Chapter 1

On the day the mountain was blocked by heavy snow, Jennifer Bennett was out in the yard, picking the last of the edelweiss.

She was seventeen, wearing an old blue cotton jacket with her sleeves neatly rolled up, showing both her slender wrists.

Her fingers were numb and red from the cold, but she stayed steady, snipping off each branch and gently placing them one by one into the basket.

"Jennifer, go get your dad for dinner!"

Her mother's voice came from the kitchen, accompanied by a cough.

She answered, but didn't move. She looked up toward the end of the mountain path. The snow was coming down hard, and everything was blanketed in white. She couldn't see a thing.

It had been seven days already.

Her father had promised he'd be back from town with the medicine in three days, tops. But now, seven days had gone by, and there was still no sign of him, or the medicine.

Jennifer glanced at the edelweiss in her basket, and her mood soured.

She tossed the scissors into the basket and headed back inside.

The house was dim, the fire in the stove flickering weakly. Her mother was half-lying on the bed, wrapped in an old quilt washed so many times it was almost white. Her face was paler than the quilt itself.

"Ma, let me cook you some oatmeal," Jennifer said.

"I'm not hungry." Molly waved her hand dismissively. "Your dad..."

"Maybe the snow's too deep, and he's held up at the foot of the mountain," Jennifer said, her voice steady as she crouched by the stove, adding more wood. "When the snow lets up, I'll head to town and find him."

Molly just coughed, saying nothing.

Jennifer kept quiet and focused on cooking the oatmeal. The firelight danced across her face, highlighting her gentle features and making her look even more plain and unassuming.

She wasn't what you'd call beautiful—there was a hint of stubborn defiance in her eyes.

The villagers liked to gossip, saying she didn't look a thing like her parents, as if she'd been picked up from somewhere else. But Jennifer never minded. She'd just smile, unfazed by their words.

When the oatmeal was ready, Jennifer ladled a bowl and brought it over to the bed.

Her mother took the bowl, but after just one sip, she suddenly stopped.

"Jennifer... listen," Molly said.

Jennifer tilted her head, listening closely. Amid the wind and swirling snow, there was something faint mixed in.

The distant sound of hoofbeats.

'Who the heck would come up the mountain in weather like this?' Jennifer thought to herself.

She stood up, walked to the door, and cracked it open just a bit.

The wind and snow rushed in, making her shiver.

On the mountain path, a figure was stumbling toward her—not riding the horse, but leading it. The horse could barely move, each step sinking deep into the snow, both of them looking like they might keel over any second.

Jennifer shot her mother a look.

"Go check it out," Molly said.

Jennifer grabbed the umbrella by the door and darted out into the blizzard.

When she got close enough, she realized it was a young man.

He was covered in blood—blackish-red and crusted from the cold, caked across his face and body. One hand gripped the horse's neck for support, the other pressed against his side, blood still oozing between his fingers.

Hearing her footsteps, he looked up.

Jennifer froze.

His eyes.

So deep they were almost bottomless, yet so bright they seemed to pierce right through her. Even battered and bleeding, his stare was like a knife, slicing straight into her.

Seventeen years, and Jennifer had never seen eyes like his.

"You..." she started, but couldn't get the words out.

The man swayed, then pitched forward.

Jennifer instinctively reached out to steady him, but missed. They both tumbled into the snow, with him landing right on top of her, leaving her dazed and seeing stars.

He collapsed on top of her, his hot breath fanning against her neck.

"Forgive me..." he managed, his voice barely a whisper, squeezed out from somewhere deep in his throat.

Then he went completely still.

Jennifer lay flat on her back, watching the snow whirl overhead, and suddenly felt like life was just too much to bear.

Dad was gone, and now she'd ended up with a corpse.