Page 28

"Not yet!"

I open another trunk and stop.

It's full of ribbons. Red ones and green ones and gold ones, faded but still pretty, coiled up neatly.

Underneath, wrapped in cloth, are glass ornaments. Little balls of colored glass, delicate as soap bubbles. A box of tiny candles meant to clip onto tree branches. Garlands of dried evergreen, brittle now but still holding a faint smell of pine.

And dragons.

Dozens of them. Little wooden dragons, carved by hand, every one different. Some are curled up asleep. Some have their wings spread. One has a little carved curl of fire coming out of its mouth. The details are beautiful, every scale, every claw.

"Oh," I whisper.

These aren't new. Some of the ribbons are so old they've faded almost white. A few of the carvings are worn smooth, like they've been handled for years and years. Decades, maybe. Some of them look older than that. Older than anything I've ever seen.

Why on earth would anyone leave all this up here in the dust?

"There are solstice decorations up here!" I call down. "Ribbons. Glass ornaments. Candles for a tree. Garlands. And these dragons, these little carved dragons, they're beautiful. Did you know these were up here?"

There's a pause below.

"We knew," Zarek says.

"Why aren't they up? Solstice is just over a week away!"

Another pause. Longer.

"No clothes, though," I add. "Sorry. Not a single dress."

I pick up one of the little dragons. It's black as coal. I turn it over in my fingers, then reluctantly put it back.

I'm going to get these decorations downstairs. I don't know how yet. But if I'm stuck in this cabin until the storm breaks, I'm not spending solstice staring at bare walls with three strange men.

I tuck the blanket around me and start back down the ladder. My head is full of ribbons and garlands and where I could hang them.

I'm halfway down when my foot slips. My heel shoots right off the rung. My hands are tangled in the blanket, and I grab for the ladder and miss. My stomach lurches up into my throat.

I scream. I'm falling, and the floor is coming, and I squeeze my eyes shut and brace for it, but the floor never comes. Instead, I land against something warm and solid. Two huge arms close around me, one behind my back and one under my knees. They catch me so easily that I barely even bounce.

I open my eyes. Kaelen. I didn't even see him move.

All I can do is stare.

His long dark hair falls forward around his face. This close, I can see every line of the scar running through his eyebrow and down his cheek. A shadow of stubble along his jaw. And his eyes.

Amber, and burning, and locked on mine.

I can't look away.

I'm suddenly aware of everything. His arm under my knees. His hand spread wide across my back. The heat of his chest through my thin chemise, because the blanket has slipped somewhere along the way. My body fits against his like it was made to.

And then the heat comes.

Not the slow wave I've gotten used to. This one roars up out of nowhere, so strong it makes me dizzy. It floods through my whole body at once. My heart is pounding. My skin tingles everywhere he's touching me, and everywhere he isn't. A hot, aching pull curls low in my belly, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from making a sound.

Kaelen's gaze drops to my mouth.

And his face changes. Something raw and hungry moves across it. His arms tighten around me, just a little. Neither of us moves.