Page 134 of Tempting Fate

“Finally. The message got out. They know we’re safe at least. Hold on.” She tapped on her screen. “Bloody pop-ups. There’s no reply. God, I hope the rescue mission got away and the village is safe.”

I nodded. So strange to care for so many people, even ones I did not know and had never met, but with the expansion of my world, so too had my capacity for feeling. Vadias made me a better kri’ith than I had been before.

Purple crystals turned to blue again, tunnels opened onto caves, and we kept walking.

After another even larger cavern, we came upon a smaller one with two shining pools of water—one with a waterfall cascading down the rocks above—and various small caves and tunnels coming off it. Tiny glowing pinpricks illuminated the walls in greens and golds, and as we walked through, I realised they were moving. Hundreds of glowbugs lit this place, some on the walls, others flying around, and many gathered on outcroppings of crystals, transforming them into living chandeliers.

“Will this do?” I asked. If nothing else, it was a good chance to stop and eat.

“It might,” Imani breathed.

We rounded the pools and paused in a small cave to one side. Some flat rocks would function well as a table, should we need it, and a bed-sized patch of the softest moss beckoned for later.

Imani sat heavily on the plush surface, wiping a hand over her forehead. “You know what, I’m done. At least for today.”

“Then we stop here.” My body ached more than I wanted to admit. I pulled two protein bars from my pack and handed one over. “It’s hardly a delicious meal, but it’s food.”

“Works for me.” She tore into the bar, clearly as hungry as I was.

When we had our own home, I would take care of all our meals. While I hadn’t had to cook on Orith, on days where I’d felt well enough, I’d enjoyed learning to bake. Perhaps Imani would like lavender sweetbread or maybe savoury ruli scones. And though I’d not gotten much chance to learn in the village, I would master a full repertoire of dishes, both for communal cooking and for when we dined alone. I’d teach myself if I had to.

I alternated my gaze between studying the cave and drinking in the wonder that was Imani. She bubbled with an unusual energy, barely taking her eyes off me, and an excited shyness tempered her usual confidence.

She stuffed the empty food wrapper in her pack and stood. “Before I do anything else, I need a bath. I’m going to check out those pools.”

“As long as you let me re-dress your wounds afterwards.” I followed her over the rocky ground, needing to keep close, to keep her safe.

She knelt by the smaller pool, trailing her fingers in the water, then turned, face radiant. “It’s warm!” She gestured at me in a shooing motion. “Go on.”

I did not grasp her meaning.

“Go. Or at least turn around.”

“Why?”

“I need to get changed.”

Oh. Oh. “You have seen me naked many times.”

A sultry smile spread over her face. “Yes, I have. Now turn. Around.”

I let out a groan. This woman would be the death of me. Except in her presence, only life ran through my veins.

I did as she ordered, hearing every whisper of clothing, imagining which part of her body it revealed.

A splash. A deep moan of delight.

“May I turn around again?”

“Oh, baby, you have to come in. I never got to take you to the hot springs. But keep your hands to yourself, no peeking.”

I stripped as fast as I could and paused at the side, eyeing the spread of glistening water. Imani’s eyes roved over my body. I shivered under her admiring gaze, warmth swelling in every part of me, from my innermost being to the tips of my spines. I’d always been self-conscious, knowing I was gaunt compared to other kri’ith. But I was attractive to her—and hers was the only opinion that mattered.

So much water, and I was to immerse myself in it. I dipped in a toe. Oh, it was warm. I eased into the pool a respectable distance from Imani, adjusting as my body compensated for the unfamiliar buoyancy, and sat on the rocky ledge below the surface. “This is incredible, my moonlight.”

“I thought you’d like it.” Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the pinpricks of light flying around us.

Those same lights rippled on the surface of the water, and I tried not to let my gaze wander. I tried. But the crystal clear pool hid little, and her tempting brown curves called to me in my peripheral vision. My fingers twitched. “It is so warm. I have never been submerged in water before.”