ELLA

“Hey, sweetheart,” he calls. “You lost?”

His voice carries over the crackling fire. Smells, looks, feels like trouble. I feel a hole in my belly as my arms crawl up and wrap around me.

The others turn too, feasting their watchful, terrifying gazes on me. I take a step back. My heel sinks into the snow.

Lost? What does that word even mean? I am not lost. Never, ever lost. “I am fine,” I say, smiling convincingly. My voice shakes. “Just heading back. My husband is right ...