by W. J. May
“But we’re all okay.” He clung to the words like a life raft. A man desperate to keep his head above the waves. But it wasn’t enough just to save himself. He wouldn’t stop until he’d saved her as well. “Hey! A mountain fell, and we’re still standing. That counts for something, right?”
Yep, those things didn’t sound any better when they were said out loud. But his smile was contagious. It wasn’t long before the tears stopped, and her face relaxed into a reluctant grin.
“We’re okay,” he said again. Firm, this time. As if he was convincing himself as well. “It’s over now. It’s over, and we’re all going to be okay. I promise.”
They were kind words, but Katerina couldn’t see how they could possibly be true. The four of them were stuck at the top of the world with no food, no shelter, massive injuries, and half the royal army on their trail. Their original plan to stay off the grid had just been thwarted by a fucking avalanche, and the dark storm above them was churning with an almost unnatural momentum.
Still...it was easier to lie.
“Yeah,” she whispered softly, pressing her face into his skin, “I know.”
That was the last either of them spoke for a long time. Flurries of ice and snow danced around them. Swirling clouds of white, with occasional crimson stains. It tangled their hair and caught in their lashes. Like being trapped in a beautiful but deadly snow globe. For a while, they just stood there. For a while, it was quiet. And for a fleeting moment, they were able to find some peace.
Neither one of them was used to such dependence. Neither one of them was used to the quiet comfort of placing themselves in someone else’s arms. But for a split-second, standing there in the swirling snow, they let themselves succumb and simply held each other. Skin to skin. Cheek to cheek. Just two people standing at the top of the world, waiting for whatever came next.
“If you two are finished groping, let me remind you...I broke my freakin’ leg.”
Correct that. Four people.
And apparently the others were tired of waiting.
Dylan’s shoulders stiffened, and he pressed his forehead against Katerina’s hair with the softest sigh. He didn’t believe his quiet reassurances any more than she did. But what else could they do but say them? What else could they do but make promises they might never be able to keep?
He held her another moment before pulling back to study her face with a forced smile. “So...you have anything you want to tell me?”
She stared back in surprise, blinking in the cold. “Like what?”
The smile grew genuine as flicker of curiosity danced through his eyes. “Like how you were able to survive a glacial avalanche without even a scratch?”
Oh...that.
Her lips parted uncertainly to answer, but there was nothing to say. It was a damn good question. A question that would no doubt haunt her every step in the days to come. But for right now, they had bigger things to worry about. For right now, it was a question for another time.
“Just lucky, I guess.”
A flash of lightning ripped through the sky, and for a moment they froze perfectly still.
“Yeah.” Dylan laughed humorlessly as his eyes drifted up to the darkening clouds, growing more and more worried with each passing moment. “If there’s one thing we are...it’s lucky.”
IT WAS ONE THING TO verbally commit to reaching a hypothetical peak. It was another thing entirely to get there. Especially after just having dug your way out of an avalanche.
The journey was as backbreaking as it was brutal.
Out of the four friends, only two could walk. One of the remaining two had a severe concussion and a dislocated shoulder, while the other had about ninety pounds to her name and was doing her very best to drag a shape shifter through the piling snow.
“How you doing, Tanya?” Dylan called after about thirty minutes of silence. The others were keeping quiet to preserve what little energy they had left, but he seemed determined not only to lead the way but to rally on the others as well. “Is that brace holding up?”
Tanya’s delicate little pixie face twisted with dark sarcasm. “Oh, it’s just great. You know, some people with shattered bones might prefer an actual brace, but not me. I always go for a belt.”
The leather strap around her knee had begun leaking over with blood. Still, she shuffled onwards. Clinging to the side of Katerina’s neck for support.
“That’s the spirit.”
He said nothing to encourage the fae. There was a good chance Cassiel would punch him in the face if he tried. But he kept a firm arm wrapped around him every step of the way, taking almost all his weight as the haggard foursome made their way slowly to the peak.
