“What?” I leaned into her, speaking low.
“There are no leaves on the ground,” she said. “It’s just grass. How is that possible?”
“This place is not natural,” Phillips answered from ahead of us.
“That would be an understatement.” Airrick wrinkled his nose.
That, I could agree with. I leaned back. “We will need to stop soon. The horses need rest.”
Poppy’s hold on my arm tightened. I could feel the press of her fingers through the sweater I wore beneath my cloak. She didn’t protest or complain nor lose her nerve. No one would’ve blamed her if she did. The rest of us had been in the Blood Forest before. She hadn’t. And with her experience as a child?
Poppy had to be afraid, but she wasn’t terrified. I knew that by her easy breathing, the calm way she kept an eye on our surroundings, and that right hand steady on her dagger.
I smiled.
HER PLEASURE
After checking on Setti to make sure he had enough hay to nibble on, I crossed the campsite, my attention not straying far from where Poppy lay, having wrapped herself in a blanket. I moved quietly, not wanting to wake the four guards currently sleeping as I joined Kieran—they would be up soon enough to relieve the rest.
“What’re you looking at?” I asked, noting that he was staring ahead.
“The stream,” he answered, voice low. “The water is red.”
I squinted, catching sight of what he spoke of several yards out in the moonlight. “When Airrick said this place isn’t natural, he wasn’t wrong.”
“No shit,” Kieran remarked as he folded his arms.
I scanned the shadows, my gaze settling on Poppy. She was awake, her eyes popping open every time a twig snapped, or the wind shook a branch. Even from where I was, I saw that she shivered. It was damn near frigid. But when she did fall asleep, would it be peaceful? Or would nightmares find her? Seemed likely in a place like this.
I looked at Kieran again. “The Craven you picked up on earlier today? How far do you think they were?”
“Far enough.” He paused. “For now.”
I knew what he was saying. We wouldn’t be able to rest here for too long. Sooner rather than later, the Craven would realize that fresh blood and flesh were moving about their domain.
“Been talking with Phillips a bit,” he said.
“I’ve noticed.”
“He asks a lot of questions and is observant as fuck. He’s suspicious.”
“Of us?” I found Phillips in the distance, guarding the western side of our camp.
“So far, just in general,” Kieran answered.
“So far is a common theme, I see.” I checked Poppy. Her eyes were closed. She was still shivering.
“You surprised me earlier,” Kieran remarked.
“Yeah?” I turned my attention back to him.
Kieran was looking in Poppy’s direction now. “You laughed.” He squinted. “You laughed in a way I haven’t heard you do in years.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, and we stood there in silence for several moments.
“She’s cold,” I finally stated.
“She appears to be a moment away from shaking herself across the forest floor,” he observed dryly.
“She’s not used to this.” My eyes narrowed on Poppy. “And she’s not us.”
“I was just pointing out that she’s cold.” Amusement filled his tone. “No need to get defensive.”
“I wasn’t—” I cut myself off. I was being defensive. Of her. My shoulders tightened.
“You should see if you can warm her up,” he said, and I arched a brow. “Before any of the others get the idea to do so.”
My spine stiffened. “That will not happen.”
“I wouldn’t count on it.”
I ignored that as I watched her. “She has bad dreams sometimes,” I said, lowering my voice even more as I faced Kieran. “Night terrors.”
Kieran, who’d witnessed mine hit more than either of us cared to admit, glanced back at her. “The scars?”
I nodded.
“Well, now you have even more reason to join her.”
“Shut up.” I turned back to Poppy. Her eyes were open again, and she was shivering even harder now.
I left Kieran’s side, his quiet laugh following me across the small clearing. Stopping, I knelt in front of Poppy, who now had her eyes closed, but I knew she was awake. I looked at her, grinning at how she’d wrapped herself in some sort of cocoon, leaving only her head visible.
“You’re cold.”
“I’m fine,” she muttered, teeth chattering. The tip of her nose was red, but her cheeks were pale.
My smile faded as I tugged off a glove, shoving it into the pocket of my cloak. I touched her cheek, drawing open her eyes. Shit. “Correction. You’re freezing.”
“I’ll warm up. Eventually.”
I appreciated the front she was putting on and her unwillingness to complain, but this could turn dangerous. “You’re not used to this kind of cold, Poppy.”
Her red-tipped nose scrunched. “And you are?”
“You have no idea what I’m used to.” I’d been in far colder and more…unpleasant situations than this, but I wasn’t mortal.
Poppy was.
I rose, going to where my bag sat a few feet from her head. I unhooked what I needed. Stepping over Poppy, I laid it out behind her. She watched me as I spread out the bedroll, then lowered myself next to the heavy fur blanket.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making sure you don’t freeze to death.” I draped the pelt over my legs. I wasn’t that cold moving around, but lying still like this on the ground? My body would cool off. “If you did, that would make me a very bad guard.”
“I’m not going to freeze to death.”
“What you’re going to do is lure every Craven within a five-mile radius with your shuddering.” I stretched out next to her, briefly reminded of those few hours I’d fallen asleep beside her after the night of the Rite. She’d basically been unconscious then, and I hadn’t noticed how the entire length of my body so easily curved around hers.
“You can’t sleep beside me,” she stated.
“I’m not.” I rolled onto my side. Facing her, I took my blanket and draped it and my arm over her, but kept my hand hanging in the air.
Poppy blinked. “What do you call this, then?”
“I’m sleeping with you.”
Her eyes, only a few inches from mine, went wide. “How is that any different?”
“There’s a huge difference.”
She turned her head to the branches above us. “You can’t sleep with me, Hawke.”
“And I can’t have you freezing or getting sick. It’s too dangerous to light a fire, and unless you’d rather I get someone else to sleep with you,” I said, and other than Kieran, that was so not going to fucking happen, “there really aren’t many other options.”
“I don’t want anyone else to sleep with me,” she argued.
“I already knew that,” I teased.