Page 11 of Zin and Celeste: A Fortis Family Christmas

“What do we know?” She felt stronger now. He was alive, anything else she could deal with as long as he stayed alive.

“The watches gave out an alert just as Lizzie called me. It looks like Zin and Will are both injured, but Kanan and Aubrey are fine. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet because for whatever reason, they haven’t reached out to tell us. We can track them, though, and we’re putting a team together now.”

“I’m going with you.” Celeste put a hand on Roz’s leg at her pronouncement.

“Don’t be silly, Roz. You’re pregnant and K would lose his mind if he found out you were out there looking for him. Think of you baby.”

“I can’t lose him, Celeste.”

“You won’t. K is fine, and he’ll stay that way, but you need to be here for him when he gets back, not injure yourself because you insisted on saving him.”

“Fine, but I want to be in on the comms.”

Zack nodded. “That we can do, but we need to get moving. That storm is getting heavier, and we need to try and get them back before we lose daylight.”

Celeste nodded and shifted to get comfortable. “You should take Samson. He’ll help you and will accept commands from any of you.

Zack nodded and walked away, readying a team to go after the man she loved.

Standing, Celeste went to get Samson who she suspected was in their room with Delilah. She also needed a minute to herself to compose her nerves.

Lauren went to follow, and she stopped her. “I’m okay. Just give me a minute to get Samson ready.”

Lauren looked like she wanted to argue but in the end nodded and stayed with Roz as Skye and Lucy joined them. Meg, Mara, and Ava kept the kids in the kitchen baking biscuits to keep them out of the way and busy.

Making it to the room she’d shared last night with Zin, Celeste closed the door and fell back against it as a hiccupped sob left her mouth, and the tears she’d been holding back so far fell from her eyes. Sliding down the door, she let herself cry for a moment until she felt a soft wet nose nudge her hand and Samson lick her face.

Grasping the soft fur of his collar, she looked at her beloved dog who was almost seven now. “Samson, I need you to find Zin for me and bring him home. He’s alive, but he’s hurt, worse than they’re letting on, so I need you to be my best boy and find him, okay?”

Samson whined and licked her again before pulling away and moving to the bed. He grabbed Zin’s scarf off the bed where he had left it this morning and brought it to her before dropping it at her feet and sitting back on his haunches.

Celeste ruffled his coat. “Good boy.” Flipping to her knees, she moved to get up when pain ripped through her body, making her gasp and hold on to the door. It didn’t last long, and she got up and patted her belly. “Those Braxton Hicks hurt, baby boy, so give it a rest today.”

Celeste used the toilet, her bladder now a bouncy castle for her son and washed her hands and face. Walking to her bag, she saw the snow was coming down so thick it was hard to see anything outside. Slipping his harness over Samson’s head, she clipped it and stood. Zack and the team were the best there was in her book, and they would find Zin and K, and poor Will and Aubrey. Of that she was sure.

Wanting Delilah with her, Celeste walked back into the main room that was darker already as the weather front moved in with a vengeance, the wind getting up and causing the snow to drift.

Dane met her at the door and guided her towards the couch and the fire. “They just closed all the slopes and told people to be aware that the storm could knock out the electricity. The girls are getting candles sorted, and Drew is getting wood stacked with Smithy and Nate. They’re going to stay here and make sure everything is safe while Daniel, Zack, Jace, and I go out and find the others.”

“Where is Zack?”

Dane pursed his lips. “On the phone to Jack to let him know his brother is injured. We’re hoping his tech guy Lopez can get in touch with them through the watch speech function and talk to them.”

“What if they haven’t used it for a reason?”

Dane tilted his head in question. “Like what?”

“Not sure but I don’t think they’re alone on that mountain.”

She’d felt it at the time, but now it was stronger.

Dane took her at her word, all of them satisfied that if she said something, it had merit. “I’ll let Zack know so we can use the text function instead or maybe just the speakers so we can hear. It might be useless if the signal is a problem because of the storm.”

“You’ll find them. I know you will.”

Dane hugged her, and she held him back, wishing it were Zin but appreciating the strong arms around her.

“We’ll find them and then we can do Christmas in style.”