Page 35 of Guarded By the Vodnik

“On a scale of one to ten, how uncomfortable will you be if I pee in here?” I asked, cringing a bit, though not much.

If I had to go, I had to go, and there was nothing for it.

He was silent and then a soft, surprised laugh resounded from his inflating voice sack. A full, green glow lit the cavern, revealing his white, sharp teeth bared in a smile. I blinked, and then chided myself for doing it. Even a second of having my eyes closed meant I missed out on the view of his gorgeous, handsome face when he laughed.

“Absolutely fucking zero,” he said when he stopped. I still didn’t dare blink, drinking in the good-humored sparks in his eyes. “Pee is warm. It will float up and out through the crevices in the stone above us.”

I grinned back. “Yeah, okay. But I think I’ll drink first, just to be safe.”

I fumbled with the mask over my mouth and finally peeled it away. Cold water pressed against my lips, and I gulped in a sharp breath through my nose. Then I opened my mouth and drank.

It was an odd experience. As soon as my mouth was open, water flooded it, and all I had to do was swallow. The water at the bottom was safe to drink. The low temperature kept it bacteria-free, and in my crash course on lake diving, I was told I could drink it as long as I was deep enough and the water looked clean.

The one downside was that it was freezing. I shook when more gulps hit my stomach, but I drank to satiation. When I was done, I pressed the mask to my mouth and sucked the water out until it sealed in.

“Well, this will hurt,” I muttered, moving away from Vodyan, my arms outstretched to feel for the walls. “But only for a short while. There’s a very thoughtful zipper down here. I don’t even have to take it off. I imagine that’s how human men feel all the time.”

When Vodyan made a choked sound, glowing for a moment, I shot him a worried look.

“What’s wrong?”

He rumbled. “Nothing. I’m just trying not to laugh at your commentary. I expect you don’t want me to light up the place.”

“Well, there’s nothing to see. But yeah. Keep it dark, and I’ll shut up. Or not. Wait. You said it will float up. Will it hit me in the face on the way?”

He huffed softly, turning away so his back was to me.

“Only one way to find out, Zoe. I won’t like you any less if it does.”

My heart gave a hot little thud, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. They took off into a full flight before I could explain to them that what he said didn’t have to mean he liked me. It could have meant he couldn’t like me any less, because he already hated me.

But the butterflies knew better, and they wouldn’t settle.

In the end, no warm stream hit me in the face, but my coochie was stabbed with piercing cold. I zipped up, shivering and cursing, and Vodyan hummed in sympathy.

We waited some more after that. He told me about the hunting tactics of lamias, and how they very rarely banded up to herd their prey, usually in times of hunger or when they had a lot to gain.

“Carver’s emissary probably offered a lot for your head,” he said, his tentacle coiling around my wrist when I shivered. “But don’t worry. We’ll be out of here soon. I’m not sure how they will play it out this time, but lamias usually leave their prey in the trap for a few days until it weakens from hunger.”

Finally, he got up and shot at the rock. At first, it seemed promising. Fragments of stone chipped off, and I fancied it moved in the pale light from Vodyan’s voice sack.

But time passed, and Vodyan grew angry, cursing in between blasts from the jet gun. After about an hour of trying, he growled and stopped, swimming over to me.

“Let’s eat,” he said, reaching for the waterproof backpack he’d taken from the safehouse.

He brought out sealed tubes of military nutripaste for me and himself. They tasted very bland but were supposed to have a nutritious cocktail that supported most mammal species. Another upside was that I could just seal my lips around the circular opening and squeeze the paste right into my mouth.

“Try to sleep,” he said after we ate. “And I’ll check out a few other things.”

I thought it would be impossible to fall asleep while we were in a literal trap, but the combination of exhaustion and the trust I had in Vodyan worked a miracle. I fell asleep at once, buoyed by the weightless feeling of being submerged.

I woke up groggy and thirsty some time later when Vodyan again blasted the stone with concentrated bursts from the jet gun. His face was drawn in a feral focus, his muscles tight, and a constant low hum emitted from his throat, letting him see.

When he was done with this round and lowered the gun, I got up. The water stirred, and he whipped to face me.

“Zoe, we’ve been here for six hours.”

I yawned, holding my mask so it wouldn’t dislodge. “I can’t believe I slept for so long,” I said sheepishly. “Did you get to rest, too?”

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