Page 36 of What Lies Beyond the Veil

For warmth, I assured myself as he shifted his body, and I felt his gaze on my face as my eyes drifted closed. The softness of his lips brushed against my forehead, sending a tingle through the back of my neck in response as my exhaustion claimed me.

Most definitely for warmth.

16

We were on our way once again after Caelum caught a quick breakfast of wild hare. He’d managed to trap it while I was still sleeping. He’d never woke me in the night to take watch, and I didn’t know if it was because he had fallen asleep, as well, or because he’d been afraid I might in fact take his balls off while he slumbered.

I’d slept straight through the night, waking long after he had, at any rate, and we’d continued our trek toward the Hollow Mountains, much to my dismay.

The dress Caelum had snagged off the clothesline was a size too small, the fabric clinging to me more tightly than felt tolerable, but the alternative had been to continue to wear my thinner, damp, and muddy dress that had more holes than I cared to count.

Caelum had continued to be largely silent most of the day, letting me stew in my grief as we traveled. Being with him stung with betrayal when Brann had wanted me to stay away and go our own way, but I wasn’t capable of making the long trip to the safety the Mountains at Rochpar might offer on my own.

I didn’t know the way. Didn’t know how to navigate the same way Caelum seemed to, only pulling an engraved compass from his trouser pocket every now and then.

My legs throbbed with endless movement, the walking and uneven terrain something that I was far from used to. My midnight strolls to the Veil could never compare to the steady and relentless pace Caelum set.

We came to another dip in the valley, a drop of uneven terrain that would have hurt, had we dared to continue our path in the darkness last night. Caelum jumped down, landing smoothly on steady feet as he bent his knees to absorb the impact.

He stood, turning back to face me as I approached the ledge and prepared to follow suit, hiking my dress up my calves. He gripped me around the waist, lifting me off my feet and pulling me into the front of his body, lowering me down as he’d done countless times. I stared up at him and resisted the urge to argue. There was something in Caelum that needed to care for someone, a gentleman who couldn’t let me prove to be capable of taking care of myself.

I’d been fending for myself for so long, part of me liked being taken care of for once, even if I would never admit it. I’d jumped off the edge of a cliff and managed to get myself to the bottom without dying; I could handle a dip in the path, and he Gods damned knew it.

The moment my feet touched the ground at the bottom, he lifted a single hand from where the fabric of my dress hugged my waist. His cloak still hung off my shoulders, wrapping me in a warm embrace. His tunic couldn’t possibly be warm enough, but just like with the drops in the valley floor, he somehow insisted on my comfort over his. Despite how strangely he made me feel, I couldn’t help thinking that there weren’t enough men like him left in my world. Too many were far too consumed with the need to own people and possessions, to the point that they forgot what it meant to care for others.

He tucked the hair behind my ear, those cool fingers lingering on my skin as he stared at the point of contact. My heart fluttered in my chest, the nerves I always seemed to feel around him bubbling to the surface.

When he was quiet, it was easy to forget just how strong his attention was. When he was quiet, it was easy to miss the intensity that blazed in his eyes and the way nothing existed around us the moment his gaze touched mine.

My Fae Mark buzzed with warmth, heating me beneath the cloak and giving me a moment of guilt when I realized just how cold his fingers felt. He had to be freezing, had to be suffering so that I could stay warm.

His Fae Mark glowed a soft white in response, the color of it transfixing me as I raised my hand between us and clutched the clasp on his cloak. His other hand lifted to grasp mine, shaking his head softly to prevent me from giving it back. “You need it more than I do,” he said, leaning in and touching his lips to my forehead softly.

It reminded me of that same brush of lips I’d felt from him before I fell asleep the night before. Something in the touch felt protective, which I couldn’t even begin to contemplate—not when our lives hung in the balance and uncertainty surrounded us.

Tomorrow wasn’t promised, and while that might have made some people want to live life to the fullest, it only reminded me that Caelum could be taken at any moment. He could be killed or we could be separated, and I’d be left alone all over again. That pain would be even worse if he somehow betrayed me or chose to abandon me.

I wouldn’t allow myself the heartbreak of losing someone else I cared about, so I wouldn’t go there with him, no matter how tempting it might be. Because the one and only man I’d ever allowed to touch me had turned into a pile of snow when he tried to kill me. It was safe to say, my vagina was unfortunately off limits.

“We should reach the mountains by the end of the day,” he said, taking his hand away from my cheek where it lingered and lowering the one from his cloak when I didn’t push to return the garment to him. “We’ll stay close to their bases as we travel, and there’ll be caves we can hide out in at night. Fires will help us stay warm as the weather gets cooler,” he explained, taking my hand in his and turning back to continue the way we’d been traveling.

His long legs had to move considerably slower than seemed natural for him so I could keep up, but he didn’t seem to mind as he kept my hand clutched in his and swung it between us casually. As if we were a married couple out for a stroll in the pre-dusk hours, and not two Fae Marked humans on the run for our lives.

“Okay, but what will we do when the snow comes?” I asked, glancing down at the dress I wore and his thin trousers and tunic. Even if we’d both had cloaks, they would do nothing when we were trudging through waist-deep snow in freezing temperatures with the wind howling through the trees. We needed protection from the elements and layers of blankets and a fire if we were going to survive.

“Before the snow comes, we’ll find a safe place to wait out the worst of the season. We won’t have a choice. Our tracks in the snow will just lead the Mist Guard right to us,” he said. “We probably have a week before we have to worry about the snow if the weather holds. We can put some decent distance between us and the boundary before then.”

The words he didn’t speak hung between us, a harsh reminder of the one undeniable truth. A lot could happen in a few weeks, and we’d need to survive them before we had to worry about where we would be for the winter.

Even if the thought of hiding out in a cave with him for an entire season, with nothing to do, did make my stomach flutter. No interruptions and no worry of someone stumbling across us. No awkward fumbling to get dressed if we heard people on the trail.

Just the two of us.

I shook my head, blushing when I noted Caelum’s attention fixated on me as he walked. He smirked, as if he could sense the direction my thoughts had gone, then he took pity on me, clearing his throat with a chuckle and turning his attention back toward the path we walked through the woods. “Tell me about your family. Was it just you and your brother?” he asked, his face solemn and sympathetic as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

“My mother too,” I said. “But we had to leave her behind. My birth was difficult, and her legs just can’t support her anymore, so she told us to run after I was Marked.” I sighed, wishing I could turn back and make sure she was safe, but my presence would only put her in danger all over again if I dared, because the Mist Guard wouldn’t hesitate to use family against me if it meant ridding the Kingdom of one more of the Fae Marked.

I shuffled my feet as I walked, dragging them through the leaves in a small protest that my steps continued to take me farther and farther from her and the life I’d known. “Your father?” Caelum asked, his brow furrowed.

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