Ruins A.G.A. 2nd Novel in the Ruinsaga series

Chapter 32 .

Lily

I woke up sandwiched between Maria and Mackenzie. I carefully removed Mackenzie's arm from around me and scooted out from between them before I stood up. Most everyone was still asleep. Gunnor and Jin sat side by side with their backs against the rock wall at the back of the cave. They didn't say anything, but they both watched me as I got up and stretched my back. Alex slept at the end of our row of sleeping bags next to Hunter. Gunnor had still been taking him away from the rest of us at night to do whatever it was vampires did to make other vampires. His physical appearance hadn't changed, but there was something different about him. The countenance around him was more similar to that of Jin's and Gunnor's than Mason's and Elsie's. His eyes hadn't turned red, but sometimes when Jin or Gunnor drank from one of us, Alex's nostrils would flare and he would swallow hungrily and look away. He was still eating with the rest of us, but he ate less than he used to.

Tanner and Grace sat together near the front of the cave. They sat just on the edge of the snow drifts. A soft, dull light streamed through the opening of the cave as the sun began to rise. I walked quietly towards them, but stopped when I got close. It didn't occur to me until then that they might be having a moment and I shouldn't disturb it. Tanner must have heard me or sensed my presence because he looked back at me. He smiled and patted the spot next to him. I continued those few steps and then sat next to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I was bundled in my coat because it was cold and we had been sleeping with our coats on underneath the sleeping bags. His arm around my shoulders gave me additional warmth. I was grateful we were in that cave because if we had still been outside the past few days during that snow storm, that would have been awful.

"It stopped snowing," I said the obvious. I had actually been relieved that it had been snowing. I hadn't admitted it to anyone yet, but I didn't want to go face vampires that had tried to kill Jin and the rest of our group including my sister.

"Yeah," Tanner said.

I heard people begin to stir behind us, but I didn't look.

We didn't vocalize what it meant now that it stopped snowing, but we knew. We would have to separate again. I hated being away from my siblings, Maria and the others, but now knowing the venefici used the souls of those turned into zombies for their magic, I couldn't fully be at ease until I knew my mom's soul and the others that were stolen were okay. That was probably going to be a long wait. I didn't know how long or how far I would have to travel to insure that. It might take all my life. I really hadn't thought this through completely.

Mackenzie sat next to me and hooked her arm through mine. She yawned loudly and placed her head on my shoulder. There was more movement behind us. I heard the crackle of a fire blaze back to life. Packs were rifled through. I heard the metal scraping of the pan and some cans being opened. Molly ran in front of us happily and licked each of our faces. Arthur stood near Mackenzie uncertainly. Mackenzie patted the spot next to her so he sat and stared outside with the rest of us. Victory quickly sat on the other side

We slowly went through our morning routine. When it was time to eat, we all sat around the fire with the exception of Gunnor and Jin who stood around our circle and watched us. When the pot was passed to Alex, he took it, looked at and then passed it on without eating. We all stopped to stare at him. "I'm not hungry," he said.

"Not hungry in general or hungry for something else?" Maria asked. "Like blood."

Alex didn't answer but his eyes darted to Gunnor. Gunnor smiled widely but didn't say anything. Jin said, "We're going to have to find more people soon."