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Coal shifted closer to me, walking up to stand behind me as he looked up at the stone too.
“I guess it’s easy for me to forget the beauty in the world when I’m looking at it all the time,” he murmured, his breath fluttering against the back of my neck.
“What are they?" I breathed, fascinated.
“We think it's some kind of mineral deposit," Coal replied.
"It's beautiful," I said stepping closer to the wall and running my fingers along the grooves.
Coal moved to stand next to me, running his finger in a line straight down the centre of the largest silver vein and I could feel the heat of his body as he almost touched me.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a rough voice, his hand falling from the stone as he looked down at me. “It's a lot to take in, leaving everything you know behind.”
I hesitated for a moment, almost wanting to hide the truth which sat on the tip of my tongue. But why lie? I had no reason to hide my feelings from him.
"Being in the city always felt wrong to me somehow. I feel like... I don't know..." I shrugged as I struggled to put it into words. "I was sleeping or something, but now, I'm finally awake." I looked up at him, the light of the silver lines were reflected in his eyes. He was standing a lot closer to me than I'd realised and the space between our lips was almost non-existent.
My breath caught in my throat and my gaze trailed over his face for a long moment.
“Maybe I did you a favour then." Coal held my gaze for a few seconds longer.
I knew I should have stepped back, but it was like something was trying to pull me towards him and I couldn't resist it. His gaze slid away from me to where Taylor was sleeping and he stepped away, breaking the spell.
“We should get some sleep," he said, turning towards the fire.
I took a deep breath and looked at my boots, a small puddle had formed beneath my feet as the water dripped out of my clothes and I unzipped my jacket, laying it out beside the fire.
My boots followed it and I turned my back on Coal as I removed my pants too. There was no way I’d be able to sleep soaking wet so I just ignored the embarrassment that clawed at me and didn’t look his way as I laid my clothes beside the flames.
I shivered a little and moved to Taylor's side to check that he was positioned comfortably.
I brushed his hair out of his eyes and he groaned but still didn’t wake. Anxiety gnawed at my gut but there wasn’t anything else that I could do to help him.
“He’ll be okay,” Coal said and I looked at him through the flames.
“Do you swear it?” I asked, knowing he could do no such thing.
“Do you always put so much faith in the word of strangers?” he teased.
“I’ve never met anyone as strange as you,” I countered.
Coal snorted a laugh and I turned back to look at Taylor again. There was colour in his cheeks and he felt warm. I just had to hope that Coal was right and he’d be okay.
I dropped down beside him and laid my head against his chest like I had in the Lawless Trials’ dorm. His heart beat powerfully beneath my ear and I let the sound of it sooth me as I curled up next to him and closed my eyes. I tried to ignore the fact that I was still damp, covered in blood and mud and wearing yesterday's clothes, and exhaustion soon pressed me towards sleep.
As I drifted off, I listened to the sounds of the waterfall and the crackling fire and a strange thought passed through my mind. Despite all the weird and wonderful things that surrounded me, I felt like I was home at last. And I clung to that sense of rightness as I fell into sleep, wondering if instead of a nightmare, I might just be starting out on a dream.
I woke before the sun rose. The cave was dark and the fire had burnt low and I shivered as the cold crept over me like icy fingers caressing my skin. Coal was sitting next to the fire, his back to me as he hunched forward, concentrating on something.
Laurie was breathing deeply as she slept on, her blonde hair spilling around her as her brow pinched in concern.
I checked on Taylor again but there was still no sign of him waking up and a knot tightened in my stomach as I chewed on my lip. His breathing was steady but he still wouldn't stir even when I shook him. He needed help. Soon.
I huffed out a breath and stood, moving to the cave entrance as I loosened out the tension in my limbs.
All of my training injuries coupled with the few I’d collected during the Trials had grouped together to make my muscles seize up during the night and I gritted my teeth against the pain as I walked it out.
I made it to the roaring waterfall, reaching out with cupped hands to gather some of the cold water and splashed it over my face to rinse away the blood and grime that had collected there. I scrubbed at my skin and even braved running it through my hair to remove the worst of the filth from it.
