“I’ll come with you.”
“No. Stay here with Laurie. She’s sleeping finally in the middle of a pile of kids.”
“I saw that. I’ll make my way in that direction.”
“I’ll touch base with you in a while, then.” Zach pushed off the wall and headed for the front doors to meet up with the others who would be heading up the mountain.
»»•««
When Laurie woke up from her spot on the floor, she cringed at the crick in her neck and the tingling in her left arm, which had fallen asleep under her face. She sat up and looked around. Most of the children were still asleep—not surprising considering the hour they had finally succumbed to exhaustion.
She pulled herself to standing and glanced around the room. Many of the adults were gathering their belongings and stuffing them into backpacks. The room was bright from the sun beating in through the wall of windows facing the slopes. She couldn’t believe she’d slept that long. As she scanned the room for her mates, she spotted Corbin sitting on one of the sofas near the fireplace, rolling the kinks out of his neck.
She grinned as she picked her way through the throng of people toward her mate. “Where’s Zach?” she asked as she eased onto the couch next to Corbin.
“He went up the mountain about four hours ago to help dig out the stranded guests in the cabins.”
Laurie lifted her face to glance out the wall of windows facing the slopes. She shivered and rubbed her arms, though it wasn’t cold next to the fire at all. “What time is it?”
Corbin sat up straighter. “Almost ten. The snow stopped a few hours ago. The roads just got cleared. People are starting to leave. But others are going to start arriving. The conditions will be awesome up there today with all that powder.”
Laurie stood rooted in her spot, still staring at the slopes. She wrapped her arms around her body and then flinched when the lift in her line of vision jerked to life. She inched forward slowly, toward the windows.
“You okay, babe?” Corbin’s voice behind her sounded farther away than it should have.
Drawn as if she were a magnet, she climbed over people and their belongings to get to the windows. She couldn’t take her eyes off the lift. Two men were working feverishly at the bottom, one on each side of the seats, knocking the snow off the black leather as they went by. A line of skiers had formed at the bottom already.
Laurie’s heart beat rapidly. She swallowed hard. Something wasn’t right. The world around her was oblivious, but she knew something was off.
“Laurie?” Corbin set a hand on her back, making her nearly jump out of her skin. She ignored him and squinted at the base of the mountain.
There. Behind the ski-lift operators.
She dropped her arms and ran full out toward the glass door. As she shoved through it, she kept her gaze on the black aura. It was completely formed and hovering among the machinery that operated the lift. No one seemed to notice a thing.
But Laurie did.
“Shit,” Corbin muttered at her back, racing along behind her.
Carlie and Adam stood at the base of the lift talking to the men who held brooms and were using them to beat the snow off the seats.
Laurie lifted her gaze up the mountain. Nothing looked out of place, but she knew in her gut it wasn’t safe to get on that lift. She ran faster.
“Carlie,” she yelled as soon as she thought she would be heard over the machinery and the chattering of skiers.
Adam turned around first, his hand on his mate’s arm. He frowned as he met Laurie’s gaze. Both of Zach’s parents stepped toward her, meeting her several yards from the lift. “What’s the matter?” Adam asked.
Laurie was out of breath. “You can’t send skiers up there!”
“Why not?” Carlie grabbed Laurie’s arm to steady her. “Honey, what’s the matter?”
Corbin set his hand on her back. “Babe?”
“I don’t know.” She stared past them at the lift where the black aura still hovered. While she watched, it sucked in on itself and disappeared.
She shuddered.
“Laurie?” Corbin rounded to her side and grabbed her chin. “What is it?”
“The spirits.”
“I saw it. What does it mean?”
“No idea. But my gut tells me not to send skiers up the mountain. Not now. It’s not safe.” She shifted her gaze to Adam.
He crossed his arms and tapped his lips with two fingers.
“Adam?” Carlie turned toward him. “We have to listen to her.”
“I know.” His shoulders slumped. He blew out a breath. “Who wants to tell the skiers?” He didn’t wait for a response. His question wasn’t meant to be answered. He owned the resort. He would handle it. Instead, he turned around and took quick strides back to the base of the lift.