Kara adjusted the heavy cloak tighter around herself before answering.“Physically?Sure.Emotionally?I’d say I’m currently operating somewhere between deeply concerned and spiritually offended.”
One corner of Nick’s mouth twitched.Apparently he was pleased with her answer.He knew that if she stopped making jokes entirely, everybody should probably panic.
Behind them, Aphid muttered under his breath as he ducked beneath a low section of hanging stone.“I would just like it officially documented that I hate caves.”
“You live in forests filled with carnivorous plants,” Wadim pointed out.
“Yes, but the plants at least have the decency to do their murdering in open spaces.”
Torvik, who had somehow convinced the Troll King to allow him to accompany them, looked delighted instead of terrified.
The child moved beside Verna with quick, eager steps, occasionally glancing back toward Aphid like he’d personally discovered the greatest source of entertainment in existence.
Honestly?Couldn’t blame the kid.Aphidwasan interesting character.Kind of like those British soldiers who stood in front of the palace, all stoic.You just want to walk up and poke them to see if they’d react.
The deeper they descended, the warmer the air became.It was dense and heavy with something that made Kara shudder.Magic.Old magic.The kind that settled against her skin instead of merely surrounding it.Kara glanced over her shoulder to see how it was affecting the other healer.
Rachel slowed several feet behind them, her expression tightening as her gaze swept slowly across the narrowing corridor.Gavril immediately noticed and shifted closer to his mate.
“What is it?”he asked quietly.
Rachel shook her head once.“I don’t know.”
Which, coming from a gypsy healer as old as Rachel, was deeply unhelpful.
Her eyes lifted toward the stone ceiling overhead.“Everything down here feels ...”she hesitated.“Wrong isn’t the right word.”
“Ancient?”Zara offered softly.
Rachel nodded slowly.“Yes.”
The Troll King glanced back toward them without slowing his pace.“The foundations were old before the trolls first walked these caverns.”
That did not improve Kara’s comfort level even slightly.Old things got worn out, or haunted, or grew mold.None of which she wanted anything to do with.Suck it up, Kara,she told herself, knowing her mate was probably listening,you might just be saving all the realms.Or dooming them to hell.Let’s keep it real.“How far down are we going exactly?”she asked.
The king’s dark amber gaze flicked briefly toward her stomach before returning forward.“Far enough.”
“Oh, excellent.I love vague answers during potentially fatal expeditions, while being pregnant at, oh, that’s right, I have no idea how far along I am anymore because apparently time moves differently along the foundations of the supernatural world.”Did she sound panicky?She did.She totally sounded panicky.Kara took a deep breath as Nick’s hand settled instinctively against the small of her back again.
“Breathe, yeah?”
“Over here breathing like a champ, coach.Send me in, I’m ready.”She shook her head, despite the fact that she was using their bond to speak.“I lied, I’m not ready.”
The baby shifted beneath Kara’s ribs.The sensation slid uneasily through her chest.
“She feels it, too,” Kara said quietly before realizing she’d spoken aloud.
The entire group slowed.
Verna looked back sharply.“The child?”
Kara nodded once, one hand pressing lightly against her stomach.“She’s been reacting since we entered the lower tunnels.”Her brows pulled together.“But it’s different now.”
“How?”
Kara struggled briefly for the words.Not fear.Not exactly.Recognition.Like her daughter heard something Kara herself couldn’t fully understand.“She knows we’re getting closer,” Kara admitted softly.
Silence settled over the corridor.
