Aries grinned and tossed him his coat and gloves. “Great! Let’s go!”
Lekyi tried to struggle from the armchair but sank back with a somewhat theatrical groan.
“No! That’s it! You’re not going! It’s my professional opinion—"
“All right! All right! You needn’t shout at me! My leg is throbbing after that walk anyway.”
“Perfect,” Nic exclaimed stridently. “Hadria can look after Lekyi while we go brave the elements!”
The moment Collin grabbed his scarf from the hook, Nic was already shoving him boisterously out the door. “Move it, snowflake! Time for real men to prove their frostbite threshold.”
“Wait! Let me grab my snowshoes,” Collin said, fumbling with the straps as they spilled out into the blinding cold.
Aries followed last, his coat half-buttoned, carrying an extra pair of gloves. “Did anyone remember bait?”
“Damn, forgot,” Nic said.
Collin snorted. “You forgot the bait?”
“A minor oversight. Great generals don’t carry their own supplies!”
“I brought some worms,” River said proudly. “They were wriggling this morning.”
Nic clapped him on the back. “They’re probably frozen solid by now, but no worries! Stiff bait for stiff fish.”
The air hit Collin’s lungs like shards of glass, but he welcomed the sting. The snow was waist-deep in some spots, glittering untouched where it hadn’t been trampled. A narrow path snaked through the trees, half-stomped by the boys’ earlier trek. Sunlight filtered through the branches, scattering soft patterns across the white earth.
“Be careful out there!” Hadria called from the window, waving at Aries like he was off to war. Her hair was swaddled in a blanket, only her eyes visible—two dramatic orbs peering out from her self-made cocoon.
Nic gave Aries a playful shove. “Don’t worry, darling! We’ll return your beloved before sunset—or if not, I’ll find you someone better from the classifieds.”
Aries waved her off, but his ears turned red.
“She’s really worried about the ice?” River asked, falling into step beside him.
“She’s been on edge all winter. She thinks I’m going to fall through and vanish.”
“Romantic,” Nic scoffed. “Nothing says true love like hypothermia-based anxiety.”
“It’s better than no one worrying about you at all,” River added with a small smile.
Nic threw his hands in the air. “And here we go again—River’s tragic loneliness monologue, act three!”
“I’m just saying—Aries is lucky.”
“You can borrow Hadria for a day,” Aries offered, smirking. “See how long you last.”
Collin snorted, but something beneath the bushes caught his eye. He knelt in the snow, pulling off his gloves to touch the smattering of massive paw prints. Since the storm had only let up last night, whoever these prints belonged to must have visited very recently. They appeared to be wolf prints—or a very large dog. He examined the shrubbery, hoping the animal had left some fur behind.
Then—splat.
A snowball hit him square in the back of the head, forcing a yelp of surprise from his throat.
Yards away, Nic was grinning wickedly, another handful of snow at the ready.
Collin stooped quickly, grabbed a fistful of snow, and flung it straight at Nic’s face. “Direct hit!”
“War it is!” Nic whooped, diving behind a tree and launching a volley of snow in every direction.
