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“We can’t continue until we’ve recovered,” I told Zoran and the other two fae quietly. “We have to sleep, or we’re not going to make it out of here, let alone to Heliai. Everyone rests now.”
All my companions nodded, and then unceremoniously got comfortable on the stone floor.
Zoran pulled me down with him. I realized he’d cleaned the goo and blood off both of us while I was working on the cave’s wall. He gripped me tightly to his chest with none of the polite uncertainty we’d had the last time we laid down together. His arms were around my back, holding me as close as possible. One of my hands slipped under his cheek, so I could feel the warm skin and scruff on his face. The other pressed against his chest, feeling the beat of his heart against my palm while I listened to it too.
I waited until his breathing had evened out and his grip on me had relaxed just slightly before I let myself cry. The tears fell hard and fast, rolling down my face and into the long, tangled strands of hair pinned beneath me.
I’d survived.
I’d survived.
I’d survived.
No matter how many times I said them, they still didn’t feel completely true.
“You saved us,” the female fae said quietly. “He fought like a demon to reach you. I’ll make sure the rest of our people know that when we make it out of here.”
My tears continued to fall.
I didn’t say anything—it would’ve come out as a strangled cry anyway. Any sound I made would probably wake Zoran immediately, too.
The woman’s breathing evened out shortly after she finished speaking, and then I was crying alone again.
Eventually the tears dried, leaving a vulnerable sort of calm to settle in my bones. That calm accompanied me as I finally drifted off to sleep, safe in the arms of the man I still didn’t truly know where I stood with.
But we were alive—and that was what mattered.
Chapter9
Eventually,Zoran woke me up with a soft hand on my arm and gave me food. I wrestled my eyelids as I chewed the tough dried vegetables, bread, and cheese. Our supplies had to be running low, but no one commented on that.
No one commented at all, actually.
I think we were all just trying to mentally prepare for what the next chunk of hours might hold.
More monsters.
More danger.
More fear.
Just another day in the Aboa, right?
My entire body was still trembling a little, but I didn’t think it would stop until I was out of the caves and back in a safe, comfortable bed, where I could sleep for as long as I needed to.
After everyone finished eating, Zoran signed, “Heliai is nearby. It won’t take me long to put her back to sleep, so the three of you will remain here, hidden away.”
I blinked.
The female fae grimaced.
The male fae gave Zoran a solemn nod.
Since I was still sitting close enough to him that our sides were pressed together, I grabbed his arm before he could stand up and walk away. “We stick together,” I said, fighting the panic swelling in my chest.
“I have risked your life enough, Cier.” His signed response was sharp, his forehead furrowing.
He was furious with himself for losing me.
