“I’m fine,” she says. “Bruised, but that’s all. I felt like I was being dashed against a thousand rocks and broke every bone in my body, but that was probably just the cold.”
Concern tightens my chest. “You weren’t hurt the other night either? I wasn’t in any state of mind to check on you, seeing as I had a hole punched through my fucking torso.”
“Oh.” She pulls her head back, surprised by my question. She shifts her leg, then lifts her skirt, looking down at her calf. “Honestly, I forgot to search myself for wounds the night I was tending yours, but no, I’m fine. The Shade grabbed my leg when it tried to pull me under the wagon, but it must not have broken the skin.”
My concern eases. I’m glad I was the only one hurt that night.
“So…where exactly are we in relation to where we were? I take it we’ve been separated from the others. Are they safe?”
“We’re at least two miles downstream from where we were, which is even farther by road. The others should be safe, though. The Shades on their side of the river were calm, even after the bridge collapsed.”
Her expression turns wary. “What about the other side? What happened with Henderson and his crew?”
I thin my lips, debating whether I should tell her what I did. But there’s no use keeping secrets like that, just to hide how coldly I ended lives last night. I’d do it again if I had to. “I killed two of his Summoners,” I say. “Shot his favorite, Abigail, with an arrow, and fled while aggressive Shades were starting to cross the bridge. I don’t know what happened to him, but he would have had to fight through the Shades to get to his wagon. He could be dead.”
“Hopefully. What side of the river are we on?”
I release a grumble. “The wrong side. Well, the right side if we were still heading the direction we were going before, but there’s no use continuing east just the two of us, without the wagon and our crew. We need to join the others on the opposite side and take the southernpass instead, but there isn’t another bridge for several more miles south.”
She furrows her brow. “Can’t we…maybe cut down a tree or something? Use that as a makeshift bridge?”
I blink at her, impressed she had the same thought I did last night, when my mind spun to concoct a way out of this damn mess. If we can find a narrow enough portion of the river and a tall enough tree, I can cut it down so that it falls across to the opposite bank. “Yes, but there’s one problem. I have no axe. Not even my sword, just my knives. The cave has been used as a camp before, but its previous visitors left nothing behind save for scraps of old sacks and a rusty mug with a hole in it.”
She folds her arms and assesses the cave. Her gaze lingers on the fire. “What about what happened with the bridge? Can’t you use your astrotheurgy to burn through the base of the tree instead of chopping it down?”
“I could,” I say with a sigh, “but there’s another problem. I left my vials with Calvin.”
Her gaze shoots back to mine, her face paling as understanding dawns. Without my blood source, I can’t use astrotheurgy. She idly rubs her neck, and I wonder if she’s realizing what else that means.
If I’m struck by the thirst, I’ll need her to be my source.
I curl my fingers into fists, fighting the way my mouth waters at the thought. No, I will not use her like that.
“So what do we do?” she asks, dropping her hand from her neck and folding her arms tighter against her chest. Maybe I’m imagining it, but her breaths seem shallower. Her posture tense. Is she worried I’m going to jump her? Sink my teeth into her throat like one of those fucking lords in the Sacred Cities?
I step away, just to demonstrate my control. Whether the demonstration is meant more for her or me, I’m uncertain. “We can’t do anything until there’s a break in the snow. It isn’t safe to travel on foot in a blizzard, and Calvin knows what to do in these situations.”
“Which is what?”
My fingers automatically move to my waist, seeking my holster, but of course it isn’t there. “Calvin and I have a way of finding each other.”
“How?”
I breathe deep, choosing my words carefully. “My vials contain the Shades I captured.”
“The ones with your face?”
I nod. “If we’re close enough in proximity, they could scent my blood. Their reaction will be subtle, but they will tug against their vials. Calvin can use that as a compass of sorts. Meanwhile, he has vials of my blood. Sloth, Lust, and Pride should be able to catch the scent if he opens one near enough. They will have made camp not far from the bridge. Calvin will begin his search once the blizzard calms. Once they find us, they can use the tools in the wagon to cut down a tree for us.”
“So you’re saying we have to wait here until they get close enough for this…makeshift Shade-compass theory to work?”
“Yes.”
Her lips pull into a grimace, and she rubs her brow. When she meets my eyes, there’s trepidation in them. “But our problems would be solved if you had a blood source to fuel your astrotheurgy and help you cut down a tree?”
My pulse quickens at what she’s suggesting. Why did she have to say that? After all the energy I expended in the river, not to mention my still-healing wound, it’s only a matter of time before I feel the strain of thirst. My gaze falls to her neck and my mind fills with a vision of my lips on her skin. Fuck, I bet she tastes divine.
I sink the tip of my canine into the inside of my lip, forcing my mind from such thoughts and focusing on that brief piercing of pain instead. It takes all my restraint to speak evenly. “If we choose to take that option—and we only will as our last resort—it’s useless to consider it now. Once we leave the cave, we lose our most certain means of shelter. We can’t risk that until we know the wagon is close.”
