Iron Seas 03 - Riveted

upward, stabbing ice through his gut. His vision faded. He shook his head wildly, hating the fog.
    “David.” Her hand cupped his cheek, her skin deathly cold. “Oh, you’re burning. Frida, take her.”
    “Don’t. Please don’t. I’m sorry, so sorry I didn’t keep my promise. But please don’t take her. Please.” He bowed over Annika’s still form, holding her close. His arms shook. “Or take me, too.”
    “We will. But you have to let her go.” She bent her face to his. “We’ll help her. We’ll help you. Trust me.”
    David didn’t know if he could, but if he held Annika any tighter, he’d hurt her. He couldn’t do that. He’d never do that. With a broken sob, he loosened his hold.
    He felt her weight lifted from him. And then nothing after that, except the cold.

Chapter Fourteen
    The darkness receded from an insistent huffing and swaying . Beneath him, a soft mattress cushioned his back. A firmer body lay against his side.
    David opened his eye, rotated his light-blocking lens. Annika looked down at him, her lips trembling, her brown eyes shimmering.
    “Are you with us again, then?”
    She couldn’t be real. His hand lifted to her face. Warm skin. Her tears spilled over, wetting his fingers. She turned her cheek into his palm, her breath shuddering.
    “My mother and Hildegard found us.”
    Trying to moisten his dry tongue, he turned to look. A pale woman with hair the color of rust stood in the troll’s hearth chamber. Movement near the head drew his gaze higher. A tall woman—not his mother—climbed down the ladder.
    “Aunt?”
    He could barely form the word. His aunt nodded. “I am Inga’s sister.”
    Annika’s hand flattened on his chest—his bare chest. Only a blanket covered his hips.
    “We had to put you in the snow. Or they did, in truth.” Annika’s voice sounded high and tight, as if skimming the edge of crying. “I was in here, with my sister pouring fish broth into me. It’s been two days. I just woke up this morning, myself. Dooley and Källa are outside. They’re on the dogsled.”
    And she was alive. He looked up into her eyes. Her mouth curved on an unsteady smile. God, he’d never thought he would see that again. But she was here, and so was he. Her curls fell over her forehead. Throat aching unbearably, his chest swelling, he brushed them back. Another tear spilled down her cheek and broke him. She was here. Oh, God, she was here. A harsh sob tore from his throat. He drew her down, buried his face in her neck. She clung to his shoulders, crying against him.
    “We’re all right, David,” she spoke past her tears. Her fingers slid into his hair, holding him tight through each wracking sob. “We’re all right.”
    Her soothing murmurs continued. She lifted her head as his shudders eased. Dimly, he was aware that the huffing had stopped, that the others had left them alone. She raised a tin cup to his lips—warm water, and she only allowed him a few sips, but even that was enough to soothe his parched tongue, his raw throat.
    “I couldn’t bear losing you,” he said roughly.
    “And I couldn’t bear to lose you.” She bent her head, a soft kiss flavored with tears. “We’re not all the way there yet. They’ve been pouring broth down our throats, but we need to keep sleeping, slowly eating more.”
    And he needed to get up. Though shaky, David could sit, then stand. He found his trousers and shirt at the end of the bunk.
    Curled up on the mattress, Annika watched him dress. He heard her envious sigh. “I need nanoagents.”
    Yes, she did. “When we see her, Lucia can perform the transfusion.”
    “Oh. No, now that we are out of danger, I’ll wait until I visit Hannasvik again. My mother will like to celebrate sharing her blood with me—and it gives everyone an excuse to drink and eat too much.”
    A visit to Hannasvik. Not returning to stay. “You won’t be able to travel through the New World.”
    At least not without the bribes that the Society paid during his expeditions through the interior, and those were simply for traveling through the different territories. He could probably find some way to bring her with him… if he continued that, too.
    But he had other options. And he’d choose one that let him stay close to her.
    Now, he just had to figure out what that option might be.
    “I don’t mind,” she said. “I like traveling, but I’m ready to be home. Your boots are under the bed.”
    He glanced down at his steel feet. “Do