Page 48 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

Kingsnake turned quiet, letting Aurelias slowly come to.

After several minutes of silence, Aurelias pushed the bedroll down like he was suffocating from the heat. “You’re alright?”

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“What about Larisa?” He dropped his hand and searched the camp for me, stopping when he found me. His eyes did a quick assessment before he realized I was unharmed and turned back to his brother. “Fucking yetis.”

“For once, the rumors were true.”

He rubbed his temple again. “I expected to feel worse. A lot worse.”

“You fed.”

He looked at his brother again, and this time, his eyes were steady. Seconds passed as the realization dawned on him.

“You wouldn’t have survived otherwise.”

“So she saved my life…twice.”

I could hear the self-loathing in his voice, hear the disappointment. A lowly human had been his savior—and he was indebted to me forever.

After a pause, Aurelias looked at me. “Why? We both know I wouldn’t have done the same for you.”

It was the only time he’d looked at me like I was equal, not an insect under his boot. “I guess I care for Kingsnake a lot more than you do.”

* * *

We rode on, but instead of taking the snow at a run, we moved the horses at a walk.

Aurelias claimed he had fully recovered, but Kingsnake and I both noticed the way he swayed in his saddle from time to time, like his brain was still foggy after the horrible collision with the tree.

We set up camp again, finding a new place hidden in the density of redwoods, snow still all over the ground. Now I was the one to grab the shovel and prepare the campsite with Kingsnake while Aurelias rested. He sat on a log in his armor, a blanket draped over his shoulders.

“Would it help if you fed again?” Kingsnake asked.

Aurelias shook his head. “Let’s make a fire.”

“You think that’s wise?” Kingsnake asked.

“We survived two monstrous yetis…”

There was no disagreement from me. I missed our previous campsite because all the trees had been on fire. It was the first time I’d felt warm on this journey. I was the one who ventured off into the trees to retrieve fallen branches.

When I returned, Kingsnake had prepared the stones for the campfire, and I dropped the logs on top then lit the match. The logs caught fire despite the moisture on the surface from the snow, and then that heat struck my cheeks, thawing my skin.

It was divine.

Fang curled up in my lap and closed his eyes, enjoying the heat the way lizards enjoyed the sunshine. Like he was a baby in my lap, I held him close, the two of us keeping each other warm.

Aurelias remained on his log, looking angry—like always.

Kingsnake sat on the opposite side of the fire from me, his eyes on the flames instead of me. The worry was etched into his features as well as his mood, still fearful for his brother’s well-being, or fearful for something else. I felt no intensity or longing directed at me. Those emotions had ceased the moment we’d stepped foot on this frozen tundra.

I missed it.

Silence passed for a long time. I felt the gnawing in my stomach because I was tired of the jerky and the dried fruit in my pack. I wanted to hunt for something fresh, but it was so dark I couldn’t see a damn thing. Kingsnake would never let me wander off alone, and I didn’t want to complain about my hunger when there were a million things to complain about.

“Thank you.”

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