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Chapter 37
Idril
The pulsing from the pillar gets more intense as the hours drag on. My eyes are closed, but I can almost see the faint blue glow from across the lake of water behind my lids.
I’ve found that if I concentrate, the pulsing will begin to sync with my heartbeat. It should be scary, but it’s not. It’s actually comforting, as though whatever’s in that pillar and I are somehow connected. Connected in the same way I am to Soren and Caelan but… different. There’s no Mate Bond, but like with Shade, something else is inside me, and it’s reaching out to whoever or whatever is trapped in there.
‘I promise I’ll do whatever I can to get you out,’ I send the thought out, knowing it can hear me even though the words are only in my head.
My stomach growls for the thousandth time, and I wrap my arms right around my middle, snuggling deeper into Caelan’s hoodie. I know, logically, that his scent is long gone, but I still imagine that I can catch a faint whiff of it if I inhale deeply enough.
Soon, even that will be gone.
The light pulses again, and I groan, rolling over onto my other side so I’m facing away from it. I don’t even know why I insisted we sleep out here in the first place. It’s so much cozier in the teaching Chamber, and my Omega absolutely hates the cavern's open space. The longer I go without my suppressants, the harder it’s becoming to ignore those instincts, something I’m struggling with despite my Omega spending most of the day sulking, missing her Mates.
I can smell my perfume all the time now. It’s been over forty-eight hours since we’ve seen the sun, and apparently that’s all it took to fully work the suppressants out of my system.
When I crack my eyes open, I can see Branwen lying on her side a few feet away. Her dark hair falls over her arm and across the floor like curls of spilled ink, and her breathing is slow and even.
For far too long I lay here stewing in my jealousy. I swear that girl can sleep anywhere, any time. It’s unfathomable to me. Sleep has stayed elusive for me, and I’m really starting to feel the effects of exhaustion.
Most notably, the constant chills and full-body aches that never stop. I can’t remember ever wanting a hot bath more than I do now, but until we get out of here…
The worst part is that getting out is completely up to us. No one is coming to save us, because no one knows where we are. No one even knows this place exists. Which means I need to figure out how to control these abilities, then use them to get us back to the surface.
It’s not like we can just walk back the way we came. The entire cave collapsed, and even if we could swim against the current, there’s no way past the detritus from the cave-in.
And so we are, in a word, screwed.
Unless I can figure my life out.
No pressure.
With a huff, I turn to my other side and lose myself in the pulsing light. Branwen told me before we went to sleep that she can’t see any light, but that she Saw something waiting for me, so she’s sure whatever’s in there is alive.
Or… alive-ish.
“You’re thinking so loud I can hear it,” Branwen grumbles from behind me. Her voice is rough from sleep, and another pang of jealousy hits me. I force my heavy limbs to roll over again, blinking tiredly as she sits up, yawns, and stretches her arms over her head.
How in the Fates does her hair look so freaking good after days underground and a river ride from hell?
“You’re prettier when you smile,” she winks.
“I hate you,” I mutter, forcing the scowl off my face as she throws back her head and laughs.
“You think you can somehow magic us up some toothpaste and toothbrushes?”
“Oh sure,” I reply sweetly. “It was next on my list. Right after I magicked up a gourmet breakfast and world peace.”
She raises a single brow. “World peace is a bit ambitious, love. Why don’t we start with a hairbrush and crepes and see how you’re feeling by lunch.”
“If I had literally anything to throw at you, I would,” I tell her dryly. “You and my mother would have got along so well. She was always overly optimistic. In a melancholy sort of way.”
Sighing, I push myself up and stand, stretching the kinks out of my back, neck, and spine. You would think that after months spent sleeping rough—albeit indoors—my body would be used to harsh conditions by now.
“Oh yeah?” Branwen heads for the water’s edge and crouches down, dipping her finger in water and using it as a makeshift toothbrush. She glances over her shoulder and asks, “What would your mother tell you now?”
I join her, groaning as I force myself back down to reach the water. Bending over, I swallow a few large gulps to fill that empty hole in my belly while I consider Branwen’s question.
