Page 26 of Kiss of Fire

The giant shook her gently, trying to make her hair swing. She fanned it out, hoping to distract it a while longer until she figured out what to do. She felt something bump against her chest and looked down.

The pouch Magda had hung around her neck. Excitement bubbled through her. Sleeping dust.

She had no idea how much she needed or whether the giant needed to eat it, touch it or inhale it. But it was the only thing she’d got.

She opened the bag and shook a small heap of powder onto her hand. It looked as innocuous as cornflour. The giant peered at her curiously.

“Can you come a little closer?” she asked. She lifted a strand of hair with her free hand and held it towards him. “You can stroke it if you like.”

The giant didn’t draw her towards its face as she’d hoped. Instead, it extended a careful finger and lightly touched the top of her head.

She tried not to cower. The thing didn’t seem to want to hurt her, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t accidentally do some damage.

“Do you want to smell it?” she asked. She held her hair to her nose and mimed an enthusiastic sniff.

Actually, it did smell good. Magda’s shampoo was lavender and it had left her hair softly scented. Way better than the antiseptic crap she’d had to use on the psychiatric ward.

The jotnar seemed to agree. It pushed its snout towards her, the tusks on either side of its mouth coming perilously close as it inhaled noisily.

Raya blew the sleeping dust straight into its nostrils.

The jotnar’s eyes opened wide. Then they rolled back into its head and with a grunt, it toppled forward. It hit the ground hard, jarring her teeth and knocking the wind from her. The giant hand opened and she rolled across the snow, coming to stop in an untidy heap.

For a moment she lay on her back and stared up at the flawless azure sky.

“Any minute now, I’m going to wake up in a strait jacket,” she muttered to herself. “Any minute now.”

The silence stretched.

Then she struggled to her feet and went to check on Shade.

Eleven

She moved him so she could see his injuries, trying to be gentle. The bleeding had slowed, thankfully, but the jagged edges of the wound were inflamed and through the raw tissue she caught a glimpse of white. The tear was down to the rib.

“Shade, can you hear me?”

His eyes were closed and he didn’t answer. There were beads of sweat on his brow but his skin felt cool. He wasn’t radiating any of the heat Raya had become used to.

Maybe the wound was infected. And maybe jinn didn’t get fevers like normal people did. Maybe their body temperature fell.

She dug in her pocket for the little tub Magda had given her. She didn’t know if it would work on a supernatural being like Shade, but right now it was all she had.

She scooped out a big dollop of ointment. Steeling herself against all the blood, she slathered it across his open wound. He groaned faintly but she forced herself to continue until the thick cream coated the shredded flesh.

Okay. Now what?

She could leave him here and head back down to Magda’s hut, but it would probably be dark by the time she got there and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to lead the Gatekeeper back to this spot. Besides, she didn’t want to leave Shade alone at the mercy of the mountain.

Though obviously it would serve him right if he got eaten by wolves.

She twisted her hair as she thought. They’d passed a hunting lodge a kilometre or so back. A tiny ramshackle thing, but it was shelter. Maybe she could drag him there?

She eyed his prone figure. Shade was more than a foot taller than her and twice her width. She knew she was stronger than she looked; she had a wiry strength that few, including Griggs, had suspected until she unleashed it on them. Nevertheless, dragging Shade was going to be a bitch of a job.

She checked on the jotnar, blowing more sleeping dust onto its face as insurance. It showed no sign of movement and she hoped it would stay unconscious for the next few hours.

Then she got behind Shade and pulled him into a sitting position. She slid her arms around him and laced her fingers together over his chest. Straightening up, she pulled him backwards.

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