Page 52 of Blood Beneath the Snow

I glanced at where he sat next to the fire, his back against the wall, head tilted down. Was he asleep? Or was he watching me look him over?

Our game of cat and mouse, captor and captive, was merely a tug-of-war with a thread of power. Not magic, no—control.

My eyes fluttered closed as exhaustion sank its claws deep. I knew, as dread mounted within me, that the next five weeks until the Trials began were going to be utter hell.

14

“You could be sleeping, youknow.”

I jumped and whirled to see the Hellbringer studying me, his entire visage obscured by the darkness. My racing heartbeat began to slow slightly, fear replaced with annoyance. “Can’t a girl at least make a decent escape attempt without being rudely interrupted?”

The crowbar I found yesterday had thus far been of absolutely no use in trying to unlatch the mysterious door at the end of the long hallway. This abandoned prison shouldn’t have been so difficult to escape, and yet the Hellbringer hadn’t truly interrupted any real progress.

“Normally, yes. But we have places to be this morning.”

I frowned. If my calculations were correct, it was still far too early for the sun to have risen—not that either of us would know if it did. Maybe the lack of light was messing with my brain. “It’s too early to be training.”

Did I catch the hint of a laugh in his next words? “If it’s too early to be training, then it’s too early for an escape attempt.”

I threw the crowbar at the Hellbringer half-heartedly. He caught it in one hand. “Then what is so urgent it needs to be done right now?”

“Traveling to the nearest forge to make you a better blade.” He motioned for me to stand.

Exhaustion, sore knees, and my unsuccessful escape attempt had made me irritable. I didn’t move. “Neither of us wants to be here. Can’t you take me back to the front?”

“No.” He stepped forward and nudged me with the toe of his boot. “Get up.”

Groaning, I obeyed. My joints ached with stiffness from kneeling in such an awkward position for so long in the frigid cold. At least I’d been smart enough to bring my cloak this time around.

“Come on.” The Hellbringer turned and began walking toward the dim glow of the main room. “Mira is waiting for us.”

The teleporter glared at me from beneath her hood when we stepped back into the firelight. The Hellbringer adjusted the pack slung over his shoulder. “Make sure you have everything. We’ll be gone for a few days.”

I grabbed my gloves and buckled my sheath and sword back onto my belt. “Ready.”

“Then let’s go. Give Mira your wrist.”

Mira’s blond hair shone in the firelight and she extended her hand to me. I tried to hide my grimace—teleporting had been bad enough the first time and I wasn’t keen to do it again. But the Hellbringer nodded and in a flash we were off.

It was impossible to tell whether I lost my balance landing in two feet of snow or if Mira pushed me slightly upon landing. Either way, I landed face-first in the ice-cold powder. “Fuck this,” I snarled, pushing back to my feet to scowl at the Hellbringer. His companion was already gone. “Where’s the damn forge?”

I looked around, hoping to see something, anything, recognizable. The landscape was all familiar, but not in the way I wanted. The same pine trees and thick blanket of snow that covered the northern half of Bhorglid surrounded us on all sides. To my leftstood the foothills of a mountain range that towered over us, the peaks breaking up the gray clouds dominating the sky and allowing an occasional rising sunray to peek through.

The northern wastelands stretched out for miles in either direction. Gusts of wind whistled, tossing loose snow up and around us. A good weather day, all things considered. I suspected the Hellbringer had taken me farther north when he kidnapped me from the battlefield, but we could be anywhere now. It was all indistinguishable when the cities fell from view.

He pointed to the mountain in the distance. “That way. I hope you’re prepared—we have a long hike ahead of us.”

I followed the sound of his boots in the snow. Hiking in these conditions was not going to be enjoyable. “Your soldier couldn’t have dropped us off any closer?”

“No.”

My breath fogged out in front of me in the dawn when I huffed. I’d spent most of the night awake in the dim firelight, my frustration growing in my chest. He didn’t want to be here, training me. He was only doing it because he’d been ordered to. And now it seemed he was trying to make it as difficult as possible for both of us.

“I really hate you,” I told him, allowing the venom in my voice to seep through. It radiated over the snow, echoing slightly and catching in the next gust of wind. I wanted him to feel it, wanted the words to find the chink in his armor and pierce straight through the heart.

But I wasn’t surprised when his only reply was “You and everyone else, Princess.”

Three hours of walking later,the mountains appeared just as far as when we’d started. There was no telling how far the trail of footprints we left behind extended. It could be miles for all Iknew. But it certainly didn’t feel like we’d made any progress, and the exhaustion of not sleeping was catching up to me.

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