Page 114 of Serpent In White

“You’re on a mountain, Rhiannon. This isn’t a joke. There are bears and mountain lions up here.”

“Holy fuck.” I gulp. As much as I should worry about getting into a tent with a strange man, my main concern has just become not reenacting the Leo DiCaprio bear scene inThe Revenant. “Okay, fine. I’ll sleep in your damn tent. But if you even inch next to me, you’re losing your nuts.”

He throws his head back in a cackle that ripples through my insides. “That’s quite the threat from such a tiny little girl.”

Why is the way he just said that so motherlovin sexy…? And from a very irresistible mouth…

I swallow my errant thoughts and grab my backpack, diving inside the tent before I have to look at him for one more second, with blushing cheeks like a total loser.

Abdiel climbs in, and I’m already under my little throw blanket, curled into a ball, back to him. I hear him shuffling around, but I don’t dare glance his way.

“Goodnight, Rhiannon,” he whispers, voice rich and smooth, like caramel and hot fudge drizzling over an ice cream sundae. “I’m glad I met you today.”

My stomach flutters. “Me, too. Goodnight, Abdiel.”

I try to close my eyes, but some animal makes a strange noise outside and they spring open.

I physically feel every inch of space between me and the hot boy with the pink lips, the sexy voice and curious eyes.

I won’t be getting a wink of sleep tonight.

I fully expected Rhiannon to be gone when I woke up.

Even outside of what I heard her thinking about when we first met, she just seems flighty. She’s jumpy and a little untrustworthy…Skepticalseems like a good word.

Yet she’s been trusting of me. And I’ve been trying not to intrude on her thoughts too much because it’s one thing with my family, but with a complete stranger… I don’t know, it just seems like a dick move. Certain things, however, I couldn’t stop myself from focusing on.

She’s broken. Inside, she feels damaged, and she’s searching for something to believe in. Something to give her faith in life again.

I think The Principality would be perfect for that. So last night, I decided that if she was still there when I woke up, I’d bring her back home and see what Darian thinks.

We haven’t accepted strays into the Regnum in as long as I can remember, but Rhiannon feels different. Whatever was going on with that black rock… in the clearing… I think it was affecting her.

I think maybe it affects others.

Rhiannon doesn’t want to kill herself, otherwise, she would have done it. I believe Mother brought me up the mountain for this reason. Rhiannon could be a part of my Ecdysis… She was lost, and now she’s been found.

As much as I think that rock might have something to do with what happened to my parents, I believe saving a life is more important than investigating right now.

So much to my own surprise, and relief, I roll over in my sleeping bag to find her blanket still beside me. She’s not in it, though.

I consider that she may have left it behind, since her backpack is gone, too. But when I emerge from the tent, I find her plopped on it next to the makeshift fire pit I created last night, trying her damndest to light a fire. I can’t help but grin to myself as I tug my hoodie onto my arms and zip it up. She’s such an interesting creature, this girl.

She’s small, and rather pretty, but with sarcasm practically oozing from her pores. I’m out of my comfort zone with her, being that I’ve never really interacted with Outsiders… like ever. She seems witty and strong-willed, but also sweet and caring. I heard her thoughts last night when I told her about my parents. Her empathy was palpable, and that’s the number one quality a human needs to fit in with our family.

I think she’ll love The Principality. My main concern would be introducing her to Darian and Drake…

“Are you just going to stand there staring at me, or are you going to help?” Rhiannon mumbles, while literally rubbing sticks together… as if that could ever start a fire anywhere other than in fiction.

“You could have woken me up,” I chuckle, stepping over to help her, minding my feet.

She glances down as I rearrange her kindling. “Are you barefoot? In the woods?”

My eyes dart to hers briefly. “Is that weird?”

“Uh yea,” she breathes. “Unless you’re a hippy, I guess, which it kind of seems like you are.”

“I was born and raised in the woods,” I tell her, making the perfect teepee of twigs before grabbing my matches out of my pocket, lighting one and sticking it inside. “The forest is my home. Do you always wear shoes in your home?”