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continued to rise. “You said we’ll stop soon. I can manage until then.”
    “We’ll stop now.” When he pulled Rouge up short, my forehead glanced off his shoulder.
    “I didn’t mean—I can wait.” I braced on his thigh. “There’s nothing you can do out here.”
    “I could tell Vaughn before he finds out on his own and—”
    “No.” I shook my head, dizzied by the view behind my eyelids. “You can’t.”
    “The hell I can’t.” His feet bumped mine as he urged Rouge into a sharp turn and then into a gallop. Rouge’s growl vibrated beneath us. I patted his flank, and he chuffed, picking up his pace.
    “You’ve got to stop.” I pulled on his arm. “Vaughn has other priorities. I can make it. I can.”
    Rouge slid into a rough stop, and I slammed into Lleu’s back with a grunt.
    “This had better be good.” Vaughn’s tone made me flinch. “We have no time for nonsense.”
    Another shift in Lleu’s bulk and wind hit me full force. He had exposed me to Vaughn.
    “Mana.” He said my name softly. I startled when gloves caked with ice brushed my cheeks. “I will set this to rights.” He called out to our companions, “Once we crest this ridge, we stop for the night. I’ll take the females inside the shelter. The rest of you make camp. No fires. Eat only your dried rations.”
    “I saw a family of snowy lepus earlier,” a deep voice rumbled. “No reason to waste rations.”
    “If the stringy meat of a cottontail is worth contracting the plague, then by all means, hunt. I saw the yellow death’s work on the wildlife in this area. I would rather chew pemmican and grit my teeth than get a mouthful of that foul meat,” Vaughn said. “It’s your life and your risk to take.”
    “He’s right,” another male added. “The closer we get to the veil, the warmer it becomes and the more animals we will encounter. There’s a greater risk of southland wildlife being infected.”
    “The yellow death won’t take me.” The first male sounded resigned. “Rations it is.”
    “Now that’s settled,” Vaughn said. “Lleu, stick close to me. Asher, take his place in line.”
    “Yes, sir,” the second voice replied. He clicked his tongue and footsteps fell, then silence.
    “It’s not much farther now.” Vaughn cradled my cheek. “I swear it.”
    My head bobbled as I locked down my panic. “I’m fine.” I am. My eyes will thaw. It’s fine.
    “Hold tight to Lleu, Mana, you’re slipping to one side,” Vaughn ordered. “Let’s move out.”
    Pressing my face to Lleu’s back, I wrapped my arms around him and held tight as Rouge’s gate lengthened. I strained to hear something beyond the white noise stuffing my ears, but at best I heard the whoosh of sleet-laden air, the thud of paws and the creak of swaying trees.
    An eternity later, I stopped rocking in the saddle and realized Rouge stood still.
    “Sit tight.” Lleu jostled me as he dismounted. “I’ll be right back.”
    I shivered at the loss of his body heat and gripped the saddle horn tighter. Blind and stuck on the back of an ursus was not how I had envisioned spending my night, but I’d made this choice, no matter how poor, so now was no time to covet the warm bed or soft robe I’d left back in Erania.
    I startled when firm hands grasped my waist. “Lleu?”
    “No,” Vaughn said, his fingers digging into my hips. “He’s inside. May I?”
    “Yes?” I hadn’t meant it to sound like a question. “I mean, yes, please.”
    He lifted me as if I were a snowflake and he a breeze.
    Pressure nudged the soles of my feet, and I believed he tried to stand me on the ground, but I was numb and my knees wouldn’t lock. I toppled forward, grasping at air and finding broad male shoulders to stab with my glove-covered nails. “I should have heeded your warning and waited.”
    “Perhaps.” He scooped my legs from under me. “If you had waited for Rhys and Lourdes to make their trip, after this storm, you might have been stuck in