Homelands Pt. 10 Ch. 02

"Just being cute," he said with a nervousness that suggested he had no idea how successful he'd been. "You could be ZPG for all I know."

"Nah," she said. "Figure it'll be a while yet before I settle down, but there are kids in my future. I'm pretty sure about that." She patted her midsection, which wasn't as tight and toned as she'd have liked. "Assuming I can find the right guy."

He regarded her out of the corner of her eyes. Yvette wondered whether he was more fixated on the "settle down" part or the "right guy" part. Either way, it had been a poor choice of words. Maybe it time she just went to sleep, before she screwed anything else up.

"He's out there," Zach said at last.

Yvette's heart started racing.

She wanted to flirt back. See how far things would go. But that was selfish and cruel. The poor guy's heart had been ripped out earlier that night. And not by some unnamed stranger. If she was a halfway decent person, she'd take the comment for what it was, let it boost her self-esteem a bit, and change the subject. Maybe something could still blossom between them, in time. But he was probably no more in control of his emotions at that moment than she was. And she'd do nothing to convince him that she wasn't a slut by rushing things. Rampant as the hookup culture on campus was, everyone still knew that if you actually wanted to build something with the guy, you had to make him wait.

Especially since he was a virgin.

Goll-y. What would that be like? Eating veal? Slaughtering the calf herself? Would she get a rush from it? Or was she in for a massive letdown due to his inexperience and inevitable performance anxiety? He'd probably last all of three pumps.

Why were guys so obsessed with virgins? It had to be because of the cult of purity. The sense that he had to be that much manlier than other men, that much harder to resist, if she gave to him what she denied so many others. There was no way it was more enjoyable physically. And they had to know that, didn't they?

Did guys really believe a girl's pussy got looser the more she used it? And why did so many of them talk about it like the number of lovers was more important than the number of times she'd had sex, as if a girl who'd had four one night stands was going to be looser than one who'd been in a very physical relationship with the same guy for four years?

"So," she said. "You really don't think we should be worried?"

"I-"

The howl interrupted them yet again.

That time, Yvette hardly reacted. It was started to feel more like a nuisance than an omen. And the more she thought about it, the easier it was to believe that nothing more was at work than blowing wind. Her imagination had made it out to be worse than it was.

Both of them laughed before gulping their beers.

Then they heard something upstairs that sounded like shattering glass. Someone, or something, had smashed through one of the windows.

"Tree branch," Zach said, voice remarkably steady. The look on his face was panicked, though. He tried to hide it, but Yvette caught the way his eyes had widened. "Wind that strong could carry it a good ways upslope."

"Right," Yvette said, placing her beer on the floor and rising up out of her chair. "Wouldn't hurt to check on them, though, right?"

"Not at-"

A loud thump came from the front porch. Like something heavy had landed on it. Perhaps something with paws and a gaping maw, judging by the faint snarling she thought she heard creep through the walls immediately afterwards.

Yvette grabbed Zach's wrist and bolted for the stairs.

In horror movies, they always ran upstairs, and it was always the wrong move. But the one way out of the cabin was blocked and she didn't see any other options. Nor did she want to hang around long enough to find out what was doing the blocking.

#

A trail of sparks shot up from the small fire with a sizzling pop. Eric cringed. He knew that no one else could see or hear it. They'd gone deep into the cave, and sealed it under several layers of supernatural protection just for good measure. But it had been so long since he'd heard anything other than the crunch of snow beneath his boots that he couldn't help but think the sound was louder than it was. That maybe it was a mistake to cook himself a proper dinner when he could have used his powers instead.

They had to conserve their strength, though. He knew that. Conjuring up a little something to eat didn't take much energy, but they had no way to replenish their Libidos here. Anything that wasn't necessary to avoid detection had to be done the hard way.

Originally, the plan had been for one or both of them to head back to Summer every couple of days to refuel. But no plan survives first contact with the enemy and all that. Not that they'd made contact with anyone yet. Which was sort of the problem. But it appeared that Daphne had placed all of Winter under sort of one-way dome. It offered no barrier to entry but it prevented anyone from leaving. That meant they were effectively stuck in the middle of a desert without any water. All the gallon jugs they'd brought with them did them no good now that they'd locked the keys to their jeep inside the vehicle.

