Memories would fade.
And no one would know just how special she’d been.
I didn’t know how much time passed as I prayed to the old gods, begging them to find her soul and keep her safe.
But when I finally raised my head, Frank looked like a standing corpse—grey hair windswept, eyes sunken and red, and a scruffy beard on his normally clean-shaven face.
The protective instincts in me that made me so perfect for this job rose. With a groan, I staggered to my feet and wrapped my arm around the old man. He looked as if he’d aged three decades, and I knew he felt responsible for everything, not just their deaths.
“Let’s go back, alright?”
He blinked and stared at me blankly, too lost in his thoughts. “But what about Rook? We can’t just leave her here...” He choked and swallowed a sob. “We have to find her remains. We have to hold a proper burial for them. It’s the least I can do after everythingelse that I caused.”
“They’re gone, Frank.” I turned back to face the glacier—restored to its natural glory. “It’s all gone.”
Frank sniffed and studied the massive expanse of ice. He didn’t speak for an eternity before he shook himself, nodded, then shuffled back to the 4WD we’d parked further away.
I followed him.
I looked one last time over my shoulder—
A black smudge appeared around a snowdrift.
I froze.
The smudge moved.
Slowly, painfully, a massive predator limped out of the snow and came toward us.
I broke into a run.
The panther grumbled as I bolted to him. His sleek black coat was singed and patchy—part of his pelt burned away on his left flank. He held one of his front paws aloft as he headed toward me, hopping on three legs.
“Holy shit...he survived.” Frank’s shock echoed behind me as I skidded to a stop and waited.
Whisper took another few hops, closing the distance between us. His eyes narrowed, ears flat, and tail whipping like a snake.
I didn’t know if that meant he was happy or angry to see me, but I took the chance and reached out anyway. “You okay, you stupid beast?”
His head cocked at the familiar pet name I’d heard Lucien use so many times. When I’d first heard it, I wanted to clock the bastard for being rude, but in the end, I heard what lurked behind those words.
Absolute, unconditional affection.
With a grunt, Whisper nudged his nose against my outstretched fingers. His tail stopped flicking; his head hung with grief.
“Yeah, I know, buddy. I know.” Stepping into him, I scratched the giant cat around his ear, sharing in his sorrow. “I’m sorry. It sucks. It really, really sucks.”
I didn’t know how deeply animals felt when their owners passed away, but Whisper was special—just like Lucien and Rook had been special. He’d been tampered with by the very same scientists that’d killed those he loved, and if he decided to go on a killing spree, I wouldn’t be inclined to stop him, but...he merely stepped closer and leaned against my thigh.
We stood there for a while as Whisper sniffed the snowy air then pressed his nose to the ice as if he could see through the glacier to the frozen mess beneath our feet. A low, heartbroken whine rumbled from his chest.
“He’s not down there.” I dropped to my haunches and slung my arm over his muscular shoulders, careful not to hurt him any more than he already was. “He’s gone.”
With a defeated sigh that sounded far too human, Whisper shoved me away, then hopped toward Frank and the waiting 4WD.
I trailed after the limping cat.
Opening the back door for him, he leaped inside looking weak and sad, his belly hollow from going almost a week with no food.
