Page 39

CHAPTER

TWENTY-EIGHT

FOUR DAYS LATER

AIDY

I stare out of the entrance of the supply cave—the hunter cave, as Valmir calls it—and wait for a sign from my mate. I watch the snows, scanning for a tall, dark head without horns, but all I see is more and more white as fresh snow begins to fall and my panic begins to rise.

He's coming back for me. I know he is.

These have been the longest four days of my life.

It's been impossibly hard to travel away from Corvak, knowing that he's staying behind with the increasingly vicious snow-people.

Knowing that he's going to willingly jump off a cliff into a pool of water, and him not being the strongest swimmer.

What if they don't buy his faked death? What if he hits the rocks on the way down?

What if he dives too deep and can't swim his way back to the surface?

What if they find out what he's up to and take out their fury on him?

What if, what if, what if? I squeeze my eyes shut against the intrusive thoughts and turn to Valmir. "Do you think he'll be here today?"

"Do I look like an oracle of some kind?" He sits by the fire in the cave, reinforcing a boot with bone splints. His ankle was healing well, but after three days of slow travel to get to this cave, it's growing painful and weak, and we're nowhere near the beach.

"I'm just asking. Making conversation. Being friendly. You should try it sometime."

He just ignores me and pauses to rub his chest, tail flicking with annoyance.

I turn back to the entrance, watching the snow come down.

If I close my eyes and breathe deep, I can still smell the eye-watering stink of the curled-leaf plant that we rubbed ourselves with four mornings ago.

We'd waited for Corvak to lead his followers away, and it wasn't until the last straggler disappeared over the horizon that we grabbed our packs and left.

It took three days to get to this cave, three days to get to safety.

Valmir and I moved as fast as we could, but the snow is deep and my legs are short, and his ankle has been bothering him the entire time.

At the end of the first day, we hid at the base of a cliff, huddled in blankets because there was no shelter to sleep in.

Not that I could have slept—I was on edge the entire time, expecting to hear hooting or to see round, glowing eyes watching us from the darkness.

The snow-people never came after us, though.

They truly aren't interested in anyone but Corvak.

It should make me happy that everything has gone to plan.

Instead, I want to weep because I left Corvak behind and it's been days since I've heard from him.

He's the only thing I've got left. I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't come back.

When we made it to the cave on day three, I should have been relieved. Instead, I spent the entire time waiting at the entrance, watching for either Corvak or for snow-people, some sign that something has happened, good or bad.

Since we got here the waiting has been horrible.

I've barely eaten. Who can eat jerky at a time like this?

And that's all the food there is—a few withered roots and lots and lots of fish jerky.

I'll eat when Corvak arrives, I tell myself.

"If he doesn't come today, should we go out looking for him?

What if he's injured? What if he hurt his ankle in his fall like you hurt yours? "

Valmir just sighs heavily again, because he's heard all my worrying a dozen times already. "There's no point in scouting. He knows this location. We can see the entire valley easily. If he's around, he'll come here, injured or not."

"But what if?—"

"What if nothing. We're sticking to the plan." He's lost his patience with me.

"For how long?" I ask. "I need numbers. At what point do we realize that something's gone wrong with our plan and we go after him?

" Because I'm ready to go now. The thought of a two-day trek through the snow back to the cave doesn't scare me nearly as much as the thought of Corvak injured and unable to get to me.

We can return, I reason, as I pace near the entrance.

Fake his death some other time. We can try again?—

There's a crunch of snow outside the cave.

My eyes widen and I look at Valmir. Did I hear that right?

The cat-alien is grabbing a spear, trying to haul himself off the cave floor.

His reach for a weapon makes me realize that this might not be Corvak.

It might be one of the snow-people, who's noticed our scent underneath the herbs and has followed us all this way?—

A tall humanoid figure in a puffy hat pulled down to the high collar of their fur cloak appears. A mittened hand waves and steps into the cave.

Immediately, Valmir begins to vibrate, the song in his chest insistent, heavy, and angry.

"Corvak?" I ask, confused. Why is Valmir suddenly resonating to him?

The hood is pulled off, revealing long, dark hair on a human woman with sharp, high cheekbones, bright khui-blue eyes, and a searching gaze. She sees Valmir first, and her lips form a snarl. "Where the fuck have you been, pussycat?"

