The Fiancé Who Left Her To Die

ne-deep cold. It was the look in my fiancé's eyes when he told me he ha

if I were being unreasonable. "You

e, shoved me into a hastily du

mering smart blanket. She smiled as she used my own ice axe to

d me, his voice full of contempt

taken everything. They

cy beacon I had stitched into my sleeve. And

pte

wasn't even the searing, bone-deep cold that had begun to leech the life from my limbs. It was the look in my fiancé's e

small expedition tent, threatening to rip it from its anchors. Inside, the air was only marginally warmer t

thing against the storm's roar. "I need the

we were field-testing. I knew the numbers. I knew the precise point at whic

ke frozen sticks of wood. The space where my prototype "smart blanket" should ha

regulated heat based on biometric feedback, it could sustain a human in arctic

t was

oject manager for this very trip. His handsome face, u

ith the straps on a different pack, his mo

. The prototype. It

?-crossed his face before he smoothed i

was like he was speaking a

re the one being unreasonable. "She was crying, Alex. Really

expedition. The same intern who had spent the entire trip batting her eyelashes at Br

isn't 'a little cold.' This is a Category Four blizzard at 17,000 feet. My gear is rated for these conditions with the ac

re than the cold. He always called me dramatic when I stated facts he didn't like. "You're

understand that? My body is shutting down." I tried to push myself up, but a wave of dizzin

unction as a team. You're always talking about the team, but when it com

ives!" My voice cracked with a desperat

o himself. "Dottie always said you were selfish. That

hat was a key, and often problematic, supplier for OmniClimb. She had never l

pe that this was all a terrible misunderstanding, vanished. This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. Thi

ash in my mouth. It was a pathetic, feeble declaration in the f

satellite phone clipped to my belt. My fingers were nearly useless, but I man

clamped down on my wrist like a vice. "

arm. He was stronger than me, bigger. In the c

. Before I freeze to death," I

an ugly, panicked fury. "Activating a beacon aborts the entire mission! Do you know how much this wi

the phone fr

like a weapon. "I'll smash it. I swear to God, Alex, I wi

last of my energy reserves. My limbs felt heavy, det

. A gust of wind and snow blasted

ft, blue light pulsed from the integrated control panel on her chest, a be

harine-sweet coo. She peeked around his shoulder and saw me, sl

pack-she was clutching in her gloved hand. It was a proprietary gel, another one of my design

a malice that was far more chilling than the storm. "He was worried s

hot rage through me. It was a brief, useless flare against the en

a protective arm around her shoulder. "She's just being a little dramatic. It's j

red gear pack, the one I had desperately searched. He saw my standard-issue

his voice dripping with condescension. "You'll be fi

The realization wasn't a thought, it was a c

e?" I stammered, the

the team," he said dismissively. "You' re an expert. Dig a sn

alse concern. "Is there anything we ca

h, I lunged for the blanket, for my life

, hard. Not a nudge, but a

with a sickening thud. Stars exploded behind

ormance. I could hear the theatrical gasp,

er me, his face contorted with rage. "She's an intern! Yo

from me. The rage, the betrayal, the freezing cold-it wa

stant and muffled, as if from the end of a long tunnel

si's face, her fake tears catching the blue light of my blan

ear. It was the sound of an ice axe puncturing GORE-TEX. It

" Kelsi shrieked. "She's

e I heard before t

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