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MY FEARS REGARDING SPIDERS were unfounded. But the forest blocked most of the light, making it difficult to navigate. We found a downed tree and hunkered behind it, using some of the dead brush for a perimeter wide enough that our fire wouldn’t catch.
Reyfyre unpacked our sleeping bags and leaned our packs on the tree near where he laid out my bag. He unzipped his sleeping bag and went to sit on it, but yanked his hand back. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?”
He showed me his red palm before wiping it with snow. “It’s still tacky with blood.” He opened it all the way and laid it with the inside facing the night sky on the patch of snow opposite where mine was. Blocking the exit of our little camp.
“That sucks for you.” I dug in my bag and pulled out more jerky, offering him a piece.
He shook his head and busied himself with building a fire. We had enough wood from the branches we peeled away from the dead tree to keep us roasting far into the night. And when he had the fire blazing, his back twitched and Reyfyre looked up at the stars peeking through the trees.
Then he spun on his heels and met my gaze. “We’re going to have to share again.” His chin jutted to the sleeping bag under me.
I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to sleep in tacky blood. Even so, I stared him down, searching for an ulterior motive. When I found none, I offered a piece of the jerky again.
“Is this how you intend to get me into bed?” I chomped another bite and let a smile toy on my lips.
Reyfyre snorted a laugh and took the offered jerky. He settled on the bag with me. “I know it’s not ideal.” He took a bite and leaned back against the tree, completely ignoring my comment. “But we’ll have to take turns feeding the fire tonight, so it’s not like we’ll be stuffed in the bag together.” He bumped my shoulder with his in an attempt at humor.
We stared at the fire in silence.
“I need to get out of these clothes, too.” He sighed and unzipped his jacket. He easily removed his uninjured arm, but the other one stuck in the sleeve. “Can you help?” His irritated gaze slashed to me.
I finished the piece of jerky. “What do you need me to do?”
He handed me the portion of the jacket he already took off. “Pull.”
I did and nearly toppled over when it finally gave. The inside of the sleeve was a deep red, almost black now, which was different than the crimson from this morning. “You might want to see if you can scrub some of that out with snow and then let it dry over there with your sleeping bag.”
“Not a bad idea.” He stood, crossed to the perimeter, and crouched, taking a handful of snow to the sleeve. He got most of the offending blood off, but his hands and the snow surrounding him looked a bit like a mini massacre occurred. Enough so that after he laid out his coat, he stripped his shirt and used it to clean his hands and the dried blood caked on his arm.
Reyfyre’s bare chest shimmering in the firelight made my eyelids take a beat. Sure, I had seen him sparring with only a tank top before, but I was too worried about where his sword was to actually study the cut of his abs. And my, were they a set of firm, sculpted muscles that I wanted to run my fingers over just to see whether they were made of flesh instead of stone.
His soiled shirt landed in the flames, and Reyfyre shivered as he dug into his backpack for another one. The blue flannel he pulled out complemented his eyes. He slid it on and buttoned it up all the way to the collar. He didn’t bother tucking it in as he took the seat next to me again.
“Did you want something more than just jerky tonight?”
I chewed on my lip, debating. His jerky was sweet and salty and so very satisfying, and I’d already had a few pieces, enough to make my belly full. “I’m good if you are,” I finally said.
“I could use a couple more pieces.” He put his hand out, and I peeled him off a few before stowing the rest away in my backpack.
I studied his profile as I settled back down. The rings under his eyes were dark with exhaustion. Although I was tired, he had been healing himself all day as we trekked across the frozen wasteland.
“I can take the first watch if you’d like.”
He chewed on his jerky and nodded. “Thanks.” He didn’t say much more, just gulped down the jerky and some water before waving me off the sleeping bag.
I moved to the edge of the bag, half on the bottom layer and half in the snow. He stuffed himself in and then looked over at me sitting on the edge of the sleeping bag as if it was a huge inconvenience to lose a half an ass’s worth of the material. And my ass was pretty small.
He huffed and settled into the bag. “Wake me in a couple of hours.”
I guess when the man put his mind to it, he could fall asleep on a whim. His light snore filled the clearing and I stared at the fire, adding logs when the flames fell to flickers.
SNARLING SNAPPED MY HEAD up, and I blinked at the pit of hot coals. Beyond the firepit, two mangy beasts fought over Reyfyre’s coat. His sleeping bag was shredded to pieces. Thankfully the beasts hadn’t decided to take a bite out of either of us. Yet.
They weren’t big, but what they had done to Reyfyre’s sleeping bag sent a shudder down my spine.
I had dozed off staring at the fire.
What if something bigger had come into our space?
I slowly reached out for a log and threw it on the hot coals, where it promptly burst into flame on impact.
The beasts stopped their vicious tug-of-war and their beady eyes snapped in my direction. They bared their teeth, and their low growl sent a rash of bumps over my arms. The fire didn’t scare them off like I thought it would. My gaze jumped to where our swords sat.
They were too far for me to reach without leaving Reyfyre exposed.
My mouth dried. If fire didn’t deter these beasts, I wasn’t sure what would. And from the mess they made of the sleeping bag, their claws were mighty sharp. I did not want to hurt them, but if they got a taste of Reyfyre’s blood on the fabric, that would make him a target. He might need to magic them away at this pace. I frantically tapped Reyfyre on the shoulder, and the beasts snarled at my movement.
Reyfyre blinked his eyes open, and started a yawning stretch, but stopped as his eyes focused on the destruction on the other side of the fire. He growled my name and sent a withering glare that had me shivering more from him than the advancing beasts.
“Fuck.” He sat up and faced his palms toward the beasts. He muttered under his breath and their growls increased. The fur on their necks stood on edge. “Just go!” he yelled, climbed to his feet, and brought his hands up in the air above his head, making himself appear more like an old crook giving himself up than a wraith. Reyfyre looked ridiculous.
Even the beasts were vexed enough at his antics to stop growling. They seemed to second-guess going on the attack.
They turned to leave, kicking out their back paws as they grabbed both the coat and what was left of his sleeping bag, and fled into the darkness.
Reyfyre slumped down on the bag next to me and reached for another log without so much as a word. But his silence held a reprimand that made me stare at my hands.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even know my eyes closed and then...” I waved toward where they had cannibalized his sleeping bag. Little bits of fabric still littered the snow.
He rifled through his backpack, pulling out a thick sweatshirt. His grumbles were more unsettling than the beasts’ growls.
“What were those things, anyway?”
“Wolverines. Nasty little fuckers. If they actually go into attack mode, either you have to kill them, or you die. And it’s extremely hard to kill them once their attack instinct is triggered.”
“What?” My voice rose a complete octave.
“They can take down bears and moose. And they don’t leave any evidence behind. They eat bones as well as flesh.” His piercing eyes drilled into mine before they slashed to the firepit. He picked up a thinner stick to tend the fire and remained silent.
Right now, I think I’d rather deal with a wolverine than an angry Reyfyre. His glare was enough to set my teeth on edge. I stared at the remnants of his lost bag. It looked like the sleeping arrangements we had tonight were more permanent than I liked, but I couldn’t make him sleep in the snow. Not with all he had done for me.
But I also wasn’t all that pleased about snuggling with a wraith.
He pointed at the empty bag. “Sleep.”
“Did you get enough?”
He slowly turned toward me, and I shivered as a cold breeze reached inside my jacket and gripped my stomach. “Did I stutter?”
I blinked and scrambled into the bag, leaving him enough room to sit on the edge if he so desired. But he remained crouched by the fire, poking at it with the stick as he scanned the forest for more threats.