Page 61 of HaL

“I can’t drive this sled, HaL.”

“Dawn—”

“And I’m not going to sit in here like a sitting duck while you walk into a herd of panicked hairballs.”

My jaw clenches.

She reaches for the release. “I’m coming.”

The growl that leaves me is so deep I feel it in my ribs. She freezes for half a second, then looks directly into my eyes.

“Oh, huff and puff all you want. The longer we sit here, the more your friends suffer.”

She looks toward the mammoths as I raise the canopy, the cold slamming into both of us. Dawn gasps as the temperature drops around us, but she doesn’t complain. I grab her small frame before she can climb down herself and vault from the cruiser.

We hit the snow. My feet sink nearly to my thighs. The cold cuts through my fur instantly. Dawn curls against me as I lift her onto one arm. For a moment, the world is nothing but white.

Snow.

Wind.

Cold.

The distant groan of shifting ice.

Then the mammoths move as the herd notices us. Every muscle in my body locks. The matriarch turns and she is enormous. Her tusks are longer than my body, and snow clings to the thick fur around her face. Her dark eyes settle on me.

Then Dawn.

A deep rumble rolls through the herd.

Dawn stiffens against my arm.

“Easy,” I whisper.

I know not whether I am talking to her or myself.

The matriarch stomps one massive foot. The ground trembles and I tighten my hold on Dawn ready to run if I need to. Another stomp and she lowers her head. For one horrible second, I think she is going to charge. My beast surges forward, ready to fight something that could crush me beneath one foot.

But I force it down. Not here. Not with Dawn. Not with Gelid behind that herd.

The matriarch snorts. A plume of vapor washes over us. Then she lifts her head and steps aside, just one step, but it is enough. The mammoths shift around her, opening a narrow passage. I stare at them.

They are letting us through. Why? My gaze drops to Dawn. She is tucked against my chest, her small body nearly swallowed by my arms. Then the thought hits me. She looks like a youngling. Maybe the matriarch thinks I am carrying one of my own. Whatever the reason, I will not question it.

I start forward … Slowly … Every step deliberate.

The mammoths tower over us on both sides. Their bodies radiating heat, but I can barely feel it beneath this intense cold. Their massive feet sink into the snow and every movement sends vibrations through the ground.

Then I hear voices. Faint. At first, I think it is the wind. Then I hear it again.

“Jeton, you are absolutely not carrying me all the way to the compound.”

Gelid.

Alive!

My chest loosens.