Hours passed. Each one stretching into the next. The storm raged on, beating down upon the four weary travelers trudging painfully across the frozen plain.
It wasn’t long before Tanya called for a break. Katerina called for one not long after. Cassiel would rather die than show a hint of weakness, but when it became clear that he’d lost more blood than he had left Dylan called for one himself, and the four of them collapsed upon the snow.
“Not exactly what you had in mind, huh?” Dylan shot Cassiel a quick grin, taking the opportunity to examine him in the process. “When I came and got you from the hotel?”
The fae’s already-pale skin had not a hint of color left. The ghostly alabaster stood in sharp contrast to the darkness of his eyes. Eyes that were still bright, despite being on the verge of defeat. “Which time?” he asked hoarsely, coughing halfway through. A faint smear of blood appeared on his lips, but he was determined to ignore it. “In Cambria? In Minsk? Or just a few days ago when you uprooted my life of whiskey and women and forced me to come on this little quest?”
The ranger sensed a trap and answered accordingly, unwilling to commit either way. “Both. None. All of the above.”
The ghost of a grin flashed across Cassiel’s face as he leaned back in the snow, stretching his legs painfully out in front of him. “Who needs whiskey? Or sex? Hand to the heart, I’d rather be here with you guys. Bleeding out on this god-forsaken rock.”
Dylan nodded thoughtfully. “I’d rather you were here, too. It makes me look a lot more capable when you’re all broken and pathetic.”
“Can you hand me that knife?”
“This?” Dylan reached automatically for the blade, then froze suddenly, sliding it discreetly out of reach. “Uh, no. I don’t think I will...”
Meanwhile, Tanya was too caught up in her own problems to worry much about anyone around her. “Is there any way we can make a fire?”
The men stopped threatening each other and stared down at her with matching looks of sympathy. Over the course of their travels, they’d broken countless bones themselves. They knew exactly how she was feeling. But, in this situation, there was nothing they could do to help.
“There isn’t anything here to burn,” Dylan said apologetically.
“What about your pants? You’re never wearing them anyway.”
Dylan’s eyes narrowed, ready with a sarcastic reply, but Katerina was quick to intervene.
“What if we just set up camp for the night?”
The others looked at her in surprise. They hadn’t considered this as an option. And, although the instinct was to reject the notion as long as the sun was still hanging in the sky, the suggestion made a good deal of sense. There was nothing but miles of snow as far as the eye could see. They were unlikely to come across anything they could use as shelter. And even the best of rangers could only go so long without a single landmark, before needing to rely upon the stars.
Not to mention, half their party was teetering on the edge of consciousness and sleep.
“Right here?” Dylan asked, but only out of habit. The more he looked around, the more he could see no better alternative. “It will be cold. Very cold, once the sun goes down. There’s nothing we can use to block the wind.”
“It’s going to be cold anyway,” Tanya replied, a
lready yanking out a weathered blanket that had been strapped to her back. “Might as well get used to it.”
Dylan considered it for another second, then nodded swiftly. Much to the relief of his companions, he removed the four tent pegs that were sheathed in his belt and tossed them on the snow in the middle of their little circle. They could rest. They had certainly earned it.
It took everyone gathered a full minute to realize the obvious question.
“Where’s the tent?”
Dylan looked at Tanya. Tanya looked at Katerina. Katerina looked at Cassiel. And Cassiel stared back the way they’d just come.
“It was in my pack.”
The pack that had been ripped from off him earlier that afternoon when an avalanche almost took his life. The pack that was buried beneath a mountain of snow.
For a moment, all was quiet. Then the fae pushed theatrically to his feet.
“No worries, I’ll just run back and get it.”
