Crossblood - Completed

Chapter 30

"Anything else I should know?" I lean up against a dying tree, it's peeling trunk scratching against the memory of clothing I wear. I play with a small chunk of Amethyst as the silver woman rambles on, blocking out a few stray sentences here and there.

Her fogged features transform into a scowl, brows furrowing at my childish behavior. "Are you even paying attention? I saved your life last night! The least you could do is listen to me as I try to save it again!"

"Listen...what's your name?" She gives a light huff at the question but my mind is far too occupied by the deformed lump rolling across the bumpy ground ahead of me to care.

She straightens out her dress, pulling her hair over her shoulder and braiding it. "It's weird." She blushes, if even possible.

"So is Moon."

The woman takes a deep breath, peeking around the trees to make sure we're alone. "I shouldn't say here..."

Dropping the gem I say, "It's Descansar, not a mall."

The woman shrugs, wrapping her braid into a bun to avoid conversation. "Faramund." She huffs, crossing her arms in embarrassing defeat. "Listen now! It's much colder so when you wake up keep close under the blankets."

"Yes, Mother." I roll my eyes sarcastically, ignoring the imaginary incision in my chest at the word, before continuing on a more serious note. "Where do we go now?"

"You need to leave California, the snow hasn't reached much of elsewhere yet."

Using the tree as support, I push myself up and cross the small clearing to where I'm face to face with her. "We're tugging around two humans." I confess, biting down on my lip. "Will they be okay?" Though the thought of the girls should be the last thing on my mind in a situation like this, I can't help but wander endlessly about their well being. More of Mikayla's than Claire's but still...

"I have faith that you'll be able to care for them. It's time to wake up now but before you go...if you're so worried about them why not teach them some self defense? A spell or two? Everyone holds a little magic in them." Faramund gives a wink, waving goodbye as I blink away the dying forest and fade into the dim inn.

"Is it still night?" I ask an up and about Julius, shutting my eyes to an orange-tint darkness I'm more aquatinted with.

"It's about ten in the morning. The windows are just too icy to tell." Taking Faramund's warning into consideration, I wrap the blanket securely around my body and cross the room to the door. A thin sheet of ice shields it from my touch, giving us a good idea of just how cold the room really is. "Where are you going?" He asks, spinning around in the bed and entangling himself in the comforter.

Typical Julius. "To check on the girls." He nods but replies vocally when realizing we're drowning in night.

I cross the hall, shuffling my feet against the carpet for additional warmth. "Mikayla." She stands in the doorway seconds later, Claire still wrapped in bed shivering.

Mikayla stands in the doorway nonchalantly leaning against the frame as she pulls her blanket closer around her face. "It's dark."

"Please don't remind me. Er..." She pulls me into her room with a shy smile, wrapping her blanket around me just like I'd done with my cloak. "are you two okay? Our doorknob had a sheet of ice on it."

She laughs lightly, morning breath filling our tiny fort. "We are." Claire rises from the bed, combing out her strawberry hair with her fingers and pretending not to notice me.

"Moon!" She shrieks, pulling the blankets over her bare chest. "You could've warned us you were visiting so I wasn't so indecent!" With an impressive slight of hand the blanket drops towards her waist, only her fingers blocking her breasts from my less-than-interested view.