Smoke and Spine - Whiteout Sins, #16

I didn't fall for him. I climbed down into the dark on purpose, hand over hand, and called it gravity.

Pilar Vaughn has spent six months voluntarily isolated in a tiny fire lookout tower at 7,200 feet in the remote Lewis Range mountains. She is hiding from the devastating aftermath of a tragedy: her brother, Mateo, a mountain guide, was sentenced to prison for negligent homicide after a client died during a climb.

When a catastrophic, multi-day blizzard grounds all flights, a helicopter crashes just yards from Pilar's post. Pilar risks her life in the whiteout to pull the severely injured pilot from the wreckage, only to discover his identity under the light of her headlamp. The pilot is Knox Ellery—the dead climber's older brother and the search-and-rescue pilot whose cold, clinical courtroom testimony secured Mateo's conviction.

Trapped together inside a 64-square-foot glass cabin suspended above the snow, the two bitter enemies are forced into a deadly struggle for survival. They must outlast freezing temperatures, the tower's failing structural supports, and Knox's worsening internal bleeding.

However, the most dangerous element in the tower is not the storm, but a secret. Knox is carrying a waterproof case containing his dead brother's recovered phone. Hidden inside are text messages that prove the dead climber was reckless and Pilar's brother is entirely innocent. As the blizzard rages outside and the physical boundaries between them begin to collapse, Pilar and Knox must navigate their shared trauma, a heavy web of lies, and an intense, undeniable attraction that could destroy them both.