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“That’s dramatic.”
It was. But it still didn’t capture the invisible burden that had pressed down on him with a grinding weight.
“Before I managed to find the exit I just wanted to give up. It was…crushing.”
He expected her to dismiss his words of caution, but Sofie instead frowned, her expression worried.
“Then let’s find the exit quickly.”
He sent her a wry glance, but he couldn’t deny his relief that she accepted his warning without argument. She might claim she would never trust him, but a part of her already did.
“Easier said than done.” Ryshi turned toward the hedge, pointing at the closest entrance. “Let’s start there.”
With a nod, Sofie followed him through the arched opening and into the shadowed tunnel. They traveled straight, unable to see anything but the leafy hedge and dirt pathway. Then abruptly the tunnel came to a T, forcing Ryshi to make the decision to turn right or left. He chose right, knowing it didn’t make any difference. Either he would be lucky enough to discover the exit, or they’d be dumped back to where they started.
They continued in silence, turning left and right when they came to an intersection. Ryshi didn’t bother trying to keep track of their path, or even how much time was passing. There wasn’t a pattern that could be memorized. Not when the exit was continually moving from one location to another.
Instead, he concentrated on the cool brush of Sofie’s power as she walked next to him. He wasn’t alone, he silently assured himself, forcing one foot in front of the other. And eventually they would find their way out of this bleak maze.
As if sensing the cloud that threatened to overwhelm him, Sofie abruptly broke the silence.
“Tell me about your sister.”
Ryshi flinched. He desperately needed a distraction, but the last thing he wanted was to discuss his sister. Especially with a leech. Yet, even as his hands clenched in frustration, he discovered his anger fading away as a voice whispered in the back of his mind.
If Sofie was merely hoping to lighten his dark mood, there were a thousand conversations they could have that had nothing to do with their personal lives. The current state of human politics, the threat of global warming, the decade he’d spent trapped in the Anasso’s dungeons. The mysterious reason the minotaurs would kidnap a gargoyle…
So why bring up his sister?
“Are you interested?” he demanded.
Sofie shrugged. “If we’re going to be stuck here for any length of time we might as well be civilized.”
He sent her a chiding glance. “That didn’t answer my question. Are you interested?”
Her lips pinched. He didn’t need to be able to read her mind to know she wanted to tell him that she couldn’t care less. She took pride in her ability to remain aloof from those around her and revealing her curiosity would destroy that image.
“Fine,” she snapped as they came to yet another intersection. “I’m interested.”
Ryshi paused, as if debating which direction to go. In truth, he was bracing himself to open wounds that he’d kept buried for a very long time.
Why was he opening them? Well, that was another one of those questions he didn’t want to consider. Probably because it would mean accepting that he wanted this female to be interested in him. Not as a prisoner. But as a desirable male who she found fascinating. And sexy. And irresistible.
Turning to the left, he entered the shadowed tunnel to continue their seemingly endless wandering.
“Zena is the only daughter of my mother,” he told his companion. “She’s a full jinn.”
Sofie easily kept pace next to him, her gaze locked on him rather than looking for hidden dangers. Ryshi hid a smile of satisfaction. She either trusted his word that there were no monsters in the hedges, or she was more interested in what he had to say than in worrying about potential dangers.
“How many siblings do you have?”
“One sister and probably twenty brothers. At last count.” Ryshi shrugged. Talking about the flighty, impetuous fey side of his family was easy. He rarely had contact with them, but when he did it usually ended in a drunken brawl. The typical fun and games of any demon family. “My father is committed to producing the next generation of imps and there are plenty of females to provide him assistance in his goal.”
Sofie rolled her eyes, obviously familiar with imps, but she didn’t allow him to divert the conversation.
“If you have such a large family, why can I only sense Zena?”
He trained his gaze back on the dirt pathway, knowing that the tumultuous feelings his sister stirred inside him would be visible in his eyes. Unlike Sofie, he didn’t have an icy grip on his emotions.