"Greetings to you, too, April," he says in a bored tone. "Come on in."

The human woman notices me, and I instantly stiffen.

Instead of accusation, though, a broad, relieved smile creases her wind-chapped face.

She's tall, this woman, and built more strongly than I am.

She steps into the cave, shaking off the snow and unloading layers of furs.

"Did I take a wrong turn in Duluth? Hi stranger! You must be one of the missing people."

I'm a little thrown by her cheerful tone and the ease with which she greets me. "You…know who I am?"

"Well, given that there's not a lot of strangers running around on this planet, I assumed.

You know what they say about assuming, though.

" She pulls the heavy fur cloak off her shoulders and reveals more leathers underneath, all of them seemingly buttery soft and well-put together.

I'm suddenly embarrassed at my tunic of crude skins pieced together with a few knots and cords.

"And you, motherfucker. Not cool to disappear like that for two weeks. Not fucking cool at all."

I turn to Valmir, expecting him to make some snotty comment like he always does. Instead, he just rubs his chest as if the song there pains him with its intensity. "Ran into a snag."

"So did you get it?" she asks, tugging off her mittens. Her expression is as casual as she can make it, but I sense an urgency to her words…or maybe it's just the angry song of her khui influencing that thought.

I look between the both of them, utterly confused. "Get what?"

The woman sniffs. "Do I smell intisar?"

"Yeah, we had to rub ourselves down with it and the smell is lingering." Valmir volunteers the information. "Don't ask."

She looks over at me, her gaze bright and curious. "Did I not introduce myself? Hi, I'm April. Me and a few of the others were out looking for Valmir, because he's been missing for a while now. You okay, buddy?" She leans over and puts her hands on her knees to address Valmir. "Did you get lost?"

He scowls at her, even as he devours her with his gaze. "Not that you care, but I was injured."

April tilts her head. "Aw, does he have a boo-boo?"

He gestures at his ankle indignantly.

I purse my lips, trying not to laugh. All this time Valmir's been making me nuts with his casual sarcasm and this woman comes in and immediately starts busting his balls. I kind of love her for that.

Her gaze flicks over him and then back to me as she straightens. "I guess I should thank you for bringing him back."

"I walked! I was the one bringing her somewhere!" Valmir retorts.

"Yeah, yeah, you're amazing." She makes a talking gesture with her hand and rolls her eyes. "We're all so impressed."

He hisses at her like a feral cat.

I can't ignore the fact that they're both thrumming—resonating, Valmir called it—very loudly.

My khui was that loud once upon a time, when Corvak and I were first getting to know each other.

It only calmed down after we started having sex regularly, and I remember what Valmir had told us.

That the khui decides who your mate is so you can procreate.

"Can I ask?" I begin, indicating the two of them. "Are you guys…you know…"

"Resonating?" April looks annoyed. "We're not acknowledging that at the moment."

Valmir just seems irritated at her answer. "Have her tell you all about the tasks she is making me perform before I am worthy of her."

"I like to think of it as a honey-do list," April says cheerily.

"So you guys haven't…"

"What?"

"Fucked?" I ask bluntly. "Made a baby? Isn't that what resonance does?"

For the first time, April seems a bit flustered. She toys with her damp hair. "Like I said, we're not acknowledging things at the moment."

I'm surprised. When I hummed the loudest, I could think of nothing but jumping Corvak.

I wanted to touch him constantly. My thoughts were that of a woman possessed—a very horny woman possessed.

The fact that April and Valmir are controlling themselves so well is startling to me.

Not acknowledging something doesn't change how it works.

It just strikes me as stubborn and fool-headed.

But maybe that's the best way to deal with Valmir. Who knows.

April gestures behind her out of the cave. "So like…should we go? The others aren't far behind. They're searching the next canyon over and I told them I'd check over here." She turns to me. "You're welcome to come with us, by the way. Always happy to have a friendly face at the beach."

Leave? Like…right now? I shoot a panicked look at Valmir, who isn't paying attention to me. He's utterly focused on April, who's doing her best to ignore him. "Oh, we can't go. We're waiting for Corvak."

"Who's Corvak?" she asks, puzzled.