Page 104 of Stealing Embers
Straightening my legs, I stretch to my full height. In the close quarters, I’m forced to tilt my head upward to search his face.
“You must have fallen at least a hundred feet, maybe more. You’re saying you don’t remember how you ended up on top of a mountain? You don’t remember how you almost died?”
“Stop being so dramatic. We’re hard to kill.”
A spark of panic fizzles high in my belly. “Someone was trying to kill you?”
He waves his hand through the air. “Figure of speech. So, what happened to you?”
“I followed a sparkling light. I tripped on your mostly frozen and completely snow covered body and dragged you in here.”
“You followed what?”
“A floating twinkle light. I thought it was leading me to Blaze and Aurora. I was pretty bummed when I ran into you instead.”
Steel twitches when I mention his siblings; his back goes ramrod straight and his fingers curl into fists.
“Right, I have to get out of here.”
He marches past me and out of the cave. I blink after him before coming to my senses.
“Steel, wait up.” Reaching forward, my fingers wrap around his shoulder. He dislodges me with a sharp jerk.
“Stay out of this. You’ve done enough.”
The knife he stuck in me yesterday twists. The pain causes me to fumble a step before righting myself.
He’s being a prick and I know it. But knowing that doesn’t stop the internal bleeding.
“Why do you keep treating me like the enemy?”
We reach the spot where I found him, not that it’s easy to tell. The wind and snow covered the tracks I made the night before.
Steel’s head angles back and he examines the cliffs jutting upward.
“Listen, it’s nothing personal.” He tosses the comment over his shoulder as he moves toward the edge of the plateau.
“Excuse me?” I mirror his steps, resentful of how flippantly he is treating his dagger-filled words. “How could it not be personal? You’ve blamed me for everything bad that’s happened since you kidnapped me and dragged me to Seraph Academy. You’ve belittled me, treated me like garbage, and taken every opportunity you can to tell me I don’t belong with the other Nephilim. Tell me how any of that isn’t personal.”
I see a flicker of regret twitch across his face when he shifts in my direction, but then he turns back to his task—whatever that may be.
“It’s just the way it has to be.”
My feet plant and my eyes track his movements as he slowly walks the perimeter of the plateau.
That’s really all I’m going to get out of him?
It’s just the way it has to be?
Am I of so little value as a person?
I press myself back into the shadows. Their dark arms are always there, waiting to comfort me. It’s where I belong. Hidden from view. Watching from the shade.
“I found it.”
“Found what?”
“Our way out of here.”