AllFreeNovel
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I shake my head. “They’re safe inside. Climbing the walls.”
She frowns. “Why did you come get me? You could’ve died.”
“Not all of us are one-hundred-and-fifty-centimetre weaklings who can’t walk in snow.”
She looks down, her eyes shaded. She looks unbelievably sad. “I f-feel like I missed you all my life,” she whispers.
“We just met,” I say stupidly.
She sighs. “I know. I mean, I feel like something inside me was missing, but I didn’t know what. And it’s you. It’s a-all of you.” Her mouth turns down. “And now I’ve ruined it all.”
My chest is burning. I have to swallow thickly. “No. No. You’ve not ruined anything, sweetheart. You’ve not done anything wrong.”
Her eyes shimmer. She’s quiet for a long, long time. I can practically see the wheels in her brain spinning.
I give her a gentle shake. “Keep talking.”
“Did you speak to Riven?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She presses her lips together. “Did—you see the video?”
“The first few seconds,” I admit.
She squeezes her eyes shut. Tears roll down her cheeks. Her breath hitches as she starts to cry. “I d-didn’t take it. I didn’t know I was being filmed.”
Fuck. I rock her gently. “Shh. Shh. I know. I could tell.” I don’t know what to say. This isn’t my job. Eli is the one who cuddles and coddles. Riven can calm people down when they’re in pain. I’m usually the one who hurt them in the first place.
But I’m the only one here right now. So I have to do something. I pull her closer into me, and she snugs into my chest. “I f-f-feel disgusting,” she sputters.
“You’re not.”
“IknowI’m not. But I feel it. I feel… used. Like a used tissue. A bit of trash.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head, sniffling. “Thanks. For turning it off.”
I frown. “Sweetheart. Of course.” What kind of guy does she think I am?
She shivers delicately. “I love when you call me that.” She yawns again. “I think I’m drunk. But I didn’t drink anything.”
“Stay awake. I’m going to make you some food.” She’s not sleeping until her skin turns a normal colour. I root back into my rucksack. Eli thinks that I’m paranoid about the survival packs. Thank God I am. We have enough food to last us a few days. A week, if we really stretch it out. I seriously doubt we’ll be here that long, though. The storms in this area tend to be short and sudden. A couple days at most.
I spread out the foil packages of dehydrated food. “Minced beef chilli or minced beef stew?”
“What’s the difference?”
“One has beans in.”
That gets a tiny smile out of her. “Whatever.”
I melt some more snow, then pour a pack of stew into the can. This shit is pretty disgusting, but as the salty, savoury scent fills the tent, my stomach rumbles. I suddenly realise how hungry I am.
“Talk,” I order, as I mix the brown saucy mush around with a fork. “Tell me about the video.”
“Really?”
