Page 62 of Beneath the Flames
I’d never felt such anxiety over a person’s well-being like this, besides Nico, but that was different.He was more like my brother than anything.Maren was definitely…not.
An hour passed as we lay on the ground, slowly warming up.Even as I drifted in and out of sleep, exhaustion pulling my mind into its depths, I never released the tight grip I had on Maren.
Warmth.
It licked at my bones, offering blessed relief after days of feeling the brutal chill down to my marrow.A familiar scent of pine filled my nose, but with the haze my brain was slowly coming out of, I couldn’t quite place what it was.My eyelids felt fused together, and it was an enormous effort to pry them open the tiniest sliver.It was dark, though a faint orange glowed on the ceiling, casting shadows on the wall.There was a weight around my stomach and back, over my legs, like something was wrapped around me.Something that felt deliciously warm.Soft breaths tickled against my ear.
And that was when I remembered everything.Leaving the castle, traveling with Rhydian, the destruction of our tent, horrendous cold, and then…everything went dark.
I hurled myself out of Rhydian’s arms with a gasp, narrowly avoiding flinging myself into the fire.
Rhydian blinked blearily up at me, confusion twisting his brow until reality hit him.A muscle twitched in his jaw as he pressed his lips into a thin line and sat up, resting his arms on his knees.Despite the low fire behind me, the chill of the air suctioned to my skin, drawing the heat that Rhydian had offered right out of me.For a split, desperate second I considered crawling back into his arms, but I quickly forced that thought from my mind.I grabbed the giant coat he’d been using as a blanket and shoved my arms inside.
“You’re awake.How do you feel?”he asked.
“What were you doing?”I asked instead of answering him.How did I feel?I had no idea.I should’ve been grateful for the reprieve from the cold, but I found myself on the verge of hysterics instead.
He shook his head in disbelief.“I was keeping you alive.”
“You were snuggling me.”My face grew hot as the words left my mouth.
“Snuggling?”he repeated, an amused glimmer replacing the defensiveness that had been in his eyes.
“Yes.”I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I assure you, Maren, if I weresnugglingyou, it would have been much different.”
It felt like my face had jumped into the fire behind me at the implication in his words.
“You were freezing and unconscious, and I couldn’t get you warm,” he continued.“Body heat was the only thing I could think of after the fire didn’t work.”When I remained silent, he added, “You would have died if I hadn’t held you.You’re my cursebreaker, remember?I need you alive for now.”
I felt the wordsfor nowlike a slap to the face.Rhydian truly did intend for me to die in the end.He didn’t want me here.I must have imagined the tenderness I felt in the way he held me.Years of loneliness and being stuck in this strange place must have had my mind playing tricks on me.
“Why didn’t you just use your magic again?”I asked, wondering why he didn’t simply warm me like he had in the tent.
He opened his palms as though he were summoning his magic, but nothing happened.
“It’s still gone?”Fear danced in the back of mind at the thought of Rhydian being without it.What did that mean for us now?Could he still keep me safe without the use of his magic?
A shrug was his only answer, though his features darkened as though fury lurked just beneath the surface.
My breath pooled in the air when I exhaled, a shiver running through me as I glanced outside, searching for the volcano I was supposed to climb.“Where are we?”
“A cave,” Rhydian deadpanned.
I scowled.“Do you ever get tired of being insufferable?”
“Not with you.”
“Oh goody.”
Rhydian’s lips twitched, curling into the barest of smiles, and I refused to acknowledge the weird little flip my stomach did at the sight of it.
He chuckled.“I found this cave when I was searching for shelter to get you warm.We’re not far from Mount Kharos now.”He pulled the bag he’d manage to save from the tent fire out and started rummaging through it.“You should eat something before we leave.You need your strength for what’s ahead.”
After a moment of digging in his bag, Rhydian pulled out two small fabric-wrapped bundles.Unwrapping them, he handed me first a small hunk of bread and then a block of cheese.At the sight of the food, my stomach rumbled loudlybut I was too hungry to be embarrassed at this point.
We each ate in silence, and I scarfed down the bread and cheese so quickly that I barely tasted it at all.When the food was gone, Rhydian handed me a canteen of water, and I took a hearty drink, shivering as the ice-cold water slid down my throat.Tightening my too-large boots the best I could, I curled deeper into the giant coat, wishing I had another one to pile on top.Though I doubted I’d be able to move at all, let alone climb a mountain then.
