Page 49 of Royal Icing

“Emma?”

There was the voice again.

“Help,” she called once more, then collapsed onto the ice.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LEO

The heavy doorcreaked as Leo shut it behind him. Ruby was hydrated and safely in bed, and his parents were none the wiser.

Now that it was clear what had actually happened, guilt washed over him. He had been overcome with fear that something had happened to Ruby and had unfairly lashed out at Emma. She had saved Ruby from public humiliation—or worse. He owed her an apology.

Outside, he ducked his head against the bitter wind. There was no answer at her door and no greeting from Cooper. Surely she wouldn’t have tried to walk the dog in a blizzard.

A creeping sense of alarm rose as he thundered down the steps to the courtyard. Large dog tracks and small human-sized ones cut through the courtyard. The edges of the prints were uneven, like they had been left in a hurry. He followed them as quickly as he could, kicking up snow and staggering against the harsh wind.

A niggling thought wormed its way to the forefront. Ruby had been wrapped in Emma’s coat with the giant stitched hole when she returned her home. That meant Emma took Cooper out with no coat on. What if something had happened?

His stomach hardened into a knot, and he screwed his eyes up against the blistering winds. The tracks wound around the castle and headed in the direction of the lake. He quickened his pace, squinting against the punishing curtain of ice and snow.

“Emma?” he called. No answer.

He continued to follow the tracks. Shit. They broached the invisible edge of the lake.

“Emma?” he called again.

A low woof came from across the lake. Oh, no.

“Cooper, come.”

A few seconds passed, then Cooper bounded across the ice and came skidding to a halt in front of him. Leo grabbed the frozen leash and knotted it around the post of the dock. Then he dashed across the ice, following the tracks.

There she was. A few inches away from a midnight circle of water, Emma lay prone on the ice.

Panic set in. He dropped to his knees and crawled over to her.

“Emma?”

“Leo?” she asked groggily. Her face was pale. Her lips were blue. Her hair was a mess of icicles, and her eyes were unfocused. He needed to get her warm. Now.

He grabbed her arm and tugged her away from the jagged edge. The ice beneath him groaned but didn’t break. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. There was no time to lose.

He shrugged his coat off and zipped it around her. His foot slid and he nearly came crashing down as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

She wasn’t even shivering. This was bad.

He staggered across the lake, nearly slipping several times, until he reached the edge. He wound Cooper’s leash around his wrist. Through the squall, he could make out the rough shape of the old caretaker shed he’d repurposed into his workshop.

He waded through the snow, which seemed to deepen by the minute.

“Stay with me,” he said to Emma. She mumbled something, but the words were lost against the wind.

Finally, he reached the door to the shed. He squatted and fished around until he retrieved the key from under one of the rocks. He plunged it into the keyhole and muscled the door open. Cooper ran past them and collapsed on the floor.

Leo set Emma gently on the couch and ran to the fireplace. He grabbed some wood from the pile and threw it onto the firebox, then bolted to the cabinet in the corner for some matches. His hand shook as he lit a match and touched it to the kindling.

In minutes, a fire was sparking.