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“Fuck me,” Liam grated. There were two of them. Their enemies were here and had caught them with their pants down.

Literally.

He grabbed Vivian, slung her out of the water, and set her on her feet. “Get dressed. Now.”

They were half naked, surrounded by snow, with little cover.

Sitting ducks.

Getting dressed while wet was no easy feat. Regardless, they had seconds to accomplish the task or risk freezing to death. After a quick struggle with his shirt, Liam stabbed his arms into his coat, shoved his legs into his insulated pants, and belted the dagger to his thigh.

“Maybe they didn’t see us,” Alexandra said, plunging her arms into her parka.

“Don’t count on it.” He stuffed his feet into his boots and turned to find his Bride had also dressed in record time. Thank the gods.

“We were so careful. How did they find us?” Vivian asked.

“No clue,” he answered, then shouted over his shoulder to Jericho, “You good?”

“Go. Get her out of here,” Jericho fired back, slinging his leg over his snowmobile with Alex hunkered down in front of him.

Liam hopped on the second sled, standing on the footwells, braced behind Vivian. The bikes were one-seaters and not built for two. They’d only managed because of the short distance. Now they’d have to outrun two helicopters while handicapped.

He punched the throttle, and they rocketed down the trail. The whirl of helicopter blades whipped over their heads.

Fuck, they’d circled around.

He cast a look over his shoulder to check on Alex and Jericho. His anger turned inward, chewing on his guts. He never should have brought Vivian here and put them in danger.

“Watch out,” Vivian shouted, and he snapped his head forward.

From up the trail, a ball of fire blasted between them.Crap!He jerked the handles left while Jericho whipped right. The snowmobile chewed the frozen tundra beneath its tracks, and the sled lurched. Vivian screamed.

The machine toppled, skidded on its side, and took a header into a snowdrift. Liam snapped his arms around his Bride, tucking her against him as they hit the ground.

Next to them, the motor shrieked like a wounded animal, revving hot. Then it shuddered, belching a cloud of smoke before falling silent.

Dead.

“Son of a piece of shit.” Liam kicked his leg free of the useless machine. This was the last thing they needed. He unwound himself from Vivian’s tangled limbs. “You okay?”

She peered up at him, blinking snow from her lashes, then eyed the smoking engine. “Better than the snowmobile, it seems.”

He scrambled to his feet and extended his hand, pulling her up. While covered in snow, she seemed whole and injured.

“You okay?” Jericho shouted, racing to join them. Alex kept pace at his side. From the looks of her, she’d taken a header into the snow. Her hair was free of its bun and dusted with ice crystals.

“Sled’s trashed,” Liam said.

Jericho winced. “Ours too. Front skis are mangled.” Apparently, snowmobiles weren’t built for dodging fireballs. Go figure.

“Guys?” Alex said, eyes locked on something farther down the path.

Marching up the trail that would take them back to the house were close to a dozen demons. All with horns. Waves of heat billowed around them, rippling like water. Snow melted, dripping from the trees as they passed. The two in front held out their hands, fireballs forming in their palms.

While the group of four assessed the fire demon issue, twin military helicopters circled in behind them, blocking their path out of the valley. Whirling blades stirred up gusts of white, blasting their cheeks with icy pellets.

Liam shouted over the noise, “I’m seeing door gunners on both copters. Since they haven’t already pumped us full of lead, I’m thinking they want us alive.”