Page 42 of Bite The Terror That Feeds

Aurelias said nothing.

“That’s why you’re so angry.” He seemed to say it to himself more than his brother.

Aurelias continued to stay quiet.

“It’s been so long… I thought you were over it.”

“Over it?” The anger was potent in his response. “I’ve never heard a more insulting phrase.”

“I was under the impression that you had moved on…is what I mean.”

“Let me ask you this—what happened with Ellasara—are youover it?”

Kingsnake said nothing.

“Don’t speak of her to me—ever.”

* * *

“Get her up.”

Footsteps crunched against the snow as they drew near. “Sweetheart.”

My eyes remained shut tight inside the bedroll.

His hand moved to my stomach, and he gently rubbed me. “Come on.”

It was so cold I’d hardly slept. “No.”

Kingsnake unzipped the bag and forced the dim sunlight and cold inside with me.

I was still cold in the bedroll, but now it felt like a furnace compared to the crisp, dry air outside. “I hate it here.”

Aurelias’s impatient voice returned. “I told you to get her up—”

“Being an ass isn’t going to get her moving any faster,” Kingsnake snapped back.

I rubbed my eyes as I awoke, remembering the conversation I’d overheard the night before. “I’m coming.” I stumbled out of the bedroll and ran my fingers through my hair to get it out of my face. It was still overcast, and the ground and trees were solid white. The landscape was a frozen tundra, and it was an utter mystery how anything survived here.

They packed up the camp and prepared the horses.

I was still half asleep, exhausted from my shitty night of rest. “Did you sleep last night?” I didn’t remember his joining me in the bedroll.

Kingsnake removed the poncho from the horses and stowed it away. “No.”

“You were on watch all night?”

“We don’t need sleep the way you do.”

“Was there a reason you felt you needed to be on guard that long?”

He ignored what I said and finished with the horses. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we get there.”

“You think they’ll offer accommodations when we arrive?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it warmer over there?”

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