Page 91

“I bet Roslyn’s a demon with a red pen.”

“Ha, yes, she is. Brutal. But I like it. I’m learning and getting better.” She flips her French toast and leans back into me.

In ten years, she’ll still be doing this. Clipping her work out of papers. Wherever she is.

We’re on a hill outside of town, an hour up a trail that leads to a place I’ve been meaning to bring her for weeks. Talking her into it took three days and a bribe.

“Come on.” I forge ahead. “Not much farther.”

“You said that five miles ago,” she puffs.

“I said that three minutes ago. When you asked.” I stand at a crest overlooking the track, waiting for her to catch up.

“When I said let’s go on a date, I meant dinner and a movie, not navigating Mount Everest in a blizzard.”

“It’s barely snowing.”

“My face is frozen.” She reaches my side, and her nose is pink. I kiss it lightly.

“It’ll be worth it, I swear. Have I ever taken you somewhere that wasn’t?” I tug on her gloved hand.

“I suppose,” she grumbles and lets me pull her along.

A clearing opens up around the next turn, revealing a stream that cascades over smooth boulders down to a sluggish river packed with ice. There’s a hot seam running under this whole slope. Snow dusts the forest floor to the water’s edge, where the warmth keeps it from settling on the surrounding stones. Steam billows off the pools.

“Whoa. Okay, I rescind my objections.”

She follows the stream down to a two-foot waterfall that flows into a deep pool, and spills into the river beyond. I drop my pack, with the towel and her dry base layer rolled inside it, and start unlacing my boots.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re getting in.”

“Uh, no.” She pulls her beanie down farther over her ears.

“Suit yourself.” I strip off my shirt, tossing it on the ground.

“I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“Neither do I.” I drop my pants and stride into the warm pool. The water is clear with faint patches of green and yellow tinging the crevices.

“Nick, come on. Someone might see us.” She looks back at the trail.

“Nobody is coming up here. And if they do, I’ll hear them long before they arrive. Vampire hearing, remember?”

She stomps her feet in the snow and glances around once more, and I know I’m going to win.

The pack goes first, then she reluctantly shucks off her coat. With every piece of clothing, she checks the trail behind her is still empty. Down to her underwear, she tiptoes toward the pool.

“Nope. Stop right there.” She freezes with one foot off the ground. “The rest has to come off.”

“What?” She clamps her arms over her chest. “You’re crazy. I’m not getting naked in the middle of the woods.”

“Those are the rules.”

She glares at me. “I’m going to kill you, Nikolas Valzera.”

“You’d have to come in to do that.”