Nothing moved in the moments that followed the noise, nothing struck him or ate him while I waited.
I dropped down, bending my knees to absorb the impact as my boots slapped against the rock. I stumbled toward him, squinting to see through the darkness, until I felt him at my side. The sound of metal scraping against metal erupted through the room, the sparks from his flint glowing against the wood as he tried to get a fire going.
“Where did you manage to find dry wood?” I asked, thinking of the snow outside. The thought of an entire cold season without a store of fire wood made me shiver, knowing that even though we’d been lucky tonight, the nights in our future probably wouldn’t be so fortunate.
“The snow hasn’t had time to soak into the ground or the fallen trees just yet. We’ll be warm tonight, at least,” he answered as the sparks caught on the wood. Light filled the space, giving me my first glance at the cave we would call our home for the night.
Whatever Caelum had felt about this cave, he was right. There were no signs of life or any indication that anything had so much as twitched within it recently. He nurtured the fire until it was crackling happily in front of us, the tunnels providing an escape for the smoke.
As soon as that was finished, he leaned back against the cave wall and sighed as the warmth sank into his chilled frame. I moved to sit near him, letting the flames chase away the worst of the chill. Hunger made my stomach pang, but it was far too dark and the weather too cold for us to do anything about it until the morning.
Caelum heard my stomach growl, chuckling as he let his eyes drift closed. “I’ll set some traps first thing in the morning and see if we can catch some breakfast before we get moving for the day.”
“Okay,” I murmured, watching as he readjusted his frame to try to get more comfortable.
“Get some sleep, Estrella,” Caelum murmured, laying on his back on the cave floor. He tossed his arms over his head, forming a pillow with his forearms. I lay on my side and huddled in on myself, facing the cave opening with the fire between me and whatever might come for me.
There wasn’t much that had frightened me in my life—I knew that was a lie as soon as I thought it. There wasn’t much that frightened me enough that I didn’t do exactly what I wanted anyway. There were perks to being stubborn, advantages to digging my boots into the ground at my feet and risking everything for a single moment of freedom.
But survival was different. The image of death at the jowls of a beast three times my size would torment me to the point that I couldn’t sleep.
“I can hear your thoughts from here, Little One,” Caelum murmured, his lips tipping up into a smile as I rolled over to look at him. He opened his eyes slowly, peering at me as I sighed.
“Do tell,” I said, using the distraction as I snuggled deeper into his cloak. “I would absolutely love to hear how you think my mind is filled with thoughts of you yet again.” The sarcasm dripped from my words with mocking condescension.
“Come here, and I can distract you from such wasteful thoughts. Why think of things that you could have if you only reached out a hand?” he asked, the playful smirk at his lips drawing my attention down to the vivid white of his teeth.
“We’re supposed to be sleeping,” I argued, turning my head way from the striking features of his face to look at the cave ceiling. He was so disarming, so unrealistically handsome. None of the men in Mistfell had such perfect features. His eyes were darker than I’d ever seen, like shadows painted into his lightly tanned, even golden, skin. His nose was straight and the perfect size over his generous lips. His jaw was square, and his brow strong and stern, despite the playful expression he so often wore.
“So why aren’t we?” he asked, drawing my attention back to him. He leaned forward, grasping one of my hands in his. His thumbs ran over my palm, caressing it lightly. “Talk to me.”
I sighed, letting my head thump against the stone as shame heated my face. He seemed so fearless, so unconcerned with any of the dangers around us. “I’m afraid,” I mumbled, keeping my eyes off of his purposefully.
“What could a star be afraid of?” he asked, the teasing lilt to his voice reassuring me slightly. He squeezed my hand tighter in his, encouraging me to continue.
“It seems like I’m afraid of many things lately,” I said, shaking my head as I thought of the way I feared him more than Lord Byron. It made no sense, but Byron had been able to touch my body. He hadn’t been able to reach inside me and toy with my soul the way Caelum could.
“And yet you continue on anyway, my brave little star. You burn so bright I sometimes fear the Wild Hunt will sense you from miles away,” he said, making the breath hitch in my lungs.
“Then why stay with me? Surely you want to be as far away from me as possible if you genuinely fear that?” I asked, my mind trying to work around the possible reasons he would endanger himself for me.
He ignored the question, smiling gently as he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “What are you afraid of?” he asked again.
I sighed, brushing off the moment between us and knowing it was for the best. “The cave beasts,” I answered, nodding my head down to the fork in the tunnel where it veered into the network within the mountains.
He followed my gaze, his head nodding as if he understood. “Do you truly believe that I would ever allow anything to harm you? Cave beast, Fae, or human, they’ll have to go through me to get to you.”
“I don’t understand why you would risk so much for me. You hardly know me,” I whispered, the words hovering between us.
His face shifted, a heavy sigh escaping between his parted lips. His hand cupped my cheek, and he sank his teeth into his bottom lip. “I don’t feel so alone when I’m with you,” he murmured, tipping forward to touch his forehead to mine. He dropped his hand to the Mark on my neck, the swirling and writhing ink of his skin brushing against mine and causing a shock to roll through me. “I’ve spent my entire life feeling alone, even when I’m surrounded by others. I’d do just about anything not to feel that again. You and I are the same.” He squeezed his hand at my neck, tightening around the Fae Mark. “This ties us together in ways none of us understand. So you can be scared all you want, Little One, but do it knowing that you’ll have my swords at your side until the end.”
He retreated suddenly, severing the stifling moment between us as my eyes burned. Settling himself back down to sleep, he stretched his legs with a groan. “What are you doing?” I asked, watching as he patted his stomach with a hand.