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"I've got you." His voice was steady, but his grip was almost painful.

Heart thundering, I let him pull me up the last few feet until I could crawl onto the ledge. We both sat there for a moment, catching our breath.

"Well," I managed finally, "that was fun."

"Your definition of fun needs work." But there was something almost like amusement in his tone.

The ledge opened into another tunnel, this one mercifully wider than the last. But as we moved forward, I noticed something changing in the air. The suffocating heat from below was giving way to something that made goosebumps rise on my arms.

"Temperature's dropping," Aether said, his bare shoulders tensing slightly. "We must be nearing one of the mountain's ice veins."

I was about to make a comment about him regretting the shirtless decision when the cold hit like a physical wall. My breath clouded in front of me, and the sweat that had soaked through my leathers suddenly felt like a snowstorm against my skin.

"Ice veins?" My teeth threatened to chatter. The tunnel ahead seemed to glitter—frost covered the walls.

"Underground rivers of ice," he explained, moving forward. "They run through the mountain like—" He stopped abruptly, causing me to nearly walk into him. "Well, that's unfortunate."

The passage ahead had narrowed again, but this time the walls were slick with ice. Crystals hung from the ceiling like jagged teeth.

"Of course," I muttered, wrapping my arms around myself. "Because this wasn't challenging enough already."

"You wanted to come here alone." His voice carried a hint of irritation, though I noticed he'd crossed his arms over his chest against the cold. "Since you were so determined to do this without help."

"You didn't exactly volunteer," I shot back through chattering teeth. "In fact, I distinctly remember you shutting down the entire idea."

His jaw clenched. "You could have at least waited. Made a proper plan."

"We don't have time for proper plans." Another violent shiver ran through me as we edged forward. The ice-slicked walls reflected our breath in the darkness.

"And you getting yourself killed would help how, exactly?"

"I can't just do nothing," I muttered, though the cold was making it harder to form the words. My soaked leathers felt like sheets of ice.

His eyes raked me over, taking in the gasps I was fighting against wholeheartedly. Even the heat of his eyes on me did nothing to fight the cold that clung to me in waves now.

"Can you continue?" he asked.

Another violent shiver wracked through me, and my legs nearly gave out. Aether caught my arm before I could stumble, his skin blazing hot against mine.

"You're freezing," he muttered, and before I could protest, he pulled me against him. The heat of his bare skin seared throughme, and despite my pride screaming at me to pull away, my body betrayed me by pressing closer. My fingers found the ridges of his spine.

"What are you doing?" I managed through chattering teeth.

"Keeping you alive." The words vibrated through me where I was pressed against him. "Your leathers are soaked. In this temperature, that's deadly."

I wanted to argue, to maintain some dignity, but the warmth radiating from him melted any resistance. His arms tightened as another shiver coursed through me, and my breath stilled at the flex of muscle beneath my palms.

"Why are you so warm?" I asked, unable to help myself. Even in the freezing cave, he burned like he carried the sun inside him.

He was quiet for a long moment. "I don't know."

"Add it to the list of mysteries," I muttered, trying to ignore how perfectly I seemed to fit against him.

"Stop talking," he ordered, but there was no real bite to it. "Focus on getting warm."

Minutes stretched by as feeling slowly returned to my limbs. My world narrowed to the points where we connected—the steady rise and fall of his breathing, the occasional brush of his jaw against my hair, the burning heat of his skin seeping into mine.

"Better?" he asked finally, his voice low.