SURVIVAL (Fire & Ice Book 2) by Karen Payton Holt

Author:Karen Payton Holt [Payton Holt, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Greg entered the dining cavern, rigorously rubbing a towel over dripping hair, and then he gave up. He sat down beside Oscar and Harry, picked up a mug of hot tea and cradled it in his palms. Resting his elbows on the scarred tabletop, he slipped into a weary silence.

The tidemark of dirt around their necks and the sopping wet towels slung around their shoulders were evidence of the gruesome last day of a trek home through a sustained deluge which had battered the tree canopy until the water came pouring through.

Connor sat at their table, too. Hidden beneath the wooden surface, his hands gripped his thighs as he listened to their news. He was painfully aware of their heartbeats. Even the chill on their skin could not detract from the alluring scent of the blood-cells pumping beneath it.

Julian has been away too long, this time. I need human blood. The taste of Seth’s boy was still fresh in his mind and the dehydration in Connor’s brain distorted his vision.

The warm blood of the three men radiated as heat haze. Connor narrowed his eyes and allowed wish fulfilment a moment of freedom, imagining Greg, as a worthy adversary who would thrill him, draining of color as the hot tide of his blood filled Connor’s stomach.

Connor pushed the demon back into the cell and slammed the door shut as he pulled Harry’s face into focus. “So, you have their agreement?” he asked.

Greg toweled the nape of his neck as he answered. “Seth has agreed to take all of us.” He shot a wry glance at Oscar.

“I’m not going,” said Oscar emphatically.

“Then, neither will I,” said Harry.

“Whoa, hold on one moment.” Connor’s granite glare swept over the bedraggled humans. “After all you’ve been through, you will all go.”

“Even Rebekah?” Oscar’s square jaw was set.

“No, not Rebekah. You know I need the hospital nearby. This new colony is not the place for her or our baby.”

“Exactly,” said Oscar. “And, unlike you, she has to eat. I’m staying.”

“I see.” Connor nodded slowly. “I can see the sense in that, but you, Harry. They will need you there.”

“There’s a condition to their hospitality,” said Harry.

“Go on.”

“Seth’s son, the snake-bite kid, it’s not just him that’s ill. Their sleeping burrows are damp and poorly ventilated.” Harry pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with a diagram pencilled on to it. “We need two cubic feet of clean air per person to ensure the oxygen levels stay at twenty one percent. I agreed you would dig out a new sleeping cavern, with better ventilation shafts, after all this is done.”

Connor’s lips twitched. “Hiring me out, hmmm?” He chuckled. “I never thought you had it in you.”

As Harry flushed, Oscar leapt in. “How is Rebekah?”

“The exhaustion has passed. She has trouble sleeping now.” Connor frowned.

Since Connor’s return from the meeting with Seth, fear cramped his chest every time he held Rebekah. When he kissed her skin and a blush blossomed beneath his lips, the scent of her blood was tainted with a scorched aroma which fed the confusion in his mind.

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