Page 74 of Aria's Ascension

“We are as well as can be expected.”

“Where’s Thrasin?”

A deep rumble vibrated her chest, drawing her eyes upward to find big, white dragon eyes staring down at her from above. A quick scan around her told her he’d blocked them from the falling boulders, but that meant he’d taken the brunt of it.

As she watched, he got his feet under him and stood with a pained growl. Carefully shielding her with an outstretched wing, he gave a hard shake, sending the rocks covering his back tumbling to the ground.

Pushing to her feet, she stumbled as dizziness hit her, but steadied herself on Skaa’s arm, then picked her way across the rocks to Kix and Rellik. She quickly checked them both over then turned to gaze up at Thrasin.

When he didn’t lower his head of his own accord, she reached up, hooked her fingers in his scaled bottom lip, and pulled until he dropped down far enough for her to examine his head, neck, and, after going up on tiptoe, part of his back and wings. She couldn’t see anything serious, but it was dark as hell, and the air was cloudy with dust.

Meeting his surprised gaze, she frowned concernedly and demanded, “Are you okay? Don’t lie. If you’re hurt, I need to know.”

She decided to ignore the hypocrisy of demanding he tell her the truth while she hid her own wounds from her mate.

In answer, he lowered his head farther and gently rubbed his muzzle over her bare breasts and stomach.

Taking that as a ‘yes,’ she sighed in relief and leaned forward to rest her forehead against him.

“Good. That’s good,” she breathed.

Turning, she lightly brushed her lips over him then stood. Craning her head back, she peered up, trying to see what the hell had caused the collapse. What she saw had her jaw dropping.

“Holy. Fucking. Shit. That’s a spaceship.”

It was a massive, disk shaped, honest-to-god spaceship made of seamless, shiny metal and currently looming over them. It was slanted down at an angle, taking up most of the ceiling and part of the wall, and seemed to be wedged pretty tightly, but she could see shafts of purplish golden light shining around its perimeter.

“Is that how you got in?” she asked, speaking to Skaa standing behind her.

“Yes. It flew into the outer wall around the fighting lands. I climbed down it and into here to find you. I see you injured yourself while I was not here to watch over you,” she tsked, making Aria yelp when she tapped a finger on her still-bleeding scalp.

Shaking off the awe she felt at seeing her first spaceship, she swatted Skaa’s hand away with a glare, then called out for the other men down there. She waited, cocking her head to listen, but there was no answer.

Gritting her teeth, she hesitated. Urgency was clawing at her. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious, and every second that ticked by was another that her barbarian was at Zhrovni’s non-existent mercy. She needed to get to him… but she couldn’t just leave those men down there, not knowing if they were alive, dead, or grievously injured and in need of help.

“What is wrong, Aria?” Skaa asked, a thread of worry bleeding into her voice.

Glancing at her friend, she grimaced. “I have to find Tirox. Now. With this crash, I have to imagine someone is going to show up. First responders, cops. People Zhrovni doesn’t want finding out what he’s been up to. I’ve got to get to him before he decides he’s better off just killing Red rather than getting caught.”

“So, go.”

“There are other prisoners down here, Skaa! I can’t leave them.”

Skaa snorted and shook her head. Giving her a reproachful look, she huffed, “You act as if you stand alone.Iwill find them. Go save your Chosen.”

Aria hesitated. “Are you sure?”

Skaa didn’t even bother responding, just gave her a look. “How many?”

Relief had her throat tightening. “Three. Sauran, Braxton, and, uh… ” Turning, she called out, “Rellik, what’s Grumpy’s name?”

“A’nu,” he answered back, thankfully understanding to whom she was referring.

Nodding, she turned back to her friend and reached out to grip her lower hands. “Thank you, Skaa. Be safe. And find me above when you’ve got them.”

She grunted wordlessly and left, but not before Aria heard her mutter, “Awfully dominant for one so puny.”

She smiled, but it faded almost instantly when she looked up at Thrasin. He had that feral haze in his eyes and that worried her. Thankfully, unlike in the cave, she could still seehimgazing back at her so she knew he was fighting to control it, but that it was there at all was concerning. She could deal with a scratch, but if he got possessive while this size? Someone would die.

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