Page 28 of Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice

After hurriedly eating my breakfast, I joined everyone headed for the tunnel that led to the outdoors—including Evander, Daphne, several of the faun footmen, and other stone polishing workers.

As we turned down the tunnel, a stirring of a cold breeze brushed my neck. I paused and shook out the fur-lined cloak. I struggled to sweep it around my shoulders while still holding the hat and mittens.

“May I help?” Evander waited until I nodded before he took the cloak from me and placed it over my shoulders.

I fumbled to clasp the cloak, all too aware of him behind me. Yet it wasn’t the prickling-at-the-back-of-my-neck, need-to-escape kind of awareness.

No, this was the awareness of strength and safety that made me want to lean back into him, reveling in the feel of his large, warm hands on my shoulders as he held the cloak steady for me.

I had been spending way too much time exploring tunnels with him if I was starting to see him as safe.

Giving myself a shake, I clasped the cloak and took a step away from him to put space between us.

Evander took a step back of his own, then continued down the tunnel. At the far end, a pair of doors blocked the way, though a crack of light showed around them. Drafts of cold air swirled at the end of the tunnel.

I tugged on the hat and mittens, then glanced at Evander. He still wore only his normal blue tunic, leather jerkin, and gray breeches. He hadn’t donned a cloak, much less hat, mittens, or anything else to ward off the chill. “Aren’t you going to be cold?”

“No. I don’t get cold easily.” Evander shrugged, then pushed one of the doors open.

A blast of cold air struck me, snatching my breath, and I pulled the cloak tighter around me. “I don’t know how. It’s freezing out there.”

“You’re used to the temperate climate of your home.” Evander stepped outside without so much as a shiver. “I’m a fae of the Winter Courts. This doesn’t feel as cold to me as it does to you.”

It still felt plenty cold to me. I had no idea how he wasn’t shivering right now.

As we stepped outside, I drew in a deep breath of the crisp, pine-scented air, so different from the salty, warm air of my home. I’d never smelled anything like it.

Ahead of us, a path wound between stands of tall pines. Snow coated each of the pine needles in white and piled on either side of a dirt path. Despite all the snow and the sunshine, the path was cleared of snow, the dirt dry and free of mud and puddles.

Daphne trotted past us, so bundled up in fur-lined wool that only her eyes were visible. “Come on!”

She led the way down the dirt path. While several of the others kept going, Daphne, Evander, and most of the people turned off into a clearing surrounded by thick evergreens. A thick layer of snow blanketed the clearing, shimmering so brightly in the sunlight that I had to squint.

I’d never seen so much snow. The rare snowfall we got in our village was mushy and gloppy, the kind that disappeared within a day, if not a few hours.

I glanced at Evander, then bent to scoop up a snowball. But this snow didn’t pack into a neat ball. It just crumbled against my mittens, too fine a powder to actually stick together.

Evander halted and grinned. “It’s too cold. This isn’t good packing snow.”

I’d never realized there were different kinds of snow.

Daphne scooped a handful of the powder and tossed it at one of the footmen. He retaliated by flinging snow back in her direction.

Some of the others had flopped in the snow and started waving their arms, making patterns.

It all looked fun, but a little overwhelming.

Evander glanced from the chaos churning up the beauty of the clearing, then back to me. He cupped my elbow and tugged me gently toward the forest surrounding the clearing. “Would you like to explore somewhere quieter?”

After all the time spent wandering dark tunnels alone with Evander, I didn’t hesitate to nod and hurry to keep up with his longer strides. He might not be safe when it came to telling the dragon stuff I’d rather he didn’t, but he wasn’t going to hurt me himself.

We worked our way between the spruce trees, our boots crunching on a layer of pine needles. The snow was only a dusting here, where the evergreens kept most of the snow from reaching the ground.

My calves burned as we climbed a slight rise. The trees fell away, and Evander motioned to me before he slid onto his stomach on the rocks, heedless of the snow and wet.

Well, if he could lie there in nothing but his regular clothes, then I would be fine, bundled up as I was.

I lowered myself onto my hands and knees, then shimmied higher onto the rocks so that I could see over them. I squirmed into a comfortable position, my shoulder brushing Evander’s. Here, we had a view of a series of rocky ledges, limned with snow.

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