Page 93 of Blood Beneath the Snow

Mira offered me a tight-lipped smile. “Leaving you in the snow to die.”

She disappeared.

What had she seen? Had she realized the Hellbringer and I were together? Or was she making assumptions, since she wasn’t aware of the real reason he’d been training me?

I tipped my head back to look at the sky. It didn’t really matter what she was thinking. She was gone and I was alone in the frigid wastes. “What a great way to start my day.”

Being angry usually helped mefocus. Today it did the opposite.

I’d been walking west for over an hour, hoping I was going in the right direction to run into someone—anyone, frankly. If I made it to a Kryllian camp and they didn’t kill me on sight, maybe I could convince them to let me see the Hellbringer. And I knew my family’s camp had to be out here somewhere.

Every step left behind a deep footprint. I wrapped my arms around myself and scowled. “Stupid Hellbringer,” I muttered, teeth chattering. “Couldn’t have brought me himself.”

Last night, when we’d taken a moment to simply breathe in each other’s arms, I found myself asking, “How do you sleep with that helmet on?” It had been over a week since he’d worn it in the prison with me. The last several nights had found him curled up next to me in bed without any armor on as we slept. It made me wonder about how he’d gotten any rest before he was willing to take the mask off in front of me.

“I don’t do much sleeping,” he said with a chuckle. “Now go to bed.”

I rolled over in his arms and touched the mask, lying on the bed next to him. The hand-carved wood was rife with ridges invisible to the eye. I studied it instead of him, working up the confidence to ask my next question.

“Do you fuck your prisoners often?”

I tried to say it in a teasing voice so he didn’t detect the uncertainty underneath. From the start, I’d known his power and political influence ensured that many wanted to woo him. Was he called for back in Kryllian?

And if he was, could I get over it?

“No,” he answered, running his hand through my unbound hair. I’d tried to re-braid it on the way back to the prison, but he’d stopped me, admitting he liked it down. “I distance myself from most people. The life I live…well, it’s not suitable for any kind of relationship. I’m sure you understand.”

I thought about Arne. How we’d kept each other at arm’s length to avoid the heartbreak we saw coming. I’d enjoyed my time with Arne, but he’d never been truly satisfied because of the emotional distance between us.

“I do,” I said. “More than you know.”

Eventually I’d fallen asleep.

Now, letting out a low growl of frustration, I watched my breath crystallize in front of me. Instead of bringing me to safety, the Hellbringer had tried to avoid a painful goodbye by letting his most trusted soldier take me herself.

Clearly an excellent decision.

As I approached the mountain looming in front of me, I sighed. Part of me was grateful we’d avoided an awkward farewell. What would I have said?

I could only hope Mira hadn’t left me too far from my family.

Would Björn and my father be disappointed to find I was alive? Gods, I hoped so. Imagining the look on his face provided a surge of energy for me to continue.

Luckily, the skies were blue. No impending storm to kill me quicker.

After another hour of walking, the mountain in the distance was no closer. I stopped, letting my frustration build until I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Then I took a deep breath and let out a scream.

A bird fluttered out of a pine tree as my voice echoed over the mountains. A low rumble came from the mountain as snow readjusted under the sound of my voice.

No one could hear me. No one was looking for me.

“Of all the places to die, this is probably the worst,” I said aloud, kicking the nearest pine with all my might.

I kept walking.

When the sun began toset, my worry spiked. Night brought the killer cold, and this time I didn’t have the Hellbringer to keep me warm.

Also, I was starving.

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