Page 43 of From Frost to Flame

“Saw an opportunity.” Silas choked on the air as he stepped out of the pile of rubble. “Was rough, though. I would prefer not to be eaten again, if I can help it.” Silas turned the black gem over in his hand gently. He held it like it wasn’t a chunk of evil, but a fragile bird.

“You can do this,” Castor said, gently. “I’m here with you.”

Why do you need reassurance? She’s a monster that’s done terrible things to you and your people. She wants to do terrible things to me.”

Arden’s taunting implications took root in his mind. “Were you actually with her? How is she anything to you? And why haven’t you told me?”

“You alright?” Mora asked with brows knitted in concern.

“I’m fine,” he said, still lost in his thoughts about Silas's secrets. Her eyes gave away that she wanted to question him about his behavior, but he wasn’t ready to admit he had no answers, so he avoided her eyes.

Silas closed his hands around the stone and tensed his muscles. An ear-splitting shriek cut through the air and made all the others clutch their ears. When he opened his hand, sparkling black dust slipped through his fingers and took off on the wind.

Once again, the compass leeched energy out of Lex's veins, and the face of the compass glowed. In the blinding light, everyone’s hands gripped at him.

In a bang, he crashed onto a beach of fine white sand that had an eerie glow under a stormy, black sky. Everyone else fell, scattered along the beach upon landing.

He struggled to his feet. His arms and legs were sore, as if he had run for miles, and his eyes were heavy with sleep. To his right was a wild sea with turbulent, midnight-blue waves that crashed relentlessly on the shore. To his left, a forest of bare, knobby, skeletal trees with bone-white bark. Thick fog lingered in the spaces between their crooked trunks. Wind painted his cheeks with rain and sea salt.

“Lex?” Silas said his name like a plea as he walked over, dusting sand off himself. “I know you’re hurting, but can you please hear me out?”

“I don’t want to talk right now.” He knew Silas wanted to ask about how he felt, and Julian and Mora would question him about how irrationally he behaved. He wasn’t in the mood for any of it. “I just need a few minutes away from everyone.”

Silas hesitated, then stepped aside. “If it’s what you really need, I won’t stop you, but stay on the beach so I can see you. Please.”

Lex wandered down the beach until the group was far enough away that his embarrassment receded a little. If his muscles weren’t growing heavier by the second, he would’ve kept going. Needing to sit, he entered the tree line and plopped down on the sand, facing the foggy forest. He leaned against a crooked trunk and hugged his aching knees to his chest.

Immediately, he was suffocated with the image of himself pleading to go help Silas and almost letting himself get eaten. Shame rolled in again.

What was I thinking? Why did I let myself get so worked up in front of everyone?He groaned.How am I still like this over him?

Rain soaked his already damp cloak and shirt. He let out a long sigh and, to his surprise, he could see his breath. It was cold before, but now it was suddenly freezing. He shivered and held himself.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning streaked across the sky. In a flash of light, the forest illuminated and, standing there between the trees, maybe thirty feet away, was The Ravenous One.

Her black eyes were sharp and black tears rolled down her cheeks. Her tentacles twitched as they stretched high above the trees. Her lips curled into a hateful snarl.

As quick as the lightning came, it disappeared and plunged Lex into darkness.

Paralyzed in terror, he searched the shadows and fog for any sign of her. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel her gaze burning through him. He swallowed and tried to force his voice out of his throat.

“Now, why is my little wolf so preoccupied with you?”

Her voice was like ice water pouring down Lex’s spine.

Her wolf?Another roll of thunder shook the sky, and Lex tensed. He was ready to sprint the moment the lightning flashed again or dodge a tentacle reaching for his throat.

Lightning illuminated the trees and, where she once stood, a large black werewolf was lying on the sand among the trees. Its gray eyes watched him intently.

Seeing Silas laying there vulnerable to her broke his paralysis. “Silas, run!” He clumsily got to his feet and searched the trees for her. “She has to be close. Come on!”

Silas shifted into his human form, rushed over, and pulled Lex into his arms. “Hey, calm down. Why do we need to run? Did you not recognize me before?”

“Before?” Lex peered up at him. “What do you mean before?”

“You were just staring at me. Did you think I was an actual wolf?”

“First time? No, I...I saw her. The Ravenous One, she was there. She was right where you were laying.”

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