Page 46 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

“How is this possible?” Toma questioned. “I thought the main river was the only water source for the North.”

“I would seem that isn’t the case,” Lucian muttered. “No one ever ventures into these mountains knowing the rebels live here. My guess is there are some peaks high enough to get snow and this is what’s melting off them.”

“Damn, that means these rebels had the right idea,” Victor commented.

“The chances of there being a town or some kind of civilization is much higher, seeing as this environment is viable,” Petru added.

“What?” Cris questioned, his brow furrowed.

“We’re going to find the people we’re looking for if we follow the water,” Sorin translated. “Here seems as good as any to rest, and we can even wash up before the sun sets.”

Falling into the routine, we’d developed since traveling, we set up our basic camp. Tarps were strung to create a shelter, a fire was started, and we refilled all the water. Having completed all the essential matters, we could finally relax and enjoy this little oasis we had discovered. I stripped out of my uniform until I was down to my underwear before dipping my toe in the water.

“Brr, that’s freezing,” I announced, snapping my foot back.

The temperature had been rising every day the closer we got to the North. Now that we were here, I was reminded just how hot the days could get. We were still on the edge of the cooler season, but it would be blazing hot in a few weeks, and a pool like this would be more than welcome.

At the sound of pounding feet, I darted out of the way as Victor charged into the water, leaping the rest of the way once it was up to his knees. Seconds later, he came shooting out of the water with a gasp. “Holy balls, that’s fucking cold. I think my balls just curled up inside me to keep warm.”

I tried to fight it. Nevertheless, I burst into laughter at his reaction, which was cut short as he grabbed my arm and dragged me in with him. Then he picked me up and tossed me into the deepest part that was fortunately shallow enough to stand. Even if the water came up to my chin, it made me panic that I might drown.

“What the actual fuck, Vicky, I can’t swim,” I berated him.

His smile fell from his face as he waded out to pluck me from the water. I wrapped my limbs around him as my teeth chattered. “Why didn’t you tell me you can’t swim?” Victor demanded. “What would you have done if we needed to swim across the river?”

“Held onto someone,” I ventured, my words choppy, unable to stop my shivering.

“Damn it, woman,” he muttered, slogging out of the water to sit near the fire. “How the hell am I supposed to look after you when I don’t know something as important as that?”

I understood his irritation, but I couldn’t think of anything other than getting warm at this moment, curling up into a tight ball against his chest, my teeth clattering together, and telling everyone how cold I was. Sorin came over and draped a blanket over me, which Victor tucked in around me for good measure.

“Dani-girl, Vic makes a good point. It truly is important for us to know things like you can’t swim. That way we can make accommodations or avoid the situation altogether,” Sorin reasoned as he sat in front of Victor taking my leg and rubbing his warm hands against my skin. “Is there anything else that we need to know like that? What about allergies?”

“A… allergies?” I stammered.

“Yes, such as foods, animals, plants, anything that might affect your ability to fight or run from a situation,” he explained.

I shook my head, not thinking of anything except I’d never really spent much time around animals or even plants. Foods were fairly limited most of my life, controlled by others, yet I didn’t think that was going to be a problem for me.

“Well, if you think of anything, be sure to let us know,” Sorin instructed, pinning me with a look like he didn’t believe I would.

“I will, promise,” I said, giving him a small smile, something that was harder to do than it should be as I was still shivering.

Victor rose and walked over to the spot we’d laid out our beds. “Sorin, can you put these closer together? She’s not warming up fast enough, so I'm gonna need your help since you didn’t swim.”

That had me looking to see where the others had gone. Petru, Toma, and Cris were in the shallows of the water washing up, but I couldn’t find Lucian. When I reached out to him through our bond, I could tell he was close by but a little further up near the top of the waterfall. Reassurance washed over me as Lucian tried to tell me he was fine and not to worry. He must be scouting the area to ensure we would be safe here.

“First, we need to get her out of these wet things, or she’ll never warm up,” Sorin stated as he popped the clasp of my bra.

Victor set me on my feet then knelt, hooking his thumbs in my underwear and sliding them off me. Almost instantly, I felt better. Still cold as hell, but I didn’t feel like a block of ice was seeping the heat out of me. Moments later, I was sighing in relief as Victor pulled me against him and Sorin’s naked body pressed against my back, sandwiching me between them as we lay on our sleeping bags.

“This is much better,” I moaned, as the tingling feeling of blood circulating more freely told me I’d be just fine.

Sorin reached around and cupped one of my breasts in his hand. “I don’t know this area still seems to be rather cold…”

“Wait, let me check,” Victor offered, dipping his head to suck on my nipple sharply. “Yeah, it’s still pretty chilly. I think I might be able to warm it up, though.”

The feel of his lips closing around my nipple and his hot tongue flicking the raised nub had me arching into Sorin. “Oh God,” I whimpered.