***
His climb out of the slumber was slow, a tepid sort of thing. Eventually Lex blinked himself awake enough to realize why he was so comfortable, and so reluctant to move.
The blanket was draped over him. As was Petal’s arm. She was spooning him. He froze in place, barely daring to breathe lest he disturb her. Slow, rhythmic breathing reached his ears. She was still asleep.
How long had he been out? His body felt somewhat reenergized, but without proper food intake he wasn’t able to be sure just how long he’d been out for. He felt somewhere around six or eight hours, but it could have been half that. Adrenaline, which was starting to course through him again, was quite adept at messing up internal timelines.
The second thing that made its way through his sleep-addled brain was the difference in temperature between his face and front of his body, compared to his back. The blanket wasn’t large enough for the two of them to completely wrap themselves up in. So it now formed a sort of C-shape, with him looking out of the opening. And his face was quite chilly.
Shit. Temperature’s dropping.
Lex had been hoping that the storm had been abating, but as it turned out, it only seemed to be getting worse. He was fairly positive night had fallen, and that would bring with it a natural cooling effect that the storm seemed to be amplifying.
That’s just not fair. The earth should be warm enough to melt the snow by now!
His first concern was for Petal. His body heat would keep her warm for now. But when he left to go get help, she was going to need something to keep her warm. The suit she was wearing just wasn’t going to do it. He wished desperately that the emergency kit had contained a regular blanket as well. Something could have been fashioned out of that to act as clothing for her.
But with nothing but the two heat-reflecting blankets, Petal was going to need a fire. Something between her and the opening. Not for the first time Lex thanked the fact that the cave actually sloped upward toward the entrance. If he kept the fire on the slope, the smoke would head upward and out of the cave, instead of filling it and choking her.
Resolved to this course of action, he gently slipped free of the blanket, dreading every motion and noise that he made. But Petal never stirred. That both reassured him, and also made him wonder if he was right to let her sleep. If she had a head injury, it could be that she was unconscious just then, and not asleep. Dithering for several seconds about what to do, Lex at least decided to trust his gut. She’d not shown any signs of injury, just a bonk on the head. First aid wasn’t a specialty of his, but he’d already resolved to take several courses after he got them back to town. He didn’t want to be put into this situation again, not knowing exactly what to do.
Right now what you need to do is act. Get the fire going, keep her warm, and then go get help for the two of you.
Action is what was needed then. Not dithering. Snarling silently, he rose to his feet and padded to the front of the cave quietly so as not to disturb her. Easing around the hanging blanket that helped to reflect the heat inward, he pushed some of the snow he’d pulled in front of the door aside.
A cool blast of frigid arctic-like air washed over his face. The temperature had dropped precipitously outside their little cave. Bracing himself, Lex crawled outside, then shoveled snow back across the entrance, using it as an insulator to keep what heat they had inside. That done he stood up and looked around. The first thing he noticed was the sky. It was clear, with stars shining brilliantly far overhead.
That made sense then. The storm had abated, but it had turned itself into a cold front instead, which was how it had been able to maintain its energy, working in tandem with the normal nightly cooling effect, and amplifying it several-fold. By morning it would have lost all its energy and his valley should hopefully return to normal.
But Lex knew it wouldn’t last.
Just another reason to get your ass in gear and get back to Surrey as fast as possible. It needs you.
Working his way upslope, figuring those trees to be drier, since it would be colder up there, Lex searched around until he found several large branches that looked like they had perhaps fallen the previous season. He added some dried pine needles to his collection by the simple expedient of shoving them into his pockets. The branches themselves had enough small bits on them to provide kindling, and he had the perfect starter to go along with the needles already.
Prizes in tow, he headed back to the cave. Behind him the branches dug deep cracks into the snow, leaving a trail that couldn’t be missed. Normally Lex would have gone back and covered them over, but today he was perfectly okay with leaving the markers. Perhaps someone in a helicopter might spot them, though it was highly unlikely that they could come looking for them on this hill. It was the complete opposite of the one they’d been driving on.
Back inside he started snapping the branches. He stayed near the entrance while doing this, putting his back between the wood and Petal to dry and dull the sound. It worked for the smaller elements, but once he started breaking the larger pieces there was just no muffling the cracks. Eventually Petal woke up.
“What’s that?” she asked, clearly still sleep-addled.
“Wood for a fire,” he said gently before he easily snapped the five-inch thick branch between his two hands. He worked quicker now, so that she would hopefully not think to ask how he’d managed to do that so easily.
“It’s cold.”
“No, I’m making a warm fire this time. I promise.”
Though he couldn’t see the glare without turning around, Lex felt the laser beams burning into his back.
“You must be feeling refreshed. I can see that what you call a sense of humor has returned.”
“Me too. It just felt so weird without it. I don’t know how you managed to last.”
“Neither do I.” The monotone-voiced reply could have put anyone to sleep.
Lex laughed. “It’s gotten really cold out, and you’re mostly subsisting off my body heat at the moment. When I go to get us help, you’re going to need the heat.”
“What?”
