Page 33 of A Shard of Ice

I hum out a sound of agreement. “Are you going to be able to ride?”

“I’ll be okay,” he tells me. “It shouldn’t be long before I’m at full strength again.” He winks at me. Then he licks his lips; his eyes are now on my mouth again. It’s like he’s thinking of kissing me, which can’t be right. He almost died. We’re in the middle of the desert. There are other things that are much more important…like surviving the day. Like finding a place to spend the night. It’s life or death.

I glance back to see if Damon is nearly done. I feel uncomfortable alone with Cyrano, although I’m probably just being silly.

“You’re not going to forget what I said about him…that fae.” His voice goes all gruff when he speaks about Damon.

“No, I won’t forget.”

“Youcan’ttrust him, Kyrie. Not one iota. He’s one of them. He lied to us…to you. He threatened me while you were gone yesterday.” Cyrano is speaking under his breath. “He doesn’t like me. He made that clear. I wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t make it out of this desert. You mark my words…and it’ll behisfault.”

“He isn’t going to hurt you, Cyrano. He saved your life.” What part of that doesn’t he understand?

“He told me he did it for you, not because he wanted to. He told me he wished I had died.”

I frown. “I’m sure you must have misunderstood.”

“I didn’t!” Cyrano insists. “Watch your back. Better yet,” he takes my hand, “we should watch each other’s backs.”

“Of course,” I tell him.

“I know I’ve never come out and said it, but I—”

“We need to go!” I almost jump from my skin as Damon’s booming voice hits us.

I snatch my hand away and turn toward him.

His eyes are blazing. They’re narrowed on Cyrano, and if I didn’t know better, I would say that he was out for blood. That he was jealous.

But that’s just plain laughable. We’re all on edge; that’s all it is.

Cyrano swallows visibly. His face has gone back to being pale, and this time, it’s fear instead of illness.

Damon takes the reins of the closest camel and asks her to go down on her haunches. Cyrano mounts up, and I get onto the male. Damon holds the leads of both beasts and walks out ahead.

I pull my scarf more securely around my head. The sun is barely over the horizon and already the temperature is creeping up and up.

I glance back a few times at the green of the oasis as it gets farther and farther away. It really has been forever since I last saw green that vivid. Since I last saw life so abundant. Even before the fae took us, the farm and the surrounding countryside had turned bad. Everything was dying or dead. There were small patches of land that held onto a semblance of life, but nothing like this. There were trees and scrubs barely clinging to life, all with very few leaves in washed-out tones. It’s like the whole world was muted. Like someone switched off a light or sucked out the lifeblood and soul of the place.

I hope it isn’t still like that when we return…if we return. I know deep down inside that nothing has changed. Perhaps it is worse than before.

The one thing I will surely miss when we leave the desert is the sun. When we first entered, I was delighted to feel the warm rays against my skin, but that soon changed. Anything in overabundance becomes tedious. I began to miss the rain andthe clouds. I only wish things could go back to how they once were.

I was young when Snow took over the rule of the realm but old enough to know how it had been before.

I will miss seeing all the plants and trees, just like I will miss the sun when we finally make it out of here.

I need to soak it up. To take in the wide blue skies. I squint my eyes and pause.

What is that? What…?

There’s something flying up there. Three somethings, to be exact. And they’re flying around in lazy circles directly above us.

“Damon, there are—” I point up as he looks at me.

“Three lizard birds directly above us. I know.”

Lizard birds!

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