Page 18 of A Waltz with Lord Death
A minute passed.
And then another.
After ten minutes of taking quiet, shallow breaths, she stepped away from the trunk she had been hugging. Her fingers ached from holding on so tight as well as from being exposed to the chill. Shivers racked through her body from her wet clothing. Her face had become numb far too long ago, and even her toes and fingers lacked feeling.
Several tears escaped from her eyes, but quickly froze on her cheeks. She wanted to weep at her misfortune, as well as for the blood she’d witnessed being spilled today, but her lungs ached from running so far so fast. And Wilford… If she hadn’t cried out to warn him, would he still be alive?
She pushed away her guilt and focused on the present.
“All right,” she said, standing straight and surveying her surroundings. Pine trees stretched in all directions. Snow covered every inch of the ground. The sun would descend all too soon. “I am without protection. Without transportation. No weapons. No food. And I am slowly freezing to death.”
On cue, a horrendous shiver clutched her shoulders and shook her mercilessly. She was going to die. Death had known. Yet he hadn’t bothered to tell her as much.
She recalled his words from earlier.You should be happy to know you won’t die. Not today.
“Perhaps not today, but what about tomorrow?”
Her teeth chattered, and no amount of huddling inside her cloak kept her warm. She didn’t want to die. She was so afraid.
“Meira,” a deep, gentle voice said behind her.
Quicker than she knew her frozen body could move, she spun around and slapped Death across the face. He stared at her with wide eyes, stupefied, while an imprint of her hand grew redder against his cheek.
“Y-y-you knew they were going to d-d-die,” she accused, teeth chattering. “H-h-how could you just s-s-stand there and do n-n-nothing?”
Her stomach dropped when he turned away from her with hurt in his eyes. “I am not a human,” he replied quietly. “I am Death. You do not understand me. Nor do you seem to care to try.”
“B-b-but those m-m-men.”
“Two got away. As for the rest… I do not meddle in human affairs, Meira.”
“Y-y-you killed M-M-Michell,” she reminded him.
“He attacked you. My…” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he still didn’t look her way. “My feelings got in the way. I don’t regret what happened. But I shouldn’t have done it.”
Within her frozen chest, her heart leaped in surprise. Feelings? He had feelings for her?
But before she managed to reply, he walked away from her and reached up to touch a branch overhead. The entire branch died from his touch, green pine needles growing yellow and dry until a pile of brittle pine needles dropped from the branch and onto the ground. He cleared a large circle of snow and placed the pine needles in the middle, stacking rocks in a circle.
Once again, her heart overturned in surprise when she realized what he was doing. A fire. He was building a fire.
He placed a stick between his palms and began to spin it against a fireboard, but only several seconds into the process, the stick snapped. He swore under his breath and found another stick, but that one snapped under his touch as well. He released a groan of frustration before he used the broken stick to point at empty air.
“Stop your laughing,” he grumbled. “I am trying my best. I would like to see you do any better.”
Who are you talking to, Death?
“Those dainty hands of yours could use a bit of roughing up.” He glanced toward her and grimaced as if noticing her confused stare before turning his attention back to the seemingly empty space. “Show yourself to Meira. She can’t see you.”
A moment later, a woman appeared, shocking Meira into stumbling back against the trunk of the tree directly behind her. Her blonde hair draped behind her back in a long, perfect braid. Her creamy complexion was smooth and flawless. And her blue eyes glared at her.
Who was this woman? And why did her presence inspire a spark of envy?
Death pulled on a pair of gloves and started the process all over again. Although the stick decayed beneath his touch, it did so slowly this time, which allowed him to spark a fire to life. In no time, the fire grew higher and higher, its warmth enticing her forward. She sighed as the warmth thawed her fingers.
Her teeth continued to chatter.
“She’s freezing,” Death said with a frown. “Betha, can you help?”
