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Another leg followed—along with a chiseled torso, a gorgeous face, and messy white-blond hair tied up in a wild ponytail. The man was absolutely covered in blood, goo, and who knew what else, but he didn’t look at a damn thing except me.
A cry escaped me, unintentional and completely uncontrollable.
My knees cracked together, and I went down hard.
Zoran caught me by the waist, pulling me into his arms and hugging me fiercely to his chest before I could crash. My tears soaked his shoulder—and then my sobs shook us both. Not that I needed any extra help with the shaking, because it was definitely still happening.
“I’m here,” he said, his voice low and gravelly and enough to ignite another new wave of tears as I clutched him tightly. “I’m here.”
I knew he didn’t love to speak, since he couldn’t hear himself. If I had to guess, I’d have said it made him self-conscious. He was doing it for me, though, talking for me, to make me feel better. And that meant the world to me.
“Thank you for coming,” I whispered, still losing tears like the sky lost rain. “Thank you.”
“Always,” he said as he held me tighter. I realized I wasn’t the only one clinging to my mate for dear life.
I continued holding on to him as he carried me down one of the cave’s many hallways, a male and female water fae trailing behind us. I hadn’t learned any of their names, despite us traveling with them. There hadn’t been any time for talking, really.
A few minutes later, Zoran ducked under a thick chunk of stone and into a small, mostly-enclosed cave. It was barely big enough for all four of us, but it’d work. We’d make it work.
All of us sat down—me, on Zoran’s lap, and the other two fae sitting with their sides pressed together to give us space. It barely worked, but I appreciated it anyway.
“What happened to the others?” I asked, as I lowered my shaking fingers to the stone beneath us and closed my eyes, focusing on the wall.
If I could enclose it, we would be safe.
Safe enough to rest, recover, and breathe.
Ever so slowly, the rock began to grow toward the open lip of the cave.
“We lost them,” the female fae said, her voice heavy. “There were too many monsters.”
“The Aboa was never meant to be traveled through,” the male fae said quietly. “We’re lucky you managed to stay alive. Had you passed, we would’ve lost the king as well as any chance of survival.”
I nodded, focusing on the stone again. I was still shaking, but we needed safety. Zoran had to sleep too; we needed him if we were going to get out of there, and he had to recover first.
My king squeezed my wrist once.
No magic.
I needed to rest.
“We need to be safe,” I whispered back to him.
He heaved a sigh, pulling my back tighter to his chest as he waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, the gap in the rock shut.
I was panting—nearly gasping for air—but I’d done it.
“Thank you,” the male fae said, handing me food.
I practically inhaled it, forcing Zoran to eat while I did. We’d been together in the Aboa enough that I knew he wouldn’t feed himself unless I made him.
He’d want to protect me, to save the food for me. But I wouldn’t need the food if I died because he was too weak to fight.
