FIFTY FIVE

LAUREL’s POV

We sit on the steps of my porch, both Caleb and I. I have a blanket wrapped around me while he has taken off his shirt. It shirt hangs by a stick next to the bonfire we made next to my porch. The rain has finally stopped and in its place is a clear night with stars shining bright above our heads without twinkling.

“Feel better?” Caleb is the first to break the silence.

I nod, folding the blanket over myself.

“Do you think you can win in the duel against Nox tomorrow?”

I suck in a breath and look at the sky. “I don’t know.”

It is an honest answer.

I feel Caleb’s fingers graze against mine, his warm, mine cold and I look down to see him taking my hand and rubbing them with his.

“You’re cold,” he says simply and I am suddenly reminded of how Helios once warmed my hands. My body instinctively acts and I quickly snatch