Every time he thought about that, Eric felt a bit of panic. And not just because they were stuck. Though he'd come face to face with the ice queen before, and had barely escaped with his life, he'd completely underestimated their foe. Even Flori had. None of them had any idea just how powerful she was. But who could blame them? He was pretty sure that Hank, Flori, and Zoey all working together couldn't seal off all of Summer.

But there was no need to get too depressed. They still had one important thing going for them---Daphne had no idea they were here. Her forces were hard at work searching for the guy from Autumn, who was apparently careless enough to reveal himself to the commoners, but there was nothing to indicate she had any idea about them.

Besides, it wasn't the first time he'd faced overwhelming odds. Nor the second. They'd find a way out of the frozen hell sooner or later. He was sure of it.

He just hoped it was sooner.

"Where the fuck are you, Nick?" he muttered to himself.

His brother hadn't been gone more than a couple of hours. But Eric hated the thought of Nick wandering around Winter by himself. Flori had sent him along as well for a reason. The guy needed some protection. Sure, he'd proven pretty adept at avoiding notice thus far. And his energy would last longer if he didn't have to cloak Eric in shadow as well. But still.

It wasn't until after Eric had finished picking the bones clean that Nick finally returned. As ever, his brother poured across the snow like spilled blood, rising up from the shadows only after he reached the fire. His black cloak, black pants, and black leather boots were all pristine. Not a flake of snow on them. Because why would there be?

"Well?" Eric asked.

"Nothing," Nick said as he stretched his palms towards the flames. The bitter cold didn't really affect them. Not physically. Their bodies adapted readily enough to the extreme change in temperature they experienced after traveling here from Summer. But something about Winter made them crave warmth nonetheless. At least, it did Eric. "As usual."

"Figures."

If Daphne's wolves were themselves looking for him, Eric might have thought Frank Orwin didn't exist. Or wasn't anywhere near Winter. They'd spent two damn weeks chasing the asshole and yet they had absolutely nothing to show for it.

"Not about him, anyway," Nick added.

"Meaning?"

His brother regarded him silently, face as cold and hard as the icy stone walls around them. "You don't want to know," he said at last.

"That bad?"

Eric had a pretty strong stomach, but some of the things he and his brother had seen since arriving in Winter made him uncomfortable extinguishing their fire at night.

Nick gave a half shrug. "Anything left to eat?"

"There's another rabbit over there," Eric said, gesturing towards a blood-soaked cloth against the wall. "I've been thinking," he added, grateful for the chance to use the segue he'd been practicing in his mind all afternoon, "Maybe we need a different sort of hare."

"You think so?" Nick asked, betraying no reaction.

"Not a snow leopard, mind," Eric said.

"Course not," Nick said. "Gotta be a daughter she wouldn't miss."

"Well, there's that," Eric said. "But also, we want someone who'll be happy to help us."

Nick grunted. "They're not so easy to get to. Might be better off with a commoner."

"Didn't you tell me just the other day about a family the queen thinks helped Orwin?"

"I did," Nick said, in tone that implied he'd stopped just short of asking what Eric's point was. Would it not bother him at all to condemn another family to that fate?

"So we seduce a hare," Eric said.

"Seduce, coerce, whatever," Nick replied.

"You're not seriously talking about using an innocent girl as a sex slave," Eric said. What the fuck was wrong with him? "Not that it matters. If we can get one of them away from the others, she won't need coercing. They've got to hate her as much as we do."

Nick snickered. "You know, it's possible that she won't be interested in you." He went and grabbed the rabbit. While skinning it, he added, "Mister fucking irresistible."

"Hey, look, just cuz you developed a powerful sense of self-loathing at some point doesn't mean you gotta take it out on me," Eric said.

Dark brown eyes regarded him silently and he knew he'd struck a nerve. When it had begun and why, he wasn't sure, but the guy definitely hated himself.

"Anyway, we're not at that point yet," Nick said.

"No, we're not," Eric agreed. "Just sayin' we've gotta start thinking about our options."

"Like someone suggested we do before leaving Summer? Remind me again, who was too eager to prove what a big damn hero he is to listen?"