These Fae were growing on her, but this place she could do without.
She let out a deep breath and blinked back tears. She didn’t know how much longer she could do this. Her arms and legs were constantly weighted down by exhaustion and cold, and she needed to travel again tomorrow? And the next day? How many more days? According to Garrin, they weren’t even halfway.
She turned to cuddle back into his body. And his cool eyes were leveled on her.
“Get some sleep,” he said, his gaze warm and slightly hooded.
She swallowed and kept a straight face. “You’re very controlling, you know that?”
His mouth twitched. He reached over, tucked her against him, and closed his eyes.
It should feel awkward to be in his arms, but Garrin wasn’t a stranger anymore, and the only awkward thing was the feelings she was beginning to have for him.
The heat from his body broke the chill, and the comfort she experienced instantly lulled her.
She was dozing before she knew it.
7
Lex rose the next day and felt a jolt of energy she hadn’t yesterday. She’d been eating more, and maybe that was the explanation. No matter what, she was determined to keep up with the guys today.
She stretched her arms above her head, and her back cracked like an eighty-year-old’s. A whiff of something less than pleasant crossed her nose.
She lifted her arm and sniffed her armpit. “Oh, that’s bad.”
Garrin looked up from packing their rations into the pack he carried. “What’s bad?”
“Aren’t you guys dying without a shower?”
“We’re used to our own smell,” Zirel said before ducking out of the igloo to join Amund outside.
“That’s because you don’t smell,” she called out, annoyed.
It had been several weeks, and her hair felt like butter had been smoothed down it. She needed a bath.
Garrin stopped what he was doing and stared. “You wish to bathe? We are on a frozen mountaintop,” he pointed out unnecessarily.
She shifted her feet, her breath visible in the frigid air. “I know, but the need to bathe is battling with the cold in terms of discomfort. How is it that Fae don’t have body odor?”
He lifted his eyebrow. “You do not smell.”
What was he talking about? She could smell herself!
She shook her head and went to leave the igloo. “Never mind.” It wasn’t like she expected him to do anything. They had their hands full trying to stay warm and sleeping in a Fae-made igloo without food or running water. Of course there was no way to take a bath.
Garrin caught her arm before she passed. “Wait a moment.” She looked up, and his gaze appeared hesitant. “I can offer you a shower, but I can’t guarantee you’ll be warm.”
She blinked in surprise. “How cold are we talking? Because if I get any colder, I might pass out.”
“I can warm the water—”
She held up her hand. “You can give me a showerandwarm water?”
“It will not be a long shower. A minute and then you must put on your clothes. And it will delay us.”
The idea of getting naked in a freezing igloo did not appeal—until he’d mentioned warm water.
Thus far, Garrin had only given her cold water to drink. “If it’s only a minute and I dress quickly, I’m up for trying it. But you really expect me to undress?”
