"You didn't need to hold your breath."
"It would, have been nice, to know that, before I walked into water," I shot back between gasped breaths as I tried to pull myself out of the small, freezing stream. The one that shouldn't have been deeper than my ankles.
But then again, climate change had been striking with a vengeance.
My fingers curled to claw at mud and snow as a pair of feet stepped into my line of sight. Following the legs attached to them up, I squinted against falling snowflakes to find Rowan towering over me on the snow-covered ground while I was still submerged in the stream waist-deep.
"It slipped my mind," he said as he held a hand out to help.
Snow drifted down from the sky to land in his palm and melt. Blinking free a snowflake that landed on a lash, I lifted my hand to place it in his. His fingers curled around mine and tightened to effortlessly pull me out to a stumbled stand in snow that got deeper as I stepped away from the stream. The moving water carved a path through the sea of white that surrounded us but was yet to freeze.
My breath fogged in front of me as I let go of Rowan's hand and moved to peer through the bushes that hid us to see an old and familiar sight. Tears sprung to my eyes.
"Is that where Ash is?" Rowan asked as he stepped up behind me to follow my line of sight to the small and decrepit house that had me sniffling and blinking tears back.
It wasn't that long ago that I used to have the same reaction for a whole other reason when seeing the place.
Rather than giving him an answer, I gave him an instruction. "Wait here."
One he didn't follow.
As I moved to make my way around the bush to reach the path that was mostly hidden by overgrown foliage and blanketed by an inch or two of fresh snow, Rowan didn't hesitate to follow.
"I told you to wait," I grumbled as I pushed away branches that had my fingers turning bright red from the snow that shook free in the process.
"If you think I'm letting you go in there on your own, you're more than just mistaken." He reached around me to hold the worst of the foliage aside for me to slip past.
Though my huff reflected annoyance, my fingers silently thanked him as I curled them into the warmth of my palms.
Although I was only wearing a thick shirt with a thin tank on underneath, it wasn't so cold that a jacket was necessary, not for how briefly we would be out in the elements.
But I should have brought one for Ash. He was going to need it once he was out of the basement.
Emerging from the trees off to the side where we couldn't be seen from inside any of the windows, I led us into the backyard that was filled with overgrown grass, weeds, rusty parts, and discarded trash. The layer of snow hid most of it from sight, but my mind's eyes couldn't help but paint the white canvas with what I knew was hidden beneath. Nothing could erase its memory. After all, how could I forget the one place that I hated more than I had learned to hate Faerie?
Home was a nightmare that couldn't be erased or replaced.
Reaching a hand back to grab hold of Rowan's wrist to ensure he didn't take a wrong step, I led us along the house to the stairs that led down to the basement entrance. Descending quickly but carefully, I released him when we reached the bottom to reach for the plastic bucket that was kicked off into the corner. Shaking it free of snow, I turned it over and placed it under the rusty light fixture for a boost to reach for the key it hid. My fingers dragged across rough, decaying metal, catching on chipped ends, but that's all they found. They didn't find the smooth metal of what I was searching for.