It was exactly what they needed to break the ice. Dylan stood up with a grin and helped him lie back down, checking briefly over his injuries in the process. Tanya snickered, and fished her trusty flask from her boot—one of the only things to have survived the storm. Katerina took the first gulp and felt it warm through her entire body, passing it on to Cassiel—who accepted it with a rare smile. The smile was returned with a tentative one of her own.
“So,” Tanya started, squinting around the desolate landscape before her eyes came to rest on the solitary blanket, lying in the snow, “what are we going to do?”
All eyes turned to Dylan, who merely shrugged with a twinkling smile.
“We’ll improvise.”
LESS THAN TEN MINUTES later the four of them were lying on the ground, feeling somehow more uncertain than they had at any point during the storm. For the last few days they’d slept in closer quarters than this, but without the walls of the tent lending an air of acceptability the whole concept felt entirely different. It felt personal. Exposed.
It happened slowly. A hand here. An arm there. Legs wrapped around legs. Shifting casually closer to claim space beneath the same blanket. Anything for a little shared warmth. Anything to get away from the ghastly cold. With an eventual sigh Cassiel wrapped his arms around Tanya, holding the shifter protectively against his chest. She opened her mouth to instinctively protest, but he was incredibly delicate with her leg. So much so, that only a few seconds later she found herself cuddling closer. Lifting his arm and wrapping it around her shaking shoulders. Nestling as far back as was possible without getting blood on her clothes.
Kat watched them for a moment, then felt Dylan tense beside her. Braving the icy winds, she chanced a look over her shoulder to see his eyes glittering down at her in the dark.
They’d slept together like this once before. Why not do it again?
He got a little closer. Then so did she. Inch by inch, they moved together. Breath by silent breath. As the wind shrieked and screamed around them his arm circled around her waist, covering her with his heavy cloak in the process. Her back pressed up against his chest. Her slender legs tangled with his. At one point, there was a soft coughing sound as he spat out a mouthful of her crimson hair. She glanced guiltily over her shoulder, but he flashed her a boyish grin.
It was too dark to see much of anything, and the storm was too loud to hear. But they could still feel. Every warm breath against the back of her neck. Every steady beat of his heart. Every nervous twitch of his fingers as they buried tentatively in the folds of her dress, trying to stay warm.
It was intimate. It was public. And, given the combination, it was probably not their first choice. But in the end, the storm took that choice away from all of them. By the time exhaustion set in and sleep finally overtook them, the entire foursome was somehow intertwined.
Tanya’s fingers were tucked into Katerina’s sleeves. Cassiel had a secure grasp on them both. Katerina’s fiery hair was flung across everyone present, and Dylan had stretched out his arm to grab the edge of Cassiel’s cloak in his sleep—holding the entire group together.
They were still sleeping like that when the sun came up the next morning, reflecting off the frozen landscape in a dazzling array of blinding light.
The storm was over. The dawn had come.
Katerina was the first to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open, squinting groggily at the snowy plains. For a moment, she forgot entirely where she was. Then the events of the previous day came flooding back to her, and she felt Dylan’s arm squeezing around her ribcage.
Her breath caught in her chest, and she froze perfectly still. Taking a silent moment to immortalize the scene in front of her. Never in her life would she have imagined such a diverse group of people. Never in her life would she have imagined that she might be one of them. That they would unite themselves to a common goal. That they would end up here. Together.
In a strange way, she found herself almost grateful for everything that had happened. As painful as it was, as downright devastating...it had led her to this very moment.
Then Tanya stretched out her arms with a sleepy yawn, smacking everyone in sight, and Cassiel jerked awake with a silent gasp. His lovely face tightened with exquisite pain as he looked down at the fresh stain of blood blossoming over his shirt. But instead of being angry, the way Katerina feared he might, he turned back to Tanya with an affectionate grin. Affectionate and exasperated, all at the same time.
