Prey

Chapter 41

Doe's POV:

I'm an idiot.

I'm a complete and utter idiot.

It hadn't even been 20 seconds since we left the limo and ventured into the snow before the temperature managed to effortlessly crawl through the single layer that I was wearing.

Oh god...

It may not have been so bad if there wasn't just the slightest breeze that made it feel 10 degrees colder than it actually was.

I looked towards the extremely long line that had already formed for the blood collection that hadn't started yet.

Not even a minute into this event that was going to take hours, and I was already regretting my petty remark.

Inwardly, at least.

Outwardly, I was going to stick this out even if it kills me.

What's the worst that could happen?

Hypothermia couldn't be that bad right?

I've gone through worse... probably.

I followed the three ahead of me, focusing on the light crunch of their feet on the snow-covered grass.

Forcing my posture to remain confident, I just idly stepped into the footprints already made for me.

Xander would glance back at me at least every 20 steps, quickly looking me over.

I'd meet his eye every single time with a cold hard gaze.

"I'm gonna go check in with the boss, you go get our area situated," Nico said from up front, not even turning back to make sure Xander heard before hearing off towards the line with Khloe right behind him.

At least she dressed moderately warm.

Xander just watched till Nico was out of earshot before stopping his movements just long enough so that I could catch up and we were walking side by side.

Great. I was freezing and now I was going to have to trudge through the snow instead of following his footprints.

"Cold yet?" He half-sneered, his hands being kept nice and warm in the pockets of his thick overcoat.

I turned up my nose in a scoff.

"Not even a little bit," I lied, and I'm sure he knew it, "Perks of being a human, I guess. We're warm."

"Uhhu, sure."

Yeah, he definitely wasn't buying it.

But regardless of whether or not he knew that I was full of shit, I still wasn't surrendering.

Not when he was already radiating 'I told you so' energy.

I clenched my fists to keep myself from shivering as we continued on our way.

Only a couple of minutes passed before the familiar cushioned benches they gave the guards came into view.

One for each of them, and both long enough for two people.

"Alright well, since you're oh-so warm, come and be warm up here with me," the i-told-you-so attitude was stronger this time around, almost like the offer itself was an act to mock me.

Which, I'll admit, was understandable, it just fueled my obscenely trivial need to come out on top.

So, I strolled on over to the far side of the bench, looking as if I was going to accept his offer.