What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(49)
He tucked the hair behind my ear, those cool fingers lingering on my skin as he stared at the point of contact. My heart fluttered in my chest, the nerves I always seemed to feel around him bubbling to the surface.
When he was quiet, it was easy to forget just how strong his attention was. When he was quiet, it was easy to miss the intensity that blazed in his eyes and the way nothing existed around us the moment his gaze touched mine.
My Fae Mark buzzed with warmth, heating me beneath the cloak and giving me a moment of guilt when I realized just how cold his fingers felt. He had to be freezing, had to be suffering so that I could stay warm.
His Fae Mark glowed a soft white in response, the color of it transfixing me as I raised my hand between us and clutched the clasp on his cloak. His other hand lifted to grasp mine, shaking his head softly to prevent me from giving it back. “You need it more than I do,” he said, leaning in and touching his lips to my forehead softly.
It reminded me of that same brush of lips I’d felt from him before I fell asleep the night before. Something in the touch felt protective, which I couldn’t even begin to contemplate—not when our lives hung in the balance and uncertainty surrounded us.
Tomorrow wasn’t promised, and while that might have made some people want to live life to the fullest, it only reminded me that Caelum could be taken at any moment. He could be killed or we could be separated, and I’d be left alone all over again. That pain would be even worse if he somehow betrayed me or chose to abandon me.
I wouldn’t allow myself the heartbreak of losing someone else I cared about, so I wouldn’t go there with him, no matter how tempting it might be. Because the one and only man I’d ever allowed to touch me had turned into a pile of snow when he tried to kill me. It was safe to say, my vagina was unfortunately off limits.
“We should reach the mountains by the end of the day,” he said, taking his hand away from my cheek where it lingered and lowering the one from his cloak when I didn’t push to return the garment to him. “We’ll stay close to their bases as we travel, and there’ll be caves we can hide out in at night. Fires will help us stay warm as the weather gets cooler,” he explained, taking my hand in his and turning back to continue the way we’d been traveling.
His long legs had to move considerably slower than seemed natural for him so I could keep up, but he didn’t seem to mind as he kept my hand clutched in his and swung it between us casually. As if we were a married couple out for a stroll in the pre-dusk hours, and not two Fae Marked humans on the run for our lives.
“Okay, but what will we do when the snow comes?” I asked, glancing down at the dress I wore and his thin trousers and tunic. Even if we’d both had cloaks, they would do nothing when we were trudging through waist-deep snow in freezing temperatures with the wind howling through the trees. We needed protection from the elements and layers of blankets and a fire if we were going to survive.
“Before the snow comes, we’ll find a safe place to wait out the worst of the season. We won’t have a choice. Our tracks in the snow will just lead the Mist Guard right to us,” he said. “We probably have a week before we have to worry about the snow if the weather holds. We can put some decent distance between us and the boundary before then.”
The words he didn’t speak hung between us, a harsh reminder of the one undeniable truth. A lot could happen in a few weeks, and we’d need to survive them before we had to worry about where we would be for the winter.
Even if the thought of hiding out in a cave with him for an entire season, with nothing to do, did make my stomach flutter. No interruptions and no worry of someone stumbling across us. No awkward fumbling to get dressed if we heard people on the trail.
Just the two of us.
I shook my head, blushing when I noted Caelum’s attention fixated on me as he walked. He smirked, as if he could sense the direction my thoughts had gone, then he took pity on me, clearing his throat with a chuckle and turning his attention back toward the path we walked through the woods. “Tell me about your family. Was it just you and your brother?” he asked, his face solemn and sympathetic as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
“My mother too,” I said. “But we had to leave her behind. My birth was difficult, and her legs just can’t support her anymore, so she told us to run after I was Marked.” I sighed, wishing I could turn back and make sure she was safe, but my presence would only put her in danger all over again if I dared, because the Mist Guard wouldn’t hesitate to use family against me if it meant ridding the Kingdom of one more of the Fae Marked.
I shuffled my feet as I walked, dragging them through the leaves in a small protest that my steps continued to take me farther and farther from her and the life I’d known. “Your father?” Caelum asked, his brow furrowed.
With no mention of him in my first response, he had to know there was no happy ending where he was concerned. “Dead. Sacrificed to the Veil when I was a girl,” I answered, my hand unconsciously rising to feel the spot on my throat where the High Priest’s blade had touched me. The wound was gone, and I swallowed past the reminder that I wasn’t entirely human any longer.
“Sacrificed to the Veil,” he said slowly, as if he were turning the idea over in his mouth and trying to decide what to make of it. He tightened his grip on my hand momentarily, apparently brushing off whatever thought had consumed him. “I’m sorry, Little One.”