Winter Fire [ Book 1 ] ✔

Chapter Thirty-Eight

It was the cold that woke her, the chilly wetness seeping through the thin fabric of her nightgown. The sky above was dark and as Claire slowly sat up, her body aching, she realized she was lying on the hardwood floor of the ruined tower room. Her encounter with Sevik still vivid in her mind. Was it possible she had simply dreamed it all?

Looking down at her hands she saw streaks of mud and shuddered.

Recalling what he had said, Claire pulled up the nightgown and turned it so she could see the still healing gash the shade had left.

It had been healing well and hadn't hurt her in some time, however, in the darkness it looked red again and she could feel the dull burn pulsating through her calf and up into her knee.

You can either bring me what I want, or you will lose everything

Had Sevik been telling the truth, or simply trying to frighten her?

"Claire!!"

Claire looked up and to her surprise she saw Alek dangling overhead from the end of one of the balloon tethers. Once he was close enough, he jumped down and hit the floor with a heavy thud. He raced towards her, kicking up standing pools of water and sending them flying in his haste. He slid to a stop beside her, crouching down and grasping at her arms and legs in a blind panic. "Is anything broken? Does anything hurt?" he asked, his words bordering on frantic.

"No, Alek, I'm fine," she insisted, trying to push his hands away. He kept reaching for her, clearly worried that she might be downplaying any injuries. "Really, I'm fine. Just really cold and wet."

He stopped at last and instead pulled her into a tight hug.

"I thought I had lost you," he whispered. "I thought I'd get down here and find you dead. I would have never forgiven myself."

At his words, Claire felt her heart ache. "I'm here, I'm fine," she replied, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close.

You will lose everything

If she could have stayed in that moment forever she would have, but she knew that was not possible. She realized now that many of the things she wanted were not possible. She couldn't go back, she couldn't give Sevik what he wanted, and so she was faced with one final choice. She had to find another way -- or die trying.

As a result of their hasty, impromptu departure, Alek had not not been able to pack any supplies. As a result, he had no change of clothes to give Claire to replace her nightgown which was still damp from the rain. Rain which had finally shifted from a violent downpour to a steady, icy drizzle.

Instead he provided her with a heavy woolen blanket to ward off the worst of the chill. Alek encouraged her to get some rest, however, as the basket swayed gently beneath her, and the quiet creak of ropes offered an off tune lullaby, Claire found it impossible to sleep.

While she would have liked to blame the lingering cold, or the hunger that had begun gnawing at her stomach, neither distraction contributed to what was keeping her awake.

There was an overwhelming sense of anxiety creeping over her. The feeling had overtaken her slowly, settling like a heavy, heated ball of iron in the pit of her stomach before she realized it was even there. Sevik's final words kept repeating like a broken record in her mind causing her to fall into a distracted sort of quiet while she tried to think of what to do next.

Was he telling the truth?

As much as she would like to believe he'd been trying to scare her, she saw no reason why he would give her an option to go back if he was simply lying.