Page 68 of Lost

“It’s warm,” he said. “And I need to rest. I’ve been riding for what feels like a lifetime.”

I rolled my eyes. “I guess I’ll take first watch, then.”

“Thank you,” he said, closing his eyes and pushing himself further into Colbolt’s stomach. The Maukibou didn’t seem to mind. He was already asleep, in fact.

Frowning, I sat upright, alone with my thoughts in the pitch dark and dead silence of the cave. It wasn’t long until Valerian’s breathing slowed, and I knew he had fallen asleep. I was already cold and shivering myself. The truth was, I needed a fire, too, otherwise I would’ve had to take on my wolf form to keep warm. The problem with that, though, was I couldn’t guarantee I would be able to keep my wolf form while I slept.

My mother could, and so could Radulf, but I hadn’t figured that out yet, and the last thing I wanted was to die in my sleep from hypothermia.

Sighing, regretting every last one of my choices, I shuffled over to where Valerian was resting. I shook my head, in disbelief that I was doing this at all. Then I lay down in front of Valerian and gently scooted over to him, fitting my body against the shape of his.

A rush of excitable heat filled me, and while I wasn’t sure if it had to do with how close I was to him or how deeply tucked away inside of Colbolt we both were, he had been right. It was warm down here, and snug. Colbolt’s long, white fur was like a blanket, and his body was a furnace.

“Changed your mind?” Valerian asked, whispering again.

“Don’t,” I warned. “I thought you were asleep, anyway.”

“Light sleeper.”

“Alright… just don’t get any ideas.”

“Ideas?”

“Be quiet and go to sleep.”

I didn’t get any that night.Sleep. I didn’t get any sleep. My body clock was all wound up the wrong way since my escape from the castle and having Valerian behind me didn’t help matters. The warmth and press of his body, his light breath against the soft flesh at the back of my neck.

No. I didn’t like this.

Icouldn’t. I still didn’t trust him; I had no reason to. He had saved our lives, but he could just as easily have been trying to save himself—and that was assuming anything he said about the creature following us, or what he thought had happened to us, was true.

This could all turn out to be one big con, and I wasn’t ready to fall for him. I meanit,fall forit.

Still, I must have dozed off , because the next thing I knew I was being woken up by the tail end of a weird sound . I couldn’t be sure… but I thought I’d heard a scream.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

Iwas about to speak when Valerian gently slipped his hand across my mouth and whispered the word “Quiet,” against my ear.

I instinctively felt the need to fight against the gentle restraint, but I didn’t… because now I was sure I hadheard something, and because Valerian pulled his hand away only a moment after having placed it there to begin with.

“A scream,” he whispered.

I turned my head slightly. “I heard it too,” I said, matching his volume.

He pointed at the cave opening. “Outside.”

Nodding, I slid out from in front of him and gently got to my feet. Colbolt was already awake, but the intelligent Maukibou knew better than to start reacting to whatever we had all heard. It was one thing to panic because something was chasing us, knowing when to stay quiet was quite another, and I was glad he knew the difference.

I tried to bring my mind to bear on the sound I had just heard a moment ago, but I had only been half-awake when I’d heard it, and it wasn’t coming to me. Valerian and I moved around Colbolt and got into position at the base of the slight hill that led up toward the mouth of the cave.

“What was it?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” he said, “But there’s something out there.”

“Could it have been an animal?”

“I’ve never heard an animal make a sound like that before.”

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