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Each owl shifter stilled. Storm scoffed, unperturbed by the threat.
“Don’t deny it,” Leaf said. “I know she’s here. Tell her D’arn Leaf is here, and he means to talk. Mention my companion if she attempts to leave.”
“She’s indisposed.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Leaf muttered. He kicked the horse’s flanks and spurred them onward.
White feathered wings beat hard, stirring up wind and snow as the guards gave chase. Storm flew above them so close that Nova could reach up and touch his armored abdomen.
“Do not think to burst in uninvited,” Storm shouted down at them.
Leaf remained silent.
The owl shifter sped up and landed, bravely blocking their path.
“I won’t repeat it,” Storm growled. “She is indisposed.”
“Doing what?” Leaf yanked on the reins, pulling them to a stop. “Hiding under her blanket?”
“She’s in the middle of the Songs of Remembrance.”
“The what?”
“A wake,” interjected the pale female as she swooped overhead. “To interrupt now would be disrespectful.”
Leaf said, more respectfully this time, “I was not aware someone had died.”
“Why would you?” Storm looked down his nose at them. “In Frostwing, we celebrate lifebeforedeath.”
“How long will this wake go for?” Leaf asked.
“You have arrived on day three of an eight-day ritual.”
“I must wait five more days?”
The owl shifters whispered amongst themselves, which irritated the stalwart Guardian growing impatient behind her. Nova felt his lungs heave with a breath, preparing to release a demand, but Storm stepped forward with an offer.
“You may stay at The Lodge. You may respectfully attend The Offering of Light, The Dance of Silent Flight, The Feast of Nourishment, and the Final Farewell, but you may not attend the Sharing of Wisdom. That is for the owl-shifter community only.”
“Trust me, I won’t stay longer than I need to,” Leaf answered.
“Very well. Follow us.”
The guards shadowed them the rest of the way. Nova wanted to be awed by the village’s incredible wooden architecture and the glimpse of an enormous luminous tree over the gates, but her inner ears stabbed with pain. Her eyes and nose watered. The cold was too much for her damp body to take.
Once inside the gates, they dismounted, and a guard took the horse. Storm watched closely as Leaf gathered his bag and sword. Leaf put his arm around Nova’s shoulders, pulling her in, continuing their pretense. But it wasn’t hard for her to act all cuddly. His body was warm and inviting.
How he remained unaffected by this cold shocked her. But she supposed she was used to a warm Californian climate. All the places she’d volunteered at were oceanside. She’d never seen snow before the Fallout.
Nova couldn’t stop shivering. It took a further hour of standing in the cold as Leaf arranged for food and accommodation. By the time they walked over to the wooden Lodge, Nova was well and truly in the throes of the flu. She barely registered Leaf’s rumble and payment to someone at their door. She only wanted to remove her freezing clothes and climb beneath the fluffy blankets on the bed in the corner of the quaint bedroom.
Scratch that—she crawled down on the plush rug before the crackling fireplace.Mmm. The heat was so good on her skin. Footsteps approached, but her eyes were too heavy to open.
“The bed is large enough for both of us,” Leaf grumbled. “No need to make this awkward.”
She couldn’t stop shivering.
“Nova?”
