Page 63 of Snowbound with the Santas

“Do you trust me?” Archer straightens up.

After a quick thought, I nod.

“Good. Now come on.”

He moves into the cave, and I follow, keeping one hand on his arm the entire time. We walk for all of thirty seconds, but it feels like a lifetime in the darkness and my heart begins to pound. Suddenly, the cave opens out wide, and the area is filled with a strange blue hue which I can’t pinpoint its source.

Archer strides toward the edge of a large pool of water and begins to strip off his clothes. Just as I get flashbacks to yesterday with Nick, Archer pulls out his flashlight and turns it on. Then he aims it at his waist where a large red laceration streaks blood down his body.

“Archer!” Everything else is forgotten and I rush forward. “What happened?”

“Tree branch,” he states. “Slipped.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s fine. Happens all the time.” Archer barely even seems to feel the wound as he pulls a small packet from one of the many pockets of his cargo pants. “Here.”

He hands it to me and leans back against the rock he’s chosen to sit on. I stare down at the packet, confused for a moment.

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

Archer lifts one brow and sighs. “Can you clean it for me and then place the gauze over the top? It’ll do me until we get back and I can stitch it.”

I roll my eyes. “You know, if you’d asked me in the first place, I wouldn’t have wasted time asking you.” Dropping down to my knees, I unpack the wrapper and find a starchy cloth along with some gauze and tape. “Is this water safe?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

Rather than replying, Archer dips his hand into the water and raises it to his mouth to drink, but I don’t watch him drink. I’m too distracted by the sudden explosion of color that bursts through the water. An array of colors sparkles out from his hand, and each droplet of water from his hands creates its own color explosion.

“What in the…?” As the colors dance and then begin to fade, the blue aura of the cave increases briefly.

“It’s the bioluminescence of the water,” Archer explains. “You’ll see it in a few caves around here.”

“And it’s safe?”

“Perfectly.”

I have no choice but to believe him. Dipping the fabric into the water, I watch the colors for a few seconds then I begin to clean the wound. Archer hisses suddenly and his entire body tightens.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he grits out.

“You could tell me something to distract yourself.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” I sigh sharply. “You’re always so difficult. Why don’t you talk about that?”

“I’m not difficult.”

“Really?” I snap softly. “Because I think the only time I’ve heard you not be grumpy was when you gave me that massage.”

Archer is silent for a moment. “I don’t mean to be,” he finally says. “It’s… habit.”

“Clearly.”

---