Although the entire incident had happened without a sound Dylan’s pulse quickened, and Katerina felt a hitch in his breathing. A second later he was awake as well, catching his friend’s gaze with quiet concern, a worried question in his eyes. Cassiel rolled his eyes and gestured to Tanya, gently unwinding his legs from her own. There was another wince, followed by another silent profanity, but all in all he looked much better than he had the day before.
“Kat,” Dylan whispered in her ear. Reluctant to wake her, but even more reluctant to keep her out in the open for even a second longer than he had to. “Sweetie, you need to—”
“I’m awake,” she said quickly, squirming around to greet him head-on.
Big mistake.
He was much closer than she’d anticipated, and the second she turned around the two of them were nose to nose. Close enough to see every fleck of color in his eyes. Almost kissing.
He glanced up in surprise, then the corners of his lips twitched up as he tilted his head with a crooked smile. “Good morning.”
A guilty blush spread across her cheeks as she scooted back into Tanya.
“M-morning,” she stammered, painfully aware that Cassiel was only a few feet away. “Sorry, I didn’t—”
“For shit’s sake!”
There was a chorus of hacking coughs as Tanya fought her way through the princess’ wavy hair, battling to the surface with a look of great resentment. She took a moment to get her bearings, but the second her eyes met Katerina’s they narrowed with a not-so-subtle threat.
“Control that mane of yours, or I’m cutting it off.”
Just like that, they came to the end of what had been a truly bizarre yet oddly tender night.
As the four of them set off once more towards the peak, stiff from the cold and wishing very much that they’d had something to eat for breakfast, they found themselves avoiding each other’s eyes. Tanya couldn’t help but blush every time she glanced over at Cassiel. Cassiel looked highly disconcerted to have fallen asleep with a threesome not of his choosing but seemed strangely touched by it as well. Katerina was filing everything away in her mind for later analysis. And Dylan?
As usual, Dylan was keeping his thoughts to himself.
But there was an extra spring in his step as the four of them set off over the snow. An extra twinkle in his eyes as he stuffed his hands deep in his pockets, whistling to himself with a little smile.
Chapter 7
Things were never quite the same after that morning.
It was a turning point. One that marked the beginnings of a ne
w chapter. And while no one said it directly, everyone sensed the intangible shift. Like they’d all strayed across the same invisible line. And once crossed, there was no going back.
Not that anyone of them would want to. Quite the contrary.
They may have been limping, bloodied and broken across a frozen tundra, but Katerina could have sworn they were almost having a bit of fun.
“—at which point, I asked the proprietor to move me to a suite on the other side of the building. At least until they’d contained the beast and what was left of its hatchlings.”
Katerina and Tanya were in stitches. Holding onto their sides, the pain was temporarily forgotten, and they plowed their way through the snow. Storytime was upon them. And Cassiel was so regal and refined, it was easy to forget that half of what he said was absolutely ridiculous.
“Enough—seriously!” Tanya doubled over at the waist and put her hands on her knees, laughing hysterically and flinching in pain at the same time. “I can’t breathe!”
From what Katerina knew of the fae, they were supposed to be a reserved, dignified race of people. Older than men and gifted with immortality, they were said to have come from the magic of the stars. Children of nature who kept to themselves and took great care to avoid the toxic spread of cities and the troublesome affairs of men.
That’s what she’d heard. Cassiel was a slightly different story.
...until the hatchlings were contained...
“Seven hells.” Tanya grinned, still trying to compose herself as Cassiel swept past them with Dylan—looking like, for the life of him, he didn’t understand what was possibly so funny. “How does he say crap like that, but still manage to come off like the prince of the forest creatures?”
Katerina stared after them with an incredulous smile. “I think it’s because he is the prince of the forest creatures.”
“I keep forgetting about that.” The shifter paused, reevaluating for a moment, before continuing across the icy plain. There were landmarks in the distance now. A scattering of trees announced by the gradual thawing of snow. “Well, if that’s the case, then how the heck did he end up bromancing around the five kingdoms with wolf-boy over there?”
