Page 54 of Moonless

He draws a breath through his mouth, and I get the fangs for it.

“They’re dead, Rauk! Dead! There’s nobody left. You can fill the whole fucking mountain, and it’s still just you in here.”

His hand comes off his knee, and I actually want him to hit me. Anything’s better than the fire crawling under my skin.

He puts it back on his knee and gets to his feet, and I have to tip my head back to keep looking at him.

“Hey, how about this—put me in with the rest. Then you can check all your dead things at once. Fewer trips for you.”

He stands over me with his hands empty, and I smile up at him.

He turns and goes down the inner passage, and I huff a laugh at his back.

Then my good hand’s on my cheek, and the smile’s still there under my fingers.

What the fuck am I doing?

Chapter 14

She’s awake when I come out this morning, and her eyes go to my empty hands.

I sit on my stone, wishing she hadn’t smiled when she said it. Fewer trips for you.

She could’ve left them out of it. I know they’re dead.

The linen’s loose above her collar, and I want to tuck it back in. Then what? Do I bring another fur, or another bowl to sit beside the one she hasn’t touched?

Perkele. I don’t know what else to do.

Her good hand goes over the bandage. I hook my claws over the edge of the stone and stay where I am. After a while she takes her hand away.

When she starts to turn onto her back, I lean forward. She stops with her right elbow planted in the bedding, watching me.

I could have her comfortable by now. Instead we’re both stuck here because I can’t let the woman turn over.

I sit back, breathing out through my nose. She finishes turning, slow and careful, and settles her head on the fur.

I can smell the river through the vents, and the salmon are running. I need to get down there.

She could come with me. There’s my old bow, the one Father cut to fit my hand when I was eleven. Too small for me now, but she could manage it.

She could catch some for me.

When’s the last time I asked anybody for anything.

I get up and go for the bow.

Chapter 15

I stop on the flat stone, but Rauk keeps walking.

I haven’t asked him where we’re going. Doesn’t matter. It’s not home.

Below me, he steps off the bare rock and turns. The bow looks small against his leg. There’s an empty hide sack folded under his other arm, and he waits while I pick my way down.

My foot wrap’s bunched under my heel, so I stop and pull it flat, keeping my left arm tucked against my ribs. He waits down the slope until I’m done, then he’s off again.

The sun gets in my eyes between the trees, and there’s a breeze on my bare knees. I used to sit on that stone and argue for another few minutes.