Chapter 21 · Two Hearts Under Ice

Marcus woke up to the sound of something breathing.

Not his breathing. Something else.

He opened his eyes. Darkness. Complete darkness, the kind that pressed against his face like wet cloth. Cold bit through his jacket, his shirt, straight into his ribs. He tried to move and his shoulder hit ice. Smooth. Solid. He was lying on it.

The breathing came again. Low. Wet. Close.

"Shit."

He rolled sideways and his pack dug into his spine. His fingers found the broken lyre shard in his coat pocket. Still there. The thin edge of it cut his thumb and he hissed, pulled his hand back. Blood on his fingers. He could feel it, warm and slick, even if he couldn't see it.

Something scraped across the ice. Claws. Too many claws.

Marcus forced himself up onto his knees. His breath fogged in front of his face, or at least he thought it did. Hard to tell in the dark. He reached for his pack, fumbled with the strap, pulled it around. His hand closed on the tuning fork he'd grabbed in the last world.