Page 41 of Of Steel and Scale

Up ahead, the entrance into the blue vein tube loomed. It was a formidable sight, vaguely resembling the sharply protruding snout of the badulf, complete with sharp lava “fangs” not unlike those of the wily plains scavenger. From inside the snout came a faint blue glow—the rock veins that gave this system its name.

“We won’t need the light tubes in there.” I switched mine off and clipped it to the pack I was carrying on my left shoulder. It was easier to reach than the one on my back. “But keep your hands close to your swords. I’ve no idea what olm numbers are like these days.”

“If the scouting team is injured or, Túxn forbid, dead, then we could be dealing with a frenzy,” Damon noted.

“I know.” My gaze met his. “I hope they taught you more than magic in the home of your heart.”

“I’m well able to handle myself,” he said, his voice mild but the faintest flicker of annoyance evident in his blue eyes. “With steel or without.”

“In bed and out, too, I’d wager.” Kele’s gaze unhurriedly scanned his length. “You do have a look of proficiency about you.”

His eyebrows rose, expression coolly amused. “And what does such ‘proficiency’ look like?”

“Oh, you know, big hands, big”—her gaze dropped to his crotch—“feet.”

“Kele,” I said dryly, “stop flirting with the man. He’s taken. At least, he is for the time being.”

“Does that mean you intend to use and then discard me, wife?”

“I haven’t yet decided what I’m going to do with you, husband.”

But it definitely depended on what he intended this marriage to be. I was happy to give us a chance, but if he wanted to continue his wanton ways, fine, as long as he realized there would not be one rule for him and another for me.

I was a soldier. I was not built to meekly sit at home waiting for my husband to give me a second of his time.

And one look at him said he was very much aware of this. What he thought about it, I couldn’t say. His expression gave little away, and the tenuous link that sometimes flared between us remained mute.

And that was annoying.

As was my own inconsistency.

I turned from his all-too-knowing but beautiful gaze and strode into the blue vein’s mouth. The tunnel beyond narrowed sharply, and the heat became a thick blanket that wrapped around us, constricting movements. The walls ran with slickness, and sharp daggers of rock lined the two main veins, ready to tear at flesh the moment you slipped. None of us did, but progress was tediously slow.

When we reached the first of the cross tunnels, I pulled the receiver stone from its pouch and held it out in front of me. After a second or two, an intermittent pulse ran through it—three beats followed by a short pause—an indication only three of the five who’d started out were alive.

But if three remained, why had no one moved beyond the scribe’s restrictions and sent for help? Were they immobilized? Or surrounded?

The stone couldn’t give me that information, which was damnably frustrating.

I moved on through the narrow tunnel, clambering over rockfalls and spotting the occasional boot print in the moss hugging the tiny trickle of water running along the floor.

We’d passed the halfway point and were closing in on the area where Esan had lost contact when I heard the soft snuffling.

“That,” Kele whispered, “sounds an awful lot like an olm.”

“One that’s feeding,” Damon said. “And the scent of death rides the air.”

It certainly did. I raised a hand and splayed my fingers, warily reaching for whatever lay ahead.

And hit minds filled with nothing but blind, bloody ecstasy.

There wasn’t just one olm up ahead, there were at least eight.

And they were indeed in the middle of a feeding frenzy.

7

I suckedin a sharp breath and resisted the urge to deepen the connection and force them away from both the living and the dead. Aside from the fact there was very little reasoning withanyanimal in such a manic state, it was also very dangerous. Even the strongest mind could be swept away by a tide of bloody lust.

---