Page 75 of Trivium

How his shirt was tucked loose into the top of his belted pants, like he rushed to get ready and missed a spot. So endearing.

As if he could feel her gaze, he glanced over, and they locked eyes. She quickly looked away. She didn’t want him to know she was staring at him. Because she absolutely was not staring at him.

“Your task is to piece together which direction the Blood Bears have gone and why,” Kaplana ordered, more tense than usual.

The Clevers split off in groups while Ahmina headed toward the river alone. Kneeling down by the water, she looked for any trace of the bears.

Nothing.

Slowly, carefully, she made her way along the riverbank away from the crowd to look for tracks, fur, droppings—really anything that could indicate the Blood Bears had been there.

She thought back to the Venom Viper. What if she had known how to identify its presence? Not that she would have been able to see them, she reminded herself. It was pitch black that night. The Viper had been close; even if they had decided to go in a different direction, it’s possible it could have caught her either way. Ahmina hadn’t realized how fast Vipers were.

But if she had known more, worked harder, maybe she could have avoided it. She cursed her own mind. If it didn’t turn to soup so often, maybe she could have handled the situation differently. Maybe she wouldn’t have almost died.

Maybe, she could have been the first student back, like Loveleena had been, and gained the respect of her professors and peers alike.

Maybe she could have saved herself instead of Lennox coming to her rescue. Ugh. She rolled her eyes at the thought of it. She hated that he saved her. But at the same time, she was grateful. And it made her feel more connected to him somehow.

He did suck venom out of her blood, after all.

She swallowed and instinctively lifted her hand to her stomach. The thought of it still made her a little queasy.

Lennox seemed to have a way of helping her when she needed it the most. When she was spiraling. Which she found both comforting and odd. Her mind drifted to when she had said goodbye to Lennox at her dorm door after her anxiety attack in the library. How he had looked at her. How he smelled: like sweet tea herb, citrus, and bergamot. How he lingered like he didn’t want to leave. I prefer to use my mouth for more… enjoyable things. His words stuck in her mind, playing on loop, sending a jolt of heat through her core.

Her memory was interrupted when she spotted a pair of Blood Bear tracks carved into the mud. She pressed her fingers down into them to feel the damp, soft soil. When she peeled them away, the soil stuck to her fingertips. The tracks were fresh. She found something! Finally, she had a win. Adrenaline coursed through her as she scanned the riverbank, looking for Professor Kaplana.

Her heart stopped when she spotted three pairs of eyes peering out at her from the trees across the river.

Stumbling backward, she tried to scream, but her throat was dry and her voice absent. She looked back to where her squad was situated up the riverbank; she had wandered so far down, lost in thought, she hadn’t even noticed. She had to warn them. She had to do something. Anything.

Get up! she urged herself. But fear paralyzed her body, and all she could do was dig her heels into the mud to try and move backwards, scrambling along the riverbank, dirt wedging under her fingernails. The smallest Blood Bear wandered out of the trees into the water. Horror gripped her as it broke into a run, its oversized paws splashing through the shallows. The adult Blood Bear leaped from its hiding spot in the trees and ran to protect the young bear. The sunlight revealed maroon fur framed by lightning eyes and fanged teeth, sending Ahmina into shock. She barely registered its foul, hot breath before a roar tore through her, reverberating in her bones and shaking the trees.

She had been desperate to escape, but now the notion almost seemed dramatic. It was just a mom and a baby. The bear was just protecting her baby. Ahmina’s heart sank and she stood up.

How… innocent.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” she said as she walked toward them. She had to apologize. She didn’t mean to startle them! Of course the mother bear would be protective of her child.

The icy water rushed into her boots, freezing her toes, but she didn’t care.

It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.

It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.

Just a mother and her child.

I won’t hurt you.

From somewhere behind her, she heard yelling, which annoyed her. They were going to scare the bears! The mother bear approached her, hackles raised, a snarl on its lips.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” was all she heard before Lennox yanked her back by her shirt. She fell into the river on her butt, icy water coming up to her chest, stealing her breath. In front of her, Lennox stood, staring down the bear, his hand gripping his dagger at his side.

Something inside her snapped. The empathy that had consumed her a moment ago dissipated. She tried to hang onto it. It felt so good, so warm, but it was like hanging onto a dream already forgotten. She scrambled to her feet, breathing hard. The freezing water had shocked her out of her delusional state.

Lennox was locked in a stare-down with the bear before he turned to face her. “Are you okay!?” He held her face in his hands. “I’m so sorry. I’m so SO sorry!” Ahmina had never seen Lennox so concerned. “Shit. Ahmina. I feel so bad.” Lennox had never, ever, used her full name: Ahmina. It was always some nickname.

The bear roared, stepping closer to Lennox while shielding the cub.