Seeing is Believing by Sasha L. Miller Page B

to remember if he'd ever made a straight trip to the border. He couldn't keep from shivering violently as a gentle breeze ruffled his hair—the stream's water had been freezing and he wasn't much warmer out of it.
    "Three weeks, unless you slow us down more," Reid replied, flashing him that damn smirk over his shoulder as he led the way into the trees.
    "Will you stop?" Ty snapped, itching to kick the bastard. Another shiver made him shake violently, and he obstinately stopped walking.
    "Stop what?" Reid asked, and Ty wasn't fooled for a second. Reid was being an ass, and he was well aware he was being an ass, and Ty wasn't going to put up with it.
    Reid took a moment to realize Ty wasn't following him anymore, stopping a few feet away. He turned back to Ty, the shadow of the tree he stood next to rendering his expression unreadable.
    "There is no call for you to be so rude," Ty bit the words out, despite his best intentions to keep his voice even and calm. He shivered again, clutching the little bundle of dirty clothing closer.
    Reid laughed mockingly, and Ty glowered, wishing he could kick Reid and not worry about being left to fend for himself.
    "Two days? You must really have been coddled in prison. All the other men I've rescued managed at least five days before they tried to take me to task," Reid said derisively, scoffing softly and turning back towards camp.
    Ty hissed out a breath through clenched teeth, wondering why it was so hard to ignore Reid's stupid, condescending, baseless remarks. Reid was walking away, and Ty glared after him for a moment before following. He didn't want to get lost, no matter how much he wouldn't mind the separation.
    Shivering again, Ty sighed and wondered morosely if it wouldn't have been better to be left in the damn jail cell. Certainly it seemed like Reid would prefer it.
    The camp was slightly more hospitable than it had been when he'd left. Caj was already asleep, his bedroll lined up with three others near the horses. Ari was speaking softly into the glowing plate, glancing up only briefly when they entered the clearing.
    Ty was a little curious about the obvious magic, but he ignored it and Reid, who tried to catch his eyes, the ever-present smirk still turning his lips. He crossed the clearing slowly, stuffing his dirty clothes into one of the saddlebags without much care for which one it was.
    He could practically feel Reid's eyes on him as he moved stiffly away from the horses, picking a bedroll at random and collapsing into it. Clenching his teeth against the shivers that kept trying to break free, Ty curled up and tried not to think about how much better off everyone would be if they'd just decided to kill him instead of letting him rot in a jail cell for the rest of his life.
    *~*~*
    Ty woke up completely warm. Strangely warm, because warm didn't make sense with the lumpy bedding beneath him. Ty wasn't going to ruin it by thinking about it too much, though, far preferring to enjoy the warmth while it lasted.
    Shifting a little to get the lump under his hip somewhere less painful, Ty abruptly froze—because while he might have curled up alone last night, he most definitely wasn't alone now. That explained the unexpected warmth, and Ty fervently hoped it was Ari or Caj's arm draped over his side, and not Reid's.
    He'd take a damn prison guard over Reid.
    Opening his eyes, Ty winced at the sunlight, squinting towards the horses. It wasn't Ari, by the blonde tufts of hair sticking out of the bedroll laid out between him and the horses. Caj and Reid were nowhere in sight, though there was another abandoned bedroll between him and Ari.
    The arm draped over his side shifted suddenly, the accompanying fingers brushing teasingly against Ty's stomach.
    Ty squawked disgracefully, scrambling away in reaction and nearly toppling face-first into the dirt next to his lumpy bedroll. Twisting around indignantly, Ty opened his mouth—only to snap it shut because of course it was Reid.
    Reid