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He gets to his feet, shaking out the blankets and ht "Miss LaRoux, before you martyr yourself, I should warn you that I’ve had to curl up with e and hairy corporal under certain undesirable circuirl sounds like a vacation"

Beautiful? I’ve always been reasonably pretty--but enough money would turn even a cow into a catch Still, aside from those first days on the Icarus, he’s never looked at me that way He’sto hirateful for the darkness, that he can’t seemy smile for one tiny compliment? That would be the ulti at the edge of the bed, hands braced on his thighs He gestures for ht The first of the hter by the second The air is clear and cold and sharp

He’s right Neither of us will sleep if I insist on separation Part of ht, too well trained But ould know? There are no rescue tea forTo be warm, that is

I s and creep forward to slip beneath the blanket,myself as small as possible "Only while we’re on the plains and can’t have a fire" The words come before I have a chance to stop theesture Why can’t I just accept his offer?

But he just nods, readying hi his holster to set it beside us and placing the flashlight nearby When he lifts the edge of the blanket to lie down, it brings a rush of cold air, and I curl up htly

"Sorry," he murmurs, voice not far from my ear "Close your eyes, you’ll be war hi out to wrap an arm around my waist and draw me close His body is warmer than mine, and after a moment he lifts his hand to rub my arm I try not to shiver at his touch, at the heat of his palm on the chilled skin exposed byhis head so that his nose brushes the back ofis slowing, lengthening--I envy his ability to sleep anywhere, in any position, without hesitation Every nerve ofevery shift he makes

I’ve never been this close to someone like hi an insane urge to turn within the circle of his aruilt and anger surge in to follow the thought

It’s not difficult to see the way he looks at h he tries now to hide his impatience and annoyance How quickly one’s delusions co us society folk, wishing they could touch us They’re laughing at us in our bright dresses and parasols, our i roo world of the Icarus is simply pathetically ridiculous down here, in the kind of world they live in day to day I’irl he’d want, just as I’ve been signaling at every opportunity that he’s the last alaxy I’d want to touch

The only difference is that I rong

How long I lie there, listening to the slow beat of his heart and the frenetic dance of un to rise beyond the trees, casting a cold blue light across the plain and edging the grass with a frosty glow The wind has died, but over the whisper of Tarver’s breath stirring my hair, another sound breaks the quiet

My breath condenses in the cold air as I exhale I squeeze htly, as if somehow I can block out the sound of the incoht if I try hard enough

"Go away," I whisper into the darkness, h these voices invadepile of confusion and fear Behind ainst

The voice continues unabated I know Tarver doesn’t hear it, or else he’d be awake and holding his gun in an instant I turnas a pillow, try to think of the music I used to listen to back on the Icarus, even covertoof ht, each passingthe tor frigid in the cold and tracing an icy path down my temple to join the cold sweat that’s broken out all over This ti that doesn’t go away noing as a tight and wobbly thing I alnize as my own "Do you hear that?" I don’t even knohy I ask I already know he doesn’t

If it had been one of my friends, I would have had to shake theh He co from lax and peaceful to tense and alert

"Sorry," he whispers back, his lips not far from my ear "I was asleep What was it?"