Vengeance (The Captive #6)(48)

Beside him, Tempest turned away for only a moment before looking back outside with her eyes narrowed. “You’ll adapt,” she told him. “You just have to get your snow vision back.”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“That’s what we call it, in the mountains anyway. It always takes a little getting used to when the first snow of the season falls, and our world becomes white for the next six months.”

“That’s not bothering you?” He couldn’t look outside again as the glare caused his head to pound and his eyes to squint until they were almost closed.

“It is,” she admitted. “But only because we’ve been in this cave for so long. I’ve spent the past twenty years readjusting to the first snow each year, so it’s easier for me.”

“Hmm.” He kept his head down, unable to look outside again but letting the sun filter in around him. His eyes finally adapted to it enough that he could lift his head to take in the outside world for longer than seconds at a time. When the wall was knee high, and Achilles would be able to pass through, he stopped beating at it and stepped back to examine the snow. “It’s beautiful.”

“It always is after a snowfall,” she said as she lowered her now blunted stake. She tilted her chin up and closed her eyes. The sun lit her hair, making it glimmer and shine in its brightness. She smelled like winter, but she radiated the warmth and light of the summer sun.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked.

Lowering her head, she tossed aside the ruined stake. “I hope so. I’m not one hundred percent certain of the direction I took to get here, but I think I can find my way back.”

Without thinking, he took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I know you can.”





CHAPTER 17


William kept his head down as he trudged through the thigh high snow. Tempest stared at his bent head from where she sat on top of Achilles. She’d tried to persuade him to ride with her, but he’d told her he didn’t want to put added weight and strain on the horse. He’d been walking endlessly onward while she constantly searched the snow-covered landscape surrounding them for any hint of the creatures that had attacked them before.

She’d seen no movement in the sea of white, but William was convinced there were more of them, and she was frightened he was right. The sun beating down on her warmed her back and brought radiance to a landscape in desperate need of it. The hood fell away from her head when she turned her face toward the sun. It felt so marvelous to feel its warmth against her skin again, but it didn’t warm her anywhere near as much as William’s body had.

She turned her face away from the sun’s warmth. Her gaze fell back to William; a smile curved her mouth as she watched him striding purposefully through the snow. His step never faltered, he kept his head high and his shoulders back. He showed no sign of tiring.

Forcing her attention away from him, she returned to carefully searching the landscape. It would be easy to spot movement amongst the sparse trees dotting the land. None of the trees had leaves on them, and she would guess that at least eighty percent of them were dying if their broken branches and peeling bark were any indication.

Achilles tried to nip at the snow swelling up above his knees. William pulled the horse to a halt and turned toward her. “I think he could use a break. Will you be ok getting down for a bit?”

She released a small snort and waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve been in snow almost to my chest before, this is nothing in comparison.”

He grasped hold of her waist and plucked her easily from the saddle. Her hands rested on his broad shoulders as he lowered her to the ground. Her body slid down his, creating a friction between them that caused her stomach to plummet and her body to sway instinctively closer to his.

Her mouth parted; her fingers instinctively clenched his thick cloak. His blue eyes were dazzling and bright crystalline in the sun falling over him. The red in his hair shone like fire; it took all she had to keep her fingers from sliding through the thick auburn strands and pulling him to her.

She could clearly recall the heat of his mouth, the weight of his body against hers. His eyes burned into hers as he stood over her, his hands still gripping her waist. If she stood on her toes and pressed her mouth to his she’d be able to taste him again, she’d be able to ease the clamoring of her body.

Instead, fear of him and all of the damage he could do to her heart if she allowed this thing between them to grow, caused her to release him and take a step away. He stared down at her for a moment more before turning away. She watched as he pulled out a small feedbag, put a couple handfuls of grain into it and strapped it to Achilles' muzzle. Her attention turned back to the horizon as he pulled out a canteen full of melted snow water and set up a small container for Achilles to drink from when he was done with the feed.

A breeze flowed down from the wall of mountains in the distance; a wall surrounding her home nestled in the valley within them. Snow, caught up in the breeze, drifted up. Thousands of flakes danced through the air to swirl around them. The icy flakes fell against her cheeks and melted against her skin. They stuck to her hair, turning it white.

“There may be some game nearby,” William said. “If you’re hungry.”

“I am, but I’d prefer to continue on. If we don’t make it to the shelter of the mountains by nightfall, we’ll be exposed out here.”