Ice Country

Not one wink.

~~~

I musta fallen asleep because my eyes jerkopen suddenly. The wall torches continue to burn, because Big’sprobably not conscious enough to put them out. Everything’s quiet,except I know something woke me up.

A stone clatters around my feet, which aresticking out into the middle of my cell, away from my head, whichis resting uncomfortably against the wall. I look at the rock,changing color from orange to red to yellow and back to gray as theflames flicker.

Clatter, clatter.

Another stone careens across my cell,skipping all the way to where it rests by my side. I curl myfingers around it, retrace its path to where it musta comefrom.

The hole in the wall. Skye’s hole.

I slide on over to it, blinking away thesleep I didn’t expect in the first place.

Skye’s looking at me. “Icy Dazz,” she says.My toes curl slightly.

“What’re you doing awake?” I say.

“Hard to sleep on yer last night,” she says.I cringe, wondering how I manage to consistently say stupid thingsthrough this hole.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t me—”

“I’m just kiddin’ ya,” Skye says. “Don’t gityer—whaddya call the small clothes you wear under yer otherclothes?”

“Skivvies?” I say, like a question.

“Sure. Whatever. Don’t git yer skivvies allin a knot.”

“Skye, I—”

“No,” she says. “It’s my night to do thetalkin’. ’Cause if I’m talkin’, I ain’t fallin’ apart, I ain’tlosin’ the dignity I found when I left my father behind to join theWildes. I won’t lose that, not tonight.”

“I’m sorr—”

“What’d I say?” she says, showing me thefinger she’s got to her lips.

I don’t say anything. Just wait.

“Better,” she says, sending her eyes throughagain. “I know we ain’t hardly more’n strangers, but I’ve gotfeelin’s for you, Dazz, I’ll go right on out and say it, ’cause,after all, what do I have to lose, right?” I nod, feeling a burstof something good in my chest. I don’t say anything because shetold me not to.

“I don’t go chasin’ after guys. I don’t got aCirc, like Siena. I’ve never…” Her voice falters for the firsttime. “Dazz, I’ve never kissed a guy,” she says.

Not what I expected her to say. How could agirl like her not have kissed anyone? She should have fire countryguys leaping over each other to get to her. I don’t say anything,because, well, you know why.

“Well, ain’t ya go

I almost chuckle, but I hold it in. “Ithought I wasn’t allowed.”

Now she does laugh. “You take my words prettyseriously, don’t you?”

“I do,” I say.

“Why?” she says. “I ain’t smart, the sungoddess knows that as well as anyone. I got things to say, butthey’re probably not always the right things.”

I gawk at her brown eyes through the hole.The right things? She’s worried about saying the right things whenevery time we speak I’m the one bumbling along. “You’re wooloo,” Isay, turning her fire country word back on her.

She laughs again. “Ain’t that the truth,” shesays. “Did you see how I rode that big fella like a searin’tugbull?”

“I did,” I laugh. “I was most impressed.”

“Ain’t you wonderin’ why I’ve never kissednobody?” she asks, changing the subject quicker than a rabbithopping to his hole when he hears the hoot of an owl.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” I say. “Butyah, I figured you’d have kissed dozens of guys by now.”

“You callin’ me a shilt?” she says, her tonedarkening.

“What? Nay! I mean, I don’t know what thateven is. All I meant was that as beautiful as you are I’d thinkguys would be lining up across fire country for a chance to win youover.”

“Flattery won’t git you far with me,” shesays.

“How about honesty?” I say, finally feelingthe words flowing the way they’re meant to.

“I wa

“You—you do?”

“Scorch yes, I do, Dazz. Yer smoky, you makeme laugh, I ’spect without even tryin’, and you got a good heart.”Be asleep, Buff. Be asleep.

“We should try,” I say, feeling my bloodrushing all over the place, waking up my whole body.

“This is a searin’ thick wall,” she says.“And this hole ain’t big enough to git more’n a hand through.” Asif to demonstrate, she sticks her fingers through. My confidence isroaring like a just-woken beast, and I feel like the old Dazz, theone who could catch girls’ attention, even if he couldn’t keepthem. I grab her hand, kiss it, stars flashing behind my eyelids.Ice this wall! I’ve got the urge to pound my way through it, fistby fist, without regard for my bones breaking.

I give her hand back, look through at her.There’s a wildness in her eyes and I know everything I’m feeling ismutual, and she’s considering pounding away too, meeting me in themiddle, in a big old pile of dungeon rubble. “Bars,” I say, butshe’s already moving in that direction, gone from sight.

I rush along the wall to the bars, jam myhead and arms through, feeling the metal poles cinch around me,stopping me. Her head’s through too, and she’s reaching for me, andour hands are touching, and now our arms—I’ve got one hand in herhair, ru

I strain against the tightening bars, feelingthe dull pressure of the metal as it bruises my ribcage, but keeppushing, getting another inch, Skye doing the same, trying, trying,icin’ trying to—

—meet in the middle where—

—her lips can meet mine, where—

—she can get her first kiss, and me, my firstreal kiss, her lips closing in, so close I can see the pinktinge on them but then—

—we can’t go any further, and we’re justdangling there, hugging each other awkwardly, wishing we hadanother inch. Just one more inch.

The dungeon door creaks open.

Chapter Twe