Page 71 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
Using the back of my hand, I wiped cold sweat from my forehead as I propped the heavy basket I carried on my hip. I wasn’t sure how Elias and Nalari had done it, but we had more food than we’d had since before this winter had started. So much so that I had to tell him to slow down before food started going to waste. The way he’d laughed had warmed me from the inside, even more than when he’d told me how we’d be sharing with another region.
His thoughtfulness endeared me too much to him.
If only his thoughtfulness could extend to the weather. It wasn’t enough that our roads were undrivable, forcing us into the Stone Age, where people traveled either on foot or horseback, but the pipes here at the food bank broke or burst or whatever Donnie said they’d done. And while I knew he’d figure out how to fix it as he did with so many others in town, it was still frustrating.
I knew I shouldn’t complain. Where so many of my neighbors had gone without heat or water, my home stayed toasty and with running water. While it’d taken me a bitlonger than I’d like to figure it out, I now knew Elias and his magic kept my home safe from the environment.
“He wouldn’t tell me who did it,” I answered. “But who else would it be?”
Everly grunted.
I gripped my basket of different cuts of chicken and stepped over the toys Elias had made for Victoria to head toward the refrigerators at the back of the store. Victoria peered up at me and, with a smile, pushed her wooden dog toward me andwoofed.
I barked back at her and relished her giggle. Although I hadn’t expected Collette to have left Victoria as long as she had this time, she brought joy to so many moments throughout the days. And, if truth be told, she laughed a little more every day since her mom had left. While she was still shy around most people, Ryenne and Everly had won her over. So had Elias and his two friends. Especially George, who I still felt wary of.
I couldn’t place it. George had never given me a reason to fear him, but the fear remained. Like a sixth sense that made goosebumps rise over my skin.
“Do you think people will keep stealing after. . .” Her dark blue eyes were wary as she stared at the raw meat in her basket.
After the morons’ staged beating that she didn’t know was fake.
“I hope not,” I whispered. If not for their sake, then for Elias’s sake, who shouldered more than I’d realized. Cared more than I’d realized.
From the food to dealing with people who still hated him, and now hunting for whatever creatures had made the large tracks by the creek, he never seemed to stop. While he tried tohide it, I could feel how anxious he was. And how much the wounds on his back still hurt him.
Regardless, he took the time to take care of people. Not just with the food he provided us but also the new wardrobe Javier and his sisters had, which was made with the same fabric as my blanket, beanie, and gloves. The new wooden toys so many of the kids in his region now played with.
I wasn’t sure how he found the time to sew and whittle, but he did. And what was more, he never took credit for any of it. Probably because he knew the people would throw it back at him. I once would have done the same.
Everly had been right all along, though. Elias was good. And his skin had felt like the softest satin yet had been so warm to touch. To kiss. I fought the temptation to touch my lips, where the memory still lingered.
“You can kiss me whenever you want.”
Those had been his words to me that morning in the kitchen, but I wasn’t sure I could do that.
After Everly and I stocked the fresh meat, we sat on the floor with Victoria, who abandoned her toys to sit on Everly’s lap. Everly unpacked her lunch of cheese, fruits, and flowers that looked like lilies. I handed her a slice of bread Ryenne and I had baked last night. While it definitely didn’t taste as good as the bakery bread we’d eaten, it was edible. And it hadn’t made us vomit although the wine we drank almost came back up this morning. I cut my deer meat in three parts, and after she took the piece I offered her, I cut Victoria’s portion into bite-sized pieces. Everly added a portion of her lunch to Victoria’s, then put more on my plate.
Victoria lifted one of the white flowers off her plate. “So pretty,” shesaid.
“It is,” Everly agreed. “It also tastes good and is healthy for you.”
Victoria scrunched her nose and put the flower back on her plate. “I’m not eating that.”
“Everly says it’s good for you,” I said although I was Team Victoria on this one. I didn’t want to eat it either. “At least try it.”
“It’d look better in my hair than in my tummy.”
With a laugh, Everly took the flower from Victoria’s plate and put it in her black hair just over her ear. “Can’t argue with you when you’re right.”
Hesitantly, I took my first bite of the flower, and because I had zero poker face, Everly started laughing when she saw my expression. I widened my eyes and pushed the bitter flower down my throat with a large gulp of water.
“Mm,” I said, patting my stomach. “So good.”
Everly snorted.
Victoria reached for the second flower on my plate and put it behind her other ear. “Better.”
“Much better,” I grumbled. Heat warmed my cheeks, and I bit my bottom lip. “Sorry, Everly, guess we’re not used to eating such...delicacies.”
