"Sorry Tori, it's just me. I didn't mean to scare you," Gabriel said, noticing her pale face. "Just checking to see if we are still on for this afternoon for snowboarding?" Although she was capable skier, Gabriel had volunteered to teach her to snowboard. She nodded and tried to be enthusiastic. At least she wouldn't be alone.
The afternoon was as briskly cold as the morning had been. She made it down several runs without falling a single time, even at some points outpacing Gabriel who said she was a natural before he zoomed past her showing off.
She felt exhilarated, the thrill of carving up the mountain was different from skiing, and it was addictive. Her thighs were burning as she got in line for the Sugarloaf superquad lift at the end of the Tote Road green trail that she'd just finished. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen, so she decided that she would try to find a trail a little further up that would bring her around closer to their condo on the east side of the mountain, located near the Lower Buckboard green trail.
As the superquad whizzed up the side of the mountain, Victoria wished she had read the lift sign more closely—it seemed like they were going all the way to the top of the mountain! She got off the lift at the top and pulled her jacket closer to her, it was freezing. Reading the trail map board, she realized with a pang that the only choices were black or double black diamond trails. She tried to pick the ones that would take her closer to the east side and plotted out a path memorizing the trail names: Gin Pole to the Mid-Station Connect to Ramdown to Upper Buckboard, which would take her on a straight path to the condo.
The two girls who rode the lift up with her strapped on their boards and took off with a wave just as the lift behind her swung to a stop. She glanced at her watch. It was four o'clock. The sun left golden streaks along the deepening blue of the sky as it descended to the horizon. It was a beautiful view but Victoria couldn't appreciate it as nervous as she was. She took a deep breath after checking her helmet and goggles, and eased herself down the menacing black trail that would turn into a blue some distance below.
Arriving at the Mid-Station Connect, she tentatively maneuvered her way through the ungroomed areas that became even more treacherous where they connected with other double black diamond trails. The trees were thick and the path narrow. Her nervousness resurfaced, its icy fingers sliding into her bones. She had to fight the urge to point her snowboard downhill and throw caution to the wind just to get out of there as fast as she could.
It had started to snow, which seemed odd given the fact that the twilight sky was still clear. She brushed the flakes off her goggles. There was no wind, the trees were barely moving and the silence was deafening. Victoria realized that she was completely alone, just as she had promised Christian she would not be and just when her warning bells were all ringing like crazy. She expanded her mind to see if she could isolate the danger.
To her surprise, she felt the same pliable barrier she had felt around Christian while he had been in Paris, only this time it was around her! Slowly, she unclipped her right boot and stepped out of her binding.
Staying alert and crouched low, she unclipped her left boot. She pushed against the barrier surrounding her like a bubble. It was the same, she was sure of it, and that could only mean one thing—they were here.
Taking a deep breath, Victoria moved closer to the intersection of the next double black diamond trail and only then noticed a single skier, tiny in the distance, heading down at breakneck speed—impossible speed—and generating a massive stream of powder, which was what she had felt earlier landing on her goggles. Victoria tensed, she could feel the sheer malevolence from the skier even as far away as he was.
In a cloud of snow, the skier skidded to a halt about forty feet away from her. Victoria felt the air shift. She feinted to the side just as a blast rocketed past her head. Magic! She gasped as she hit the ground and rolled left. Another blast melted the snow right where her head had been seconds before. She vaulted to her feet and crouched, unleashing a powerful blast of magic of her own, which the skier easily dodged. Victoria felt the air shift around her again and realized that the barrier was back. That meant that the skier couldn't use magic against her while the bubble was in place! Then again, neither could she.
Victoria could feel the blood boiling under her skin, begging her to release it, and she brutally forced it back. She needed to use her head and find out who the attacker was and what his purpose was. If she let the blood have its way, who knew what would happen?