Page 32 of Heart of Dawn
After a few failed attempts to reach him, I sat up, cooling down to the point of shivering. I wrapped my arms around myself, inspecting my surroundings as fear for my mate dug its claws into me.
He’s okay. I’d know if he wasn’t…
A ring of trees lined this wide clearing, as dead as the rest of this forest. Erna’s cave entrance jutted out of the snow in the shape of a hood—one that belonged to a giant buried up to its head. Smoke billowed from it in a dark stream.
A potential signal to other yetis? Break time would have to wait. The last thing I wanted was a second round of yeti wars.
I got to my feet, taking in more of the scene. The ground beyond the cave sloped downward into the trees. Behind me, it inclined, and to my left and right it stayed relatively flat.
Hmmm. Without any sense of direction, my anxiety mocked me. I hated being lost. I hated this biting cold.
“I have to move,” I told myself aloud. “Pick a direction.”
A yeti’s roar destroyed the silence, sending me back into the snow. I swallowed a yelp, drawing on my stores of determination to run up the incline.
“Fire!” a loud voice bellowed. “Fire at Erna’s place!”
Another roar came from up ahead, heavy footfalls forcing me to stop.
Oh no.
The male yeti crashed through the trees, plowing through the snow. “Fire! Fire! Fire!”
I ducked out of sight in a me-shaped hole, the dial of terror on maximum yikes.
“Save her!” the yeti cried, getting closer. “Save?—”
“What’s going on?” a female voice called from my left.
“Can’t you see?” the male replied.
“Curses!” the female hollered. “Erna!”
A chorus of roars tore the air, the two yetis near me making the ground shake, snow collapsing around me. I kept low, their heavy breathing dangerously close.
They suddenly stopped, sniffing deeply.
“What is it?” the male asked.
“I smell something. Fae…”
Great big sweaty pixie balls!
Grim reality struck me with an iron fist. My wading had left a trail leading right to me. Never mind my scent, I’d carved a route right to me.
It didn’t take them long to find me, both their heads blocking out the moonlight.
“Fae,” the female yeti said. “Told you.”
“Did you start the fire?” the male asked, sniffing at me. “Yes. You did. I can smell Erna all over you.”
“He hurt her,” the female added. “All they ever do is hurt her when she only seeks love.”
The male chuffed in irritation. “What’s wrong with yetis?”
I wouldn’t get past them quickly enough. Their arms were too long, too big, their bodies huge furry walls trapping me in a prison of my own making.
“Kill him,” the female said. “Pull the murderer apart.”
