Oh god. He looks about to pass out, or worse. Baron comes over to us, whining and growling. He lies next to his master and places his large paws on Fen's chest, then looks up at me with such a human expression of sadness, fear and pleading my heart nearly breaks.
I look around for something sharp and find a small knife in my pack. I hold my wrist over Fen's mouth, take a deep breath, and slice my skin open with the blade.
The cut is deep. I clench my jaw to not cry out in pain. But the blood is flowing. I push it closer to his mouth.
He has lost all reason. His eyes are closed. He no longer moves.
"Drink my blood," I tell him, tears pooling in my eyes. There are ways to kill immortals, Fen told me. Did the raiders find one?
My blood dribbles out of his mouth. He's not taking it. "Drink!" I scream at him, pushing my wrist into his mouth and holding his head up with my other hand so the blood goes down his throat.
I don't know how long the bleeding will continue. I'm ready to cut my wrist again if he doesn't wake up.
I'm close to it, raising my dagger, when he moves, his mouth gripping on, sucking the blood out of me. It's working. He's waking up. He's drinking.
Now all I can do is pray this heals him before it kills me.
Chapter 14
PRINCESS ARIANNA
"You are the chosen one, there is a prophecy, and danger, and, of course, my sexy charms."
—Asher
I am cold. So cold. I can't stop shivering. I've wrapped my wrist, but the bandages keep bleeding through.
Our fire is dying, and we are nearly out of wood.
Fen's fever seems to have abated. His color is returning, and he's breathing well, but he hasn't woken. His wounds are healing though. Now I just have to find a way to not die of hypothermia while we wait out this storm and his recovery.
Baron stays by Fen's side, keeping him warm and watching over him like a worried mother.
I cross my arms over my chest in a vain attempt to warm myself by the meager fire. It won't take long to burn out and the storm still rages outside. Surely someone would have sent scouts out to look for us? But could they even travel in this weather?
I look down at the blood seeping through my bandages again and sigh. This wound won't heal quickly, but it might have saved Fen's life, so I have no regrets. This world, this kingdom, needs him.
I need him.
I also need more fire.
I stand and walk to the cave's opening. It looks miserable out there. A flurry of snow has piled at the exit to the point that we are almost trapped.
"Baron, I need your help to get out of here. We need more wood."
He comes over quickly, and I point to the snow blocking our escape.
He understands my intention and begins digging, making me a path. I follow him through to the other side. I have never felt so cold in my life as I crawl through a snow bank.
The world is completely covered in white. My only hope is to find a tree that has some lower branches I can break off to burn.
Baron moves to follow me, but I turn to him and shake my head, pointing back to the cave. "Guard Fen. Come find me if he gets worse."
Baron looks to me, then back at the cave, whining. I can see the uncertainty in his eyes. He wants to protect us both.
"It's okay, boy. I won't wander far. I'll be back in a minute. Just keep the entrance open for me."
Finally he turns to head back to the cave, and I wonder if I've made the right decision as my legs sink into thigh deep snow.
I feel like the answer is no. But Fen can't be left alone right now. And I remember a good tree not too far from here that should have some branches I can use.
Walking is laborious. I'm weak from blood loss, lack of food and cold. My limbs are frozen. But still I take one step in front of the other. The tree shouldn't be much further. It will have what I need, and I will go back to the cave, and it will feel positively toasty compared to this winter hell.
I might lose a few toes or fingers, but I'll live. That's the important thing. I wonder if my digits would grow back once I am turned into a vampire. That would be nice.
My mother's words run through my mind as I walk. Dum spiro spero. While I breathe, I hope. I am still breathing. I will not give up hope.
My mind wanders to my night with Fen before he passed out. Before I fed him my blood.
The way his mouth felt against mine. The way it felt to hold him and be held by him. Just the thought of it seems to warm me.
I see the tree just ahead and nearly cheer out loud with relief, but it feels too hard to open my mouth.
It takes a long time to reach the trunk, as slow as I'm walking, but when I do I'm happy to find that there are some branches that will work if I can break them off.
I focus on the smaller ones. I don't have the strength left to break thicker branches. Once I have as many as I can carry, I turn around and begin my slow plod back to the cave.