the time to charge it. Maybe the engine had enough power. She plugged in her cell, turned on the car, and leaned back to wait.
At least being a shifter, the cold wouldn’t bother her too much. Worst case, she’d shift, though the small space would make that difficult. It was food that might be an issue. And water—though she could always eat the snow. Eventually, her body would give out. To conserve energy, she closed her eyes and focused on lowering her heartbeat.
She had succeeded until what sounded like water dripping, roused her. The snow couldn’t have melted that fast. Ella sat up and took in her surroundings. She was still entombed, but it sounded as if a blast-furnace was going full force above her. Or had the
