Page 69

I fucking hate the dark.

Of all the places I’ve seen, this area seems to be clinging to life with a death grip. Everywhere else has fallen to the same blight as the Barrens. Pretty soon, owls will hoot, mutant wolves will emerge from their dens, and other creatures of the night will sense a leech. The smart move would be to wait until dawn, get a fire going, but that’ll just put more distance between me and my people. Salem doesn’t have much time left, and Nina will die protecting Kaya.

“How did you escape Ivory Hill?”

My steps falter, and I almost trip over nothing. Screwing up my face, I push forward, already imagining shit that isn’t there. “Stop asking questions.”

He scoffs behind me. “We can’t just stay quiet the entire time.”

“Sure can,” I grumble and take a sip from my canteen. The water is turning into a slush.

Each breath I take leaves a white plume past my lips. It’s going to get colder and darker the higher up we go.

“So is that little girl yours? Did you…with Nina?”

I choke. Then fight down a gag. I care about Nina, but I’ve never ever once looked at her that way. She’s a beautiful omega, smells nice, but unfortunately, my tastes lean the other way. I like them pretty, but…why the fuck am I thinking about this?

“I don’t know if I would have wanted children,” he continues, almost to himself. “I was too young to even know those things.”

“Telex breed like rats,” I tell him. “I’m sure you’ll have every opportunity.”

Saren doesn’t respond. Good. I want him to shut up so I can focus.

A few beats pass before he says, “You don’t remember, do you?”

I groan and glance over my shoulder. He’s stopped walking. “I think of it as a blessing. The less of you I recall, the better.”

“Just how much have you forgotten?”

Why does he fucking care? Sure, his little speech earlier might make it seem like he cares deeply, but I know these mind games. I know how these people work. How they use emotions against you before fucking eating them. Besides, he’s the last person who deserves to hear about my ailments.

“Doesn’t matter,” I settle on, watching him shiver slightly. For how smug he was earlier, he sure didn’t think to bring a proper jacket.

The thought pricks images of the carnage. Pretty sure everyone was wearing theirs. And I don’t think he’d want to remove one from a corpse.

“You turned into a monster,” he says hotly and stomps forward, passing me completely.

You have no idea.

Thankfully, that ends his attempt at conversation for the next hour or so. Not so thankfully, the sun sets and with it, any semblance of warmth and light. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m slowing down. Even keeping my arms tucked under my cloak, I’m freezing my balls off. Saren isn’t faring much better; his teeth are chattering constantly.

It’s different back at the camp. We run fires all night, have blankets and some shelter from the frigid wind. And in my tent, I have my lanterns. Out here, we might just freeze to death before ever reaching Hale Valley.

The snow falling in thick sheets has covered most of the tracks, too.

I allow our misery to linger until I find somewhere suitable to stop for the night. We haven’t made nearly enough distance, but I’m not risking losing my feet to frostbite or dying of hypothermia. Blowing out a defeated sigh, I call for Saren to stop. He’s been stubbornly keeping a faster pace, determined not to look at me. Well, too fucking bad.

“We’re stopping,” I tell him and get to work making a shitty fire.

He approaches, rubbing his arms with blue fingers and bluer lips. I rip off several branches, kick away some snow, and add whatever stones I can to the circle. Everything is wet, but I hope the kindling in my bag will help. And while I’m definitely focused on my task, I still catch myself glancing at Saren.

Shivering.

Maybe even whimpering as he shifts from foot to foot.

Damn it. I sling off my bag, then remove my cloak. I toss it at him unceremoniously. “Put it on.”

“I’m f-fine,” he stutters, shivering.