“It might get a little smoky,” he continued apologetically. “But I’m keeping the fire up here by the entrance. It’ll give you enough light that hopefully you can navigate the rest of the cave too, perhaps go farther back where the smoke doesn’t bother you. But there’s really no alternative.
“That’s not what I meant. I was referring to the part where it sounded like you said you’re going to leave me.”
“I am.”
He didn’t like the way that sounded. At all. Frowning, he rephrased his words. “I’m coming back though. It’s just so that I can go get help.”
“No.”
“But we need help.”
Petal sighed. “Not that, you daft baboon. I meant that you’re not leaving me here.”
“Then how am I supposed to get help? I mean, we could light a fire outside in the morning, hope someone sees the smoke. But that’s hours away. It’s only like three or four in the morning. By the time someone saw it and made it out here, we could be in rough shape.”
“We’re already in rough shape. An extra twenty-four hours won’t make or break us much. We have snow, we’ll trap some of it in the blanket and melt it for water. We’ve got some more of those bars, right?”
“Only four.”
She laughed. “That’ll be plenty. We’ll be fine. A fire in the morning it is.”
Lex grimaced. He needed to get back to the valley now. But how did he tell her that, without revealing his true nature to her, or what he suspected was the true nature of the storms that had been hitting Surrey?
“I’m going for help.” He would just have to be stubborn.
“Then I’m coming with you,” she pronounced, sounding just as set in her decision as he had.
“Absolutely not.”
“What, afraid of my company now? After all this time together, you can’t stomach me any longer?”
“Why else would I want to go get us out of here sooner?” he shot back, but his words were clearly a lie. In fact, he was kind of enjoying her presence, and the thought of leaving her filled him with an odd sense of sadness. “I’m going though, Petal. I need to.” He hoped she would understand, and accept it.
“Fine, I’m going with you then.”
That hadn’t been what he meant by accepting it.
“No, you aren’t. And it’s not because I don’t want you to. If I thought we could just hike out of here, then we’d have started already. But you’d freeze before we were more than an hour out of the cave. It’s cold out there.”
She snorted. “If it were that cold out there, then I’d feel it in here. It’s chilly, yes. But it is not that cold.”
He snarled, this time audibly. “Petal. Those people who live in the extreme cold areas of our planet use igloos for a reason. The snow is actually an excellent insulator. Trust me, when I went out there to get firewood, it was cold. You will freeze and die if you try to come with me. It’s not a knock against you, it’s just a fact. You aren’t dressed for this weather.”
She shook her head hard enough he could hear her ponytail whipping back and forth. The fire was ready, but he’d yet to light it, unwilling to face her where she could see him. He wasn’t proud to admit it, but he didn’t want to look her in the eyes just then. It might give away too much about his urgency to get back.
“How come you won’t freeze then?” she shot back.
Lex went still. He hadn’t anticipated that question. The truth was, his werewolf blood kept him much warmer and made him less vulnerable to the cold. It would still be rather chilly for him, but once he started moving he’d be okay in human form, and if he took on his wolf figure, the fur would keep him comfortable. Of course, he couldn’t tell her that, now could he?
“My work suit,” he said gruffly. “It’ll keep me warm long enough to reach help. Besides, not to be rude, but I can move much faster through this terrain than you can. So I will also be outside for much less time if I go alone.”
He held his breath while she considered his answer, hoping that she wouldn’t point out the many holes in his logic.
“So I need to wait here for you?” she asked grumpily. “Alone, in a cave?”
“Unfortunately. Just stay in the cave, and you’ll be okay, all right? Don’t leave it. I wish it didn’t have to be like that, but it does. Because while I was rescuing you I checked out the nearest store, and they were fresh out of shining knight armor and horses. So I’m going to have to go a little bit farther into town and try again.”
“You know what?” she said wearily. “On second thought, I think I’ll stay here willingly. You and your sense of humor make a much better pair than we do.”
“That’s the spirit,” he said, and struck a match. Light flared into the cave, and he touched the flame to his perfect fire-starter.
The flimsy pink work-order sheets he’d had stuffed in his pocket went up immediately, brightening the cave and allowing them to look at each other in light for the first time. Although he could somewhat see in the darkness, this was much better. He turned to see Petal staring at him.
“Something wrong? I know you haven’t seen me in a while, but I promise, I haven’t changed.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just…you looked different there for a moment. Wilder, sort of. And when you turned, I could have sworn your eyes were yellow.”
“Oh.” He hoped his voice came off sounding like he thought she was mad. Not concerned. He’d not yet began to change, so there shouldn’t have been anything for her to see. But body language was a hell of a thing, and every now and then a human picked up on the fact that he actually moved much more like an animal than he did a human, with deliberate grace and ease.
Now was not the time for that though, and he remained still in hopes that she would lose sight of it.
“I don’t know. Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” Petal said.
He relaxed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise. Just wait for me here. I’ll get you out of this mess.” Lex turned to head out of the cave.
“Lex.”
“Yes?” he asked, facing her again as he stayed rooted to the spot.
Petal crawled over to him, forced onto her hands and knees as the ceiling lowered near the entrance.
“Be careful,” she said softly.
Then she wrapped her hands around his neck and hugged him.