| |
MY GUILT FOR SLIPPING asleep while on watch certainly didn’t impact my ability to fall into the blackness. I dreamed of wolverines doing Thor’s bidding. Nightmares plagued me, and my edginess kept me from getting any true rest. Not the kind I needed for another day out on the tundra.
When my eyes opened, Reyfyre was huddled next to me with his knees nearly tucked under his chin and the fire still roaring. Light brushed the sky in a predawn rainbow.
“Morning,” I muttered through a yawning stretch.
He just grunted. “At least you didn’t say good morning.” He side-eyed me and flicked his eyes back to the flame. “I might have to use magic to conjure a coat.”
I took a slow breath. “Are we far enough away?”
He looked to the west and shrugged before his eyes dropped to mine. “It’s either that or I freeze, because even all the layers of clothing isn’t warm enough in this wind.”
“You can take my coat.” I started to unzip it.
He laughed. “Thank you, but it won’t fit, and you’d freeze.”
“I’ve been naked and chained in this cold for three thousand years. I won’t freeze.” I peeled off the jacket and handed it to him.
He sighed and tried to put it on; he couldn’t get both arms into the jacket because he was too damn broad-shouldered. “See.” He handed the jacket back to me.
“How about wrapping the sleeping bag around you?”
He chewed on his lip. “If the inside gets wet, we won’t have any alternative to sleep in since mine is gone.” He waved toward where the wolverines had stolen his things.
I opened my mouth, and Reyfyre put his hand up.
“I know you’re trying to help. But either I need to use magic, or we need to find and kill a caribou. The skin of the caribou would keep me warm, and the meat would last us at least a few days, possibly more if we can freeze it safely, or smoke it.”
I shifted in the sleeping bag. Although we had killed for food before at the cottage, we hadn’t seen any animals beyond the spiders and wolverines since we set off.
“Do we have enough food to get to our destination?”
He stared at the fire and then glanced at me with a small shake of his head. “Which is why I brought the hunting rifle.” He pulled a thick hoodie from his pack and slipped it over the flannel shirt. Then he pulled on his gloves and attached his pack to his back.
I remained in the sleeping bag, just watching him, until he delivered a scalding look that made me get moving. I packed away the sleeping bag and put on my snowshoes while he kicked snow onto the fire, dousing it.
“If I get to the point where I can’t hold the gun steady, I will conjure a coat.”
I just nodded and snapped the backpack clips together. Hopefully the wind would be at our backs. That would save Reyfyre from the brunt of the cold air and we would have more hope of successfully taking down something that would sustain us and keep him warm in the process.
The trees kept us protected, but the way the tops were swaying, I knew luck was not with us. The steepness of the land didn’t help either: it sucked what little energy we had and the moment we got out of the protection of the trees, my eyes watered at the blistering wind and my stomach dropped at the frigidness attacking us. Even I could feel it through my coat.
I could not imagine Reyfyre’s discomfort. His teeth started to chatter before we even hit a quarter mile from the wood line. And the terrain left us shuffling along at a snail’s pace. I saw no wildlife in this mountainous terrain, and we had climbed high enough to be above the trees or any sort of wind barrier.
The path he took was a wind tunnel, and we fought for every step as we climbed higher into the mountain pass.
“You might need that coat,” I said, trying not to let my own teeth clack together.
“It might lead them right to us,” he stuttered through a torrent of shivers.
“I would prefer not to have you be a fae-popsicle.”
He snorted and glanced at me. “Fae-wraith.”
My eye roll actually pulled a smile to his blueish lips.
If he died on me, I’d be lost in this frozen wasteland. My skin warmed with panic. “Reyfyre, conjure a coat, please.”
He grabbed my arm and led me to the side of the pass. The ground shifted under our feet, and he yanked me back as the snow we had disturbed slid into a crevasse. A deep fracture. One that, if we had slipped into it, Reyfyre might not have survived.
I stared at the drop and took another step back in case the snow we were on loosened under our weight.
Reyfyre closed his eyes and opened his palms to the sky. Magic swirled around us, engulfing both of us in the storm. When it ceased, he had a black coat that looked too thin to be warm enough, but I had a matching one wrapped around me and could attest to the lack of cold seeping through. When he stepped back into the wind path, he just shifted his hood over his head and leaned into the gale.
I did the same and found it easier to move than with the bulky coat that had been on me before. With this coat, the wind didn’t penetrate through the down layers. It just seemed to bounce off us.
“Thank you,” I said.
He glanced back. “Don’t thank me. I did not create these from thin air. I stole them from one of the shops near Denali. They were too expensive for me to spend my hard-earned money on, even though they touted being one of the warmest coats on the planet.”
I stopped walking. “You stole them?” My voice squeaked.
“Are you cold like you were before?” The snap in his voice was back.
“No. But that’s beside the point.”
“Fine. I’ll send them the funds once I get access to my bank accounts. Which won’t be until after we have neutralized Odin.” He pointed a gloved finger in my direction.
“Stealing is wrong.”
“And you wonder why I didn’t want to conjure up a coat in the first place.” His words dripped with sarcasm. “You should have never fallen asleep last night.” He stomped away, leaving me staring after him.
I sighed. “It’s still wrong,” I muttered under my breath and trudged forward. Who knew what was in store for us around the next bend. It could be a hidden predator, or Odin himself.
Dread wrapped around my chest, squeezing as tight as a snake.