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No signal.

Of course.

Rhett is going to lose his mind when he realizes I left the cabin.

Honestly, he probably already has.

The thought should make me feel guilty.

Instead, it makes me miss him.

Which is deeply inconvenient considering I’m currently sneaking around behind his back in the middle of a blizzard after he explicitly told me not to.

“Great choices, Nora,” I mutter under my breath.

I grab my flashlight and step out into the storm.

Cold punches through me instantly, sharp enough to sting my lungs as snow crunches beneath my boots. The wind screams through the trees while I climb the porch steps carefully, every nerve in my body pulled tight.

The door creaks when I push it open.

Darkness waits inside.

“Hello?” My voice echoes through the empty station. “You here?”

Nothing.

The beam from my flashlight sweeps across old desks, broken shelving, peeling maps hanging crooked on the walls. Dust covers everything thick enough to tell me nobody’s been here in years.

Too quiet.

My pulse kicks harder.

“Okay,” I whisper to myself. “This is how people die.”

I should leave.

I know I should.

Then something shifts behind me.

Instinct jerks me around just as a large hand clamps over my mouth.

I scream anyway.

Or try to.

The sound dies against his palm as my flashlight crashes to the floor, spinning wildly through darkness while a body slams me hard into the wall.

“Easy,” a male voice murmurs against my ear. “You’re prettier when you listen.”

Ice floods my veins instantly.

No.

No no no.

I thrash hard, driving my elbow backward, but he catches my wrists easily and pins them above my head.