“Come here,” Selvyn called out to me from where he’d spread the furs by the riverbank. “I’ll take off your bandages and you can soak your feet while I start a fire.”
“A fire?” I asked, cocking my head to the side as he unwrapped my blistered feet. “But we have each other to stay warm.”
Selvyn let out a booming laugh that warmed my body better than any fire would. “It’s for cooking. I told you that tonight we’d have a special treat. Now go soak your feet.” He shook my ankle playfully before rising.
I padded over to the water’s edge and let out a deep groan the moment my aching feet dipped below the surface. The cold water felt like heaven.
“How does it feel?” Selvyn called out.
He’d already used his magic to start the fire, and I could make out his wide smile in the warm light.
“It feels amazing,” I said, throwing my head back with a hum as I kicked my legs.
Selvyn ambled over and took a seat beside me, so close that our thighs pressed tight together. The furry tip of his tail trailed across the surface of the water. Just as I was about to laugh at his antics, there was a light nibble at my toes.
“Shit!” I screeched and bolted onto Selvyn’s lap, splashing water everywhere as I went.
He broke out into a fit of laughter and settled me between his spread legs. “It’s okay, Iris. It’s just the fish.” The damp tip of his tail caressed my arm with calming strokes. “I thought you’d find it entertaining.”
“I’m glad you find scaring the piss out of me entertaining.”
Selvyn laughed again and leaned forward so that our bodies hovered just above the surface of the water. I leaned into him, relishing the closeness. Cherishing our final night together.
“Watch,” he instructed and plunged his tail into the stream.
I stared at the water, squinting my eyes in an attempt to make out whatever it was that Selvyn’s tail was doing.
“Aha!” He barked, and I nearly toppled into the stream as his tail pulled a fish out of the water.
The creature flipped back and forth like mad, its scales gleaming silver with each desperate flash of its tail.
Selvyn whispered in my ear, his beard tickling my temple. “You may want to look away now.”
I was no stranger to death, and I appreciated that the fish would fill our bellies, but I had no desire to see its life taken.
A moment after I placed my hands over my eyes, I heard the harsh slap of the fish against the rock floor, and Selvyn muttered a thank you under his breath.
He repeated the process until six fish sat beside us on the bank.
“I think that’ll do. Why don't you sit by the fire and I’ll prepare dinner?” he said, and helped me to my feet.
I sat by the warmth of the blaze and watched Selvyn use the sharp tips of his claws to clean the fish. His broad back was hunched over the river and he hummed the song I’d taught him while he worked.
He was so gentle, so kind. All of my preconceived notions and expectations of what the Dalwick Demon was like were completely wrong. In a cruel world, he was a bright light, one that was stifled by the darkness of the cave he inhabited.
For the second time today, tears threatened to spill out of my eyes, but I wouldn’t allow it.
Not tonight. There would be plenty of time for tears tomorrow.
Selvyn smiled at me as he walked toward the fire, his eyes highlighted by the flames.
“I hope you’re hungry,” he said. He removed a sachet from his bag and sprinkled a blend of herbs over the fish. He placed the filets on a rock by the embers, then sat down beside me with a sigh.
Silence stretched out between us once again.
That seemed to be the trend, the two of us sharing a moment together before losing ourselves in our own thoughts.
“Selvyn,” I said, and rubbed my hand against his uncovered thigh. “I—I just wanted to thank you. For everything. If it wasn’t for you, I would have died down here. I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done for me. And—I’m glad I met you.”
