Chapter 276
WILLA
I sniffled, then coughed. My teeth were chattering so hard I was afraid I would accidentally bite right through my tongue.
It was almost full dark now and the stars had started to come out. For the first time, the beauty of this place did not interest me.
Had I thought there had been bugs before? Now it looked like they were having a party in my tent.
They were everywhere. A few had even managed to crawl under my clothes. My skin itched where they had stung me. I imagined my skin was covered with dozens of red raised dots.
Whatever magic Lucian's brew had worked was long gone now. I felt like I had been fed through a mangler. Everything hurt. Worse was the back of my head where I had bled.
Tears stung my eyes. It took a lot of willpower to hold them back.
All this was Naomi's, Lucian's and that stupid blabbermouth Riven's fault. They were all snug and comfortable in their sleeping bags while I was having what had to be the most horrible night of my life.
At this rate, I would die or fall sick before the stupid project was over. Maybe Dean Freeman would see that as a fitting punishment.
"Screw them all," I muttered in the dark and promptly had to spit out a bug crawling past my lips.
Thinking about my warm comfortable bed back at school made me feel worse so I tried to focus on seeing if I could sleep. At least I wouldn't feel so miserable if I was out of it for a few hours.
The sound of the insects chirping in the high grass suddenly stopped. I heard a footfall and then another.
I pressed myself deeper into my sleeping bag. Who could be wandering outside at this time?
I was straining my ears to catch the slightest sounds when a long arm threw the ruined tent flap aside. Lucian poked his head through.
I hated that he saw me lying there, shivering like a leaf in winter. He face hardened as took it all in. Bugs and all.
He didn't say a word. Just crooked a finger, gesturing for me to follow him. I stood up at once, swayed a little on my feet.
They were so stiff I could barely feel them. The cold and damp seemed to have settled deep into my bones.
I stumbled after him to his tent where it was much warmer. The difference in temperature was so sudden I began to shake harder as my body got rid of some of the cold.
"Why are you always so damned stubborn?" Lucian said harshly.
He remained standing at the entrance to his tent. I sat on the floor, rubbed my hands up and down my arms so I could get warmer faster. I stared down at my feet so I didn't have to look up into his angry eyes.
Lucian let out a few swear words.
"If I hadn't come when I did, you would have frozen in that tent," he said. "I warned you that would happen, didn't I? But did you listen? Hell no! That's you in a nutshell. Always arguing. Never listening to common sense." He shook his head slowly back and forth. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. I should have let you learn your lesson so maybe next time you would actually listen."
I chanced a look at him. He was holding the tent flap open with one hand, face thrust out to the wind.
The digital readout on my watch said it was last 1 am. What was Lucian doing awake? Did he have difficulty sleeping or had he been lying awake, worrying about me?
"I left because of Naomi," I said through lips that felt numb. "Can you imagine the scene she would have made if she caught me sleeping in here with you? Also you're not exactly nice, are you? You're always on about how I'm weak and inadequate. I don't know how things are done where you're from. But where I'm from, you don't say stuff like that to people and not expect them to get upset or mad at you."
"Everything I've ever said to you is the truth. You want patched up lies to make you feel better? I'm not the guy for that. Never have been. Never will be." In a lower tone he added almost as an afterthought. "Naomi and I broke up."
My hands immediately stilled their movements up my arm. I looked up at him sharply, thinking I couldn't possibly have heard right. They broke up?
"It had absolutely nothing to do with you," he quickly pointed out, glancing at me. "It was a long time coming so don't start feeling important."
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