“So what did Elof teach you?”
Ari stops, releases a loud sigh, and sits on a tree trunk. I’m irritated at how rude he can be, but I control the impulse to hurl insults his way. I seat myself next to him, breathing deep andbriefly enjoying the scent of the dew-covered blueberry bushes that carpet the forest floor.
“He taught me… taught me to face it.”
“Face what?”
“The frost. It’s hard to explain. The glacial pai?—”
“That’s what I learned too,” I say, louder than planned. I’m thrilled by all the things I have learned. About feeling the pulse of my environment, being a part of it. My heat colliding with the cold of our harsh world. He goes on.
“Trust me it’s not the same. I?—”
“How is it different?” I ask. He doesn’t even know what I’m talking about.
He turns to me, his brow furrowed.
“Do you ever let people speak?” he asks.
My mouth gapes. He’s right. I asked him about what he had learned and instantly took over the conversation. I can’t help it. I’m so excited about my new talent. I haven’t even told him yet.
“Sorry,” I say.
“Anyway.” He stands and brushes off his leather. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Okay, but, tell me, please, I won’t interrupt. Promise.”
I give him my sweetest, roundest, most innocent eyes. Irresistible, surely. Our eyes connect. He carries sadness. Something he harbors and protects. Something he controls and suppresses. Buries, hides.
“Please,” I whisper, enthralled by his icy blue gaze. “Tell me.”
“It’s hard to describe,” he says. I’m surprised he’s opening up to me after I’ve been so belligerent. I was expecting him to tell me to fuck off.
“Try,” I say, keeping my tone soft and low.
“You burn with heat, Kilda. You melt everything around you.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“If you want. But me, it’s different. I can’t let anyone come close. I can’t release, like you do. We all have our burdens.”
“Sharing a load makes it lighter.”
“Perhaps, but you are not a donkey.”
I snicker.
“That’s definitely a compliment.”
“Even the brightest flame can be quenched, Kilda. Even you.”
What does he even mean? Strange thing to say.
“You would kill my flame?”
“Not on purpose.”
“By mistake?”
