Belen offered me his canteen. Kerrick helped me sit up. I gulped water until my arms shook. Thrusting the canteen into Belen’s hands, I curled into a ball as uncontrollable shivers racked my body. Too much had happened. Memories of being held by the dead coated my skin with ice. For a moment, I craved Tohon’s warm touch, which did more than share Kerrick’s emotions with me. It had dulled my reaction to the horror.

“Don’t just sit there,” Belen chided Kerrick.

With stiff arms, Kerrick gathered me close and held me tight. Even with his body heat, I still shook, convinced I would never be warm again. Or sane. Those…abominations. That they existed… That they obeyed Tohon’s orders… That they attacked us… Loren had been injured. He needed me. I pulled my emotions in, reeling them into one neat little ball and tucked it away. My muscles relaxed, the shakes settled and I drew in a deep breath.

Wiggling from his grasp, I sat on the ground. My hair clung to my cheek; I swept it behind my ear and realized I had been crying. Mortified, I wanted to turn away, but everyone stared at me. “Sorry, I just—”

“Don’t apologize.” Belen handed me a handkerchief. “It’s been an utterly gruesome day.”

I scanned the area. Tohon’s dead lay in pieces. Broken by decapitation. Black blood pooled on the snow. The putrid odor of decaying flesh soiled the air. At least there was a way to stop them. There was no sign of the other three who had been with Tohon.

Struggling to stand, I brushed snow and dirt from my cloak. I met Quain’s gaze. “How bad is Loren?”

“Bad, but not critical,” Quain said. “We should get back.”

“How far?”

“About half a day.”

I wouldn’t last an hour. No one carried their packs. They probably left them with Loren and the other dead dead. What else could we call them? The truly dead? Dead for real? Dead again? I shivered. Now wasn’t the time to think about it.

“Does anyone have any food?” I asked, although I doubted the guys thought of food when they had chased after me.

Belen produced a handful of beef jerky.

I pounced on the food and munched it as we headed east at a fast pace. Walking next to Belen, I asked, “Canteen, handkerchief, food…what else do you carry?”

He blushed. “Just a few essentials.”

“Thanks. I can always count on Poppa Bear.”

“Poppa Bear?” he asked in a neutral tone.

Uh-oh. Did I hurt his feelings? “Yes, like a bear protecting his cubs.”

“Isn’t that what the mother bear does?”

“Would you rather I called you Momma Bear?”

He laughed. “That would offend my fragile male ego.” He remained quiet for a while. “I guess that’s an accurate nickname.” Belen jabbed a thick finger at Kerrick’s back. “I’ve been protecting that cub since he was born.”

“When you were like…four? Five?”

“Four. And before you pish at me, isn’t Noelle six years younger than you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know what I’m talking about.”

“I do. Point taken.” I lowered my voice. “He’s lucky to have you.”

“And Noelle is—”

“Screwed up because I wasn’t there. Let’s not go there.” I mulled over his comment. “But you are always there for Kerrick. Wasn’t there a time you wanted to do your own thing?”

“No. I swore an oath.”

Wow. “But what about if you had met a girl? What if you wanted to get married?”

He shrugged. “Then I would have gotten married. But I didn’t meet anyone. And once the plague hit, there were more important things to do.”

“How about when things settle down?”

“Perhaps. If I meet the right person.” He smiled. “Then I might have cubs for real.”

“They’d be the luckiest cubs alive.”

“I don’t know about that. But if they get hungry, I’ll have that covered.”

“No doubt.”

“What about you, Avry? Is marriage and children in your future?”

Fingers of ice gripped my heart as images of Tohon’s dead soldiers filled my mind. I focused on Belen, pushing the horror back. “No.”

We reached Loren as the sun sank in the west. He huddled next to a small fire. Bandages covered with blood had been wrapped around his right thigh. A sheen of sweat coated his forehead.

“Avry, I’m so glad to see your beautiful face,” Loren said.

“How nice. Let’s see if you still think I’m beautiful in the morning.”

Loren tried to mask his pain, but couldn’t suppress a yelp when I touched his leg. A sword had cut the muscles behind his right leg almost to the bone. My magic flared to life.

“Don’t you want to rest first?” Belen asked me.

I glanced at Kerrick. He gave me a slight nod.

“I’ll be fine.” My power surged.

Loren yelled as the magic stitched his muscles back together and repaired the damaged tissue and skin. It rushed back into me and pure fire stabbed my right hamstring. I had thought nothing could hurt as bad as Belen’s stomach injury—I was wrong. Loren’s was a whole different animal.

I stumbled and hit the ground hard. But compared to the agony in my leg, it didn’t even register. My opinion of Loren went up as I realized he had dealt with this for almost a day.